Best Delay Analysis Method

If you are dealing with delay in your (construction) project; It is the ultimate question that what is the Best Delay Analysis Method for your Construction Project, especially which delay analysis methodology suits best for your case.

Currently, I am working for a multi billion Railway Project project which delays can be costly for all the parties and nobody wants to bare. I remember the day we sit all together, the project management team and the consultants in the meeting room where we had long discussions about which delay analysis method we must use for our construction project.

Whether assessing for an Extension of Time or Compensation Events, Delay analysis becomes mandatory and eventually whether you are a manager, a delay analyst, a planner or a consultant you need to set out some of the key elements to consider.

Key Elements to Decide

What are the key elements to consider while choosing the right delay analysis method for your construction project;

• Do you have a baseline programme approved by the employer/client.
• Is this baseline programme has linked in a logic or not
• Do you have records of the delays accrued
• Are those records rigid, properly recorded (for example one of the guys were always referring his verbal discussions with the client which did not help at all)
• Did you have programme updates and did you share them with the client/employer.
• Do you have as-built programme where both parties agreed.
• How much manpower you can spend on those task, if your project is a small project you will have limited resources therefore methods such as windows analysis will be not in your favour.

Professionally, I would suggest Society of Construction Law Delay and Disruption Protocol to follow which is widely recognized. I have shared the link here.

There are many different methods of delay analysis available where, there are at least six which is more commonly used and accepted methods which is also mentioned in the SCL delay analysis Protocol book as I shared below.

As a result, every project and every delay event is unique and you need to decide as per your unique situation and there is not only one Best Delay Analysis Method for Construction Projects. I have shared the tabular data as below which will help you to decide.

Table for Delay Analysis Methods