Multistage assessment of construction delay factors using expert evaluation and real project data

Area of Science:

• Construction Management
• Project Management
• Engineering Management

Background:

• Construction delays pose significant challenges globally, exacerbated by financial, administrative, and resource constraints in developing countries.
• Identifying and prioritizing delay factors is crucial for mitigating schedule disruptions and improving project outcomes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify and rank critical construction delay factors using a multi-phase research approach.
• To validate identified delay factors through expert evaluation and real-life project data in Egypt.

Main Methods:

• A comprehensive literature review identified 98 potential delay factors across four categories: owner, contractor, consultant/design, and external.
• An expert survey utilized a composite scoring approach (frequency and impact) to rank delay factors.
• Validation was performed using a dataset of 141 real construction projects to confirm survey-based rankings.

Main Results:

• Owner-related factors were identified as the most significant sources of construction delays, comprising approximately 50% of the top 22 critical factors.
• Frequent change orders and design modifications were consistently ranked as top delay drivers.
• Validation confirmed strong alignment between expert survey rankings and actual project outcomes, with minor variations in factor importance.

Conclusions:

• Owner-related issues are primary drivers of construction delays, necessitating targeted mitigation strategies.
• The study provides a validated dataset of delay factors, crucial for developing predictive models in construction.
• Findings offer valuable insights for project managers and stakeholders to enhance construction schedule performance.