CAUSES OF DELAY IN CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS

Abstract

The construction industry is struggling by numerous recorded incidents of delay due to improper planning and/or implementation of required construction measures. Globally, researchers have concluded that the construction environment is overloaded with more frequent delays when compared to other labor enforced industries. Over the past decade, infrastructure and project development in developing countries have experienced major growth. Since there are huge investments on construction activities that all of a sudden happen in a very narrow considerable construction period, it is expected that construction fields suffer from severe delays during construction. Construction stakeholders need to enforce huge efforts to facilitate the smooth flow of construction projects. The aim and objective of this project is to identify the most significant delay attributes affecting the construction industry. After a review of the literature, a list of 42 delay attributes were gathered and presented in a survey questionnaire. The survey was distributed through online website and sent to various experts in the construction industry. 179 complete responses were received and analyzed by importance index, Spearman’s rank correlation, T-Test, risk mapping and factor analysis. As a result, it was found “low productivity of labor”, “delay in decision making”, “changes to the project by owner”, “delays related to subcontractors work”, and “unqualified workforce” were ranked as the most significant delay attributes in construction industry respectively.