Determinants of cost and time overrun in Construction project: a case of construction of Boro Solar - Powered pipe water supply gravity flow system in Pakwach District.

Abstract

The construction industry contributes a lot to the development of a country. In the same way, the Ugandan construction industry is important and contributes to Uganda's development. Most construction projects experience cost and time overruns, which puts much cost on the owner. Therefore, this study was carried out to determine the factors responsible for the cost and time overruns during the construction of the Boro solar-powered pipe water gravity flow system in Pakwach district and to suggest suitable solutions for future projects. Key informant interview was conducted with the project manager, consultant, quantity surveyor, and contractor to obtain data, which was analyzed to identify the causes of time and cost overrun for the project studied. The results showed that delays in document approval and issuance of permits, variation due to scope changes from clients, delayed payment to contractors, inaccurate time estimation, and delay in procurement were the leading five causes of time overrun. The causes of cost overrun were variations due to scope changes, inaccurate cost estimation, insufficient funds from clients, errors in design, and improper risk management. The primary causes identified by this study were compared with the findings from other research, and they were found to be somehow similar. Some of the project management practices used to solve management issues included time control (through tracking of work progress against schedule, monthly site meetings, and rescheduling when variation arose), quality control (through material and product testing, regular supervision), cost control (through the valuation of work, minimization of variation and occasional cost appraisal), Cashflow management (through minimizing delay in payment of interim Payment certificate), risk management (through proactively identifying, scoring, ranking and mitigating the risks), Health & safety control (through job safety analysis, daily toolbox meeting, prevention of loss of time injury). Recommendations given to reduce cost and time overrun for future projects include Stakeholders minimizing the change in scope of work, client fast-track approval of important contract documents, both Client and contractor improving on their cash flow management, clients changing from the traditional type of contract to turn-key type, and client’s improvement on cash flow. The results of this study should help construction practitioners, policymakers, and researchers in the field of construction management to manage time and cost overruns. Conclusively, the project experienced a total time overrun of 1249.9% and a cost overrun of 26.3% from design to completion.