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Uganda: Implement Construction Within Contract Timelines

By Simon J. Mone, 30 July 2013

One of the key benchmarks for the success of a construction project is timely completion. It means therefore, that having in place ways of addressing any delays will be of benefit to users of the facility being provided.

Incorporating measures to stop delays in the construction contract and duly implementing them will help save costs that may be incurred due to unnecessary delays by contractors.

It may also mean saving potential project users of the burden of prolonged inconvenience brought about by extended operations rather than short term inconvenience. Often times many projects under implementation have had to be halted and one wonders why the contractors seem to have no presence on site without any on-going activities for very many weeks.

One possible explanation could be that the contractor submits an application for interim payment to facilitate continuous performance of his contractual responsibilities, and the process delays. In a bid to minimise expenditure on site labour, the contractor withdraws and returns when the money is available. One possible explanation is that the monitoring and supervision of the works is not regularly conducted.

In many cases, however, a contractor may encounter delays that are not within his control. Such excusable delays could be because of bad weather, or due previously unknown site conditions, or in the likely case that the client chooses to make changes to the contract specifications during the course of the project performance. In this case it becomes prudent to take into consideration the time taken in completing the design changes because it has got implications on the time that the contractor will take to incorporate the design changes on ground exactly as required by the client.

Unacceptable delays are those foreseeable ones and which the contractor is very much in position to prevent and control. This would include failure by the contractor to provide sufficient labour to perform the works, defective workmanship that require some time to rectify, and late deliveries by suppliers. Unacceptable delays could also be caused when the client takes too long to process contractors' payments making it very expensive for the contractor to keep workers on site. These are all under the control of either the contractor or the client and delays brought about by such situations are simply not acceptable.

In order to avoid these unacceptable delays, it would be beneficial that clients incorporate, implement and monitor agreed schedules. This will ensure that the contractor's obligation of accelerating the work within the agreed schedules and timelines are properly adhered to. It is inevitable that the original construction schedule will change during the course of the project because of unavoidable circumstances. Such circumstances could be labour shortages and strikes, different field conditions, and contingencies needing more activities and therefore, time. Even in those difficulties, the contractor is still responsible for the means and methods that will facilitate completion of the work on agreed schedules.

The monitoring and supervision of those projects should be duly executed to ensure that delays are avoided as much as possible. Delays caused by both the client and the contractor means the population for whom those projects are intended suffer the inconvenience brought by the unnecessary prolonged project operations in their localities.

Simon J. Mone is a Civil Engineer
Liberia: 'We Need to Transform Liberia'

29 July 2013

Liberia — No ten Liberians agree on who should play what role in the reconstruction of postwar Liberia. For some, reconstruction is an all-government business. For others, reconstruction is successful when the citizens take community-grown initiatives under the guidance of the government. For still others, it is successful only when the government and people work together in an atmosphere of inclusion and mutual respect. President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf agrees. But as she outlines her administration's achievements and the challenges facing the nation, she says such government-citizen partnership for recovery demands shared interest and responsible citizenship. The Analyst reports from the President's Independent Day address in Tubmanburg, Bomi County.

President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf says that now that her administration had laid the groundwork for national recovery, it was high time the Liberian people play the responsible citizen by climbing down from the spectator seat, ditching armchair criticism, and joining the reconstruction efforts.

She says this must become the new normal if Liberians must transform their country and put it on par with its neighbors in terms of economic and infrastructural development.

In the same vein, she said, the government dedicated or inspected some twenty-six development projects, among them, the regional office of the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), the presidential guesthouse, chief's compound, superintendent's residence, and, among many initiatives the modern Gbah Market Building, in Gbah Jakeh.

“Being responsible citizens mean we do not stand in the way of progress. Responsible citizens do not build homes in such a way that construction of the roadway is delayed, and building the railway to transport the iron ore cannot proceed. We should not threaten the start date of bringing cheaper electricity to our people because construction of the hydro is hampered as a result of people having planted rubber trees in the basin where the water will flow. Such actions cost Government additional money we did not budget for, in order to settle the many claims. We ask you to join us, as responsible citizens, to do the right thing. It means doing your bit to help our country advance, and to accelerate its growth,” she said.

But she said there was something more akin to a citizen being responsible: it is the change of attitudes and behavior towards law, order, and governance.

“More importantly, we can only become responsible citizens by changing our attitudes and our behavior. We need, as Liberians, to think positively; to balance criticism with constructive solutions; to love our country and ourselves; to want to uplift ourselves and everything around us; to be patriotic. That's what citizen responsibility is all about. That's what progress is all about,” the president emphasized.

Meanwhile President Sirleaf says electricity would shortly be available to 18 communities along the Liberian-Ivorian border. The areas include residents of Luguatuo, Duoplay, Karnplay, Sanniquellie and Ganta, who now have street lights.

“Testing will continue throughout the remaining lines in the county, and by August residences and businesses will start being connected to the electricity grid. We hope that by Christmas, the citizens of Maryland and Grand Gedeh will experience similar joy, Nimba having come on-stream by the end of August,” the Liberian leader disclosed.