Causes of EPC Projects Delay

I have been working in the oil and gas engineering and construction sector for over 16 years and lucky to have experience working with contractors, clients and consultant’s sides. During this journey, I have found that regardless of your role in the project, you may have noticed that most of the EPC projects experience delays with respect to the contractual project completion date. In fact, project delays have become a normal matter to witness and at a certain point, it almost feels like it would be an inevitable result. However, these project delays could be avoided if we understand and identify these causes of delay before the start of the project and try to mitigate the gaps.

There can be several causes of project delays and every delayed project will have its own issues and causes. Sometimes, it may be a single trigger event that leads to delays or a combination of events that will result in the project schedule and cost overrun.

So, here are the some of the common reasons for EPC projects are being delayed;

• -  Inherited Bidding Inaccuracies and Estimation Mistakes
• -  Changes in Rely Upon Data
• -  Engineering/Design Issues and Changes
• -  Client-Side Delays e.g. Approval of Deliverables
• -  Aggressive Un-realistic Schedule
• -  Weak or Poor Project Planning
• -  Poor Project Monitoring and Control
• -  Delay in Obtaining NOC Or Permits from Statutory Authorities
• -  Ineffective Leadership
• -  Decision-Making Problems
• -  Inadequate & Inefficient Contractor and Client Management Team
• -  Inadequate & Inefficient Project Management Consultant’s Team
• -  Inadequate & Inefficient Labor
• -  Inadequate Construction Equipment & Machinery
• -  Cultural Difference in Team
• -  Team Competency Gaps
• -  Delay in Selection and Mobilization of Team
• -  Delay in Materials Ordering
• -  Delay in Manufacturing and Delivery of Materials
• -  Defective Materials and Supplies
• -  Poor Cash Flow
• -  Budget Inaccuracies
• -  Delay in Sub-Contracting and Mobilization
• -  Serious HSE Violations and Accidents
• -  Environmental/Weather Un-Avoidable Events
• -  Unavailability of Labor, Material, or Equipment
• -  Construction Implementation Failures
• -  Scope Changes and Variations
• -  Geopolitical and Economic Conditions
• -  Poor Interface Management
• -  Lack of Effective Communication
• -  Project Complexity
• -  Poor or No Project Risk Identification, Analysis, and Mitigation
• -  Construction Works Quality Issues and Reworks
• -  No Consideration of Previous Project’s Lesson Learnt
• -  Change in Government Regulations and Laws
• -  Improper Post Execution Phase Management

In the next article, I will elaborate on how to eliminate or reduce the impacts of these causes of delay? As project management professionals, we always need to remind ourselves that “one day's delay is another day's lack of progress.”

 Written by: Mujahid Akhtar