Construction Cost and Schedule Impacts Due to COVID-19

Abstract

Construction companies are facing unprecedented challenges in terms of coping with the new circumstances as well as understanding their legal and contractual impacts. Because the COVID-19 pandemic affected all businesses across the globe, identifying and analyzing the impact of COVID-19 on construction projects in terms of material supply disruption, labor shortage, construction delay, and disruption in cash flow is vital. The purpose of this study is to enhance construction companies' ability to better tackle such situations in the future by identifying and addressing the impact of COVID-19 on the material supply disruptions and construction schedule. This research used a quantitative methodology using an online questionnaire as the instrument to collect data. The study analyzed responses from 32 construction company executive members across the United States. The survey collected cost and schedule impact due to material supply disruption in building construction divisions. The analysis shows that COVID-19 pandemic impacted project schedule, increased cost, and disrupted the supply chain of building materials. The findings can provide a better understanding and solution to reduce the pandemic's impact on the construction industry in the future and understand the legal implications that can arise due to this pandemic disruption. (C) 2022 American Society of Civil Engineers.