Concurrent Delay in Construction: Causes and Solutions
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Construction schedule setbacks rarely occur in isolation on complex projects, as usually, there are many challenges that happen simultaneously.
When a concurrent delay emerges, project teams face added uncertainty, blurred accountability and heightened pressure to keep work moving. Understanding how these overlapping delays affect construction performance helps managers respond early, protect timelines and reduce disputes before issues escalate further internally.
What Is a Concurrent Delay?
Within construction scheduling, a concurrent delay describes a situation where two or…
Concurrent Delay in Construction: Causes and Solutions
ProjectManager
Construction schedule setbacks rarely occur in isolation on complex projects, as usually, there are many challenges that happen simultaneously.
When a concurrent delay emerges, project teams face added uncertainty, blurred accountability and heightened pressure to keep work moving. Understanding how these overlapping delays affect construction performance helps managers respond early, protect timelines and reduce disputes before issues escalate further internally.
What Is a Concurrent Delay?
Within construction scheduling, a concurrent delay describes a situation where two or more independent delay events occur during the same time period, affecting the planned project schedule and potentially setting back the delivery of the project. Typically, at least one delay is attributable to the contractor while another arises from the owner, designer or external factors.
Because the delays overlap and influence the critical path, determining responsibility, entitlement to time extensions and recovery of costs becomes complex and contract-dependent under formal construction scheduling and claims analysis practices worldwide.
ProjectManager helps with concurrent delay analysis by providing a detailed, time-stamped record of project schedules, progress and changes, all of which are essential for identifying when multiple delays occur simultaneously. Use the Gantt chart to create a baseline and track the critical path so that if delays occur, managers can compare schedules to actual progress. This makes it easy to see which activities slipped, when they slipped and whether they overlapped with other delaying events. Get started with a free 30-day trial.
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What Is a Concurrent Delay Claim?
A concurrent delay claim is a formal request submitted under a construction contract when two or more overlapping delay events affect project completion simultaneously. The claim seeks to determine entitlement to time extensions and, in some cases, cost relief by analyzing responsibility, causation and critical path impact in accordance with contractual and legal standards.
10 Common Causes of Concurrent Delays in Construction
Concurrent delays rarely stem from a single issue. More often, overlapping problems emerge across design, approvals, resources and site conditions, creating compounded schedule impacts that are difficult to isolate and resolve independently.
1. Incomplete or Defective Construction Drawings
Design gaps, errors or missing details can halt progress while clarification is sought, often overlapping with unrelated delays already affecting site operations, sequencing or procurement activities across the project schedule.
For example, a concrete pour may be postponed due to missing reinforcement details while the project is already behind because of delayed steel deliveries, causing both issues to affect the same structural milestone.
2. Logistics and Supply Chain Issues
Material shortages, transportation delays or supplier failures may occur while construction work is already behind, causing delivery disruptions to coincide with productivity or coordination delays on critical activities.
A common scenario involves long-lead mechanical equipment arriving late while interior framing is delayed due to labor shortages, resulting in stacked delays that prevent downstream trades from mobilizing.
3. Unexpected Job Site Conditions
Unforeseen ground conditions, hidden utilities or environmental constraints discovered during construction can overlap with existing schedule slippage, compounding delays and complicating responsibility assessments.
An excavation phase may uncover undocumented utilities while the project is already delayed by design revisions, forcing work stoppages that overlap with earlier delays rather than occurring independently.
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4. Poor Subcontractor Performance
Low productivity, manpower shortages or sequencing issues from subcontractors may arise during periods of owner, design or external delays, resulting in overlapping impacts to the project timeline.
For instance, a drywall subcontractor falling behind due to staffing problems may coincide with delays caused by late design approvals, both affecting interior finishes on the same schedule window.
5. Late Permit Approvals
Delays in receiving permits or regulatory approvals can stall specific activities while unrelated construction delays are already underway, increasing the likelihood of concurrent schedule impacts.
This often occurs when occupancy or inspection approvals lag while construction is already delayed by punch-list rework, preventing project closeout activities from progressing as planned.
6. Labor Shortages
Limited workforce availability, strikes or high turnover can reduce production rates at the same time other delays occur, making recovery efforts harder and extending overall project duration.
A shortage of skilled electricians may slow rough-in work while the project is simultaneously affected by delayed material deliveries, causing both issues to impact the same critical path activities.
7. Lack of Coordination Between Trades
Poor interface management between trades may cause rework or idle time, overlapping with parallel delays from design changes, access constraints or late material deliveries.
Mechanical installations may clash with structural elements due to coordination failures, while the project is already delayed by late shop drawing approvals, compounding schedule disruption.
8. Equipment Breakdowns
Failures of critical equipment can interrupt planned work while other delay events continue, creating compounded schedule effects that are difficult to separate in delay analysis.
A crane outage during steel erection may occur while weather delays are already impacting site operations, resulting in overlapping impacts to structural progress.
9. Job Site Access Issues
Restricted access, shared workspaces or safety limitations may slow progress during periods of unrelated delay, causing overlapping disruptions to planned sequencing and productivity.
This is common on urban projects where limited laydown areas restrict deliveries while interior work is already delayed due to coordination or inspection-related issues.
10. Late Scope Changes or Change Orders
Owner-initiated scope changes introduced mid-construction can pause work for pricing and approvals, overlapping with ongoing delays from procurement, weather or productivity issues, thereby extending timelines beyond original completion targets.
For example, revised finishes may require rework during a period when the project is already delayed by supply shortages, creating concurrent impacts to interior completion milestones.
What Is the Impact of a Concurrent Delay In a Construction Project?
Delays that intersect in time can ripple across a project in subtle but far-reaching ways. Progress slows, decision-making becomes harder and planning assumptions lose reliability. As momentum weakens, teams often shift from execution to damage control, increasing friction among parties and placing strain on schedules, budgets and working relationships across the project lifecycle without clear resolution strategies in place early.
- Critical path activities delays: Concurrent delays may affect multiple critical path activities at the same time, which delays the overall completion of the project.
- Increased costs: Concurrent delays complicate cost control by increasing direct and indirect project costs, prolonging site overheads and limiting productivity, while simultaneously restricting a party’s ability to recover compensation under many construction contracts provisions.
- Unclear accountability: Disagreements over responsibility tend to intensify, as overlapping delays blur accountability, create evidentiary challenges and increase reliance on schedule analysis, expert opinions and formal dispute resolution mechanisms during complex projects.
- Resource allocation challenges: Resource planning becomes less predictable because labor, equipment and materials are committed for longer periods, affecting resource availability, disrupting sequencing decisions and reducing flexibility to accelerate or resequence work effectively under changing conditions.
- Strained stakeholder relationships: Trust between stakeholders can erode during a concurrent delay, as prolonged uncertainty strains collaboration, delays approvals and weakens confidence in schedules, forecasts and overall project governance structures, reporting and communication processes.
What Is Concurrent Delay Analysis?
Concurrent delay analysis is a scheduling and retrospective project tracking process used to identify overlapping delay events and evaluate how they collectively affect project completion. It examines timing, causation and critical path impact to determine responsibility, entitlement to time extensions and potential cost implications under the applicable contract framework.
Who Is Responsible for Resolving Concurrent Delays?
Because concurrent delays unfold simultaneously and disrupt normal sequencing, their causes and solutions are rarely obvious. The resulting schedule confusion means responsibility cannot rest with a single party. Resolving concurrent delays typically requires coordinated analysis, communication and decision-making across multiple project stakeholders.
- Project owner or client: Owners play a key role by reviewing delay claims, issuing timely decisions, approving changes and ensuring contractual procedures are followed so that overlapping delays do not stall progress unnecessarily.
- General contractor or main contractor: Contractors are responsible for managing site execution, maintaining schedules, documenting delays and implementing mitigation measures while coordinating with subcontractors during periods of overlapping delay.
- Design team or consultants: Architects and engineers contribute by clarifying design intent, resolving errors or omissions and responding to information requests that may be contributing to concurrent delays on the construction schedule.
- Subcontractors and suppliers: Trade partners are accountable for reporting productivity issues, delivery constraints and sequencing conflicts, helping the project team understand how their activities intersect with other ongoing delays.
- Scheduler or claims specialist: Scheduling and claims professionals analyze delay data, assess critical path impacts and provide objective insight that supports fair allocation of responsibility and informed resolution decisions.
Concurrent Delay Example
Consider a mid-rise mixed-use development combining ground-floor retail with several levels of office space in a dense urban area. The project relied on tight sequencing, limited site access and multiple specialist trades working in parallel. Midway through construction, structural progress was already slipping due to labor shortages.
At the same time, revised design details and delayed material deliveries began affecting follow-on trades, creating overlapping delays that disrupted sequencing, blurred accountability and forced the project team to reassess completion forecasts under mounting schedule pressure.
When conducting a concurrent delay analysis, the construction project management team realized that the causes for this concurrent delay were:
- Steel erection slowed by workforce shortages, while revised connection details were issued late by the structural engineer.
- Mechanical rough-in delayed as long-lead equipment arrived late during an already compressed interior construction phase.
- Concrete pours postponed due to weather impacts overlapping with unresolved design clarifications for reinforcement layouts.
- Interior finishes stalled as subcontractor productivity issues coincided with delayed inspection and approval processes.
- Final commissioning impacted when change orders were introduced while punch-list corrections were still ongoing.
How to Manage a Concurrent Delay in a Construction Project
Managing a concurrent delay requires structure, discipline and coordination. By breaking overlapping issues into clear steps, project teams can reduce confusion, protect schedules and move toward fair, defensible outcomes.
1. Identify All Delay Events and Their Causes
Before any resolution is possible, every delay event affecting the project must be clearly identified and documented. This includes when each delay started, how long it lasted and which activities were impacted.
Once the events are isolated, the next step is to determine their root causes, such as design issues, labor constraints, approvals or external factors. Separating individual delay drivers prevents assumptions, avoids misclassification and establishes a factual foundation for analysis, discussion and decision-making.
Related: Top 7 Decision-Making Templates: Free Excel & Word Downloads
2. Prioritize Critical Path Activities
Attention should then shift to delays that directly affect critical path activities, since these tasks have no float and directly influence project completion. Delays impacting non-critical activities may be disruptive, but do not automatically extend the overall schedule.
By focusing first on critical path impacts, the project team can concentrate efforts where schedule risk is highest, allocate resources effectively and avoid expending time resolving issues that do not materially affect the completion date.
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3. Assign Responsibilities
With delay events identified and critical impacts understood, responsibility and accountability must be assigned to the relevant parties. This involves assessing which delays are contractor-caused, owner-caused or the result of external circumstances.
Clear responsibility assignment supports transparent communication, informed negotiations and consistent decision-making. It also helps prevent disputes from escalating by aligning expectations early and ensuring that corrective actions are directed to the appropriate stakeholders.
4. Review Contract Provisions
Once responsibilities are provisionally understood, the contract must guide how concurrency is treated. Construction contracts often define whether concurrent delays allow time extensions, limit cost recovery or deny relief altogether.
Reviewing relevant clauses helps the project team understand notice requirements, procedural obligations and entitlement thresholds. This step ensures decisions align with contractual rights rather than assumptions, reducing the risk of invalid claims, procedural noncompliance or disputes driven by misinterpretation of concurrency-related provisions.
Related: 39 Construction Documents (Templates Included)
5. Perform a Construction Delay Analysis
At this stage, an objective delay analysis should be performed using a recognized methodology such as time impact analysis, windows analysis or as-planned versus as-built comparison.
The goal is to quantify how each delay event affected the schedule and critical path. Applying a structured method improves credibility, supports defensible conclusions and provides a shared factual basis for discussions, negotiations or formal claims related to concurrent delays.
6. Determine Entitlement to Relief
Based on the analysis and contractual framework, the project team must determine whether the concurrent delay justifies schedule relief, financial compensation or neither. In many cases, concurrency may allow additional time without cost recovery.
Clearly documenting this determination helps manage expectations, supports consistent decision-making and allows stakeholders to move forward with mitigation strategies rather than remaining stalled in unresolved entitlement disputes.
Free Related Construction Project Management Templates
We’ve created dozens of free construction project management templates for Word, Excel and Google Sheets. Here are some that can help during the construction cost planning process.
Construction Schedule Template
This free construction schedule template allows you to try ProjectManager’s Gantt chart, a powerful construction scheduling tool that is equipped with advanced features such as automatic critical path detection, resource allocation, cost tracking, four types of dependencies and much more.
Construction Scope of Work Template
This construction scope of work template clearly defines project tasks, deliverables, responsibilities, timelines, exclusions and acceptance criteria, helping teams align expectations, control scope, track progress and reduce disputes throughout the construction lifecycle.
Construction Daily Report
This construction daily report template captures on-site activities, labor, equipment, materials, weather, deliveries, delays and safety information each day, giving project teams accurate visibility into progress, productivity issues and site conditions for informed decision making.
How ProjectManager Helps with Concurrent Delays
ProjectManager gives construction teams the detailed record they need to keep projects on track. Beyond the Gantt chart and other scheduling tools, teams often utilize features like project version control for an auditable timeline that supports delay analysis and dispute resolution. Teams can trace delays back to specific causes such as design changes, resource shortages or weather events.