Assessment of Schedule Control Practice in Building Construction Project: Case of Addis Ababa City

Abstract

Schedule control has a greater influence on the schedule performance of the construction industry. Schedule planning is the main activity that is prepared during the initiation of the project in all construction projects. However, most of the problems that occurred during the implementation phase on the schedule control are the consequence to schedule slippage. In the Ethiopian Construction Industry (ECI), schedule slippage is the major problem due to poor time management practice. The purpose of this study was to assess the practice of schedule control, to identify the factors that affect the schedule control performance, and to identify the techniques and tools used in schedule control in building construction projects, and to recommend the industry as well as succeeding investigators. To achieve these objectives the descriptive survey type was used and data were collected through interview and questionnaire surveys. From the literature review, questionnaires were prepared to evaluate the practice of schedule control, and 54 factors affecting schedule control were identified and distributed to the owners, consultants, and contractors in building construction projects in Addis Ababa(AA) city through a purposive sampling method from the respondents these have knowledge and experience. The collected data quality was checked, coded, and analyzed using the descriptive statics methods by the SPSS version 20 and Microsoft-Excel. The results were then discussed and presented in tables and charts. The finding of the study revealed that there is a practice of schedule control but there is a limitation on the uniformity to focus on the controlling systems in all parties in the building construction projects. The major factors that affected schedule control in building construction projects were Design changes (0.809), Ineffective schedule control of information system (0.786), lack of schedule control plan (0.782), improper time management for activity (0.782), improper project feasibility studies and insufficient data before design. Again, the critical path method (CPM) and Gant bar chart are techniques used for schedule control as well as Microsoft Project and Microsoft excel are used tools by all firms in the building construction projects in AA city. It is recommended that there should be an integration and communication flow among the project team and stakeholders entire the organization throughout the project life cycle. Again, the accuracy of the schedule plan must be considered and all stakeholders should review the master schedule before commencement, the training should be given to the project team on updated knowledge of the schedule control techniques and tools as well as there should be a practice of developing and applying the outcomes of modern technology throughout the firms.