Impact of COVID-19 on Project Schedule in the Construction Industry

Introduction

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused major interruptions `in all the sectors of the world’s economy. The construction industry, just like any other industry has been immensely affected since no major works on projects have been going on due to the restrictions created as a result of the pandemic. Most project managers were rendered jobless, while most project stopped, therefore causing project delays. The pandemic made it difficult for project managers to access resources required for the project work and also resulted to the increase of the projects cost as a result of the increase in material costs. Despite the various impacts of Covid-19 in the construction industry, the paper endeavours to discuss the impacts of the pandemic on the projects’ schedules.

Literature Review

The impacts of Covid-19 in the schedule of construction projects have attracted the attention of many researchers. Therefore, this section of the paper brings to your attention some of the findings presented by various researchers.

The study by [1]aims at discussing the impact of COVID-19 on the performance of construction projects. The methodology used included the qualitative and the explanatory approaches. The findings indicate that the pandemic had major impact on the schedules of the projects as it led to the delay of projects in the construction industry. Additionally, the literature also notes that the pandemic led to the disruption of cash flows, restrictions on travels which made it difficult to access the resources required. The findings are relevant to the research topic; therefore, it would be used as a point of reference.

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The other literature aimed at discussing the impact of the pandemic on GEF project preparation and implementation. The methodology for collecting the data was the consultation between the secretariat and the agencies and the OFPs[2]. The findings indicate that the pandemic caused delays in the first disbursement and the related transfer of agency fees, the delay on the project preparation and the delay on the provision of input to PIR reporting and evaluation. The other delay experiences were that of launching the project. The findings of this literature have close similarity with [3]as both authors acknowledge that the pandemic disrupted projects by creating delays. therefore, it would be used a s a point of reference in the future.

The other literature aimed at identifying the implication of the pandemic on construction projects and the Risk management. The research methodology deployed in the research is review of literature. The findings indicate the following. The pandemic created disruptions in supply chain and changes in the workforce and the project scheduling[4]. The researchers note that delays were caused by disruption on workforce and the shortage of materials. The article is relevant to the research topic; therefore, it would be used as a point of reference in the future.

The other relevant study focused on exploring the early impacts of Covid-19 on the construction projects in USA. The research methodology adopted was the use of interviews. The researcher found that the Covid-19 pandemic brought significant delay on the construction project [5] The other impacts presented in the literature found that the project managers were unable to access materials as per the stipulated time and the productivity of the project workers also decreased immensely. The findings are relevant to the research topic therefore it would be used for future references.

The other study explored the impact of Covid-19 and the influence of the impacts among the stakeholders of constriction project. The study also used interview as the primary research methodology. The findings indicate that the pandemic led to the increase in project cost, which led to the loss of revenues among some stakeholders. Additionally, the pande