A Definitive Guide to Construction Project Delays (and Their Causes)

“Generally, excusable construction project delays are caused by any unforeseeable circumstance that a team or leader cannot control or predict,” Underhill of PMI said.

Excusable delays are usually covered by a force majeure clause. According to the Legal Information Institute at Cornell Law School, a force majeure “is a provision in a contract that frees both parties from obligation if an extraordinary event directly prevents one or both parties from performing.” Force majeure clauses ensure that general contractors and other parties in the contract are not liable for events outside their control and their negative consequences.

“I think of excusable delays as being, as a general rule, in two categories,” said Director Eric Travers from the law firm Kegler Brown Hill + Ritter.

The two categories are:

1. Delays That Are Not Within the Control of Either Party

These include delays due to circumstances like bad weather, war or government actions. Neither the owner nor the contractor is at fault — or responsible — for this category of delays.

“Inexcusable delays apply to delays that are [the contractor’s] responsibility (or the result of the actions of someone [the contractor is] responsible for),” Travers explained. “For contractors, inexcusable delays would be their (or their subcontractor or suppliers’) failure to perform timely (provided there is not an excusable reason for that failure).”

If a general contractor is considered at fault for an inexcusable delay, they’re responsible for the financial aspects of the project or any damages involved.

“It also includes slower than anticipated progress of their workforce, failure to obtain permits or other clearances (if it was their job to get those in the contract),” Travers continued. “If a delay is inexcusable, then typically the contractor is responsible to do what it can to make up the schedule or risk being assessed (or having passed through to it) delay damages or liquidated damages by the owner.”

Weather has always been one of the major causes of project delays since its impact can be extensive. Thankfully, because project owners and contractors can’t predict or prevent weather conditions, delays caused by weather are excusable delays.

Weather conditions usually covered by a contract — and defined as force majeure — can include floods, fires, hurricanes, tornadoes, tropical storms, ice storms, snowstorms and heavy rain.

COVID-19 had a significant impact on the construction industry by causing delays. In fact, depending on who you ask, it could be considered the main cause of project delays in the years immediately following it.

“The entirety of the COVID-19 pandemic has been considered in many circumstances a matter of force majeure and thus an excusable delay,” Thomas L. Rosenberg, J.D., a shareholder from the Construction Practice Group at the law firm Roetzel & Andress, said.

Rosenberg explained that while typical force majeure contract provisions didn’t mention pandemics (or epidemics) before COVID-19, the entire pandemic and its repercussions — including social distancing, business closures and quarantine requirements — were initially considered excusable.

Today, most contracts list pandemics in their force majeure clauses. But this doesn’t always apply to COVID-19-related labor issues now or moving forward.

At the height of the pandemic, the construction industry was directly affected by quarantines, lockdowns, temporary business closures and the pausing of non-essential work. Besides being classified as pandemic-related in force majeure clauses, these events were also categorized as government actions, and, therefore, excusable.

Though most of these actions have ceased for now, any subsequent government acts related to COVID would also be considered causes of excusable delays depending on the language in a contract.

Other governmental actions (outside of COVID-19-related ones) which cause excusable delays include trade restrictions, sanctions and embargos. For instance, the war in Ukraine impacted the shipping sector, thus affecting the global supply chain — causing delays as a result.

Delays that occur because the project owner, architect or engineer — the other party in the contract besides the contractor — makes a mistake during, interferes with or changes a project, are also excusable.

Common examples that delay most construction projects include:

• Unforeseen site conditions.
• Change orders from the owner.
• Redesigns of project components.
• Delays in making timely decisions.
• Errors or omissions by the architect (e.g., deficient drawings, specs, etc.)
• When contractors have to wait for the architect to respond to a Request for Information (RFI).

“As construction gets underway, it's not uncommon for the client to request changes to the design. This can cause delays while the new plans are drawn up and approved,” Marc Devisse, the founder of Tri-Town Construction, explained.

Though labor shortages were industry concerns before the pandemic, recent events have only made these labor issues worse.

“Labor shortages continue to be a major cause for delays,” said Brian Turmail, the vice president of public affairs and strategic initiatives for The Associated General Contractors (AGC of America, Inc.). “There aren’t enough people for many projects.”

In fact, in February of 2022, the Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) reported that the construction industry has a workforce shortage of 650,000 new employees on top of normal hiring plans.

“We’ve had jobs get delayed due to our crew not being available when scheduled, which is never a good position to be in,” Kyle Shirley, the owner of Sol Vista Roofing, explained. “This can result from an illness, a delay in another job the day(s) prior, or a simple scheduling error.”

Kurt Grosse, the owner of Realty One Group, recalled some of the issues he’s seen firsthand in Las Vegas caused by labor shortages.

When a contractor makes a mistake or doesn’t plan accurately for a project, it’s an inexcusable delay since this was directly in their control. These kinds of mistakes include inaccurate estimates, project plans that don’t have provisions for occurrences like late materials shipments or poorly managing the project itself.

While many causes of delays have been outside of contractors’ control the past few years, mistakes on the job have continued to cause delays — especially since many supply chain disruptions have been caused, or affected by, the pandemic.

Failing to mobilize your workers in time or not fully prepping a jobsite, such as not having the site essentials you need (e.g., construction dumpsters, porta-potties and/or fences) — before or at the start of the project — cause inexcusable delays. Similar to the previous delay cause we mentioned, project mobilization issues contributed to delays before the pandemic and continue to cause them.

When it’s your job as a contractor to obtain the proper permits or clearances for a project, any delays caused by failing to do so in a timely manner are inexcusable.

“If the necessary permits haven't been obtained, work can’t start on the project. This can often be due to city red tape or other bureaucratic issues,” Devisse of Tri-Town Construction, LLC stated.

The pandemic particularly has contributed to an increase in permit delays.

“The big issue is when the city is delayed [with inspections],” said Ben Gold, the founder of Recommended Home Buyers. “More than several times, we have waited for a few months just for the inspector to come inspect the work and give approval.”

“We’ve seen delays getting inspections and permitting for phases from projects across the industry,” Turmail explained. “When many people in the public sector started working from home, got COVID or couldn’t come in person to do a physical inspection, we started seeing delays. While we’re back to a more normal posture, some inspectors still can’t come on-site and do in-person inspections.”