| dc.description.abstract | The problem of delay in construction industry is a global phenomenon and the construction industry in Kenya is no exception. In general, delay occurs due to improper planning, poor site management, inadequate financing, and failure or lack of coordination. Delay affects completion of projects and compromises quality, schedule and budget of deliverables. Delayed projects exhibit disputes, claims for time extension and additional costs, loss of productivity and efficiency, re-sequencing of works, abandonment and even termination. Amidst prolonged disputes between the contractors and the employers, the beneficiaries of the project are denied time and possession utility.
Public confidence is lost when project delays and the working relationship among the parties deteriorate. It is not uncommon to find many reports on delayed projects justify the delays based on the reason why they occurred and ignoring the effects of such delays on completion of the projects with respect to cost, quality and schedule. It is important to expose the effects of delay on these three critical parameters because they are vital to project stakeholders and to the utility of the projects. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of contractual delay on completion of Sondu- Miriu Hydropower Project in Kisumu County of the Republic of Kenya.
The objective of the study is to assess effects of contractual delay components; design, payment, site possession, mobilization and legislation, on completion of Sondu-Miriu Hydropower Project. Causal-comparative research design was adopted for the study and a census was carried on a purposive sample of respondents from the four major project stakeholders (Employer, Engineer and Contractor and Financier) at contract management level totaling to 54. Quantitative data was collected by self administered questionnaires. Factorial comparative analysis of effects of contractual delay was done on descriptive statistics such as mode, mean and variance. Rank Analysis was performed on the data to develop relative importance indices of the various causes, effects and mitigation of contractual delay on completion of the project.
Microsoft Excel in combination with Statistical Package for Social Scientist (SPSS) was used as tools for data analysis. The study found out that contractual delays have composite effects on completion of projects and that design delay and late mobilization of resources were the most common component of contractual delay at SonduMiriu Hydropower Project. The study also established mitigation measures that can be applied in methodical combinations to reduce effects of contractual delay.
Conclusion was made that effects of contractual delay are composite and combination of mitigation measures are necessary to reduce their impacts. The study recommended a policy undertaking to develop appropriate forms of contracts for infrastructural programs that are relevant to challenges experienced locally. It was also recommended that a training curriculum on contracts engineering and management should be developed at policy level for use at institutions of higher learning.
Departmentalization of strong contracts management division was also recommended for implementing agencies. Suggestions for further research were given to establish the effects of other types of delay e.g. stakeholders' resistance and force majeure on completion of projects and also to replicate the study to establish whether the findings can be generalized for other noninfrastructural projects e.g. advocacy and marketing. Further study was also suggested at rank and files level of contraction workers to establish the role of non-management staff in project delays. Finally, it was suggested that a study should be carried out to investigate the relationship of low experience of the project managers as established in this study, and the delay of SonduMiriu Hydropower Project. | en_US |
