Causes of delay in large construction projects

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijproman.2005.11.010Get rights and content

Abstract

A survey on time performance of different types of construction projects in Saudi Arabia was conducted to determine the causes of delay and their importance according to each of the project participants, i.e., the owner, consultant and the contractor. The field survey conducted included 23 contractors, 19 consultants, and 15 owners. Seventy-three causes of delay were identified during the research. 76% of the contractors and 56% of the consultants indicated that average of time overrun is between 10% and 30% of the original duration. The most common cause of delay identified by all the three parties is “change order”. Surveys concluded that 70% of projects experienced time overrun and found that 45 out of 76 projects considered were delayed.

Introduction

In construction, delay could be defined as the time overrun either beyond completion date specified in a contract, or beyond the date that the parties agreed upon for delivery of a project. It is a project slipping over its planned schedule and is considered as common problem in construction projects. To the owner, delay means loss of revenue through lack of production facilities and rent-able space or a dependence on present facilities. In some cases, to the contractor, delay means higher overhead costs because of longer work period, higher material costs through inflation, and due to labor cost increases.

Completing projects on time is an indicator of efficiency, but the construction process is subject to many variables and unpredictable factors, which result from many sources. These sources include the performance of parties, resources availability, environmental conditions, involvement of other parties, and contractual relations. However, it is rarely happen that a project is completed within the specified time.

Section snippets

Objectives of the study

The main objectives of this study include the following:

  • To identify the causes of delays in construction in Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia.

  • To test the importance of the causes of delay between each two groups of parties.

  • To study the differences in perceptions of the three major parties in any constructions, namely, owners, contractors and consultants.

Literature review

Many articles and studies conducted on causes of delay in construction projects, both locally and internationally have been reviewed. Surveys conducted by Assaf et al. [4] outlined 56 main causes of delay in large construction projects. Delay factors are assembled into nine major groups with different levels of importance to different parties. Al-Ghafly [2] discussed the delay in public water and sewage projects. Sixty causes were identified and classified. Al-Ghafly [2] concluded the

Research methodology

The research methodology contained: Seventy-three (73) causes of delay were identified through literature review and discussion with some parties involved in construction industry. A questionnaire was developed in order to evaluate the frequency of occurrence, severity and importance of the identified causes. Contractors information was collected from Chamber of Commerce and from the lists of contractors from literature. Also, information about consultants and design engineers were collected

Questionnaire design

Data were gathered through a questionnaire. The questionnaire is divided into two main parts. Part I is related to general information for both the company and respondent. Both contractors and consultants were further requested to answer questions pertaining to their experience in the construction industry and their opinions about the percentage average time delay in projects they experienced. Part II includes the list of the identified causes of delay in construction project. These causes are

Data analysis approach

The collected data were analyzed through the following statistical techniques and indices:

Frequency index: A formula is used to rank causes of delay based on frequency of occurrence as identified by the participantsFrequencyIndex(F.I.)(%)=a(n/N)100/4where a is the constant expressing weighting given to each response (ranges from 1 for rarely up to 4 for always), n is the frequency of the responses, and N is total number of responses.

Severity index: A formula is used to rank causes of delay

Spearman’s rank correlation

Spearman’s rank correlation is a non-parametric test. Non-parametric tests are also referred to as distribution-free tests. These tests have the obvious advantage of not requiring the assumption of normality or the assumption of homogeneity of variance. They compare medians rather than means and, as a result, if the data have one or two outliers, their influence is negated. In this research the Spearman’s Correlation is used. Correlation is a relationship measure among different parties or

General characteristics of respondents

Respondents included 23 contractors, 19 consultants and 15 owners out of 66, 51 and 27 distributed questionnaires, respectively. The contractors surveyed are categorized as grade 2 or above. They have an average of experience of about 23 years, while, participated consultants have an average of about 21 years of experience. Simple random sampling was used to select the participants from an available list.

About 76% of the participating contractors specified indicated that the average time

Summary and conclusion

The delay in construction projects in Saudi Arabia is discussed in a field survey. It studied frequency, severity and importance of the causes of delay. The importance index of each cause is calculated as a product of both frequency and severity indices of each cause. 73 causes of delay were identified through research. The identified causes are combined into nine groups. The field survey included 23 contractors, 19 consultants, and 15 owners. Data collected were analyzed by frequency, severity

General recommendation

The following points can be recommended by all parties in order to minimize and control delays in construction projects:

Owners should give special attention to the following factors:

  • Pay progress payment to the contractor on time because it impairs the contractors ability to finance the work.

  • Minimize change orders during construction to avoid delays.

  • Avoid delay in reviewing and approving of design documents than the anticipated.

  • Check for resources and capabilities, before awarding the contract

Acknowledgments

The author appreciate the efforts of Sadiq A. Al-Hajji for his help in the study and thank King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, for providing various facilities for conducting this study.

References (10)

There are more references available in the full text version of this article.

Cited by (0)

View full text