Problems associated with acceleration works and its solutions

Abstract

Construction industry and delays are no longer a separable issue. In common practice, upon encountering delay the Contractor is either granted an Extension of Time (EOT) in the event of excusable delay or being charged for Liquidated Damages (LAD) in the event of non-excusable delay. Apart from these two situations, there is another approach which is rarely being considered in the event of delay which is to accelerate the works. However, like any other new things or development, acceleration is prone to problems. This is due to lack of understanding by the parties regarding acceleration works. That is why the aim of this study is to identify those problems associated with the implementation of acceleration works and solutions to address the problems. These problems were identified by analyzing the Fourth Lane Highway Widening project for PLUS as a case study in order to obtain the problems from a real project rather than theory based. This research was conducted by collecting primary data from a series of interviews as well as collection from secondary data from journal articles, construction law report, etc. All of the data were analyzed using qualitative method. From the interviews, there were twelve problems found regarding the implementation of acceleration works and nine solutions were suggested by the respondents in order to avoid the problems in future. In conclusion, based on the analyzed project, the implementation of acceleration works was not as straight forward as what was found in the literature review however, despite all of the problems encountered, completing the works/achieving the acceleration target is not impossible but great care and thorough considerations must be given especially in monetary issues before commencing acceleration works.