English Abstract
Abstract :
Delay of maintenance and construction projects in the petrochemical industries in Bahrain, which attributed by the direct cost impact on the company, is one of the major issues in petrochemical industries to tackle, especially during the challenging time of having unstable market and oil price war. The investigation addressed the delay factors and the delay consequences from two aspects; the first one is the likelihood of their occurrence, and second aspect is the severity of their impacts on the petrochemical industries in Bahrain. Initially 117 delay factors, and 29 delay consequences were identified based on analytical review of relevant literature. Then after, conducting interviews with experts from petrochemical industries, the outcomes of the literature review have been scrutinized and refined to 42 delay factors, classified under 9 different categories. For the delay consequences analysis, the research was broadened to include 14 potential delay consequences, which constituted along with the direct cost impact and which were the most relevant consequences on the petrochemical industry companies. The highest delay factors, delay consequences, and delay groups were ranked according to adjusted frequency index (FAII) as follows; for delay factors: late delivery of material or equipment, adoption of the lowest bid price system for awarding the contract, inadequate project planning, budgeting and scheduling, and late design changes initiating in the project life cycle. Also, top ranked delay consequences were concluded as: extension of works beyond the normal working hours, cost overrun, delay of other related projects, and time overrun. Risk matrix was depicted to classify the factors and consequences under different risk zones. The contractor’s responses found to be perceived lower than the other respondents’ categories in terms of the perception of significance level for the delay factors in petrochemical industries in Bahrain. Recommendation emphasized on the company high level objective to create a frame work to include the control of the delays in projects to be one of their organizational objectives, and to cascade from there to every department’s individual objectives. Also, leadership management, and role of project leaders were recommended, with stressing of importance of early engagement of maintenance department in the project process.
