Two delays of the same length can cost an owner nothing or four weeks of completion. A simple worked example of why float decides which one you get.
The critical path is the chain of activities where any delay moves the finish date. Float is the spare time an activity has before it joins that chain. Owners who understand only the completion date treat all delays as equal, which is why they spend energy on a late tile delivery while an approval sitting on their own desk quietly pushes handover.
The situation
A small residential building is under construction. Two separate problems arise in the same month: a facade cladding package is delayed in fabrication, and the owner takes longer than agreed to approve the lift specification. The contractor says both are the owner problem and asks for six weeks.
Assumptions (illustrative)
- Remaining programme at the start of the month: 40 weeks to completion.
- Facade cladding activity: 6 weeks duration, with 5 weeks of total float before it affects the finish.
- Lift installation activity: on the critical path with zero float.
- Facade fabrication delay: 4 weeks late to site.
- Lift specification approval: 3 weeks later than the programme allowed.
- All durations and float values are illustrative assumptions used to show the method.
Step 1: Test the facade delay against its float
Facade delay of 4 weeks against total float of 5 weeks leaves 1 week of float remaining, so the completion date does not move.
This delay consumes protection rather than time. It is worth recording and worth watching, but it is not yet a claim on your completion date.
Step 2: Test the lift approval delay against its float
Lift installation has zero float, so the 3 week approval delay pushes the activity, and the finish date, by the full 3 weeks.
A three week decision on your side costs more programme than a four week fabrication problem. The size of a delay tells you nothing without its position.
Step 3: Combine the two and find the real exposure
Completion moves from 40 weeks to 43 weeks. Of the 7 weeks of delay events, 3 weeks reach the finish date and 4 weeks are absorbed.
The contractor asked for 6 weeks. The programme supports 3. Without the float analysis you would have negotiated between 0 and 6 with no basis.
Step 4: Check what the facade delay did to your protection
Float on the facade path falls from 5 weeks to 1 week, so a further delay of more than 1 week on that path now hits completion directly.
Consuming float converts a comfortable path into a second critical path. This is how projects that look fine for months slip suddenly.
Step 5: Price the three weeks you caused
If the contractor demonstrates time related site costs of SAR 90,000 per month, three weeks is roughly SAR 67,500 before any assessment of what was actually incurred.
Owner caused delay usually means both extra time and money. The figure is illustrative, but the principle is that slow decisions carry a price you can calculate.
Step 6: Decide what to do next month
The remaining 1 week of facade float and the zero float lift path identify exactly two items to manage closely out of dozens on the programme.
Float analysis is mainly an attention tool. It tells you which few items deserve your time when you are thousands of kilometres away.
What changes the answer
- If the facade had only 2 weeks of float, the same fabrication delay would have added 2 weeks to completion.
- If the lift approval had been returned on time, the month would have cost nothing at all in programme terms.
- If two paths become critical at once, delays on either one now move the finish, which roughly doubles your exposure.
- A contractor who hid float inside long activity durations can show a critical path that is not the real one.
What the numbers tell you
- Ask where the float is before you ask how long the project takes.
- Track your own approvals as programme activities, because they are frequently the ones with zero float.
- Record every delay event with a date, even those absorbed by float, because float runs out.
- A delay claim should be answered with a float analysis, not with an argument about who was busier.
Limits of this example
Every figure above is an illustrative assumption used to show the method, not a quote, valuation or market rate. Costs, rates, fees and regulations change and must be confirmed with the relevant authority, lender or supplier before you commit.
Domira designs, builds and manages projects across Saudi Arabia for owners who are based abroad: land appraisal, feasibility, design, construction, handover and asset management under one accountable contract. Send us the plot or the brief and Domira will put the numbers in front of you before you commit.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who owns the float in a construction programme?
It depends on the contract, and it is one of the terms most worth reading before signature. Some contracts treat float as belonging to the project, so either party may use it, while others let the contractor keep it as their own contingency. Because this single point decides whether a short delay becomes a claim, ask a licensed adviser to confirm how your contract treats float before you rely on any assumption.
How can an owner tell which activities are on the critical path?
Ask for the programme with the critical path highlighted and a list of the activities on it, updated each month. The path changes as work progresses, so last quarter list is not this quarter list. If the contractor cannot produce that list, the programme almost certainly has no logic in it, which means nobody knows which delays matter.
Does a delay to one part of a building always delay handover?
No. A delay only reaches the completion date if the activity has no float left, or if the delay is longer than the float available. That is why recording delays matters even when they appear harmless: each one eats protection, and the project becomes fragile long before the completion date visibly moves.
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