The term schedule analysis was first published on 25th June 2005. Schedule analysis is required to discover facts, abnormalities, and problems that can exist through the project time due to intentional or unintentional reasons.
It is used to verify compliance with the client’s contract specification, the logical sequence between activities, and overall schedule coherence.
There are nine scheduled analysis techniques. Among them, the most appropriate schedule analysis method is the Delay Analysis. Delay Analysis can be defined as the use of knowledge and experience to determine the delay, the reasons for the delay, and the amount of delay in projects.
How can delay analysis be performed?
The Society of Construction Law (SCL), in 2002, provided a protocol that consists of guidelines on how to conduct the process? The SCL Protocol provided the below four delay analysis methods:
- As-planned v as-built,
- Impacted as planned,
- Collapsed as-built, and
- Time impact analysis
While in 2015, SCL provided SCL Rider 1 followed by a 2nd edition of the Protocol[3] in the next two years (SCL 2nd Protocol). Both SCL Rider 1 and the SCL 2nd Protocol point out the six delay analysis methods.
- Impacted As-Planned Analysis,
- Time Impact Analysis,
- Time Slice Windows Analysis,
- As-Planned versus As-Built Windows Analysis,
- Longest Path Analysis, and
- Collapsed As-Built Analysis.
However, in both revisions, the incorporation of the Time Impact Analysis method is still found in the construction industry, consisting of retrospective delay analysis scenarios.”
The SCL 2nd Protocol focused on the “Time Impact Analysis” technique for contemporary delay analysis (i.e., prospective delay analysis). But it assigned the latest position in that “there is no favored delay analysis technique where that analysis takes out time-distant from the delay event or its impact” (i.e., retrospective delay analysis).
Delay analysis techniques are divided into two kinds: prospective and retrospective. This kind shows the point when the analysis is carried out; for instance, prospectively (before, or synchronizing with, the event) or retrospectively (after the event). The AACE provides these terminologies.
But according to the SCL 2nd Protocol, prospective delay analyses mean forward-looking analysis. For instance, calculating the impacts of future delay. At the same time, retrospective delay analyses mean backward-looking analysis.
The example of the retrospective delay analyses includes calculating the actual impact of the delay. It does not consider the point in time the analysis is carried out. Keeping aside the name or category of the method, the nub lies in how the analysis is carried out and describes what is done.
I have learned that no one technique for data analysis is suitable in all cases. There are frequently justifiable methods in the construction industry, and each of them may be the most justifiable under any kind of situation.
Each of these techniques has some limitations, too, which must be taken into notice, described, and defended by the delay analyst when chosen. This is how it usually works. You should consult your delay analyst to take forward your case.
