Causes Of Time Delay In Construction Projects In Libya

The construction industry has a dynamic and complex environment. The successful completion of a construction project depends on various factors. Accordingly, construction delay is observed to happen in construction projects. It is highly affecting the construction sector and the economy of the country too. Although previous research studies identified the causes, effects, and mitigation methods separately, this study adopts a linked approach and directs to identify the effective applicable mitigation methods and their practices on each significant cause of delay in construction projects. Moreover, contractors are noted as one of the main sources of construction delay from the previous studies. Hence, this research aims to develop a framework to determine the applicable mitigation strategies and the practices of each mitigation strategy for each significant cause of contractor’s delays in construction projects in Sri Lanka. A mixed research approach was adopted to generate the research process. A literature review was conducted on construction delays, organizational and project management factors, and professional competency, mitigation strategies in delay management. The significant causes of delays and effective mitigation strategies were ranked through a questionnaire survey using a Likert scale. Project Managers and Quantity Surveyors in the Sri Lankan construction industry were selected in the ratio of 1:3 respectively for the interview as they are mostly engaged with delay management. Also, the respondents were limited to 68 and the collected data were analysed through the Relative Important Index (RII) method, to rank the significant causes and mitigation strategies. Then techniques and possible mitigation strategies were found through interviews and content analysis was used to analyse the data. The findings indicated that most of the contractor’s delays can be mitigated through applying proper mitigation strategies as effective management approaches in the construction projects such as effective project planning and schedules of construction works, maintain positive financial stability and well qualified and experienced professionals and staff, effective strategic planning, risk analysis, and management, selection of suitable sub-contractor and management and effective site management and supervision. In addition to that, inaccurate planning and scheduling of the project, financial dishonesty, poor procurement of construction materials, ineffective time management of contractors, and incompetence of management professionals and staffs were identified as the most significant contractor’s causes of delays in construction management.
 Keywords: Delays, Significant Causes, Mitigation, Construction Management, Construction Projects.

One of the challenges project managers are dealt with is management of delay in construction projects. Organizations particularly pay special attention to the efficient manage-ment of projects and make a lot of efforts to achieve this goal by reducing delay in projects. Analyzing the factors causing delay is essential with the aim of omitting them and timely implementation of these projects. On account of the impor-tance of oil and gas projects, in this research the factors caus-ing delay in oil and gas construction projects are taken in to the consideration. These factors are identified by using fuzzy Delphi method.

Influencing factors that indicate the time delay vary from project to project and firm to firm. The aim of current study is to examine the impact of firm size and industry experience on influencing factors that indicate the time delay in the Pakistani construction contracting firms having varied sizes and industrial experiences. The data are collected through dissemination of the questionnaires in the targeted construction firms. A comparative analysis of these data is undertaken for firms of varied sizes and experiences by using Mann–Whitney U test. The results show that firms of varied sizes do not concur over several skilled labour and site operation related influencing factors, whereas firms of varied experiences are in disagreement over several financial management related influencing factors. Small firms need to overcome their weakness in site operation related issues, especially poor site supervision and management, and countering the weather conditions. Young firms need to overcome financial management weakness, including inaccurate estimation of time, variations in material prices, lack of cost planning and monitoring during pre-contract and post-contract phases. Government support is needed to retain the skilled labour in the country, particularly for younger and smaller firms that are more vulnerable to time delay due to lack of availability of skilled labours in market.

Construction delays are occurring in every phase of a construction project and are common problems in construction projects in Ethiopia. Moreover, it is well known that the delays in construction projects are the major causes of project failure. If the delay is not identified and the corrective project management decision is not taken in time a project may incur extra cost and extension of project time, which gives rise to dissatisfaction to all the parties involved and nowadays it’s becoming a major obstruction for their development for developing countries like Ethiopia. This research first identified 88 key factors causing delay in Ethiopian construction industries, and then the most common and critical causes of construction delay were evaluated by using both the data collected in a survey of construction managers, resident engineers, contractors, and clients, and interviews with senior professionals in the field. The findings show that the main critical factors that cause construction delays in Ethiopia are: (1) Difficulties in financing project by a contractor; (2) Escalation of the materials price; (3) Infective project planning; (4) Scheduling or resource management; (5) Delay in progress payments for completed works, (6) Lack of skilled professionals in the field of construction management in the organization, and (7) Fluctuating labor availability season to season /Seasonal labors availability. This study shows that in Ethiopia only 8.25% projects have been finished to the original targeted completion date. The remaining 91.75% delayed 352% of its contractual time. This paper finally came up with solutions towards reducing the impact of delays on construction projects in Ethiopia.

Construction delays are recurrent worldwide, regardless of the type of work, and can result in severe impacts, such as time and cost overruns and conflicts. This work aims to present a methodology to develop mitigation measures for the causes of Delays in Construction Projects (DCPs). Prior works have explored strategies to develop these measures but systematically failed to consider that the interrelationships among causes affect the significance of the impact of each cause. The methodology proposed combines the Interpretative Structural Modelling (ISM) and Matrix Cross Impact Matrix Multiplication (MICMAC) analyses approaches and is grounded on the opinions of construction experts collected during Focus Group Interviews (FGI). First, the critical causes of DCPs are identified. Second, the ISM model is built, representing the interrelationships between the causes and their hierarchy. Third, the MICMAC analysis is performed, revealing the strengths of the relationships among the influencing causes. Fourth, mitigation measures are developed to address the root causes identified in the previous steps, but they are designed to target and mitigate other causes, given their hierarchical relationships, driving power, and levels of dependence. Applying this methodology to the Portuguese context revealed 16 critical causes, which were then hierarchized into six levels of influence. Inadequate bidding and contract award processes and deficient communication between parties were deemed root causes, and 23 measures were put forward to mitigate DCPs. Therefore, this study contributes to the body of knowledge by designing an innovative and practitioner-wise methodology to develop mitigation measures in relation to DCPs and revealing some measures for the Portuguese context.

The success factors of project was completing the project without time delay and cost overrun. Time delay and cost overrun were arised due to uncertainty activity during the life cycle project. This may lead the problems to the project. The research aim was analysing cost overrun and time delay in construction project. Data were collected using questionnaire to 36 respondent. 15 factors have been identified in this research i.e land acquisition delay, location of site, support or protest from the local for the project, changes in design specifications, rework, subcontractors and vendors performance, delay in works approval, inaccurate budgeting and resource planning, price escalation of materials, rules and regulations of the government, owners additional required, inflation, payment delay, weak cash flow and bad weather. The result findings, owners and contractors have differences and similarty perception. In cost overrun factors, owner agreed the topmost factor causing was owner additional required while according to the contractors was rework. In delay factors, owner agreed the topmost factor causing delay was inaccurate budgeting and resource planning while according to the contractors was land acquisition delay. Nevertheless, both parties agreed the inflation has a least influent to construction project delay.

Construction is prone to disputes similar to other business dealings. Construction delays are the most common causes of disputes in construction projects. Most of the time, construction projects are delayed not only because of a lack of funding, but also because of disputes between the contractor and the client. Blockchain Technologies (BCT) have the potential to make the construction industry more efficient, inexpensive, or completely automated. In this paper, an extensive literature review is conducted to locate authoritative sources about the most common applications of blockchain technology in the construction industry. The study aims to identify the potential, benefits, challenges, and uses of blockchain in the construction industry. Furthermore, this paper explores the roles of BCTs in improving and enhancing the workflow efficiency of construction projects. In addition, this paper identifies the major causes of disputes and delays in the construction industry. These causes were used as the baseline for identifying the most relevant solutions provided by blockchain technologies to develop a matching model to find applicable solutions from the literature cases to resolve the identified causes of disputes and delays. The research findings indicated that the common cases of BCT including administrative purposes, smart contracts for transactions, permanent transaction records, and permanent ownership records contribute to solving the causes of disputes and delays in construction projects. The findings of this paper recommend that both public and private stakeholders in the construction sector adopt blockchain technologies and blockchain-based Building Information Models (BIMs) to improve construction workflows and processes.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to develop a model for complex interconnected structure of various factors interacting with delay in order to identify the most important factors influencing and influenced by delay based on their interrelations.Design/methodology/approachReviewing literature and interviewing with local experts selected from the Iranian construction industry, top 58 delay factors were identified and categorized into six major groups. The interrelations among these factors were, then, modeled using the system dynamics (SD) approach. The resulting causal loop diagrams obtained from SD were used subsequently for identifying the most significant factors influencing and influenced by delay through the Decision Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) method. The impact of factors on each other was finally determined based on the opinions of 63 experts selected from the Iranian community of consultants, contractors, and clients.FindingsAccording to the analysis, eight out of the 58 factors were identified as the most influencing factors on delay, and nine factors were found to be the most influenced factors by delay in the field of delay analysis. The study also concluded that factors related to labors are the most important and influential factors. In addition, factors related to client were the most influencing factors and external-related factors were the least important ones. At the end, some recommendations to reduce variation of delay in the construction projects are presented as well.Originality/valueConsidering the interconnected structure of the factors, the paper identifies the most important factors interacting with time delay in construction projects.

Aims: This study aims to identify the major causes of delays in construction projects in the Makkah region of Saudi Arabia. It investigates the opinions of different stakeholders separately to ensure partiality and objectivity. Background: Saudi Arabia's construction industry is experiencing rapid expansion, with no shortage of contracts in any sector, either from housing or utilities to transport infrastructure. Public spending is driving the contracting industry forward [Oxford]. The construction industry contributed between 30% to 40% of the non-oil productive sectors at the end of each National Development Plan from 1980 to 2000. Makkah receives around two million pilgrims during the annual Hajj and more than 20 million visitors for performing Umrah (Al-Emad). Substantial public funds have been spent on construction projects to develop Makkah during recent years. Real estate, infrastructure, hospitals, and retail sectors are among those most likely to benefit. Most of these projects suffered delays and their consequences. The Saudi Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs (MOMRA) and the Ministry of Transportation acknowledged public construction project delays. They reported that approximately 75% of them exceeded their scheduled time. This is one of the main reasons to conduct this study. Methods: In this study, a comprehensive questionnaire has been developed, consisting of seventy-three causes of delay. The questionnaire was organized in the form of an importance scale. Respondents were asked to indicate their responses by ticking a column of the impact and frequency of each of the causes and construction delay in terms of 5 = very important, 4 = important, 3 = somewhat important, 2 = less important, and 1 = not important. A hundred fifty questionnaires were distributed by hand to the contractor, the consultant, and the owner in the Makkah region of Saudi Arabia. Ninety-seven forms were filled, received, and processed. The survey data were grouped into eight significant categories: owner, consultant designer, supervisor, contractor, material, labor, site, and external factors. A ninth group is left for the participants to add whatever they think of furtherer causes of delay. Results: The evaluation of the three separate surveys conducted on the responses of the owner, the contractors, and the consultant supervisor, show that the contractor is mainly responsible for the delay. Around 47% of the top ten delay factors fall in the contractor delay factors followed by laborers and owners. Three categories have not been mentioned in the top ten as delay category, including supervisors, materials, and external factors. Only one delay factor was found to be shared among the three-survey group, which is related to the labor category, that is, low productivity of labor. Conclusion: Three separate surveys have been conducted to investigate the delay in the construction industry in the Makkah region of Saudi Arabia. The surveys contain a questionnaire of seventy-three possible delay factors investigating the opinions of the three main stakeholders in the construction industry: the owners, the contractors, and the consultants. The evaluation of the survey impacts shows that the contractor is mainly responsible for the delay, followed by laborers and then the owners. One common delay factor was found among the three surveyed groups related to the labor category; that is, low productivity of labor. In frequency, the contractor category also occupied the highest percentage of the total delay contributors. Another common delay factor was found among the three surveyed groups, also related to the contractor category, that being the lack of risk evaluation by the contractor.

The study investigates the causes of delays in construction projects in the Makkah region of Saudi Arabia. The objective is to determine the most significant factors from the consultant designer and supervisor’s perspectives. This study is part of a series designed to explore the causes of delays from the perspective of different stakeholders in the construction industry. A comprehensive survey of 69 questions has explored various possible delay factors. All factors are grouped into eight categories based on their relevance and orientation. The factors were recorded and ranked by their relative importance index concerning their impact and frequency. The top three factors in their impacts are found to be (1) difficulties in financing the project, (2) poor management of the site and lack of distribution of tasks (3) low productivity of labor. The first two are delay factors related to the contractor group, and the third is related to the labor group. The highest in frequency relative importance index is (1) delays related to sub-contractor’s work, (2) lack of experience of the owner in the approval of the supervision team and (3) inadequate estimate of task duration and scheduling, inadequate training, and adopting new techniques. In the overall average of the impact index of all groups, the highest was the delays due to the contractor group, followed by delays due to the designer group, and finally, delays related to the labor group. The overall average of the frequency index of the whole group seems relatively low. The study’s novelty lies in the large number of delay factors that have been investigated, by collecting and analyzing actual data, focusing separately on the opinions of all stakeholders, and then comparing them to find objective results related to delays in construction projects in the Makkah region.

Project delays in the construction industry are a universal or large-scale observable fact affecting not only the construction industry but the overall economy of countries as well. As far as the Malaysian construction industry is concerned, project delays are common problems in the construction industry, particularly in housing development. The objective of this study is to evaluate and identify the causes and the consequences of project delays in private housing development projects in Malaysia, and the remedies that can minimize these delays. The top ten causes of delays are weather conditions, poor site conditions, poor site management, incomplete documents, lack of experience, financial problems, contract modifications, delay in the approval of major variations, contractor coordination problems with other parties, and construction mistakes and defective works. It has been analysed that the causes of the delays point to the contractor factors, which contribute to the major factors that cause project delays in private housing development projects. The consequences of the delays include time overrun, cost overrun, differences in opinion, negotiations, legal actions and total abandonment. Herewith are presented some recommendations to minimize these project delays.

Since a construction project involves a huge amount of resources, delays in construction have an unfavorable impact on all stakeholders. Due to the large-scale, specialization, and complexity of construction projects, construction delaysare reported globally. Previous quantitative studies mainly through questionnaires have focused on identifying delay factors. However, the identified delay factors show little difference regardless of time and region, thus, a more fundamental study on theroot causes of the delay is needed. Therefore, this study intends to discuss in depth the causes of delay factors identified in previous studies from professionals’ point of view. According to the interview with the experts, schedule delays are caused by factors such as short initial construction periods, errors in design documents, and rework. The effect of construction delays includes not only work quality degradation and increased risk of workplace accidents, but also the professional ethical dilemma ofmanagers. The experts mention that the construction delay can be alleviated with basic measures such as estimating spare construction period, reviewing design documents before work, and thorough quality control. This paper helps in understanding of the identified construction delays and can provide valuable insights in formulating effective strategies to avoid delays in construction projects.

This paper assesses the construction professionals’ perception on the major causes of construction project delays and there consequential effects of on the Lusaka – Zambia, construction industry. This is due to the fact that the Zambia construction industry is a major key sector in the development and economic growth of Zambia. Despite this belief, the industry has not escaped the challenges facing other countries worldwide in terms of construction projects performance with regards to the delivery of projects on time as stipulated in the contracts. Data used in this study were derived from both primary and secondary sources. The secondary data was collected through a detailed review of related literature. The primary data was collected through a structured questionnaire survey, distributed to construction professionals, who include: architects, quantity surveyors, builders, civil engineers, land surveyors and project managers. Out of the 50 questionnaires sent out, 32 were received back representing 64% response rate. The primary data from the questionnaires was analyzed using descriptive statistics procedures. Hence, findings from the study revealed that delay in progress payments, difficulties in financing projects by the contractor, delay in approving major changes in the scope of work amongst others, were the major causes of construction delays. The study also revealed that extension of project time and cost over runs are the two major effects of construction project delays in Lusaka, Zambia. The study contributes to the body of knowledge on the subject of the causes and the effects of delay construction project delays in Lusaka, Zambia.

PurposeConstruction delay always causes massive damage to the advancing construction industries, which is no different in the case of Bangladeshi construction industries. This paper aims to investigate the major delay factors causing construction delays in public-funded, mixed and private-funded construction projects of Bangladesh. Also, it offers preventive suggestions from expert stakeholders to reduce the recurrence of delays.Design/methodology/approachAt first, an extensive literature review was conducted to identify the thirty-seven major delay factors categorized under seven groups. A questionnaire was then developed for survey at ongoing construction projects at a different division of Bangladesh. Next, data from 110 respondents were collected, and the delay factors were ranked based on the Relative Importance Index (RII); lastly, probable solutions were suggested for top-ranked delay factors based on opinions from expert stakeholders in the construction sector of Bangladesh.FindingsThe overall RII ranking of the 37 delay factors showed “Construction mistakes and defective work,” “Contract modifications by the client” and “Adverse weather condition” as the top three factors causing the delay. For public-funded projects, “Construction mistakes and defective work” and “Slow decision making by a consultant” are the top delay factors. For mixed projects, “Slow decision making of the client” and “Construction mistakes and defective work ranked top, and for private-funded projects, “Financial problems and payment delay of the client” and “Adverse weather condition” ranked top. These nuances of ranking in individual project types ascertain that the causes of delay vary in terms of project features.Practical implicationsThe outcome of this project will help identify the significant delay factors based on their severity of effectiveness associated with public-funded, mixed and private-funded projects in Bangladesh. The suggestions regarding preventing these delay factors obtained through the opinions of expert stakeholders can help reduce the effect of these delays in the context of Bangladesh and in countries where the similarity in construction environment prevails.Originality/valuePreviously, studies on construction delays in Bangladesh focused mainly on identifying the delays using qualitative analysis techniques. This study is based on a unique methodology of integrating quantitative research on delay factor identification and qualitative research on preventive measures following the opinions gathered from expert stakeholders in the construction sector.

Construction projects run the risk of not conforming to the initial expectations of development. It is very difficult to estimate the time of a project because a project is not repetitive, there are different challenges in each development project. Delay in completing a project will cause waste in the form of overtime and overbudget. This research was conducted using judgment sampling to 5 respondents who were expert contractors. The objectives to be achieved through this research are to identify the dominant factors causing delays in a residental project using the Decision Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) method and modeling the relationship between the factors that cause delays in residential construction projects using the Interpretive Structural Modeling (ISM) method. The result of this research is the existence of 8 levels of sub-factor hierarchical structure which becomes the framework for contractors and project owners to reduce the risk of delays in residential construction projects. The dominant causes of delays in project development are design changes during construction, late delivery of materials, late approval of work drawings, late payments, and inappropriate work methods.