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- 1. See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/329981926 Causes of Delays on Construction Projects: A Comprehensive List Article in International Journal of Managing Projects in Business · December 2018 DOI: 10.1108/IJMPB-09-2018-0178 CITATIONS 50 READS 20,737 2 authors: Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects: Masonry Structures View project Sustainable Construction Industry in Cambodia: Awareness, Drivers and Barriers View project Serdar Durdyev Ara Institute of Canterbury 73 PUBLICATIONS 1,453 CITATIONS SEE PROFILE M. Reza Hosseini Deakin University 221 PUBLICATIONS 4,234 CITATIONS SEE PROFILE All content following this page was uploaded by Serdar Durdyev on 09 April 2019. The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.
- 2. Causes of delays on construction projects: a comprehensive list Serdar Durdyev Department of Engineering and Architectural Studies, Ara Institute of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand, and M. Reza Hosseini School of Architecture and Built Environment, Deakin University, Geelong, Australia Abstract Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present a systematic review of studies on CPD published between 1985 and 2018. Design/methodology/approach – Before identifying common CPD, research trends were examined in terms of the number of publications in selected journals, as well as the contributions made by countries, institutions and researchers. Findings – The findings reveal that researchers from developing countries have contributed the most to identifying the causes of CPD. A total of 149 causes of CPD were identified in a thorough review of 97 selected studies. Weather/climate conditions, poor communication, lack of coordination and conflicts between stakeholders, ineffective or improper planning, material shortages, financial problems, payment delays, equipment/plant shortage, lack of experience/qualification/competence among project stakeholders, labour shortages and poor site management were identified as the ten most common CPDs. Originality/value – Being the first study of its type, this study provides insight into the research output related to this area and identifies a common set of CPDs, which may provide a better understanding of the key areas requiring attention where steps should be taken to minimise or control factors causing delays in construction projects. Keywords Construction, Systematic literature review, Project delays Paper type Literature review Introduction Completion of a project within the stipulated time frame is considered to be one of the critical factors for project success (Chan and Kumaraswamy, 1997). However, the majority of construction projects face schedule delays and this issue has become a chronic problem worldwide (Doloi, Sawhney and Iyer, 2012; Doloi, Sawhney, Iyer and Rentala, 2012; Durdyev et al., 2017). In general, project delay is defined as an overrun beyond the scheduled project completion time (Assaf and Al-Hejji, 2006). From a different perspective, Zack (2003) defines project delay as activity that extends the time required to deliver the project, which manifests itself as additional days of work. A plethora of studies have addressed the issue of project delay and identified its main causes according to country, region, project type and procurement methods, as well as from the perspectives of various stakeholders (Lessing et al., 2017; Hampton et al., 2012; Oyegoke and Al Kiyumi, 2017; Yang et al., 2010). Delays significantly hinder project performance (González et al., 2014). For example, Doloi, Sawhney and Iyer (2012) and Doloi, Sawhney, Iyer and Rentala (2012) applied factor analysis to explore the causes of delay in construction projects in India. Durdyev et al. (2017) reported the results of a study of the factors causing project delays in residential projects in Cambodia. Kadry et al. (2017) evaluated the causes of construction delay, limiting the scope of their study to the geopolitically risky countries. In a recently published paper, Santoso and Soeng (2016) analysed the causes of delays in road projects. A review of the literature on project delays indicates that there is global interest in examining the factors responsible for CPD. International Journal of Managing Projects in Business © Emerald Publishing Limited 1753-8378 DOI 10.1108/IJMPB-09-2018-0178 Received 6 September 2018 Revised 19 December 2018 Accepted 28 December 2018 The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at: www.emeraldinsight.com/1753-8378.htm Causes of delays on construction projects
- 3. Few studies have reviewed the CPDs. Ansah and Sorooshian (2018) have proposed a theoretical framework, the 4P project delays, grouping them based on their shared characteristics. Adam et al. (2017) conducted a literature analysis to provide an aggregated ranking of project delays, which was limited to 40 journal articles reporting on delays in publicly funded construction projects. Eizakshiri et al. (2015) reviewed a range of studies reporting project delays to identify gaps and to propose further research questions on the subject. However, due to their limitations, these studies do not provide a longitudinal view of studies reporting the CPD. Among the most comprehensive reviews prior to the commencement of this study are that of Ramanathan et al. (2012) and Zidane and Andersen (2018). Ramanathan et al. (2012) only reviewed studies published prior to 2010 and Zidane and Andersen (2018) had a bias towards the factors applicable to Norway. Despite their undeniable contributions, both studies are affected by restrictions in terms of their scope and available space, and therefore are limited in terms of covering exiting major studies. For instance, Zidane and Andersen (2018) reported that there was only one study conducted in Europe, which is in Portugal. However, this study reveals that there are two studies reported from Denmark. Moreover, only three studies from Palestine were reviewed by Zidane and Andersen (2018), while there are six studies reported up to date. With the above in mind, the major point of departure of the present study is its wider coverage, a reproducible method, as well as offering an updated, more comprehensive and descriptive picture of the now-available literature on the topic. There is therefore a need for a longitudinal review of the existing body of knowledge to identify a universal set of causes of delay that affect construction project performance. In so doing, understanding the trends and investigating the developments in a particular research area is vital (Hong et al., 2012; Tsai and Wen, 2005). Therefore, this study aims to fill this research gap by investigating the annual publication trends in studies of the CPDs since 1985, the year the first paper was published on this topic; the country of origin of the authors of these studies; the types of project on which these studies were conducted; the identification of CPDs; and the significant findings of these studies. Being the first study of its type, this study provides insight into the research output related to this area and identifies a common set of CPDs, which may provide a better understanding of the key areas requiring attention where steps should be taken to minimise or control factors causing delays in construction projects. It is worth mentioning that due to the idiosyncrasies of construction projects: dynamic features (site-specific) of construction projects, labour-intensive nature, involvement of various stakeholders, fragmented supply chain, high reliance on a wide range of suppliers of materials and equipment and dominance of SMEs, this study focuses solely on construction projects, rather than delays on projects in general (Hosseini et al., 2013). Background The five most common types of project delay addressed in the literature include critical and non-critical; concurrent, compensable and excusable delays (Enshassi et al., 2009). Critical and non-critical delays concern the progress of an activity on a critical path and affect (or not) the scheduled project completion date. Concurrent delays involve the occurrence of at least two independent delays at the same time. Unforeseeable delays are those that are beyond the contractor’s control, and can be categorised as compensable and/or excusable types, while non-excusable delays are within the contractor’s control (Lepage, 2017). All these types of delay affect the management of a project. While internal delays arise from the project stakeholders, external delays emanate from the third parties involved within the project delivery process (i.e. utility service providers, government authorities, labour unions, etc.). Research on the CPDs has attracted considerable attention for decades now. A review of the studies on this subject reveals various research approaches: evaluation of the factors causing project delay (Chiu and Lai, 2017); case studies analysing project delays; and comparative studies on project delays between different countries (Shebob et al., 2012). Sambasivan and IJMPB
- 4. Soon (2007) report the most prominent causes of delay as being due to inadequate planning, poor site management, contractor experience, subcontractors and the client’s financial capability. A study from Saudi Arabia identifies the most critical causes as being the client’s financial capability and payment delays by owners (Al-Kharashi and Skitmore, 2009). Doloi, Sawhney and Iyer (2012) and Doloi, Sawhney, Iyer and Rentala (2012) report the factors causing delays in Indian construction projects, which include site management and coordination problems; lack of commitment and communication; poor planning; unclear project scope; and substandard contracts. Lindhard and Wandahl (2014) examine the CPDs in Denmark and report these as been lack of resources (labour and material); connecting work; frequent changes in work plans; external conditions and design-related issues. Table AI provides a comprehensive list of the causes of project delays with their relevant references from the literature. For successful project management, industry practitioners and researchers must identify the causes of delays and take measures to reduce or control them. Thus, it is important to analyse the current body of knowledge in this area and provide a longitudinal review of the CPDs to improve project schedule performance. Research method Objectives of this study have been followed by taking a systematic review approach, as described by Sandelowski and Barroso (2007). To this end, the qualitative findings of existing studies are synthesised and described, and the procedure for finding related studies and their integration is described to make the study reproducible. Elsevier’s Scopus, which encapsulates a wide range of databases of various research areas and is widely utilised in other studies, was selected to retrieve the studies related to the scope of this review (Hong et al., 2012). The simplicity and accuracy of retrieving the required data are another favourable feature of Scopus, which makes it more effective compared to other search engines (Falagas et al., 2008). Sampling To analyse the trends in research into the CPD, a systematic search (refer to Figure 1) was conducted using Scopus and including all categories (i.e. title, abstract, etc.). The following keywords, which are in line with the definition of project delay, were used to retrieve relevant articles that examined project delay issues: “delay”, “delays”, “overrun” and “overruns”. An initial search based on these keywords retrieved 2019 publications, which were further limited to journal articles, articles in press, reviews (1,019) and the source title. The search results identified journal articles limited to the construction, engineering and management-related journals. It is worth mentioning that the search was not limited to a particular year, as the aim was to analyse all academic journals publishing on the subject. The abstracts and full text (if needed) of articles of interest were then reviewed; 123 articles were found to be relevant to the objectives of this study. Selection of relevant journal articles Based on the final review, 26 academic journals captured 123 articles. As implied by Wing (1997) the use of top journals in selecting published studies can set the boundary for relevance to construction management. In fact, articles published in high-ranked journals represent the most influential research studies. Inclusion of published studies from lower-rank outlets is not justified, given the extra level of complexity and noise added to the analyses (Butler and Visser, 2006). Therefore, the number of articles was revised (for quality assurance) based on the following criteria: • following the recommendations of Wing (1997) to consider the top journals in construction engineering and management; and • journals that are archived by the Web of Science (Falagas et al., 2008) by 17 April 2018. Causes of delays on construction projects
- 5. On the basis of these criteria, 100 articles from 19 academic journals were validated for further analysis, which are presented in Table I. Notably, three articles, which are highlighted above, were excluded as they report a review of CPDs. Thus, the selected articles (97) were further analysed in terms of the reported CPDs to identify common causes. In addition, these articles were also examined according to the geographical origin where the research had been conducted and the project types from which the outcomes were reported. Assessment of contributions Following the identification of relevant articles that fit the objectives of this study, the contributions of researchers and universities were assessed by adopting a formula previously applied in a wide range of reviews in construction engineering and management (Li et al., 2014; Yuan and Shen, 2011). The formula, which was initially proposed by Search ALL (“delay” “delays” “overrun” “overruns”) (n=2,020) Limitation to journal articles, articles in press and review AND (LIMIT-TO (DOCTYPE,“ar”) OR LIMIT-TO (DOCTYPE,“re”) OR LIMIT-TO (DOCTYPE,“ip”) n=1,020 AND (LIMIT-TO (EXACTSRC TITLE,“Journal Of Construction Engineering And Management”) OR LIMIT-TO (EXACTSRCTITLE,“International Journal Of Project Management”) OR LIMIT-TO (EXACTSRCTITLE,“Journal Of Management In Engineering”) OR LIMIT-TO (EXACTSRCTITLE,“Engineering Construction And Architectural Management”) OR LIMIT-TO (EXACTSRCTITLE,“Construction Management And Economics”) OR LIMIT-TO (EXACTSRCTITLE,“International Journal Of Civil Engineering And Technology”) OR LIMIT-TO (EXACTSRCTITLE,“Journal Of Financial Management Of Property And Construction”) OR LIMIT-TO (EXACTSRCTITLE,“International Journal Of Construction Management”) OR LIMIT-TO (EXACTSRCTITLE,“Journal Of Civil Engineering And Management”) OR LIMIT-TO (EXACTSRCTITLE,“Ksce Journal Of Civil Engineering”) OR LIMIT-TO (EXACTSRCTITLE,“International Journal Of Managing Projects In Business”) OR LIMIT-TO (EXACTSRCTITLE,“Journal Of Construction In Developing Countries”) OR LIMIT-TO (EXACTSRCTITLE,“Journal Of Engineering Design And Technology”) OR LIMIT-TO (EXACTSRCTITLE,“International Journal Of Project Organisation And Management”) OR LIMIT-TO (EXACTSRCTITLE,“Built Environment Project And Asset Management”) OR LIMIT-TO (EXACTSRCTITLE,“Canadian Journal Of Civil Engineering”) OR LIMIT-TO (EXACTSRCTITLE,“Building And Environment”) OR LIMIT-TO (EXACTSRCTITLE,“Construction Economics And Building”) OR LIMIT-TO (EXACTSRCTITLE,“Australasian Journal Of Construction Economics And Building”) OR (LIMIT-TO (EXACTSRCTITLE,“Construction Innovation”) OR LIMIT-TO (EXACTSRCTITLE,“Journal Of Facilities Management”) OR LIMIT-TO (EXACTSRCTITLE,“Proceedings Of Institution Of Civil Engineers Management Procurement And Law”) OR LIMIT-TO (EXACTSRCTITLE,“International Journal Of Construction Education And Research”) OR LIMIT-TO (EXACTSRCTITLE,“International Journal Of Productivity And Performance Management”) OR LIMIT-TO (EXACTSRCTITLE,“Arabian Journal For Science And Engineering”) OR LIMIT-TO (EXACTSRCTITLE,“Architectural Engineering And Design Management”) OR LIMIT-TO (EXACTSRCTITLE,“EMJ Engineering Management Journal”) OR LIMIT-TO (EXACTSRCTITLE,“Buildings”) OR LIMIT-TO (EXACTSRCTITLE,“Cogent Engineering”) OR LIMIT-TO (EXACTSRCTITLE,“Facilities”) OR LIMIT-TO (EXACTSRCTITLE,“Structural Survey”) OR LIMIT-TO (EXACTSRCTITLE,“International Journal Of Strategic Property Management”) ) (n=532) Review of abstracts and full-text (n=123) Revision for quality assurance Studies included in the review (n=100) Figure 1. Systematic review process IJMPB
- 6. Howard et al. (1987) calculates a score for each researcher, institution and country using the following parameters: the number of authors (n); and the author’s position in the author list order (i). Table II presents a detailed score matrix sourced from Howard et al. (1987): Score ¼ 1:5ni Pn i¼1 1:5ni : A picture of available literature Awareness of the trend of research and existing scientific attempts, in any field of research facilitates access to funds, specialties and expertise, can enhance productivity in defining future collaborators or topics, and assists investigators to reduce isolation (Hosseini et al., 2018). These ultimately benefit scientific collaboration and boost scholarly communications within the filed under question (Ding, 2011). Annual publication trend of studies related to delay causes Figure 2 presents the annual distribution of the studies reporting the CPDs. Since the first study was reported by Arditi et al. (1985), the number of articles published in 2017 has Journal name No. of articles International Journal of Project Management (IJPM) 18 Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management (ECAM) 16 Journal of Construction Engineering and Management (JCEM) 13 Journal of Management in Engineering (JME) 12 Construction Management and Economics (CME) 9 Journal of Financial Management of Property and Construction (JFMPC) 6 International Journal of Construction Management (IJCM) 5 Journal of Construction in Developing Countries (JCDC) 4 Journal of Civil Engineering and Management (JCEM) 3 KSCE Journal of Civil Engineering (KJCE) 3 Australasian Journal of Construction Economics and Building (AJCEB) 2 International Journal of Managing Projects in Business (IJMPB) 2 Arabian Journal for Science and Engineering (AJSE) 1 Canadian Journal of Civil Engineering (CJCE) 1 Cogent Engineering (CE) 1 IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management (TEM) 1 Buildings (B) 1 Jordan Journal of Civil Engineering (JJCE) 1 Journal of Facilities Management (JFM) 1 Total 100 Table I. Selected publications for the study and number articles Order of authors No. of authors 1 2 3 4 5 6 1. 1 2. 0.6 0.4 3. 0.47 0.32 0.21 4. 0.42 0.28 0.18 0.12 5. 0.38 0.26 0.17 0.11 0.08 6. 0.37 0.24 0.16 0.11 0.07 0.05 Source: Howard et al. (1987) Table II. Score matrix Causes of delays on construction projects
- 7. shown a dramatic increase. Although various advanced technologies and methodologies have been introduced, this reveals that project delays have become a problematic issue for construction projects worldwide, and therefore researchers have addressed this issue to enable the development of further mitigation measures to improve project performance. Table I reveals that the top 4 journals that have published more than ten articles on the topic are IJPM, ECAM, JCEM and JME, which account for approximately 60 per cent of the total publications reviewed in this study. It is worth mentioning that the vast majority (approximately 71 per cent) of these articles were published in the last decade. Contributions of countries, institutions and researchers The contributions of countries, institutions and researchers were determined using the scoring matrix (see Table II) to calculate their respective scores within a single reviewed paper. For example, the score for the study reported by Larsen et al. (2016) was calculated in the following way: J.K. Larsen (first author), S.M. Lindhard (third author) and T.D. Brunoe (fourth author) are all from Denmark and affiliated with Aalborg University, and so received 0.42, 0.18 and 0.12 for their authorships, respectively, while G.Q. Shen (second author) is from Hong Kong (China) and affiliated with the Hong Kong Polythechnic University, and received 0.28. Thus Denmark’s and Aalborg University’s score is 0.72 (0.42+0.18+0.12), while China and the Hong Kong Polytechnic University receives a score of 0.28. Table III presents the top 10 countries contributing to the body of knowledge on the CPDs. The vast majority of the list comprises developing countries, which reveals that project delays have been a problematic issue in these countries. The UK and the USA recorded the second and fourth highest scores. However, this is not due to the frequency of project delay in these countries; but rather, the collaborations of authors from these countries in the studies conducted in developing 2 18 7 6 5 8 1 7 4 5 2 7 1 2 1 3 2 1 0 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998 1997 1996 1995 1994 1990 1985 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 No. of articles 8 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 Figure 2. Annual trend of selected articles since 1985 (as of April 2018) Country Score 1. Chinaa 9.99 2. UK 9.40 3. Malaysia 9.05 4. USA 6.26 5. Saudi Arabia 5.94 6. India 5.11 7. Jordan 4.00 8. Taiwan 4.00 9. Nigeria 3.72 10. Thailand 3.17 Note: a Includes contributions from Hong Kong Table III. Top 10 countries of contributing papers IJMPB
- 8. countries. It is worthwhile mentioning that the bulk of studies focussing on causes of delays in the USA have examined the effect of whether conditions cause project delays rather than evaluating direct or indirect causative factors. The institutions that have contributed most to the identification of CPDs are presented in Table IV. These include King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (Saudi Arabia), the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (India), Dalian University of Technology (China), the University of Hong Kong (China), Hail University (Saudi Arabia), the Asian Institute of Technology (Thailand), Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (Ghana), Chung Hua University (Taiwan), Universiti Putra Malaysia (Malaysia) and Kuwait University (Kuwait); scoring 3.00, 2.90, 2.72, 2.53, 2.47, 2.20, 2.00, 2.00, 2.00 and 2.00, respectively. It is worthwhile mentioning that the top contributing institutions are from the developing world, in agreement with the results presented in Table III. This study also analysed the authors’ contributions to research on the subject, and these results are presented in Table V. Although there are 89 authors who have contributed to research on the subject, only those who have received at least a score of 1.00 are presented. It should be mentioned that there are a number of key contributing authors missing from this data, as they did not receive a score of at least 1.00 due to the formula applied for the assessment. For example, I. Mahamid has received the highest score (2.47), representing mainly (except for one paper from an institution in Norway) Hail University (Saudi Arabia), while the others represented institutions in China (including Hong Kong), India, Ghana, Institution Score 1. King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals 3.00 2. Indian Institute of Technology Delhi 2.90 3. Dalian University of Technology 2.72 4. University of Hong Kong 2.53 5. Hail University 2.47 6. Asian Institute of Technology 2.20 7. Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration 2.00 8. Chung Hua University 2.00 9. Universiti Putra Malaysia 2.00 10. Kuwait University 2.00 Table IV. Top 10 institutions Author Score Mahamid I. 2.47 Gunduz M. 1.54 Kumaraswamy M.M. 1.53 Al-Khalil M.I. 1.52 Iyer K.C. 1.46 Yang J.-B. 1.07 Assaf S.A. 1.07 Koushki P.A. 1.07 Sambasivan, M. 1.02 Amoatey C.T. 1.02 Bekir G.A. 1.00 Fallahnejad M.H. 1.00 Chang A.S.-T. 1.00 Al-Momani A.H. 1.00 Chan D.W.M. 1.00 Table V. Authors with a score of at least 1.00 Causes of delays on construction projects
- 9. Malaysia, Canada and Taiwan. M. Gunduz received the second highest score (1.54), and represents institutions from Turkey and Qatar, although these are not listed in top 10 countries. Hong et al. (2012) have stated that this information is valuable, as identification of active researchers in the area is important for further collaborations in future research. Identification of CPDs Along with cost performance and quality, schedule performance is one of the significant cornerstones of project success. However, there are several factors, due to various reasons throughout the project life cycle that may cause delays. The first step towards minimising delay in a project is to identify these causative factors, and then either eliminate or take measures to control them. Thus, identification of the potential factors causing delays is a prerequisite to improving project schedule performance. A number of studies across the globe have investigated issues related to project delays, and the reasons behind them. As a result, numerous causative factors have been identified over the last three decades, and these are presented in Table AI. However, a review of the literature on the subject shows that there are common causes that have been reported by the majority of researchers in this area, and these are presented in Table VI. It is worth mentioning that the identified CPDs may result in various types of project delays, which were presented in the aforementioned section. Table VI shows a significant effort has been invested across the globe to identify the CPDs. Identification of a set of causes of delay has been acknowledged by the majority of researchers as a valid method of improving the schedule performance of a project. While some authors have highlighted that lessons can be learned from similar causes of delay (Durdyev et al., 2017; Gündüz et al., 2013), some consider that they should be specific to the project conditions or the country where the project is being undertaken (Hampton et al., 2012; Ogunlana et al., 1996). Nevertheless, Table VI shows that the literature identifies a number of similar causes of delay that have been repeatedly reported by various studies since 1985, where the number of citations indicates the significance and persistence of the respective cause. Thus, due to the word limit, only the ten most commonly cited causes will be considered for further discussion. Weather/climate conditions It can be seen that “weather/climate conditions” (C1) has been identified as one of the significant causes of delay in 74 of the studies reviewed. Depending on the project type, weather/climate conditions, particularly unexpected and severe conditions, may cause significant project delays, which are, however, an excusable delay as it is beyond the control of the contractor (Nguyen et al., 2010). Examination of articles reviewed in this study shows that the vast majority are from countries or regions (i.e. Africa, Middle East, South and East Asia) that experience extreme weather or climate conditions, which justifies its significance and persistence as a cause of delays. The majority of the studies identify weather or climate as a significant cause of delay (Hussain et al., 2018; Mahamid, 2017), while some, particularly those reporting on infrastructure projects as case studies, have examined the extent of the delay it causes on project schedule performance (Apipattanavis et al., 2010; Ballesteros-Pérez et al., 2015). However, apart from its direct impact, unforeseen weather conditions may also have a subtle influence on project schedule performance that it is not easy to predict or quantify. One such significant impact is the loss of work rhythm due to the interruption of work (Santoso and Soeng, 2016). Unforeseen weather conditions (i.e. heavy rain) severely affect projects involving mostly open-space activities. However, in particular regions (i.e. South East Asia) residential projects are affected due to the frequent occurrence of floods; for example, during the monsoon rain period (Durdyev et al., 2017), which cause failures of basic infrastructure. Therefore, in these countries, it is commonly recommended IJMPB
- 11. to consider the impact of such weather conditions during the planning stage of the project. Furthermore, contractual agreements between the project stakeholders should include any possible delays caused by the weather conditions (Apipattanavis et al., 2010). Communication and coordination The construction industry is known for its fragmented structure, where various stakeholders contribute to the completion of a facility from its inception to handover to the client. Conflicts between the project stakeholders are associated with the information flow throughout the project life cycle and proper coordination; therefore, these three issues, which are the source of the internal delays, have been considered to have an additive influence on project schedule performance (Wang and Yuan, 2017). “Poor communication, coordination and conflicts between stakeholders” (C2) is the second most cited cause of delay, and has been identified by 63 studies. It is worthwhile mentioning that this cause has been identified in several studies regardless of the socio-economic status of the country reporting the study. Project coordination should focus on sequencing and scheduling, as well as the allocation of adequate resources for each work activity as the most efficient way to minimise the possibilities of schedule delay. Effective communication channels between all stakeholders with clear technical details and instructions to the site management are key to project success. Hence, a project that is highly reliant on well-coordinated activities and adequate communication will result in fewer disputes and less conflict between the project stakeholders (Frimpong et al., 2003). Previous studies have recommended the use of advanced cloud technologies to improve project coordination and communication (Bryde et al., 2013). Building information modelling provides a digital environment for each project stakeholder, regardless of his/her location, with clear information, and has been proven to offer dynamic interaction at all stages of the project for better coordination, effective communication and reduction of potential disputes (Bryde et al., 2013). Planning The third most common cause is “ineffective/improper planning” (C3), which was cited by 59 of the studies reviewed. Planning is the formulation of a course of action to guide a project to completion, where an explicit operational plan needs to be established along with milestones and consideration of possible obstacles throughout the project’s life (PMI, 2017). Delays in any of the project milestones, depending on their severity and the floating time of each project activity, will definitely hinder project schedule performance, which is not excusable as the planned milestones are within the contractor’s control. Considering best practices of planning projects based on Critical Chain Project Management is proven to be a measure towards enhancing the quality of planning and tackling the delays associated with ineffective planning on projects (Leach, 2004). The main reason for ineffective/improper planning was reported to be an unrealistic or accelerated project schedule (C23) being set by the client or due to delays in construction activities (Gunduz and AbuHassan, 2017). The possible consequences are increased expectations of workforce performance and site management problems due to delay in supply of the tools and materials required for the execution of the project (Jalal and Shoar, 2017; Mpofu et al., 2017). Moreover, increased labour performance results in physical fatigue and poor mental attitude, which ultimately inhibits project success in terms of quality, time and cost (Durdyev et al., 2017). Construction materials “Material shortage” (C4), cited by 58 of the reviewed papers, has been identified as another of the universal CPDs. The construction process is all about transforming a conceptual (architectural) design into a physical facility, which is impossible without the adequate IJMPB
- 12. construction materials. Therefore, the availability of materials as they are needed is important as this may cause significant project delays primarily due to disruption of labour momentum (Hughes and Thorpe, 2014). Although each of the following factors have been separately identified as CPDs in various studies (refer to Table AI), these factors can also cause material shortages on a project site: changes in design (C13); delays in material delivery/supply/ manufacturing (C17); changes/increases in material prices (C31); procurement of materials (C40); resource allocation/management (C55); political factors (C64); theft/vandalism (C105); failure in testing (C109) and unreliable suppliers (C114). Although improvement in cash flow management is recommended for continuous material supply (Olomolaiye, 1987), the review results show that this may not be applicable to all projects. Projects in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and United Arab Emirates (UAE) have experienced delays due to a shortage of materials caused because of a sharp increase in demand, which resulted in country-wide material shortages (Gündüz et al., 2013; Mpofu et al., 2017). It is noteworthy to mention that some studies from developing countries (i.e. Afghanistan and Palestine) reported political issues as a cause of material shortage (Enshassi et al., 2010; Kadry et al., 2017). Project finance “Financial problems” (C5) and “payment delays” (C6) have been identified as the fifth and sixth most common CPDs, with 58 and 56 citations in the articles reviewed. Due to the related impacts of these factors on project schedule performance, they will be discussed together. Financial problems can be due to poor cash flow management, insufficient financial resources and instability of financial markets, while payment delays may be due to failure to pay within the promised period by any of the stakeholders involved in the project life cycle (Abdul-Rahman et al., 2009). Kaming et al. (1997) reported financial insufficiency as the most significant factor causing project delay, while Abdul-Rahman et al. (2009) highlighted contractors’ insufficient resources as a main factor causing delays in highway projects. Detailed examination of the papers reviewed revealed that these problems are common to infrastructure projects that are reported to be inadequately financed and projects delivered in developing countries, particularly large-scale ones (Oyegoke and Al Kiyumi, 2017). Financial problems, and therefore late payments (C6), are the most frequent CPDs in countries such as Palestine where construction projects are largely financed by aid (Enshassi et al., 2009). It is worthwhile mentioning that these causes of delay have been reported in projects where various procurement methods (i.e. BOT and PPP) were utilised to finance the project (Yang et al., 2010). Construction equipment “Equipment/plant shortage” (C7) was cited 54 of the reviewed studies, with most of these originating from countries with poor and/or import-based economies or those experiencing political conflict (Enshassi et al., 2010; Kadry et al., 2017). Construction machinery helps the workforce handle heavy work on the site (i.e. excavation and moving heavy items); therefore, shortage of the basic equipment and plant required for the execution of the project may result in around 5 per cent loss in working time (Zakeri et al., 1996), and has been found to be highly correlated with financial and economic problems. These shortages are not only due to unavailability of the required equipment or plant on the market, but also as a result of service and maintenance issues (C113) and lack of skilled operators (C60) (Doloi, Sawhney and Iyer, 2012; Doloi, Sawhney, Iyer and Rentala, 2012; Kazaz et al., 2012). Experience and qualification “Lack of stakeholder experience/qualifications/competence” (C8), which was identified in 48 of the studies reviewed, seriously affects project schedule performance (Durdyev et al. 2018). Causes of delays on construction projects
- 13. This is a particularly problematic issue in developing countries, due to the limited number of institutions offering construction training (Durdyev and Ihtiyar, 2019); a decrease in enrolments in any of the construction majors due to the perceived image of the industry and more lucrative opportunities (Durdyev and Ihtiyar, 2019); and the unavailability and unaffordability of skilled foreign forepersons. Therefore, the most common practice is to tender a project to a contractor without any formal training, which makes them less effective and creates numerous problems, hence causing significant project delays (Alwi, 2003). Additionally, as mentioned above, political problems and civil wars are a significant reason for the unavailability of the required competencies in construction project stakeholders (Enshassi et al., 2010; Kadry et al., 2017). Construction labour Although various advanced construction technologies have been introduced, the industry is still labour-intensive in nature (Durdyev and Ismail, 2016). Therefore, it is not surprising that “construction labour shortage” (C9) has been cited (in 47 studies) as being among the most common CPDs. Review of the papers where this cause was identified shows that countries such as Qatar, the UAE and Kuwait are struggling with shortages of construction labour due to the boom in the number of construction projects procured at the same time (Gunduz and AbuHassan, 2017; Mpofu et al., 2017). Moreover, political conflicts have also affected the construction industry in terms of human resources. For instance, due to the ongoing civil wars in Palestine and Afghanistan, one of the significant obstacles in these countries is the lack of a construction workforce for reconstruction projects, which has delayed their completion (Enshassi et al., 2010; Kadry et al., 2017). Additionally, the workforce in developing countries usually comes from those living in rural areas and involved in farming, which means that construction companies in cities may have difficulty in recruiting workers (Durdyev et al., 2017). Notably, in some countries C9 was not identified as a problematic issue; however, “lack of skilled/qualified workforce” (C14) has been highlighted as a cause of project delays (McCord et al., 2015) where the vast majority of the workforce is comprised by unskilled foreign labourers (Gunduz and AbuHassan, 2017). Site management Although off-site planning and management is significant, the bulk of construction work is executed on site. Therefore, management of project site activities is of strategic importance (Durdyev and Mbachu, 2011). “Poor site management” (C10) received the tenth highest number of citations (47) among the papers on the subject we reviewed. C10 is defined as the inability of the contractor to plan and organise site activities (Chan and Kuwaraswamy, 1998). Better site management has been highlighted as a prerequisite for the completion of a project within the stipulated time, and reflects the contractor’s competence in coordinating the site activities, ensuring the flow of information between the stakeholders as well as optimising resource allocation. The main reason for poor site management is reported as being an inadequately qualified and competent workforce (Kumaraswamy and Chan, 1998). Consequently, it is believed that with better site management project schedule performance can be significantly improved without additional input. Concluding remarks and recommendations for future studies This paper has investigated the published literature on the CPDs and presented the findings of a review of the selected studies in terms of publication trends, an assessment of the contributing countries, institutions and researchers, as well as classification according to the project type and the country of origin of the studies. The study contributes to the field in several ways. IJMPB
- 14. The key contribution of the study is identifying a comprehensive list of causes of delays for construction projects. This has implications for scholars as well as the world of practice. That is, scholars gain access to a comprehensive source for investigating delay causes, and practitioners can consult this paper to identify various delay problems, their causes, and hence, focus resources on the causes that are most damaging for their project. As another novel finding, the review reveals that poor schedule performance in construction projects has been a concern for both industry practitioners and researchers in this area around the world, regardless of the socio-economic status of the country. The CPDs have received extensive attention from researchers in this area for over three decades. Although there are similarities in the majority of the causes that were reported, it was noted that country- and project-specific issues result in differences in the CPDs. While the studies from the USA have invested their effort in understanding uncontrollable causes of delay, developing countries have identified mainly resource-related (i.e. manpower, material and money) and political causes. Notably, around 20 of the identified CPDs impede project schedule performance in both developed and developing countries, which is clear evidence of the need for innovative solutions to reduce these factors. Nevertheless, the identification of the most common CPDs can be a stepping stone for further improvements in project schedule performance. Finally, it was also noted that the implications of advanced technologies, construction automation and off-site manufacturing are yet to be examined and reported in the literature. An original insight provided by the study is one of identifying the gaps within the studied literature. Although the most common CPDs have been identified in the studies we reviewed, several gaps have been identified in the research, which may allow further improvements in project schedule performance. First, there are several interrelated causes that influence another identified cause(s); therefore, investigating the influence of each cause separately is an oversimplification of the problem, a gap in the knowledge that needs to be filled. Future research can rely on methods like social network analysis to reveal the root causes of major delays and also demonstrate the interrelated and reciprocal impacts of various delay factors on other causes of delays. The study shows that the implications of innovative and collaborative delivery methods, such as integrated project delivery, lean construction and building information modelling should be examined, and the influence of these methods on project schedule performance could be evaluated. Sufficient evidence shows that these methods enhance communication and coordination between project stakeholders, which could resolve the prevalent schedule- related issues. Furthermore, the research findings reveal that issues related to the contractual relationship, project culture and project delivery methods have largely been ignored by the previous studies. Finally, it is hoped that this comprehensive review will provide a basis for future studies to direct the efforts of researchers in the field of project schedule performance. Another major area to be considered for further investigation is provided in light of the limitation of the present study in terms of its objective – limited to identifying the major causes of delays. In fact, the study intends to observe the phenomena and offers an insightful description of what exists in the literature. With the phenomena described, the second stage must be classification into categories, referred to as developing typologies. Therefore, a fertile ground for suture research can be developing frameworks for categorising the delay causes with the ultimate objective being the exploration of possible relationships between these defined categories in formulating explanatory models of delays. References Abd El-Razek, M.E., Bassioni, H.A. and Mobarak, A.M. (2008), “Causes of delay in building construction projects in Egypt”, Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, Vol. 134 No. 11, p. 831. Abd. Majid, M.Z. and McCaffer, R. (1998), “Factors of non-excusable delays that influence contractors’ performance”, Journal of Management in Engineering, Vol. 14 No. 3, p. 42. Causes of delays on construction projects
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