Duration and Cost Variability of Construction Activities: An Empirical Study
Publication: Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
Volume 146, Issue 1
Abstract
The unique nature of construction projects can mean that construction activities often suffer from duration and cost variability. Because this variability is unplanned, it can present a problem when attempting to complete a project on time and on budget. Various factors causing this variability have been identified in the literature, but they predominantly refer to the nature and/or context of the whole project rather than specific activities. In this paper, the order of magnitude of and correlation between activity duration and cost variability is analyzed in 101 construction projects with over 5,000 activities. To do this, the first four moments (mean, standard deviation, skewness, and kurtosis) of actual versus planned duration and cost (log) ratios are analyzed by project, phase of execution, and activity type. Results suggest that, contrary to common wisdom, construction activities do not end late on average. Instead, the large variability in the activity duration is the major factor causing significant project delays and cost overruns. The values of average activity duration and cost variability gathered in this study will also serve as a reference for construction managers to improve future construction planning and project simulation studies with more realistic data.
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Data Availability Statement
All data generated or analyzed during the study are included in the published article or Supplemental Data.
Acknowledgments
The first author acknowledges the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities for his Ramon y Cajal contract (RYC-2017-22222) cofunded by the European Social Fund. This work was also supported by the second author’s “Estancias de movilidad en el extranjero José Castillejo para jóvenes doctores, 2017 (Grant Ref. CAS17/00488)” and the fourth author’s “Estancias de profesores e investigadores senior en centros extranjeros Salvador de Madariaga 2018 (Grant Ref. PRX18/00381),” both from the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities. The first and last authors also acknowledge the help received by the research group TEP-955 from the PAIDI (Junta de Andalucía, Spain).
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Published In
Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
Volume 146 • Issue 1 • January 2020
Copyright
©2019 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Feb 1, 2019
Accepted: May 17, 2019
Published online: Nov 9, 2019
Published in print: Jan 1, 2020
Discussion open until: Apr 9, 2020
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