Construction Durations and Construction Delays

How much will building faster cost you?

Construction Durations

"Time is money" is a favored phrase of business people. Is it true in the context of construction projects? Contractors and designers may apply a crash costing technique to determine how much it is likely to cost them to deliver the building earlier than specified in the tender documents. Indeed many building clients are prepared to pay for a building which can be occupied or rented earlier than anticipated.

But if building faster is going to cost money then how much? And do we have to build every thing at top speed or can we accelerate some things and leave others alone? An illustrative example is presented as follows:

- A commercial building has been designed for a property company and tender documents are prepared such that the building must be ready for occupation in 20 months.
- The client is anxious to let the building and asks how much it more would he have to pay to if he were to take over the building in after 15 months.

To achieve this shorter timescale the Contractor has to put in extra resources and therefore the tender price is likely to be higher. In effect costs and time can be exchanged. The shorter the time for a project, the more expensive it is likely to be. However, there is a minimum duration beyond which the project time can not be reduced. this is known as crash point.

For a quick estimate of additional cost in connection with project timescale shortening up to 33% you can try misronet tool below. It it designed for building projects, and is based on the S-Curve time cost relation.

Initial Project Cost:
Cost of Building materials:
Initial Duration (days):
Required duration (days):

New Project Cost

However, for more accurate results we recommend using misronet Free Online Schedule to build many schedules, and consider the corresponding cost of each activity in different timescales.

Construction Delays

Construction Delay Analyzer

On the other hand Delay in Construction Projects, is a grey area where responsibility for the delay is difficult to analyze. Who is responsible for the delay? Is it the Contractor's delayed performance or is it the Employer Change orders? Is it conditions beyond the control of the contractor or is he liable for damages resulting from such delay?

Delay in Construction is best analyzed by CM Reporter, a Software for reporting responsibility of encountered delay in construction and helps in Delay claim justification.

A simple Construction claim analyzer for quick reporting responsibility of encountered delays in construction and overall performance of projects. Enhanced Reporter includes forecasting of the completion date based on shifted performance assumption and 'not as planned productivity rates' assumption graphically presented for comparison. The technique used enables early adjustment of resources and anticipation of additional costs likely to be incurred in the construction process.

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CM Reporter 5 for Construction Delay Analysis

An essential Software for Contractor's justification of his Construction Claim in respect of delay and application for extension of time.
An essential Software for Engineer's assessment of Construction Delay Claim

System requirements: