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TIME AND RESOURCE CONSTRAINTS IN INDIAN
CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY
By
SUKESH SHETTY
(Student ID: 6768625)
September 2016
The work contained within this document has been submitted
by the student in partial fulfilment of the requirement of their course and award

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Declaration of Originality
This project is all my own work and has not been copied in part or in whole from any other
source except where duly acknowledged. As such, all use of previously published work (from
books, journals, magazines, internet etc.) has been acknowledged within the main report to
an item in the References or Bibliography lists.
I also agree that an electronic copy of this project may be stored and used for the purposes of
plagiarism prevention and detection.
Copyright Acknowledgement
I acknowledge that the copyright of this project report, and any product developed as part of
the project, belong to Coventry University.
Signed: Sukesh Shetty Date: 15.08.2016
Office Stamp

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ABSTRACT
Now a day’s Indian construction industries is reflecting rapid growth, due to
introduction of Make in India campaign the investment as well the risk associated with
the construction industry in India is higher. Due to that reason the rime as well as
resources related with such projects are higher. Now a day it is important to manage
the various constraints related to the construction project management to deliver high
quality construction in limited resources and time. In this project various time and
constraints related with Indian construction industry will be discussed as well as the
various aspects of overrun and prevention of it will also be discussed.

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Acknowledgment
I also want to extend my sincere gratitude to my programme director and my
supervisor Anthony Olomolaiye and Lidia Adigun, for their continuous support and
commitment without which I could not have gotten the best out of this research.

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Table of Contents
1.CHAPTER 1- INTRODUCTION.......................................................................................... 7
1.1BACKGROUND............................................................................................................ 7
1.2. STATEMENT OF PURPOSE...................................................................................... 7
1.3. AIMS .......................................................................................................................... 8
1.4 OBJECTIVES.............................................................................................................. 8
CHAPTER 2-LITERATURE REVIEW.................................................................................. 10
CHAPTER 3-RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ...................................................................... 23
3.1 INTRODUCTION....................................................................................................... 23
3.2 RESEARCH STRATEGY .......................................................................................... 23
3.3 RESEARCH METHOD .............................................................................................. 24
3.4 RESEARCH APPROACH.......................................................................................... 24
3.5 DATA COLLECTION METHODS AND TOOLS ......................................................... 25
3.6 INTERVIEW .............................................................................................................. 25
CHAPTER 4-CASE STUDY................................................................................................ 26
CHAPTER 5-SAMPLE SELECTION- LITERATURE REVIEW ............................................ 29
5.1 DEFINITION OF TIME OVERRUN ............................................................................ 29
5.2 TYPES OF TIME DELAYS ........................................................................................ 30
5.3 CAUSES OF TIME OVERRUN.................................................................................. 30
5.4 RESOURCE CONSTRAINTS IN PROJECT CONSTRUCTION ................................ 31
5.5MATERIALS RELATED FACTORS............................................................................ 31
5.6 MANPOWER RELATED FACTORS.......................................................................... 32
5.7 EQUIPMENT RELATED FACTORS.......................................................................... 32
5.8 FINANCE RELATED FACTORS ............................................................................... 32
5.9 CONCLUSIONS FROM THE LITERATURE.............................................................. 33
CHAPTER 6-DATA ANALYSIS........................................................................................... 34
6.1 ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS ..................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
6.2 RESEARCH LIMITATIONS .......................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
CHAPTER 7-PROJECT MANAGEMENT............................................................................ 52
7.1 INTRODUCTION....................................................................................................... 52
7.2 PURPOSE OF THE PROJECT ................................................................................. 52
7.3 LITERATURE REVIEW ............................................................................................. 52
7.4 ANALYSIS OF THE INDIAN CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY AND MAJOR PROJECTS
IN INDIA.......................................................................................................................... 54
7.5 WORKFORCE RESOURCE...................................................................................... 54
7.6 EQUIPMENT RESOURCE ........................................................................................ 55

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7.7 MATERIAL RESOURCE........................................................................................... 55
7.8 RESOURCE BARRIERS IN INDIA ............................................................................ 55
7.9 MAJOR PLAYERS AND INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS IN INDIA ........................ 55
7.10 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY................................................................................ 56
7.10.1 DATA COLLECTION METHOD ........................................................................ 56
7.10.2 DATA ANALYSIS TECHNIQUES...................................................................... 56
7.10.3 SAMPLING METHOD ....................................................................................... 56
7.10.4 QUESTIONNAIRE DESIGN.............................................................................. 57
7.11 PRINCIPLE OF METHODS AND ANALYSIS .......................................................... 57
7.11.1 QUALITATIVE DATA ANALYSIS ...................................................................... 57
7.11.2 QUANTITATIVE DATA ANALYSIS ................................................................... 58
7.12 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS........................................................... 66
CHAPTER 8-REFLECTIVE REPORT ................................................................................. 69
8.1 INTRODUCTION....................................................................................................... 69
8.2 PROJECT DESCRIPTION ........................................................................................ 69
8.3 ACTIVITIES............................................................................................................... 69
8.4 DID ALL GO WELL.................................................................................................... 70
8.5 LEARNING OUTCOMES........................................................................................... 71
8.6 APPLICATION TO PROJECT MANAGEMENT ......................................................... 71
8.7 CONCLUSION........................................................................................................... 71
CHAPTER 9-RECOMMENDATION .................................................................................... 72
CHAPTER 10-CONCLUSION............................................................................................. 74
REFERENCES ................................................................................................................... 77
APPENDICES..................................................................................................................... 82
APPENDIX 1 ................................................................................................................... 82
APPENDIX 2: GANTT CHART ........................................................................................ 83

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TIME AND RESOURCE CONSTRAINTS IN INDIAN CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY
1.CHAPTER 1- INTRODUCTION
1.1BACKGROUND
Indian construction industry being a very huge business and source of revenue to the
country and also the employment is being created in huge numbers by the
development of infrastructure in the country. Make in India is making way for the
foreign investors to invest in the projects in India and in turn this leading to
development in the country’s economy and so that the infrastructure of the country
has to developed and constraints that the construction industry is facing now has to
be rectified and has to be turned into a positive and a simpler approach to the complete
the construction projects with effective management of time and resource. At present
scenario there are lot of problems that is faced by the Indian Construction industry in
terms of the time and resource availability to complete the construction projects within
the desired time with the availability of sufficient resource to build the structure. India
being the second fastest growing economy in the world has huge number of projects
coming up in further years and also Indian construction industry contributes up to 8%
for GDP and is now aiming to reach up to 9%. For all this to happen, the problems in
the construction industry has to be eliminated in order make the construction process
faster with good time and resource management skills.
Construction industry in India is the second largest employer after Agriculture, when a
sector is having rapid growth and have a good contribution towards the country’s
economy, that particular has to be developed to the latest technology and made it has
all necessary resources to complete the projects within the time.
1.2. STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
Construction Industry for every nation is the significance of the growth of the country.
There are several aspects related with construction project management and the time
and resources are the most important aspects to look after during the entire project.
In this project the various resources related to the construction projects are analysed
as well as the time frame is also analysed.

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By the end of the project various results will reflect the main constraints to look after
during the construction project as well what causes the resource overrun as well
introduce delays and prevention of those.
Researching on the areas where the resources overruns and in turn the time is elapsed
in constructing the project, the cause for facing time and resource constraints is
identified and necessary actions and methods to be implemented to prevent the
overrun of resources in the ongoing projects.
1.3. AIMS
This project aims at researching on the causes for the resource over run and to find
the necessary methods to be implemented in order to reduce the resource over run
and to complete the projects on time. journals talking about the core details of time
and resource constraints will be referred and the problem regarding the resource and
time constraints is analysed deeply and bring out the best of the methods to be
followed in terms of resource procurement to complete the construction projects in
desired time.
Time management plays a vital role in any organisations, when it comes to
construction projects it is important to complete the project in desired time. In order to
complete the projects in desired time, all the required resources and also the labours
should be sufficient to carry out the day’s work.
Project management has to be advanced in the implementation of methods to gain the
required outcome, in this report the main area of strategy to be implemented on the
time and resource constraints would be Procurement strategy and time management
methods to be considered after analysing the problem deeply.
1.4 OBJECTIVES
 Analysis of the Indian Construction Industry & Major projects in India.
 Analyse resources related to the construction industry.

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 Analyse the time frame and work distribution during the whole project life cycle.
 Causes related to the resource and time over run.
 Possible detailed discuss solution to prevent the overrun.

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CHAPTER 2-LITERATURE REVIEW
To find major factors that cause time overrun and resource constraints in India’s
construction projects, I surveyed several kinds of literature related to the topic of study
so as to get some information concerning the construction projects. The pieces of
literature I surveyed are not necessarily from India’s construction industry as some
researchers had based their research on construction projects located in other
countries. The literature I surveyed were directed towards analysing various sections
of the study such as the situation of construction Industry in India, resources related
to the construction industry, time frame and work distribution during the whole project
life cycle, causes related to time overrun and resource constraints and also suggested
solutions to prevent the overrun of time and resources in construction projects.
Kaming et al. (1997) defined time overrun as the addition of time past the scheduled
completion dates noticeable to the contractors. Choudhry (2004) and Chan (2001)
described time overruns as the variance between the estimated completion time and
the actual completion time.
According to Al-Gahtani and Mohan (2007), delays in construction projects are those
that make the completion date to be adjourned. Several factors associated to time
overruns differ along with kinds of construction projects, size, scope and location of
the project. Time increase and constraint of resources is a normal phenomenon in
construction projects in the entire world. However, resource constraints and time
overrun are especially acute in developing countries.
Kaming et al. (1997) discovered 11 changeable causes of time overrun and 7
changeable causes of resource constraints via the questionnaire research in
Indonesian high-end construction projects. Lack of proper planning, design changes,
shortage of materials, poor labour productivity and inaccuracy of material
approximates are the five top factors that cause time overrun in construction projects.
Chan and Kumaraswamy (1997) described five major causes of time overrun
observed by consultants, contractors and clients in Hong Kong construction projects.
They used questionnaire survey to collect data. The survey comprised of a total of 83
delay factors covering 8 categories and spread out to 400 local companies involved in
the construction industry. Based on the 37% reaction, the five major factors that cause
the delay in construction projects were unforeseen ground conditions, poor site

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supervision and management, client initiated variations, delay in coming up with
decisions and design alterations.
(Frimpong et al. 2003) did a questionnaire research in Ghana groundwater
construction projects and positioned 26 factors associated with project construction
time overrun and resource constraints. The Kendall’s coefficient of concordance
method was used to determine the intensity of agreement between the consultants,
owners and contractors and found that there was a very high level of disagreement.
Aibinu and Jagboro (2002) studied the effects of time overrun of construction projects
in Nigeria. Speeding up of the site construction activities together with advanced
owner’s project management methods and the addition of an effective eventuality
allowance in the pre-contract approximates were suggested as the best ways of
reducing the far-reaching effects of time overrun in construction projects in Nigeria.
Odeh and Battaineh (2002) examined the causes of time overrun in construction
projects at traditional contracts in Jordan. The research showed that labour
productivity was the most significant factor that caused time delays according to the
contractors. However, consultants pointed out to lack of adequate contractor’s
experience as the major factor that caused time overrun in construction projects.
Koushki et al. (2005) found the estimates of time overrun and resource constraints
and their causes. The three most significant causes of time overrun and resource
constraints are owner’s financial constraints, owner’s lack of experience and changing
orders.
Alghbari et al. (2007) studied the factors that cause time overrun in Malaysian
construction projects. The results illustrated that from a total 31 variables studied
separated into four groups by responsibility. The main factors causing time overrun
are factors due to owners, factors due to consultants, factors due to contractors and
external factors. It is illustrated that the financial factor is the most significant factor in
causing time overrun in Malaysian construction projects.
Doloi et al. (2012) investigated the main factors impacting time overrun in India’s
construction projects and then determined the relationship between significant
features for developing prediction patterns for assessing the effects of these factors
on the time overrun. Factor analysis and Regression modeling techniques were

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utilized study the significance of the time overrun factors. The major factors of time
overrun were found out to be poor coordination in the construction site, lack of
intelligibility in determining the scope of the project, inefficient site management, lack
of proper communication from factor examination and lack of commitment. Regression
model revealed that architects reluctance for change, the slow decision from owner,
rework as a result of mistakes in the construction and poor labour productivity are the
major causes of time delay in construction projects.
Choudhry (2004) described the cost overrun as the variations between the initial cost
on completion of project construction and the real cost on completion of the
construction project.
Omoregie and Radford (2006) did a study of infrastructure projects in Nigeria. They
found out that the main factors of cost overruns were escalation of prices, additional
works, inappropriate contract management, payments and financing made for only
completed projects, shortages of material, changes in site condition, delay in imported
building materials, changes in design, not sticking to contract conditions,
disagreements to contract conditions, poor weather conditions, nominated suppliers
and subcontractors and fraudulent practices.
Long et al. (2008) did a similar study in Vietnam and found out that the major factors
that caused cost overruns in massive construction projects are the lack of proper
project management support, inadequate supervision and site management, changes
in design, owner’s financial difficulties and contractor’s financial difficulties.
Enhassi et al. (2009) did an examination of Gaza’s construction industry and came up
with 10 most significant factors that cause cost overruns in the construction projects.
The factors include delay in construction, problems of the value of the dollar in relation
to local currency, fluctuating costs of building materials, limitation in funds, resources
and other associated auxiliaries, inappropriate equipment supply and materials by the
contractors, lack of proper strategies involving the cost during the pre-contract and
post-contract period, inaccurate amount take off, changes in the initial drawing during
the construction process and changes in design.
Olawale and Sun (2010) conducted research on the causes of cost overrun in UK’s
construction industry. They identified up to 21 major factors that lead to cost overrun
in the UK’s construction industry. These factors were disagreements in contract

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paperwork, uncertainty and risks related to the project, changes in design, poor
performance of subcontractors, inaccurate estimation of project time and costs, lack
of reliable software, complexity of works, disagreements in contracts paperwork,
conflicts in interpretation and specification of the contract, inflation of prices, lack of
adequate training and insufficient experience of project managers, poor weather
conditions, fluctuating interest rates, fluctuating currency/ exchange rate,
inappropriate financing and payments, extreme dependency on imported materials, ,
unfavorable government policies, low skilled manpower, conflict between project
parties and poor control and regulation of corruption and project fraud.
Ameh et al. (2010) conducted research on telecommunication projects and illustrated
that the seven most significant causes of cost overrun in those projects were changes
in the price of required materials, high-interest rates charged by the banks, lack of
enough experiences of contractors, a high cost of materials, economic insecurity and
fraudulent practices.
Ahsan and Gunawan (2010) did a separate research comparing how international
construction projects in India, Thailand, Bangladesh and China perform. Their report
illustrated that construction projects in India have the worst schedule performance.
According to their research results, India’s average schedule extension is the highest
being at 55% of the real schedule compared to the other countries.
Shebob, Dawood and Xu (2011) made a comparative examination of India and UK
construction project using a questionnaire survey. They used the severity scale and
frequency of occurrence methods to determine the rank of factors that cause time
overrun between the two countries. The research result illustrated that the construction
projects in developing countries such as India are affected the most by factors causing
time overrun in the construction industry as compared to the developed countries. This
was said to be due to poor technological advancements in the developing countries.
Pourrostam and Ismail (2012) associated the field of causes of time overrun in
construction projects has been evaluated over the last ten years using a questionnaire
survey done in India to solicit the causes of time overrun from contractors and
consultants’ viewpoint.
Mahamid (2013) did a survey regarding the time performance of different types of
construction projects in India to investigate the causes of time overrun and their

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significance according to each of the project stakeholders. The project participants
included in the research were project owners, project contractors and project owners.
Ibrahim concluded that 56% of the consultants and 76% of the contractors showed
that the average delay in project construction is between 10% and 30% of the initial
scheduled time and also discovered that 70% of the construction projects suffered
from time overrun in India.
Bharath and Pai (2013) have stated that newly commissioned, Bandra-worli sea link
sufficiently illustrates that the condition of project delivery scheme in the country. The
Rs 300 crore projects was planned to be concluded by the year 2004 but had the
project cost Rs 1600 instead and experienced a time overrun of five years.
Apolot, Alinaitwe and Tindiwensi (2013) did a case study and found out that the
participants in the construction industry are asked to reduce the alterations in scope
of work as it has it brings about the most effect on time and cost overrun and
recommended there should be improvements from the traditional types of contract to
the most recent type of contracts which constitutes of design-build and increased cash
flow on the side of the client so as to minimize payment delays.
Niazai and Gidado (2013) stated contracts which last for 12 months or less highly
contributes to time overrun. They found out that the two major causes of time overrun
are common between all variables which are corruption and security. Lack of proper
security systems is the most complex challenges that participants face while executing
construction projects. The factor has delayed projects and led to a cost overrun in
some parts of India. Corruption also impacts negatively on India’s construction projects
and consequently poses a serious threat on the improvement of the construction
industry. There is, therefore, a burning necessity for developing countries such as
India to put a legal framework in place which can help in combating insecurity and
corruption since the current framework is outdated and has proven to be ineffective.
Thomas and Sudhakumar (2014) stated that low productivity causes time overrun in
construction projects according to the findings of the questionnaire survey made to
investigate the factors affecting construction labour output with the site engineers,
craftsmen, project managers and supervisors in Kerala region of India. They also
stated untimely availability of building materials at the construction site, late delivery
of building material from the supplier, laborers strike initiated by political parties,

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frequent alterations in the design drawing resulting in a lot of reworks at the project
construction as a vital impact on labour productivity.
Chaphalkar and Lyer (2014) stated that in some incidents, a conflict might arise
between the construction project participants during the development stage; the
disputes if not handled appropriately usually consume a lot of financial resources and
time of the parties conflicting. The overall effect is time overrun and resource constraint
in the construction project.
Culas and Rao (2014) found out that ineffective scheduling and planning of the
construction project, delays in subcontractors’ duties and impediment in site
mobilization are the three most critical factors initiated by the contractors that cause
time overrun and resource constraints in the project construction. The construction
phase could be split into three different sections namely conception stage of the
project, designing phase of the project and finally the construction phase of the project.
Chan and Kumaraswamy (1997) mentioned that most of the construction project
delays usually happen during the construction phase of the project where many
unpredicted factors always come into play.
According to Khalil and Ghafly (1999), time overrun can negatively impact on the
project participants such as contractors, project managers, laborers and project
owners. It means loss of financial resources to the owners of construction projects due
to the shortage of production facility and low profits on the contractor’s side due to
increased overhead costs. They went forward to it out clearly that time overrun in
construction projects can be initiated by the contractor’s fault, owner’s fault and many
other reasons. In some incidents, time overrun in a construction of a project may be
caused by simultaneously by both the owner and the contractor of the construction
project without any association with each other. Such types of time overrun are said
to be concurrent delays which are a vital situation to deal with mainly through a
negotiation process. Finishing a construction project on time saves a lot of resources.
Even though it always signifies proper and efficient project management process, the
case seldom happens.
Azhar and Faraouqui (2008) found out that time overrun and resource constraint is a
common problem in most construction projects all over the world, and it is even more
rampant in developing countries as compared to the developed countries.

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Ghulab (2005) declared that construction projects usually undergo through various
stages of construction. The time frame of each stage and the work distribution
depends on the intensity of work involved in the phase among other factors which
influence the construction of a project.
Ahmadi, Wang and Roemer (2001) investigated the importance of structuring the
construction process on the development costs and time. Traditional methods for
reducing development lead times are the concurrent exploration of options,
overlapping of activities and activity crashing. In all these methods, shorter
construction times can be attained by incurring additional costs during the project
construction process. The coinciding of activities normally is known to bring about a
higher level of uncertainty a process which leads to additional work and consequently
cost overrun. In most sophisticated construction projects, a superior limitation does
not exist and in most incidences, activities are indirectly or directly joined. This means
that they mutually rely on each other and depends on each other output.
Herbsman, Epstein and Chen (1995) found out that innovative contracting techniques
in construction projects are often very rewarding in that they reduce construction time.
Innovative contracting methods are a little bit expensive, but their successful results
make them worth the investment.
Back, Isidore and Maxwell (2000) suggested that if corporate resources such as
equipment, labour and material are needed to perform the individual activities, then
the ABC (Activity Based Costing technique) should be used to accommodate the
emerging differences in the construction process if the real cost of the project
construction is to be predicted. They suggested that project managers are in the best
situation to estimate how the proposed time frame and work distribution will affect the
construction project if process cost per cycle and process cycle time are precisely
predicted.
According to (Tommelein, Editor and Youngsoo Jung (2005), it is important to
determine the elements of schedule control and integrated cost regarding minimizing
the workload before planning the time frame and work distribution throughout the
project cycle. Potential variables such as the degree of specialization, contract type,
progress measurement methods, project delivery system, and management detail, the
level of outsourcing, budget format and vertical integration can easily be illustrated

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and can be of much help in planning for work distribution and time frame of the whole
project cycle.
Pack and Ock (1996) discovered that an adjusted up/down technique that relies on
more modern construction techniques could constitute to a lot of time savings. Using
the technique makes available easy and useful method for the project manager to
reduce the construction period and in the long run minimize the construction cost.
Trost and Oberlender (2003) discovered that the actual approximates during the initial
phase of capital projects such as cost information, team experience, site requirements,
time given to prepare the estimate bidding and condition of the labour are very
essential in the whole life cycle of a project construction.
Bhatt (2006) illustrated that the constraint in resources occurs due to the late supply
of materials, delay in giving required decisions by the expert responsible, delayed
payment from contractor or client, revised estimates and delayed possession of the
site.
Ellinwa and Buba (1993) revealed that changes in prices of materials, mode of
payment and financing of completed projects, fraudulent practices and poor project
management are the main factors that cause resource overrun in construction
projects.
Ellinwa and Buba (1993) suggested that reducing or getting rid of communication
problems totally from the construction site will greatly aid to minimize construction cost,
resource constraints and consequently, time overrun in construction projects. They
revealed that decisions that affect construction project should be communicated to the
affected stakeholders in the site either through verbal communication or in writing to
the affected party.
Ellinwa and Buba (1993) suggested that governmental policies also have the power
to minimize resource constraints and time overrun in construction projects. They
supported their idea by a situation which happened in Nigeria where the National
Construction Policy was launched in the year 1991 to minimize the cost overrun in
construction projects. Through the policy, The Nigerian Institute of Quantity Surveyors
proposed the following adjustments in the construction industry to reduce cost overrun;
use of experts as project coordinators and inspectors, limit the power of the supervisor

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or project manager to control the cost of the project without the direct authorization by
the employer, the addition of the corruption clause which allows the employer to bring
to an end the contract of the project manager in case of any cases of corruption.
Jaehoson and Matilla (2004) stated that when an activity is initiated in a construction
project, it cannot be terminated and restarted again, it, therefore, mean that an activity
cannot be divided. They suggested the use of Binary variable Model to level the
resource.
Chan and Leung (2004) recommended that web-based documentations and showed
information should be utilized for efficient management of construction cost. The dual
also suggested the use of computer systems which recovers important data from the
initial documents and rearranges the information about users or specific tasks.
Dulaimi and Langford (1999) stated that the psychological elements and performance
of the project managers has a huge impact on the resource management. They,
therefore, suggested proper behavior among construction project managers to
minimize time overrun and resource constraints in construction projects.
Kang (1998) proposed the use of construction information classification system
popularly known as CICS to help control the management of a project with consistence
information management during the development stage of the project. The CICS
consists of four categories that enable the project managers and contractors to
manipulate a project with similar information both for schedule planning and cost
estimation. The software can also help the project organizer to link the project cost
with the construction schedule. The connection between schedule and cost will make
a reliable information management for a project.
Thomas and Vido (1989) illustrated that loss in productivity at the construction site is
caused by the unreliable management of materials. According to them, the problem
can be tackled by considering and applying combined material management program
such as construction methods, work content, environmental conditions,
constructability issues, and management aspects in the construction site.
Christian and Hachey (1995) suggested that the construction project managers should
concentrate on finding the sources and causes of time overrun in the construction
projects they are managing. They said that the division of the waiting times is very

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essential to concentrate the attention of management to the main causes of the non-
productive time.
Iyer and Jha (2006) stated that up to 40% of India’s construction projects usually
experience time overrun spanning from 1 to 252 months. The examination of the
responses of the questionnaire will direct us to reveal the successful elements by
Factor Analysis technique.
According to Tsai (2006) owners of construction projects, project managers,
contractors and designers require actual time information t help them in managing
projects by time-dependent or continuous variables such as expended construction
effort hours and owner expenditures to predict the outcomes of the project from the
beginning to detailed design through project construction termination.
Chan, Tang, Edwin, Daniel and Ho (2004) observed that collaborating is one of the
most effective techniques in delivering a construction project efficiently and reducing
resource constraints as well as time overrun. They stated that establishing proper
strategies for solving conflicts, the ability to share the available resources among the
participating parties in construction projects, dedication to a win- win attitude, a vivid
definition of responsibilities of the participating parties and regular examination of
partnering processing were said to be the significant factors for partnering success.
Katre and Ghaitidak (2016) in their analysis of India’s construction industry stated that
the construction industry in India’s the locomotive of the country’s development, and
overall development of the country can only be achieved if the construction industry is
efficient and yielding the expected results. They also stated that India being a
developing country, a lot of construction projects is coming up now and then. They
clearly put it across that there is a high demand for qualified project managers in India’s
construction industry following the high rate of project constructions being experienced
in the country at the moment. According to these researchers, it was evident that a lot
of pressure is usually exerted on the project managers to complete the construction
projects they are managing within the scheduled time and to do so with the allocated
budget without any unnecessary cost overruns. The duo however in their literature
explained that completing a certain construction project in time and without
overrunning the stipulated budget is not an easy task, and it takes a joint dedicated
effort of all the concerned parties participating in the construction project. According

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to their research, in India, Project managers are usually given the responsibility making
sure that the construction projects progress without any difficulties. They suggested
that other related stakeholders such as consultants, workers and owners of these
construction projects should put in a joint dedicated effort cooperating effectively with
the hired project manager to make sure the construction project is a success as far as
scheduled time and allocated budget are concerned. According to their literature, the
construction industry of India is progressing with numerous companies of all sizes
actively participating and offering their services in the industry. They went ahead to
approximate that about 500 companies specializing in construction materials were
registered in 2011. The numbers have since increased symbolizing that the
construction industry in India is active and growing.
Chidambaram and Potty (2014) did a qualitative analysis of cost overrun and time
delay in several construction projects in India. The projects they based their research
on were very complicated with big contract values and many specialized workers
involved in the construction projects. They stated that the construction projects they
examined valued quality performance and hence a lot of expertise was involved. They
found out that the two main causes of time overrun and resource constraints in those
projects were the lack of proper communication between the parties which led to a lot
of conflicts, cost overrun and also delay the project’s completion.
Subramani et al. (2014) in his examination of causes of cost overrun in a project,
construction stated that the construction industry in India is very essential as far as the
development of the country is concerned. He used a questionnaire survey which he
distributed in more than 30 construction sites to find out the major causes of resource
constraints in India’s construction industry. According to his findings, the major causes
of resource constraints in India’s construction industry were; lack of proper schedule
management, slow and poor decision making, escalation in the prices of material and
machines, unreliable design and consultations, inappropriate estimations, a long
period between the designing phase and construction phase, problems in acquiring
the land for construction, unreliable contract management and reworks as a result of
faulty and wrong work done during constructions.
Barrak (1993) suggested that for project managers to be able to manage the budget
allocated to them effectively, they should learn how to manage the cash flow effectively

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and that will greatly facilitate the smooth running of the business. According to his
research, Barrak found out that most of construction sites’ expenses are usually paid
to the project managers and contractors inform of cash. Proper management of cash
flow is crucial since purchasing construction materials with credit has its several
shortcomings such as higher prices of goods purchased by credit as compared to
goods purchased by cash and also the contractor is constrained to only the goods
available in the shop in cases of credit purchase. Proper cash flow plan is, therefore,
important to enable the contractor purchase the construction materials on cash and
get whatever material they need in the market. According to his research, Barrak found
out that a lot of contractors usually fail to manage their cash appropriately due to lack
of proper cooperation between the participating parties such as owners who may
release the cash needed in small bits and cause some management problems to the
contractors in as far as the management of the financial resources is concerned.
Barrak (1993) in his study concerning equipment cost and usage find out construction
equipment are essential to the project manager, and they determine time and resource
aspects of a construction project. He stated that project managers could save a lot of
time and money if they consider buying their construction equipment rather than hiring
the required equipment. It is evident that hiring of equipment can be very expensive
undertaking especially considering the fact that these pieces of equipment are usually
hired on a daily basis. The process of hiring the equipment can also be time-
consuming and inconveniencing in cases where these pieces of equipment are not
available for hire. Also, Barrak found out that old equipment are also unreliable, and
there is usually a pressing need to purchase new equipment to replace the old ones.
Barrak proposed efficient strategies should be put in place so as to ensure proper
procuring of the required equipment, proper management of the purchased equipment
and also proper accountancy of costs incurred while repairing these pieces of
equipment.
Barrak (1993) illustrated that in as much as many project managers pointed out to
factors such as unreliable labour, escalation of material costs and unfavorable
government policies as the main causes of resource constraints and time overrun,
poor management decisions are also a major cause of time overrun and resource
constraints in construction industries. He suggested that construction project
managers should consider coming up with proper managerial decisions so as to help

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combat factors that cause resource constraints and time overrun in their construction
projects. Project managers should be careful not give decisions which are not in line
with the company’s policies unless all the important factors are considered and
handled with utmost care.
Hu et al. (2008) said that there are many factors concerning material management
which usually affect the construction projects as far as time overrun and resource
constraints are concerned. He highlighted factors such bid procurement, damage and
repairing of materials, material storage issues, the supply of materials, material
tracking, material purchasing and bid procurement as main factors which impact on
the construction project concerning the material management. He explained that delay
in material supply would lead to a consequent delay on the entire projection
construction. He, therefore, proposed reliable strategies to be put in place so as to
enable efficient management of materials which can greatly improve the situation in
the construction industry.
Barrak (1993) pointed out poor weather conditions is also another factor causing time
overrun and resource delay in the construction industry. He illustrated the vast effects
unfavorable weather conditions have to the construction industry and therefore the
factor should not be assumed. He stated that adverse weather conditions usually
impact on the work schedule, the productivity of the laborers and also the delivery of
the construction materials to the construction site. He proposed that contractors should
take note of varying weather conditions and adjust the working schedule appropriately
so as to recover the time which might be wasted as a result of poor weather conditions.
He also recommended proper working plan such as to hurry the construction of places
which can provide shade during construction so as to enable the work to continue
even as the weather conditions are not favorable.
Assaf and Al-Hejji (2006) found out that inappropriate planning and scheduling of the
project works as one of the major causes of time overrun and resource constraint in
construction industries. They proposed effective utilization of computer software which
can help to keep track and manage the construction projects effectively. They also
said that proper communication between the participating parties could help in
ensuring efficient scheduling and planning of construction projects.

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CHAPTER 3-RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.1 INTRODUCTION
This chapter deals with the methodology used to capture the data, required to achieve
the objectives and aim of the study. It is divided into sections covering: research
strategy, research method, research approach, methods and tools of data collection,
sample selection, data analysis, ethical considerations and research limitations. It is
important to understand that the major methods used in data collection were
interviews, a literature survey of past literature related to the topic of study and also
the use of case studies of major construction projects in India. The analysis of the data
collected through the interviews was done through the importance index method so as
to rank the causes in order of their effectiveness. The case study was done through
scenario analysis so as to come up with the main causes of time overrun and resource
constraint as observed in the case studies of major construction projects in India. The
research was done within a period of six weeks involving the data collection and
analysis before coming up with the relevant findings and conclusions. Some of the
information used in the research methodology section was collected directly from the
field. Some other information was collected from the past pieces of literature which
were related to the topic of study. Case studies were deduced from what I observed
in the construction sites I visited and also asking the relevant authorities in those sites
some questions about the topic of study.
3.2 RESEARCH STRATEGY
The research strategy I used to approach this research with adheres to both
beneficence and malfeasance. Beneficence is the primary ethical standards of doing
good and malfeasance is the primary ethical standard of not doing harm. The
methodology I employed in the research is consistent with the research strategy I
chose to follow. The research strategy that I used to guide my dissertation involved a
proper approach towards the research ethic by using efficient research design,
research methods, data analysis strategies and sampling strategies. The research
strategy, therefore, involved the systematic arrangement of the research design, data
collection methods, data analysis methods and also the findings, conclusion and
recommendations of the research. I considered incorporating the use of interviews,
case studies and surveying of past literature pieces as part of my strategy in carrying

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out the research methodology. It is important to note that I greatly considered the
ethical issues while strategizing the research methodology. I intended to carry out my
study in such a way that it will be fully in line with good ethical elements. Interviews
were done to both genders, being very careful not to ask any personal questions that
might annoy the respondents. The case study was also done in different regions in
India being careful not to concentrate on a specific reason which might be seen as an
element of biases.
3.3 RESEARCH METHOD
The research methods used for this study were categorized into three parts. The first
part included a literature survey which involves surveying other researchers’ works of
similar interest and drawing findings and conclusions from them. The literature review
was done through; books, the internet and other international project management
journals. As a result of this phase of research, 4 time overrun and resource constraints
related to the construction industry in India were identified. The causes were grouped
into categories such as owner related, consultant related, contractor related, material
related, design-related and other external factors depending on their type and how
they occurred.
The second type of the research method involved the use of one on one interviews
with the relevant stakeholders of the construction industry in India. Only renowned
project managers were interviewed in this study. The interview was done in such a
way that it was directed to find out the ranking of these causes of time delay and
resource constraint in project construction in India.
The third and the last research method I used in this study was the examining the case
studies of the main construction projects in India. The case study was done in two
construction sites namely the Oberoi Mall in Mumbai and Gujarat apartments in central
Gujarat region of India.
3.4 RESEARCH APPROACH
I approached my research by first outlining the methods I will use to collect data. I first
carried out literature surveys of past literature works of similar interest. After the

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literature review, I visited two major construction projects in India to carry out their
case studies. After understanding the situations in those construction sites, I came up
with a list of questions which I used to do one on one interviews with the project
managers who have ever managed major construction projects in India. After doing
the interview, I listed down all the relevant information which I then analyzed to come
up with relevant findings, conclusions and recommendations to improve the situation
in India’s construction industry. I employed both the qualitative and quantitative
approach while doing this research. I also came up with strategies I will use to
overcome any challenges during the study in my research approach. Also, I
considered approaching my research without any specific speculations so that my
outcome and findings could not be biased in any way.
3.5 DATA COLLECTION METHODS AND TOOLS
I employed both qualitative and quantitative methods of data collection while collecting
data. Quantitative methods used during the collection of data included conducting of
one on one interviews with project managers who supervised major construction
projects in India. Data collected from the respondents was recorded immediately so
that they can be analyzed and processed into reliable information.
Qualitative data collection methods used to collect data in this research involved the
direct observations of two major construction sites in India in the form of case studies
and reviewing the various literatures of other researchers which are related to the topic
of study. The data collection methods used was very helpful in the study because they
enabled me to come up with clear findings, conclusion and recommendations to
improve the situation in India’s construction industry.
3.6 INTERVIEW
I listed some questions to ask the relevant stakeholders who were to help me come
up with dependable findings. The questions were categorized depending on the
parties’ level of involvement in the construction industry. I had a set of questions for
the project managers in the construction industry in India. All the questions listed in
the interview sheet were direct, precise and aimed at investigating what causes
resource constraints and time overrun in India’s construction projects. I was also
determined to rank the causes according to their level of effect. The questions I listed
in my interview sheet can be seen in the appendix.

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CHAPTER 4-CASE STUDY
A case study of an estate construction site in the Central Gujarat region of India
The large site is to house approximately 1000 families in India. The Gujarat
Apartments consists of 10 blocks of buildings. Each block has approximately 100 units
consisting of both 2 bedroom and 3 bedroom apartments. The site is under the
supervision of two contractors. One contractor by the name Taheer Muhidin
represents the owners of the construction; he is the owners’ eyes in the whole
construction project. The other contractor by the name Seif Abid is a hired contractor.
He is responsible for all the construction works on the site. Mr. Abid is contracted to
control all the development activities; he deals with other subcontractors who controls
the electricity and also plumbing sectors. While Seif controls construction, Taheer is
responsible for all finances and security of the site. He is also the one to control all the
ordering of materials. Employment of manpower in the construction site is handled by
both the contractors. The construction during the time of the study was 5 blocks away
from completion. Only five blocks were finished, furnished with all required
components and perfectly painted. The rest of the five blocks are still in their initial
stages with no much development; there were not anywhere near completion. The
construction was scheduled to complete four years. I visited the site on the fifth year
since the construction began. It is evident that the construction is only half way and
the time scheduled to complete the work had already overrun. A lot of confusion is
also evident on the site. Not all Masons were present on the site due to late payments,
and it was deserted sort of a strike. The workers present at the construction site were
idling in the buildings due to lack of enough building materials. Only the plumbers and
electricians were busy. Building blocks and cement were reportedly being procured
and were set to arrive a few minutes late. The project manager stated that they are
planning to finish the project within the coming two years. Husain, who is the project
manager, pointed the delay to lack of proper cooperation amongst the relevant
stakeholders. He says that the contractor responsible for procuring materials at times
fails to do so at the right time. He also blamed the contractor responsible for all
construction purposes to be having poor relations with the workers. A lot of workers
often decide to quit the work, strike or even fail to be at their best due to some conflicts

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which usually arise between them and their employer. According to the project
manager, the owners are very depressed with the progress of the construction, and
they are even contemplating to fire the two contractors and employ a new set of
contractors to complete the project.
A case study of a mall construction site located in Mumbai, India
The Oberoi mall located in the heart of Mumbai city is to house approximately 200
business stalls. The mall is known to be one of the largest facilities in Mumbai. The
construction of the mall involved a lot of finances and manpower. During my time of
the visit to the construction site, only the top floor of the mall was not finished. The rest
of the building was completed, but business had not yet started. According to the
project manager, Mr. Sharma, the top floor was important to the mall since the parking
lot is to be constructed there and also the managerial offices of the mall were to be
placed there. Mr. Sharma said that the mall cannot be fit for use unless the top floor
was completely done. The construction of the mall began six years ago in the year
2010. The project was scheduled to complete in the year 2014 but due to some issues,
the project was late and still not yet finished. I asked the project manager why the
project had experienced time overrun, and he had a lot to say. According to the project
manager, the initial scheduled time for completion was too short. He said that there is
no way such a massive project could be finished in just four years. Also, he brought in
some other causes which he believed might have contributed for the time overrun of
the construction project. The manager was quite uncomfortable with the way the
owners of the mall were releasing financial resources. He says that he faces a lot of
problems trying to balance between efficient procuring of building materials and paying
the workers in time due to slow release of financial resources by the owners. In his
opinion, the floor could have been finished earlier this year if the flow of finances was
good. Mr. Sharma complained that the construction of the mall is the worst project he
has ever managed in his entire career. He said that he deserved to be congratulated
bearing the amount of extra hard work he put in to ensure that the construction project
has reached its completion phase.
According to the manager, not once or twice the hired workers went on strike due to
late payments. He even highlighted a situation whereby he had to work with only 20

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laborers for two months. The construction process was very slow then, and progress
could hardly be noticed. Construction of such a massive site is supposed to have at
least 200 workers working under different sections on daily occasion. The same was
not evident in the mall construction due to the frequent strike of workers. The manager
also ascertained that the release of the plan documents by the hired consultants was
very late. He said that he received the documents a year after he was hired and that
greatly influenced the time overrun being experienced. Resource constraints were also
evident in the construction process. The manager said that they had not even started
the construction of the parking lot since the material required had not yet arrived. He
said that they had procured terrazzo stones from Malaysia six months ago, but the
material had not yet arrived. According to the manager, the construction of the top
parking lot which is essential to the users of the mall could not begin unless the
terrazzo stones were there. He also added that they faced a lot of challenges regarding
constraint of resources since the majority of materials required were being imported
from outside countries, and they took a lot of time to arrive. Mr. Sharma insisted that
the mall could be even worse than I found it if it were not for his dedication and
relentless hard work to make sure that the construction is progressing well. He showed
me some ban notices from the government agencies which caused the construction
to be in a halt for some time until they cleared with the relevant government authorities.
The project manager complained that a lot of clearance is needed to do such a
massive project. He suggested that at least one agency could control all the necessary
regulations to make the clearance process easy. The construction of the mall faced
some challenges but thanks to the project manager, it is continuing well and due to be
completed in a few months if the required material arrives in time.

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CHAPTER 5-SAMPLE SELECTION- LITERATURE REVIEW
I sampled a variety of literature works related to the topic of study in my sample
selection. Hence I came up with a detailed and informative literature review regarding
the topic of research.
It is evident that one of the most common problems associated with the project
construction industry in India is the time overrun and resource constraints. Time
overrun and resource constraints occur in almost every construction project. The
magnitude of project delays and resource constraints varies depending on the type of
construction project being undertaken. It is, therefore, necessary to define the genuine
causes of time overrun and resource constraints to reduce and avoid delays caused
by the limitation of resource and time overrun in any construction project in India.
This section discusses in details about various literature associated with the topic of
research. Headings to be discussed in this section includes; definition of time overrun,
types of time overrun, resource related factors which leads to project construction time
delay, data analysis and conclusions from literature survey.
5.1 DEFINITION OF TIME OVERRUN
Eagles and Sanders (2001) describe overrun as an occasion that brings about the
extension of time required to finish all or particular sections of a construction project.
Time overrun can also be described as delay either past the date for the conclusion
or past the added contract period where the addition of time has been allowed. The
kind of time overrun discussed in this research is the delay past the date for conclusion
outlined by the contract not taking into considerations whether an addition of time has
been allowed.
Sambasivan and Soon (2007) stated that delays in the construction industry are a
worldwide phenomenon impacting on not only the construction industry but also the
general economy of nations. Time delay involves various complicated subjects all of
which are consistently paramount to the parties of the construction contract. These
matters concern the right to regain costs of time overrun or the need to extend the
construction project with the important right to recovery costs for changes done to the
contract schedule. A lot of questions usually come up as to what caused the delay and
the assigning of liabilities often lead litigation and disputes (Bolton, 1990).

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Today many players in the construction industry are becoming increasingly alarmed
about the time taken to complete a particular construction project due to increasing
rates of inflation, rising interest rates and also commercial demands (Nkado, 1995).
The potential of time delay in certain construction projects to cause conflict and
allegations which might lead to litigations is also of huge concern among the
stakeholders in the construction industry. Vidalis and Najafi (2002) generalized the
cause of time delay to both internal and external causes plus the effect relationship.
5.2 TYPES OF TIME DELAYS
Ahmed et al. (2003) Stated that time overrun in construction is caused by some factors.
He categorized delays in two categories namely the external and internal causes. The
internal causes of time delay are those that usually come from the parties to the
contract. These parties are inclusive of the consultant, contractor and also the client.
External factors, on the other hand usually come from issues which are beyond the
influence of the parties. Examples of these events are; government actions, act of God
and material distributors.
Bolton (1990), categorized time overrun as follows:
 Justifiable but non-compensable delay – these are delays brought about by
events which are not related to any of the parties.
 Compensable Delay- these are delays which are caused by omissions or acts
of the owner or a party whose acts an owner is responsible.
 Inexcusable delays – these types of delays arise from contractor’s mistake or
his assistants or material suppliers.
 These delays impact both the internal and external project construction
processes. Internal factors which can instigate delays in project construction
include designers, consultants, contractors and owners. On the other hand,
external factors which instigate time overrun in project construction include
material suppliers, government actions, vendors, nature, labour and also
subcontractors.
5.3 CAUSES OF TIME OVERRUN
Causes of time delay in construction projects have been a topic of research for many
years. Researchers usually try to find the causes of delays so that they can help

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reduce the losses caused by these delays and consequently improve the situation in
the construction industry.
Arditi et al. (1985) highlighted the causes of time delays on the Turkish public-sector
of project construction in the 1970s and 1980s. Arditi limited his research only in the
Turkish public sector of construction. He also limited his survey to public parties and
contractors’ concerned in the public construction sector. Arditi found out that delays in
construction projects are caused by external factors such as economic policies and
internal factors such as financial difficulties. While Arditi only focused his study on
Turkish public sector of construction, this research is going to focus on the construction
projects in India and deeply look into the causes of the time delays and not just briefly
highlighting the external and internal factors as Arditi did.
Bramble and Callahan (1992) evaluated the reasons for time delays in project
construction by researching about the responsibility of main parties to the construction
process. They concluded their research by stating that it is the owners who cause time
overrun by late approvals, late issuing of the site to the contractor, adjustment in
orders, inferences and financial difficulties. While Bramble and Callahan limited their
study to only the internal causes of time delay in project construction, this research is
going to look deeply into both internal and external factors which cause delays in
project construction. Uncontrollable causes of time overrun in project construction
such as government intervention will be part of this research.
5.4 RESOURCE CONSTRAINTS IN PROJECT CONSTRUCTION
Resource constraints are one of the major problems which cause construction industry
in India to suffer. Abd Majid and McCaffer (1998) defined resource constraint as
challenges which arise as a result of limitation or inconvenience in manpower, finance,
equipment and material. An aspect related to resource constraints leading to the time
delay of a construction project is categorized under four subjects namely; manpower
related, finance related, equipment related and materials related.
5.5MATERIALS RELATED FACTORS
Odeh and Bataineh (2002) discovered that poor quality of materials has a huge effect
on the causes of time overrun in any construction project. Koushki et al. (2005)

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identified factors such as lack of enough construction material and improper
procurement of construction materials largely contribute to time delays in construction
projects. Wiguna and Scott (2005) found out that factors such as rising prices of
construction materials also adds to the reason why the construction of certain projects
usually delays. This research is going to look further into other factors related to
construction materials such as availability of these materials and how it impacts on the
construction industry.
5.6 MANPOWER RELATED FACTORS
Abd Majid and McCaffer 1998 stated that factors such as labour supply, strike, slow
recruitment of labour, absenteeism and low morale and motivation are key factors
which cause time delays in any project construction. Ogunlana et al. (1996) discovered
that factors such as lack of enough skilled labour and productivity have a huge effect
on the time overrun of project construction. This research is going to mention other
manpower related factors such as immigration and availability of permit to immigrants.
5.7 EQUIPMENT RELATED FACTORS
Abd Majid and McCaffer (1998) discovered that factors like improper equipment,
malfunctioning of equipment and slow mobilization of tools as sole contributors to
delays in projection construction. Chan and Kumaraswamy (1996) identified lack of
enough equipment and improper equipment are issues which lead to delays in
projection construction. This research is going to look into other factors related to
equipment which was not tackled by these researchers. Such issues include the
affordability of necessary equipment to be used in project construction.
5.8 FINANCE RELATED FACTORS
Long et al. (2004) identified factors such as sky rocketing interest rates are the chief
causes of time overrun in a construction project. Abd Majid and McCaffer (1998) stated
that issues such as lack of enough fund allocation and late payments to suppliers and
subcontractors are one of the main causes of delays construction projects. This
research is going to expound on other financial related factors such as lack of proper
financial incentive and how it impacts on project construction.

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5.9 CONCLUSIONS FROM THE LITERATURE
Time delay causes a critical negative effect on the company and country at large.
These negative effects usually come in the form of quality, terms of schedule and also
the cost of constructing the project. From the extensive literature study, it was
discovered that research related to resource constraints and time overrun were
performed mostly in foreign countries. From the studies, it is evident that construction
companies and other stakeholders in the construction industry do not commit
themselves to abide by effective strategies to avoid time delays and material
constraints. It is also evident that today, most construction projects are facing high
demand for resources. Constraints of resources are therefore the leading cause of
time overrun in most construction projects. An effective resource constraint strategy
should be put in action so as to address the issue of time delays in construction project.

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CHAPTER 6-DATA ANALYSIS
Introduction
Following the collected information from the interviews I conducted with the relevant
stakeholders in the India’s construction industry, I employed a number of techniques
to analyse the data collected in order to come up with relevant findings, conclusions
and recommendations. I booked appointments with a total of twenty five project
managers who have ever managed construction projects in India. I therefore
conducted interviews with them as per their schedule. All the twenty five respondents
completed the interview as required. The respondents were located in different regions
in India. Their response was evaluated using Microsoft excel program and SPSS
software so as to find the rank of the causes of time overrun and resource constraints
in India’s construction industry. This section involves different techniques used in the
analysis of data collected from the respondents, case data and literature surveys done
while collecting the data.
Demographics of Respondents
Demography of the interviewees was assessed to determine the factual data of the
interviewees who were associated with the process of data collection. The
interviewees were represented in three categories depending on their level of
expertise or rather years of experience. The findings were represented in the pie chart
below.

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Figure 1
15 out the total interviewed project managers were highly experienced having
managed numerous projects with many years in the construction industry. 7 were
experienced with a number of construction projects under their name while the
remaining 3 were managing their first construction projects in their career.
I also categorized the demographics of the respondents depending on their education
level regarding construction associated courses. I found out that all the respondents
who engaged in the interview either had a diploma, degree or masters degree in
project construction management or other building and construction related courses.
The situation was as represented by the following pie chart.
experience of the respondents
highly expereinced
experienced
least experienced

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Figure 2
As expressed in the pie chart, majority of the respondents had degree certifications in
building and construction related courses. Out of the 25 respondents, degree holders
constituted of 16 respondents. 7 of the total respondents had diploma certifications in
building and construction related courses such as project management. Only two out
of the total 25 respondents had masters’ certification hence represented by the tiny
section in the pie chart.
I also categorized the respondents according to the number of construction projects
they had managed in their careers. I found out that most of the project managers I
interviewed had either managed 8 or less projects in their entire careers. All of the
respondents who I categorized as having been highly experienced had managed a
total of 8 projects each in their entire careers. The rest had managed less than 4
projects in their careers. The situation was as represented by the pie chart below.
education levels of the respondents
degree
diploma
masters

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Figure 3
As expressed by the pie chart, majority of the respondents I interviewed had managed
up to 8 projects. They constituted of 15 out of the 25 project managers I had
interviewed. Out of the 25 respondents, only 3 had managed 4 projects, 4 had
managed 3 projects and the remaining three had managed 1 project each. The three
are represented as least experienced in the first pie chart.
Reliability of their response
Reliability analysis of the response given by the project managers was tested in order
to determine whether it can produce the same score if the interview was to be done
again at the same time with the same respondents. (Reynold and Santos 1999) stated
that alpha greater than 0.7 signifies that the data collection instrument is fit and
acceptable. To simply the work, SPSS 20 was utilized to calculate the data for each
group of variables. The summary of their response on time overrun and resource
constraints is as shown in the table below.
Variables Alpha
Time frequency 0.937
Time severity 0.958
Resource frequency 0.982
Resource severity 0.976
number of construction projects managed by
the respondents
8 projects
4 projects
3 projects
1 project

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According to the results, their response can be said to be reliable. This is because
frequency and severity of resources as well as time had been found to be greater than
0.7
The ranking of causes of time overrun and resource constraints
Effective methods were used to rank the causes of time overrun and resource
constraints according to the response given by the interviewees. These methods
included the Importance Index Method (IIM) and the Relative Importance Index
Method popularly abbreviated as (RIIM)
Importance Index Method (IMM)
The importance index method was used to analyze the rank of causes as expressed
by the interviews done with renowned project managers in India’s construction
industry. The importance index of each reason was worked out as a function of both
severity and frequency indices as demonstrated:
Importance Index (IMP.I.)(%) = [F.I. (%)* S.I. (%)]/100
The following table shows the rank of the causes of time overrun and resource
constraints as demonstrated by the importance index method.
Cause IMP.I
Short initial scheduled time for the
project completion
49.5%
Shortage of cheap and reliable
labour
49.3%
Government intervention 49.1%
Low productivity among the laborers 48.9%
Inadequate financial resources 48.7%
Poor cooperation between relevant
stakeholders
47.7%
Late release of financial resources
by owners
46.3%
Unavailability of building materials 45.8%

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Inappropriate procurement of
materials
45.1%
Adjustment of material types during
construction
44.6%
From the above table, short initial scheduled time for the project completion
(IMP.I=49.5%) comes in first as the major cause of time overrun and resource
constraints in India’s construction industry. This was according to the general
response given by the interviewed project managers. It was evident that owners of
these construction projects usually expect a lot from the hired project managers at the
beginning of the project construction. Almost all the project managers I interviewed
complained that the time scheduled for project completion is usually abnormal as
owners do not consider certain factors while setting and giving the deadlines for project
completion. This results to a lot of pressure once the deadline has passed
consequently leading to frustrations and confusion which greatly impacts negatively
on the project construction. Shortage of cheap and reliable labour (IMP.I=49.35%)
comes in second after the initial scheduled time of completion. 24 out of 25 project
managers I interviewed pointed out to lack of affordable and reliable labour to the
causes of time overrun and material constraints. The project managers stated that the
budget they are usually allocated with cannot handle the wages rate demanded by the
skilled laborers, they therefore opt for cheap labour which does not come without its
negative consequences such as slow work rate and wastage of materials. Government
intervention (IMP.I=49.1%) comes third in the table. It is evident that construction
projects in India are usually associated with a lot of government related constraints
which require certain certifications and clearance for construction of the project to
continue. This according to many managers usually cause a lot of time wastage. The
cause can also be expounded on the material constraint angle in that government
usually intervenes in the importation process of required materials. Low productivity
levels among the laborers (IMP.I=48.9%) is also another major cause of time overrun
in India’s construction industry. Majority of the managers I interviewed complained that
the hired workers usually fell short of their expectations in terms of the amount of work
they can handle per any given amount of time. Inadequate financial resources
(IMP.I=48.7%) is also another issue to reckon with as far as construction projects in

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India is concerned. Project managers complained that the amount of money allocated
to them is usually not enough following certain external factors such as inflation and
other factors which may cause the cost of materials to overrun. Poor cooperation
between relevant stakeholders comes in sixth in the list; the cause can be attributed
to many factors such as late release or rather inappropriate documentation process, it
can also be associated with poor coordination between contractors, owners and any
other related parties such as laborers which can cause misunderstanding and
consequent delay in the project construction. Late release of financial resources by
owners (IMP.I=46.3%) is also another factor which is among the top causes of time
overrun and resource constraints in India’s construction industry. It was evident that
many owners of construction project in India fail to release the required financial
resources in time. This usually results in late procurement of materials, late payments
of workers which might cause the laborers to strike among many other negative
causes of inappropriate release of financial resources. Number eight on the table is
the unavailability of building materials (IMP.I=45.8%). Some project managers were
depressed by the slow process involved in procuring some of the required building
materials from outside countries. Inappropriate procurement of materials
(IMP.I=45.1%) comes second last in the list. Project managers admitted that lack of
proper procuring systems of required materials usually delay their projects and also
cause material constraint. This can be attributed to the fact that there are usually no
skilled procuring personnel employed in these construction sites to ensure efficient
procurement of materials. Most managers usually handle the procuring process which
can be very intense and complicating at times. Adjustment of material types comes in
last in the ranking list of causes of time overrun and resource constraints in India’s
construction industry. Some project managers complained that they usually run out of
budget and needed to purchase different types of materials mostly in cases of
undecided owners. The reworking process is usually expensive, material consuming
and also time wasting. This cause of time overrun and resource constraint cannot be
underestimated even though it rarely happens in project construction.
Relative Importance Index Method
The responses from the interviews were recorded and analysed using the SPSS
software. Relative Importance Index Method was then used in ranking the causes of
time overrun and resource constraints in India’s construction industry.

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RII (%) = a * n/N *100/5
Where:
RII = Relative Important Index
a= constant expression weight
n= frequency of response
N= total number of response
The relative index method was used to rank the causes of time overrun and resource
constraints. In order to come up with detailed results, causes of time overrun were
ranked separately from causes of resource constraints.
Ranking of causes of time overrun
The table below demonstrates the rank of causes of time overrun in project
constructions in India.
Cause of
Time overrun
RII rank group
Contract
alterations
58.00 1 Owner’s
responsibility
Material
market rate
54.57 2 Economic
condition
Project
location
53.42 3 Projection
condition
Lack of
reliable labour
53.42 3 Projection
condition
High quality
of work required
52.57 4 Owner’s
responsibility
Labour strike 51.71 5 Environmental
condition
Rework of
poor performance
51.42 6 Management
condition

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Unclear
specification
50.72 7 Design and
documentation
Incomplete
drawing
50.45 8 Design and
documentation
Equipment
shortage
49.85 9 Project
condition
Poor design
documentations
48.30 10 Design and
documentation
From the above table, it is observed that contract alterations (RII=58.0) is the main
cause of time overrun in India’s construction industry. This can be pointed to the fact
that a lot of changes is usually done to the project’s contract while construction is in
progress. Changes may be in form of design, labour and the material required. A lot
of time is usually wasted at the transition period. Material market rate (RII=54.57)
comes in second in the list. Majority of the project managers I interviewed pointed out
to the market rate of material as one of the major causes of time overrun in the projects
they managed. In most cases, they budget allocated is usually not in line with the
market rate of building material required. Alteration of the budget and procuring
affordable materials usually involves a lot of time hence leading to time overrun in
project construction. Project location (RII=53.42) is h third most cause of time overrun
in India’s construction industry according to the Relative Importance Index method. It
is evident that sites which are located in areas which are not easily accessible usually
face a lot of challenges such as late delivery of materials, late arrival of workers etc
which constitutes to overall time delay of the construction project. Lack of reliable
labour (RII=53.42) scored the same Relative Importance Index as that of project
location. A lot of managers complained that the kind of work force they have hired in
their construction sites usually take more time than required to complete a certain
piece of task. Time wastage by the hired labor constitutes to the overall time overall in
the project construction. High quality of work required (RII=52.57) is another top
causes of time overrun in India’s construction industry. Most project mangers I
interviewed said that they had to take their time to ensure everything runs smoothly in
order to deliver the god quality of work expected by the project owners. Labour strike
(RII=51.71) is ranked number five in the list. Labour strike can be pointed to the fact

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that laborers are usually frustrated with some working conditions or poor payments
which cause them to drop their tools and hence leading to overall time overall in the
project construction. Some managers revealed that they have ever experienced up to
six weeks or so without any workers in their construction sites due to strikes. Rework
of poor performance (RII=51.42) comes in sixth in the list. According to the interviews
I conducted with the project managers, a lot of time is usually wasted in reworking
sections which have not been constructed properly. Poor performance can be pointed
to the lack of skilled labour. Unclear specification (RII=50.72) is ranked number seven
in the Relative Importance Index rank of causes of time overrun in India’s construction
industry. Unclear specification usually arise from improper design documentations
which often cause project managers to wait for specifications or even to do a rework
to suit the required new specifications. Incomplete drawing (RII=50.45) is number eight
in the list of causes of time overrun in India’s construction industry. The cause is often
as a result of unreliable design consultation services. Some of the project managers I
interviewed complained that a lot of time is usually wasted while waiting for the next
phase of construction of to be drawn and documented. Equipment shortage
(RII=49.85) comes second last in the list. According to the interviews I conducted with
the various project managers, it was evident that a lot of time is usually wasted due to
lack of enough pieces of equipment in the construction site. Even though it rarely
occurs, poor design documentation (RII=48.30) is another cause of time overrun which
cannot be underestimated in India’s construction industry. Some project managers I
interviewed pointed out to poor documentation of building design as the cause of time
overrun in the construction project they managed. From the table, we can also deduce
that project condition and inconveniences in the design and documentation leads to
more causes of time overrun in India’s construction industry compared to any other
category of causes. The two category had three causes each followed by owner’s
responsibility which had two causes and then management condition, environmental
condition and economic condition which had one cause each.
Ranking of causes of resources constraints
Cause of
material
constraint
RII Rank Category

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Escalation of
material cost
54.32 1 Economic
condition
Lack of
cooperation at
design stage
53.87 2 Construction
design
Rework 52.80 3 Contractor’s
Responsibility
Additional
work as requested
by owners
52.63 4 Owner’s
responsibility
Wastage on
site
51.50 5 Construction
items
Challenges
on importing
materials
51.37 6 political
Mistakes
during construction
50.78 7 Construction
items
Incomplete
design
49.90 8 Documentation
and design
High
transportation cost
49.50 9 Labour and
equipment
From the table above, escalation of material cost (RII=54.32) is ranked as the first
major cause of material constraints in India’s construction industry. All the project
managers I Interviewed pointed out to the increase in material cost as the major cause
of resource constraint in India’s construction industry. They said that the rise in the
prices of the material often renders their budget insufficient leading to serious resource
problems. Lack of cooperation at design stage (RII=53.87) comes in as the second
major cause of resource constraints in India’s construction industry. It was evident that
issues such as incomplete and improper construction usually lead to limitation of
resources in that a lot of rework and inconveniences usually result from this cause.
Rework (RII=52.80) is another major cause of resource constrain in India’s
construction industry. Ranked at number 3, this cause usually leads to a lot of wastage

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of materials hence depriving the financial resources of any construction project.
Additional works as requested by owners (RII=52.63) is also another top cause of
resource constraints in India’s construction industry. Project managers stated that
some owners of the project usually request some additional work without taking into
account that some resources must be added to the existing or rather the allocated
ones. Wastage on site (RII =51.50) is ranked number five on the list of causes of
resource constraint in India’s construction industry. Majority of the project managers I
interviewed admitted that a lot of material is usually wasted on site by the laborers
leading to overall resource constraint in the project construction. Challenges on
importing materials (RII=51.37) is ranked number six on the list. It was evident that
project managers usually face a lot of problems while procuring for materials from
other countries. Limitation of materials usually comes as a result of waiting of these
materials to arrive from outside countries. Mistakes during construction (RII=50.78) is
another cause of resource constraint in Indi’s construction industry. The cause can be
pointed out to unskilled labour and improper construction design which limits the
resources of a certain construction project. Incomplete design (RII=49.90) is ranked
second last as the top causes of resource constraints in India’s construction industry.
The cause can be pointed to improper consultation services which negatively impact
on the resources of the construction project. High transportation cost (RII=49.50) is
yet another factor which causes resource constraints in India’s construction industry.
The factor is often evident in construction sites which are located in areas which cannot
be easily accessed.
It is important to note that, during the interview, the respondents were asked to
categorize the causes of time overrun and resource constraints in a 4-likert scale as;
1. Can be neglected
2. Low influence
3. Medium influence
4. High influence
Only the causes mentioned under medium and high influence were used in the relative
importance index calculation. There are some other causes which are not ranked in
the above tables. Such cases were categorized by the respondents as being of low
influence and can be neglected. Example of causes of time overrun and resource

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constraints which were neglected in the importance index calculation and relative
importance index calculation include the likes of; late commencement of construction
works on daily basis and poor weather conditions for work which usually happens but
not on a regular basis.
Discussion of the results
This section discusses the results according to the two methods used in data analysis.
Here the causes are grouped according to their category in order to have a clear
insight on what causes time overrun and resource constraints in India’s construction
industry.
External causes
Figure 4
From the chart above (Figure 4), we can see that escalation of material costs is the
major cause of time overrun and resource constraint in India’s construction industry.
It is evident that inflation and other economical changes impacts negatively on the
construction industry in India. According the data collected from interviews, case
studies and also survey of the past literatures, the price of materials now is higher as
compared to the way it was in the earlier years. The trend is changing very fast in that

47. 47 | P a g e
materials can rapidly increase in price between the time of budget allocation and the
actual time of purchasing these materials. Project managers have found themselves
in difficult situations trying to squeeze the limited budget to fit the escalated price of
materials.
Challenges on importing materials follow closely as demonstrated by the chart. It is
evident that a lot of construction projects in India especially the massive ones usually
require some materials which are not locally available. The importation of these
materials is not an easy process at all. A lot of paper work, logistics and waiting are
involved in the importation of the required material from outside countries. The
situation is said to be gradually improving according to the project managers I
Interviewed. In the coming years, the importation process will be easy and fast with
the efficient port services and simplified logistics and other paper works involved in the
importation process.
High transportation cost made it to the top three external causes of time overrun and
resource constraints in India’s construction industry. Only construction sites which are
located in areas which are not easily accessible suffer the most from this factor.
Transportation cost is usually high in cases where bulky construction materials are
being transported in long distances. According to the trend, high transportation cost is
not going to be much of an issue in the coming years following the improvement of
infrastructure in India.
In general, compared to research done earlier by other researchers, challenges on
importing and high transportation costs are decreasing. However, escalation of
material cost has experienced a rapid increase compared to the earlier years. It is a
factor which is here to stay and may continue to impact negatively on India’s
construction industry as far time overrun and resource constraints are concerned.
Shortage of resources

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Figure 5
As demonstrated in the chart above (figure 5), lack of reliable labour can be seen to
be the top cause of time overrun and resource constraints under shortage of resources
category. It is evident that reliable labour is really an issue as far as India’s construction
industry is concerned. Workers in construction sites usually demand a very high
amount of wages which does not match their expertise level. This causes an overall
wastage of resources and consequently time overrun in the project construction
Labour strike which is closely related to lack of reliable labour comes in second.
Construction sites in India have been experiencing labour strike in the recent years
due to late and lack of proper payments of workers. A lot of time is usually wasted in
the striking periods leading to time overrun in the project construction. It was also
evident that some workers usually take advantage of these strikes to engage in theft
of resources required in the construction of the project.
Equipment shortage is another leading cause of resource constraints and time overrun
under shortage of resources. According to the interviewed respondents, some
construction sites often experience shortage of equipment in that workers share some
pieces of equipment. In general, shortage of equipment, leads to an overall time
overrun in the project since the daily output is usually low as a result of lack of enough
pieces of equipment.

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According to future predictions, lack of reliable labour is undergoing a gradual increase
as a problem in India’s construction industry. It is therefore expected to persist in the
coming years if efficient measures are not put in place. Labour strike is also increasing
gradually as compared to the earlier years and future construction projects are likely
to face the same problem. Shortage of equipment has been decreasing as a problem
in India’s construction industry. Future construction projects are not likely to
experience shortage in equipments since the improving technology and other
developments, enough modernized equipments are being deployed in the
construction sites.
Management problems
Figure 6
From the chart above (figure 6), it is evident that alterations in contract is the major
cause of time overrun and resource constraints in India’s construction industry under
management issues. Changes in contracts usually leads to resource constraints and
time overrun in the construction projects. Rework of poor performance which is often
as a result of unskilled labour comes in second. The reworking process often
consumes a lot of time which not allocated in the project schedule. The process also
causes unnecessary wastage of resources such as financial and material resources.
Poor design and documentations follow closely as another major cause of time

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overrun and resource constraint in India’s construction industry. The trend of these
factors cannot be predicted since they are influenced by the management of the
construction project and as we all know management varies from one construction
project to the other.

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CHAPTER 7-PROJECT MANAGEMENT
TIME AND RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
7.1 INTRODUCTION
Resource and time management help in any project to organise effectively human
resources. The success rate of any construction depends on the thorough
management of resource flow. This study focuses on construction projects in India.
The construction project is one of the largest economic activities in India and that is
next to agricultural activities. Construction projects in India contribute more than 11%
in Gross Domestic Product (GDP). It has been increasing in recent time as the
significant proportion of construction related to infrastructure, power constitutes,
highways, road projects. It is important for both government or private sector projects,
the projects have to complete within a time schedule accomplishing budgetary issues
and technical performance. In order to analyse the construction projects of India, a
detailed literature review, survey and interviews would be conducted in this study. Both
qualitative and quantitative data analysis techniques have been conducted aiming to
understand the situation of the construction industry in India.
7.2 PURPOSE OF THE PROJECT
A construction project engages to series of activities and each activity requires
resources. This study is aimed at scrutinised construction resources-related
characteristics and to analyse of the time and resource constraints related to Indian
construction projects with specific instances and attempt to find some solutions.
Major problems of Indian construction sector are efficiently managing the project
duration, finance, equipment and materials for the construction of the projects.
However, more than 40% of the construction projects lead to overruns in construction
management duration. In government and non-government projects, cost, quality,
disputes, schedules are issues for the overrun of the project. Inadequate planning
related to the time and resource flow creates problems in Indian construction industry.
7.3 LITERATURE REVIEW
Project Management Triangle:
It is a model of constraints in any project management. This graphic view shows the
three main attributes of this triangle that are present in the corner of the triangle in