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1 – 10 of over 32000TOUFIC M. MEZHER and WISSAM TAWIL
The present paper presents the major causes of delays in the construction industry in Lebanon and the relative importance of these postponements. A survey of a randomly selected…
Abstract
The present paper presents the major causes of delays in the construction industry in Lebanon and the relative importance of these postponements. A survey of a randomly selected sample of 11 owners, 15 contractors and 10 architectural/engineering (A/E) firms from Lebanon was undertaken. The survey included 64 causes of delay, grouped into 10 major groups, in which the participants were asked to indicate their level of importance of each delay. The level of importance of the causes and the groups were measured and ranked by the importance index for owners, contractors and A/E firms. It was found that all three parties generally agreed on the ranking of the major categories of delay factors. Owners had more concerns with regard to financial issues, while contractors ranked contractual relationships highest, and finally, A/E firms ranked project management highest.
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Hesham S. Ahmad, Maha D. Ayoush and Majed S. Al-Alwan
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the main causes of delay in public construction projects. This is motivated by feedback from public construction experts concerning…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the main causes of delay in public construction projects. This is motivated by feedback from public construction experts concerning substantive delays during the last decade. The study thus seeks to help decision makers in Jordan and elsewhere identify problems and develop mitigating strategies.
Design/methodology/approach
Causes of delay were identified from previous related studies and then augmented after consultation with experts. This resulted in 56 delay factors classified into eight groups. The sampling frame for the study was defined in terms of public construction projects (mostly related to roads) owned by the Ministry of Public Works and Housing in Jordan. A survey was conducted with engineers working as representatives of the owner, contractors or consultants to elicit and evaluate the importance of the 56 delay factors.
Findings
Overall, 113 completed questionnaire responses were returned and analyzed to rank the causes of delay using the relative importance index method. Owners and consultants showed more interest in factors related to themselves, while contractors showed highest interest in an external factor related to the owner of services. Four recommendations are put forward for decision makers to mitigate against delays.
Originality/value
This research investigates a relatively large number of delay factors compared to other studies and these are categorized into groups to facilitate thematic understanding. Further, compared to previous related research, this research fills a gap by exploring the opinions of different contract parties.
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Parvaneh Shahsavand, Akbar Marefat and Majid Parchamijalal
The purpose of this paper is to reveal the main causes of delays in the projects are from the client (relative importance index (RII)=0.716), labor and equipment (RII=0.701) and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to reveal the main causes of delays in the projects are from the client (relative importance index (RII)=0.716), labor and equipment (RII=0.701) and contractor (RII=0.698). Hence determining the contractual responsibility of delay is the most likely source of dispute in construction projects and many techniques have been used in the courts to demonstrate the criticalities of a delay event on the project schedule. Therefore, authors try to investigate all process-based techniques of delay claims and evaluated and conformed them with principles by Society of Construction Law (SCL) protocol and Association for the Advancement of Cost Engineering International (AACEI) in order to choose the best techniques based on the specific circumstances of each project.
Design/methodology/approach
This section is divided into two distinct parts: refers to the methods used to assess the perceptions of clients, consultants, and contractors on the relative importance of causes of delay in construction industry; and refers to advantages and disadvantages of various techniques used to analyze delays and their conform with SCL protocol. A questionnaire was developed to assess the perceptions of clients, consultants, and contractors on the relative importance of causes of delay in Iranian construction industry. The respondents were asked to indicate their response category on 78 well-recognized construction delay factors identified by authors.
Findings
In total, 78 causes of delay were identified through research. The identified causes are combined into seven groups. The field survey included 58 contractors, 55 consultants, and 62 client. Data collected were analyzed by RII and Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). The authors identified main causes of delay and ten most important causes, according to Table AII, from the perspective of three major groups of participants (clients, consultants and contractors). The ranking of categories of causes of delay, according to Table I, were: client-related causes (RII=0.716); labor and equipment category causes (RII=0.701); contractor-related causes (RII=0.698); material-related causes (RII=0.690); design-related causes (RII=0.666); external causes (RII=0.662); and consultant-related causes (RII=0.662). But according to the discussions and given that determining the contractual responsibility of delay is the most likely source of dispute in construction industry and many techniques have been used in the courts to demonstrate the criticalities of a delay event on the project schedule.
Originality/value
All process-based techniques of delay analysis have been present in this paper and categorized in 11 groups. In order to understand the advantages and disadvantages of them by clients, contractor and consultant, a thorough review conducted to reveal the nature of techniques. In the next step, given that selecting the most appropriate technique based on constraints and specific conditions of each project is one of the most important steps to carry out a successful delay analysis. The authors conformed, all process-based techniques of delay analysis, by SCL protocol and AACEI principles. Finally, the result of this match was brought in order to choose the best technique based on the specific circumstances of each project.
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George Agyekum-Mensah and Andrew David Knight
Construction project delays are described as a universal problem, which has led to many empirical studies. However, most of these studies were based on the rankings by…
Abstract
Purpose
Construction project delays are described as a universal problem, which has led to many empirical studies. However, most of these studies were based on the rankings by respondents, and they were rarely verified. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to explore professional perspectives on the causes of delay in the construction industry, where there has been little explicit consideration on this subject in recent decades.
Design/methodology/approach
A critical literature review and a qualitative approach was considered for a deeper and fresh understanding of the causes of delays, rather than recycling the existing themes and the risk of a statistically biased approach. A total of 41 interviews were undertaken which included the London Olympic 2012 project team.
Findings
In all, 32 themes were identified, which were categorised into 15 categories of causes of delay in the construction projects. Almost two-thirds of the main themes are not ranked top 15 causes of delay. These include knowledge and competence shortage, poor commercial decisions, unnecessary health and safety restrictions, poor risk management and poor space and logistics management.
Research limitations/implications
Due to the qualitative nature of the study, the findings might not be considered as representative.
Practical implications
The findings provide consideration of the causes of delay in the construction industry as seen by practitioners, which should provide guidance to enhance performance.
Originality/value
The study contributes to the better understanding of the causes of delays by using qualitative research strategy which is limited in the construction management literature. This study is an empirical investigation into the causes of delay in the twenty-first century and it represents an important edition to the body of knowledge within the subject area.
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Tarek El-Rasas and Mohamed Marzouk
Construction delays are a common problem in the Egyptian construction industry. Frequent delays in a project can lead to disputes and litigation. This paper aims to study and…
Abstract
Purpose
Construction delays are a common problem in the Egyptian construction industry. Frequent delays in a project can lead to disputes and litigation. This paper aims to study and analyze the causes of construction delays.
Design/methodology/approach
This research identifies delay causes in residential projects in Egypt and analyzes these causes with the relative importance index method. The feedback of construction experts was obtained through interviews. Subsequently, a questionnaire survey was prepared. Fifty-six different delay causes were identified and categorized into eight categories based on a literature review and interviews with 36 experts from the construction industry who represent owners, consultants and contractors.
Findings
According to the highest values of the relative importance index, the top ten delay causes of residential projects in Egypt are determined. Statistical analysis is carried out using the analysis of variance method to test delay causes obtained from the survey, which revealed a good correlation between residential projects parties with respect to most of the delay causes. A fuzzy logic model using MATLAB is developed for determining the probability of delay of residential projects, and the model was tested in a real case study and was found to be satisfactory.
Originality/value
Delay causes in residential projects in Egypt were identified, and these causes were analyzed using the relative importance index method and fuzzy logic.
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Adekunle Sabitu Oyegoke and Naseer Al Kiyumi
Project delay is becoming a problem in the Sultanate of Oman as evidenced by many delayed projects across the country. The purpose of this study is to examine causes and effects…
Abstract
Purpose
Project delay is becoming a problem in the Sultanate of Oman as evidenced by many delayed projects across the country. The purpose of this study is to examine causes and effects of delays in megaprojects in the Sultanate of Oman with recommendations to mitigate same.
Design/methodology/approach
A systematic review of literature identifies through main stakeholders the numerous causes, impacts and methods of mitigating delay from previous studies. A questionnaire survey on Oman was carried out to sample opinions from the practitioners; 53 questionnaires were received and analysed using the relative importance index (RII) method.
Findings
The five most frequent causes of delay in the Sultanate of Oman, in rank order, are: selection of the lowest bid, instead of best bid for the client (RII: 0.698); the financial condition of the main contractor (RII: 0.664); delay in decision-making by the client (RII: 0.656); and poor construction planning by the main contractor (RII: 0.649). Also, the findings indicate that extra cost (RII: 0.754) and project time overrun (RII: 0.724) are the most significant effects of the delay in the Oman megaprojects. The use of experienced contractors and consultant (RII 0.675), efficient construction planning by the main contractor and effective site management and supervision (RII: 0.667) are essential mitigation methods of construction delay in Oman megaprojects.
Originality/value
The study recommends three-part novel solutions to mitigate delay in the Oman construction industry.
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Claims are increasingly becoming a norm in construction projects and thus an area that is attracting interventions through researches. This paper aims to establish causes–effects…
Abstract
Purpose
Claims are increasingly becoming a norm in construction projects and thus an area that is attracting interventions through researches. This paper aims to establish causes–effects relationship of claims in construction projects.
Design/methodology/approach
This is correlation study type of study that attempts to establish causes–effects relationship of claims in construction projects. Significant causes and effects of construction claims were determined using one-sample t-test. To establish the relationship, the significant causes and effects of construction claims were correlated using bivariate correlation analysis.
Findings
Among the significant causes, variations, change of scope of the project and delay in completion of works have high level of significant positive relationship with five to six other causes and positive relationship with multiple effects ranging from five to six. Besides, among significant effects, delay in completion and delivering of construction projects, poor contractual relationship among parties and extension of time have significant positive relationship with multiple causes.
Research limitations/implications
The findings of this study are limited to causes-causes relationship and causes–effects relationship of claims in construction projects. This means effects–effects relationship was not covered that could be an important area to investigate as some of causes and effects are at times termed interchangeably.
Practical implications
With reference to previous studies which have focused on determining the causes and effects of construction claims, the findings of the current study have specific contribution on claims management as it divulges the causes of constructions claims that have multiplier effects to the project as a result of their linkage.
Originality/value
The paper unveils causes of claims with multiplier effects to construction projects for project participants to devise strategies to minimize and consequently eliminate them.
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Md. Ikramul Hoque, Md. Abu Safayet, Md. Jewel Rana, Abu Yousuf Bhuiyan and Golam Sadmani Quraishy
Construction delay is the most common issue and creates many adverse effects in any construction industry. This study has investigated the views of engineers, project managers and…
Abstract
Purpose
Construction delay is the most common issue and creates many adverse effects in any construction industry. This study has investigated the views of engineers, project managers and contractors on the causes of delay during a construction phase to identify potential delay factors, negative effects on project delivery and prioritize the delay factors.
Design/methodology/approach
An extensive literature review and interview with construction stakeholders have been conducted to identify potential causes of construction delays and design a questionnaire survey. The final questionnaire was designed with 40 potential delay factors, and a total of 102 valid Bangladeshi construction stakeholders responded to it. The result was analyzed by the relative importance index.
Findings
Among the 40 delay factors, the top five most influencing delay factors are “delay in progress payments,” “rework due to mistakes during construction,” “lack of skilled labor,” “poor monitoring and control of activities” and “delays in the making of a decision.” The top five most damaging effects of delay are “time overrun,” “cost overrun,” “disputes,” “arbitration” and “litigation,” among ten negative effects of construction delay. All construction stakeholders believe that the owner-related, consultant-related and contractor-related groups are the first, second and third most important groups of delay factors.
Originality/value
The outcome of this study would enable the Bangladeshi construction industry to develop strategies to overcome delay factors and their harmful effects. By focusing on the outcome of this research and prioritizing the critical factors, the construction industry of Bangladesh will be able to minimize construction delay significantly and propagate the progress of the construction industry by delivering quality projects timely.
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Charles Teye Amoatey and Alfred Nii Okanta Ankrah
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the causes of road construction delays in Ghana and identify appropriate mitigation measures.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the causes of road construction delays in Ghana and identify appropriate mitigation measures.
Design/methodology/approach
The initial approach involved an empirical analysis of 48 road projects to quantify the extent of time. This was followed by a survey of the perception of road agency and donor partner officials of the critical causes of road project delays.
Findings
About 70 per cent of road projects experience delays and 52 per cent experience cost overruns. The average time overrun and cost overruns of road projects in Ghana was 17 months and US$1.15m (or 22.5 per cent), respectively. The five most critical causes of road construction delays were delay in finance and payment of completed work by owner (client-related); inadequate contractor experience (contractor-related); changes in scope by the owner during construction (client-related); delay to furnish and deliver the site to the contractor (client-related); and inflexible funding allocation for project items (donor-related).
Research limitations/implications
The most critical constraint of this study is the fact that findings are based on only the views of industry professional experts. It may be assumed that despite using broadly used terminology to refer to the causes of project delays, the interpretations by respondents may have differed from those intended. Further research could look at the correlation between time overrun and cost overrun using principle component analysis.
Practical implications
The identified delay factors are not unique to the road sector. From both academic and practical perspectives, the results emphasizes on the need for a holistic and integrated risk management model for the entire construction industry in Ghana.
Originality/value
The paper examined the causes of road project delays in the Ghanaian context and recommended remedial measures.
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Rateb Sweis, Alireza Moarefi, Mahmood Hosseini Amiri, Soad Moarefi and Rawan Saleh
The international energy agency states that the world’s primary energy needs are expected to grow to 55 per cent until 2030. Therefore, oil and gas industry as the main energy…
Abstract
Purpose
The international energy agency states that the world’s primary energy needs are expected to grow to 55 per cent until 2030. Therefore, oil and gas industry as the main energy source will be more crucial where building or advancing new capacities is required. Because the reports highlight the delay as a recurring problem, thereby, more in-depth investigation to find out the main contributing causes is needed.
Design/methodology/approach
Root cause analysis (RCA) was applied to identify, rank, analysis and categorize the main sources of this problem.
Findings
Based on RCA procedure; Pareto analysis showed that 84.7 per cent of the delay is because: the radar chart indicated no difference in perception of the participants regarding the importance of the root causes, correlation analysis suggested strong relationship among the participants and the cause-and-effect diagram emphasized more on operational, human and equipment categories, which in total account for 51.86 per cent of the delay.
Originality/value
The risk planners of large-scale projects can consider these root causes as the main items to analysis, monitor and control, as they are vitally important for project success.
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