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M.M. Kumaraswamy
a,
*, K. Yogeswaran
b
a
The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong
b
Kowloon Canton Railway Corporation, West Rail Project, Hong Kong
Received 12 January 2001; received in revised form 6 June 2001; accepted 13 July 2001
Abstract
Standard forms of contract provide for extensions of time (EOT) due to excusable delays, and EOT claims are common in many
construction projects. The contractor and the supervising engineer often spend considerable time on substantiating and assessing
such claims. However, a variety of diverse techniques have been employed for such evaluations. A study was undertaken to analyse
dierent EOT evaluation techniques in Hong Kong, which continues to be a hotbed of construction activity attracting international
organisations. Reasons for delays in the submission and assessment of EOT were also probed. Conclusions on the suitability of
dierent techniques are drawn from an analysis of both the literature reviewed and a consolidation of practitioner perceptions, as
derived from a questionnaire survey and subsequent in-depth interviews. This leads to recommendations for explicit policies, clear
guidelines, tool-kits and improved contractual procedures that will upgrade the management of this crucial area. # 2002 Elsevier
Science Ltd and IPMA. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Claims; Evaluation; Extensions of time; Hong Kong
1. Background and introduction
Delays are a major source of claims and disputes in
construction projects [1] and have even been cited as the
most common and costly cause of problems [2,3].
Delays themselves may arise from a wide variety of
causes. Considerable research eorts have been devoted
to identifying and categorising the principal factors that
commonly contribute to delays. For example, Kumar-
aswamy and Chan [4] compared a cross-section of
recent ndings on major factors causing delays in
countries ranging from the USA, UK, Turkey, Nigeria,
Saudi Arabia and Indonesia with Hong Kong. How-
ever, disagreements on the responsibilities and liabilities
for such delays continue to trigger hotly contested con-
tractual claims.
A study that investigated contractual claims from 67
completed civil engineering projects in Hong Kong
revealed that 57 out of the 67 projects were delayed [5].
In such projects, the contractor submits claims for
extensions of time using one or more of an assortment
of techniques available for substantiation, upon which
the engineer then assesses the claims arising from excu-
sable delays, also using one or more of a variety of
approaches.
Various common techniques and approaches were
examined by Alkass et al. [6], who reviewed and com-
pared the following delay analysis techniques used in
USA and Canadian contractual regimes, prior to pro-
posing a new Isolated Delay Type (IDT) technique.
1.1. Global Impact technique
All the delays are plotted on a summary bar chart.
The total delay to the project is rather simplistically
assumed to be the sum total of all individual activity
delay durations. This may well over-estimate the actual
overall delay, as it does not make allowance for con-
current delays in parallel activities.
1.2. Net Impact technique
Only the net eect of all delays including concurrent
delays are plotted on a bar chart based on the as-built
schedule. All delays, disruptions, variation orders and
suspensions are rst plotted on the as-built schedule.
The net eect of all delays is next estimated taking
concurrent delays into account. The requested time
extension is then taken as the time dierence between
0263-7863/01/$22.00 # 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd and IPMA. All rights reserved.
PI I : S0263- 7863( 01) 00052- 7
International Journal of Project Management 21 (2003) 2738
www.elsevier.com/locate/ijproman