Management Analysis of Claims Resulting from Delays in Construction Projects and Presentation of a Standard Claims Management Model
Subject Areas : SpecialMehdi Fazilati 1 * , Rasool Shahbazi Garmetan 2 *
1 - Assistant Professor of Civil Engineering, Department of Civil Engineering, Najafabad Branch, Islamic Azad University, Najafabad, Isfahan Iran
2 - Center for Sustainable Development Research in Civil Engineering, Najafabad Branch, Islamic Azad University, Najafabad, Isfahan Iran
Keywords: Project Delay Claims, Claim Proof Burden, Comparative Legal Analysis, Three-Level Thematic Analysis, DEMATEL Causal Modeling,
Abstract :
The present research aims to reconstruct the institutional logic of the formation of claims arising from delays in Iran's civil projects and is based on the premise that delays, contrary to common belief, are not merely temporal or technical phenomena, but the result of a network interaction of legal, managerial, and process weaknesses. The main issue of the research is to explain how gaps in the division of responsibilities, deficiencies in documentation, and disruptions in the information cycle create the capacity to turn a simple temporal event into a complex legal conflict. To answer this issue, a qualitative-analytical approach has been employed, based on three-level thematic analysis, comparative legal analysis, reconstruction of the "delay-claim" process, and causal modeling with DEMATEL. The research data were collected from contractual documents, arbitration files, project reports, and international standards, and after open, axial, and selective coding, organized into three legal, managerial, and process axes. The final synthesis of the research presents the three-axis claim production model in which delay turns into definite dispute only when the three mentioned gaps are simultaneously active. This model provides a basis for developing a standard delay claims management model and shows that controlling temporal conflicts is possible only with integrated reform of legal, managerial, and process platforms
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