INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF

PROJECT
MANAGEMENT
International Journal of Project Management 25 (2007) 517–526
www.elsevier.com/locate/ijproman

Causes and effects of delays in Malaysian construction industry

Murali Sambasivan *, Yau Wen Soon
Graduate School of Management, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM, Serdang Selangor, Malaysia

Received 21 April 2006; received in revised form 27 June 2006; accepted 21 November 2006

Abstract

The problem of delays in the construction industry is a global phenomenon and the construction industry in Malaysia is no exception.
The main purpose of this study is to identify the delay factors and their impact (effect) on project completion. Earlier studies either con-
sidered the causes or the effects of project delays, separately. This study takes an integrated approach and attempts to analyze the impact
of specific causes on specific effects. A questionnaire survey was conducted to solicit the causes and effects of delay from clients, consul-
tants, and contractors. About 150 respondents participated in the survey. This study identified 10 most important causes of delay from a
list of 28 different causes and 6 different effects of delay. Ten most important causes were: (1) contractor’s improper planning, (2) con-
tractor’s poor site management, (3) inadequate contractor experience, (4) inadequate client’s finance and payments for completed work,
(5) problems with subcontractors, (6) shortage in material, (7) labor supply, (8) equipment availability and failure, (9) lack of commu-
nication between parties, and (10) mistakes during the construction stage. Six main effects of delay were: (1) time overrun, (2) cost over-
run, (3) disputes, (4) arbitration, (5) litigation, and (6) total abandonment. This study has also established an empirical relationship
between each cause and effect.
Ó 2006 Elsevier Ltd and IPMA. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Delay causes; Delay effects; Construction industry; Malaysia; Correlational analysis

1. Introduction tors contributing to delay and cost overruns in Ghana

The problem of delays in the construction industry is a
global phenomenon. In Saudi Arabia, Assaf and Al-Hejji
[6] found that only 30% of construction projects were com-
pleted within the scheduled completion dates and that the
average time overrun was between 10% and 30%. In Nige-
ria, Ajanlekoko [2] observed that the performance of the
construction industry in terms of time was poor. Odeyinka
and Yusif [16] have shown that seven out of ten projects sur-
veyed in Nigeria suffered delays in their execution. Ogunl-
ana and Promkuntong [17] conducted a study on
construction delays in Thailand. Al-Momani [5] carried
out a quantitative analysis on construction delays in Jor-
dan. Frimpong et al. [10] conducted a survey to identify
and evaluate the relative importance of the significant fac-
*
Corresponding author. Tel.: +60 389467698; fax: +60 389434019.
E-mail address: murali@econ.upm.edu.my (M. Sambasivan).
groundwater construction projects. Chan and Kumarasw-
amy [8] studied delays in Hong Kong construction industry.
They emphasized that timely delivery of projects within
budget and to the level of quality standard specified by
the client is an index of successful project delivery. Failure
to achieve targeted time, budgeted cost and specified quality
result in various unexpected negative effects on the projects.
Normally, when the projects are delayed, they are either
extended or accelerated and therefore, incur additional cost.
The normal practices usually allow a percentage of the pro-
ject cost as a contingency allowance in the contract price
and this allowance is usually based on judgment [3].
Although the contract parties agreed upon the extra time
and cost associated with delay, in many cases there were
problems between the owner and contractor as to whether
the contractor was entitled to claim the extra cost. Such sit-
uations, usually involved questioning the facts, causal fac-
tors and contract interpretation [4]. Therefore, delays in

0263-7863/$30.00 Ó 2006 Elsevier Ltd and IPMA. All rights reserved.

doi:10.1016/j.ijproman.2006.11.007
518 M. Sambasivan, Y.W. Soon / International Journal of Project Management 25 (2007) 517–526
construction projects give rise to dissatisfaction to all the
parties involved and the main role of the project manager
is to make sure that the projects are completed within the
budgeted time and cost. The construction sector in Malay-
sia, a fast developing country in South-East Asia has not
escaped the problem of delays. In 2005, about 17.3% (of
417 government contract projects in Malaysia) were consid-
ered sick (more than 3 months of delay or abandoned).
The Construction Sector is one of the important sectors
that contribute to Malaysia’s economic growth. The sector
accounted for nearly 3.3% of GDP in the year 2005 and
employed about 600,000 workers including 109,000 foreign
workers (MALBEX [12]). The huge volume and complexity
of projects in Malaysia’s construction sector pose a great
challenge and provide a wealth of opportunities to various
companies in the construction industry. The construction
sector in Malaysia can be divided into four broad catego-
ries: office, retail, residential and infrastructure. This sector
suffered a temporary crisis between 1997 and 2000 (ASEAN
crisis) and now it has started to improve. However, the
delays in the projects continue to occur. The main purpose
of this study is to identify the delay factors and their impact
(effect) on project completion. Earlier studies either consid-
ered the causes or the effects of project delays, separately.
This study takes an integrated approach and attempts to
analyze the impact of specific causes on specific effects.
Some causes and effects of delays in construction projects
can be country-specific. The logical question at this point
is: Why is it necessary to link the causes and effects of delays
and how can the link help the practitioners to prevent or
remedy future delays? In this research, we identified major
causes of delay and categorized them as client-related, con-
tractor-related, consultant-related, material-related, labor-
related, contract-related, contract relationship-related,
and external factors. We have also identified major effects
of delay as: time overrun, cost overrun, dispute, arbitration,
litigation, and total abandonment. Identification of causes
and effects alone does not help the project managers to take
appropriate remedial or preventive steps. The project man-
agers need to understand, for example, what causes or fac-
tors result in time overrun or cost overrun. Once these
factors become clear, the managers can take proactive steps
to avoid such situations. For example, if it is known that
time overruns are predominantly caused by client-related
factors, the project manager can: (1) make sure that pay-
ments for the completed work are paid on time, (2) reduce
owner interference, (3) speed up the decision-making pro-
cess, and (4) avoid unrealistic contract duration and
requirements. Therefore, the link between causes and effects
of delays need to be established.
This paper is organized as follows. Section 2 deals with
the previous studies on causes and effects of delays in pro-
jects. Section 3 explains the methodology of research. Sec-
tion 4 discusses the analysis the data using statistical
procedures. Section 5 discusses the results. Section 6 pre-
sents the strategies for reducing delays in construction pro-
jects and Section 7 presents the conclusions.
2. Previous studies
Many researchers have studied the causes and few
researchers have studied the effects of project delays in
the construction industry. We have broken the studies into
two parts: (1) Studies on causes of delay and (2) Studies on
effects of delay.
2.1. Studies on causes of delay
Mansfield [14] identified 16 major factors that caused
delays and cost overruns in Nigeria. A questionnaire sur-
vey was carried out with contractors, consultants and client
organizations in Nigeria. They presented that the causes of
delay and cost overruns in Nigerian construction projects
were attributed to finance and payment arrangements,
poor contract management, shortages in materials, inaccu-
rate estimation, and overall price fluctuations.
Assaf et al. [7] identified 56 main causes of delay in
Saudi large building construction projects and their relative
importance. Based on the contractors surveyed the most
important delay factors were: preparation and approval
of shop drawings, delays in contractor’s progress, payment
by owners and design changes. From the view of the archi-
tects and engineers the cash problems during construction,
the relationship between subcontractors and the slow deci-
sion making process of the owner were the main causes of
delay. However, the owners agreed that the design errors,
labor shortages and inadequate labor skills were important
delay factors.
Ogunlana and Promkuntong [17] conducted a study on
construction delays in Thailand. They found that the prob-
lems faced by the construction industry in developing econ-
omies like Thailand could be: (a) shortages or inadequacies
in industry infrastructure (mainly supply of resources); (b)
caused by clients and consultants and (c) caused by con-
tractor’s incompetence/inadequacies. They recommended
that there should be concerted effort by economy managers
and construction industry associations to provide the nec-
essary infrastructure for efficient project management.
Chan and Kumaraswamy [8] conducted a survey to
determine and evaluate the relative importance of the sig-
nificant factors causing delays in Hong Kong construction
projects. They analyzed and ranked main reasons for
delays and classified them into two groups: (a) the role of
the parties in the local construction industry (i.e. whether
client, consultants or contractors) and (b) the type of pro-
jects. Results indicated that five major causes of delays
were: poor site management and supervision, unforeseen
ground conditions, low speed of decision making involving
all project teams, client initiated variations and necessary
variations of works.
Odeyinka and Yusif [16] have addressed the causes of
delays in building projects in Nigeria. They classified the
causes of delay as project participants and extraneous
factors. Client-related delays included variation in orders,
slow decision-making and cash flow problems. Contrac-
 M. Sambasivan, Y.W. Soon / International Journal of Project Management 25 (2007) 517–526
tor-related delays identified were: financial difficulties,
material management problems, planning and scheduling
problems, inadequate site inspection, equipment manage-
ment problems and shortage of manpower. Extraneous
causes of delay identified were: inclement weather, acts of
nature, labor disputes and strikes.
Al-Momani [5] carried out a quantitative analysis on
construction delays in Jordan. The result of his study indi-
cated that the main causes of delay in construction of pub-
lic projects were related to designers, user changes,
weather, site conditions, late deliveries, economic condi-
tions and increase in quantity. Similarly, Odeh and Battai-
neh [15] also conducted a survey aimed at identifying the
most important causes of delays in construction projects
with traditional type of contracts from the viewpoint of
construction contractors and consultants. Results of the
survey indicated that contractors and consultants agreed
that owner interference, inadequate contractor experience,
financing and payments, labor productivity, slow decision
making, improper planning, and subcontractors were
among the top ten most important factors.
Frimpong et. al., [10] conducted a survey to identify and
evaluate the relative importance of significant factors con-
tributing to delay and cost overruns in Ghana groundwater
construction projects. A questionnaire with 26 factors was
carefully designed from preliminary investigations con-
ducted in groundwater drilling projects between 1970 and
1999 in Ghana. The questionnaire was directed towards
three groups in both public and private organizations:
owners of the groundwater projects, consulting offices,
and contractors working in the groundwater works. The
questionnaire was distributed to a random sample of 55
owners, 40 contractors and 30 consultants. The result of
the study revealed the main causes of delay and cost over-
runs in construction of groundwater projects: monthly
payment difficulties from agencies; poor contractor man-
agement; material procurement; poor technical perfor-
mance; and escalation of material prices.
Assaf and Al-Hejji [6] conducted a survey on time per-
formance of large construction projects in Saudi Arabia.
The survey had 73 different causes of delay. He studied
the importance of various causes from the viewpoint of
contractors, consultants, and owners. The most common
cause of delay identified by all the parties was ‘‘change
order’’. He also found that about 70% of the projects expe-
rienced time overruns.
2.2. Studies on effects of delay
Aibinu and Jagboro [1] studied and evaluated the effects
of construction delays on project delivery in Nigerian con-
struction industry. They found that the six effects of con-
struction delay were: time overrun, cost overrun, dispute,
arbitration and litigation and total abandonment. The
questionnaires were sent to three groups of construction
practitioners: quantity surveyors, architects and engineers,
and contractors.
519
Manavazhia and Adhikarib [13] conducted a survey to
investigate material and equipment procurement delays in
highway projects in Nepal. Delay in the delivery of materi-
als and equipment to construction sites is often a contribu-
tory cause to cost overruns in construction projects in
developing countries. An assessment of the causes of the
delays and the magnitude of their impact on project costs
were also made. The survey method was used in conducting
this research involving 22 highway projects. The main
causes of material and equipment procurement delays were
found to be (in rank order) organizational weaknesses, sup-
pliers’ defaults, governmental regulations and transporta-
tion delays. However, the actual impact of these delays
on project costs was found to be on average, only about
0.5% of the total budgeted cost of the projects. Among
materials, delays in the supply of aggregates and equipment
were found to occur most frequently.
Chan and Kumaraswamy [9] explored strategies of com-
pressing construction durations of various types of build-
ing projects on the basis of the lessons learned from
Hong Kong based surveys and other research findings.
The literature from different countries on the factors affect-
ing construction durations, reasons for project delays and
existing statistical models for duration forecasts were
reviewed. A regression-based model developed from Hong
Kong public housing construction project data was used
for predicting the durations of the primary work packages
in the building process and the overall completion period.
And finally, a survey was conducted by the researchers to
explore the construction time performance of projects in
three building sub-sectors (i.e. public housing, public
non-residential and private sector). Based on the factors
identified as significant from the above research, specific
technological and managerial strategies for reducing con-
struction periods in particular building sub-sectors were
formulated in order to improve the construction time per-
formance of Hong Kong building projects.
Terry Williams [19] studied the standard methods cur-
rently available for assessing extension of time delays on
major projects, and issues around such assessment. He used
network causal mapping and system dynamics approach to
study the impact of delays on a project.
Based on the above studies, it can be inferred that the
earlier studies concentrated on either the causes or the
effects. However, some studies have alluded to the probable
link between the causes and effects of delays without a sys-
tematic analysis. Manavizha and Adhikarib [13] linked the
material-related causes to the probable cost overruns in
construction projects in Nepal. Assaf and Al-Hejji [6] linked
the contractor-related and labor-related causes to the prob-
able time overruns in construction projects in Saudi Arabia.
Odeh and Battaineh [15] linked the contract-linked causes
to the probable disputes occurring in construction projects
in Jordan. Chan and Kumaraswamy [8] linked the consul-
tant-related and client-related causes to the probable time
overruns in construction projects in Hong Kong. Mansfield
et al. [14] and Frimpong et al. [10] linked the client-related,
520 M. Sambasivan, Y.W. Soon / International Journal of Project Management 25 (2007) 517–526
consultant-related, and material-related factors to the prob-
able cost and time overruns. In this research, we take an
integrated approach and attempt to link the causes and
the effects of delays in Malaysian construction industry
through a systematic analysis.
3. Methodology
A questionnaire was developed to assess the perceptions
of clients, consultants, and contractors on the relative
importance of causes and effects of delay in Malaysian con-
struction industry. The questionnaire was divided into
three parts. The first part requested background informa-
tion about the respondents.
The second part of the questionnaire focused on causes
of construction delay. The respondents were asked to indi-
cate their response category on 28 well-recognized con-
struction delay factors identified by Odeh and Battaineh
[15]. These causes were categorized into the following eight
major groups:
1. Client related factors: finance and payments of com-
pleted work, owner interference, slow decision making
and unrealistic contract duration imposed by owners.
2. Contractor related factors: delays caused by subcontrac-
tor, site management, improper construction methods,
improper planning and errors during construction, and
inadequate contractor experience.
3. Consultant related factors: contract management, prep-
aration and approval of drawings, quality assurance and
waiting time for approval of test and inspection.
4. Material related factors: quality of material and short-
age in material.
5. Labor and equipment related factors: labor supply,
labor productivity and equipment availability and
failure.
6. Contract related factors: change orders and mistakes or
discrepancies in contract document.
7. Contract relationship related factors: major disputes
and negotiations, inappropriate overall organizational
structure linking to the project and lack of communica-
tion between the parties.
8. External factors: weather condition, regulatory changes,
problem with neighbors and unforeseen site condition.
The respondents were asked to highlight their recom-
mendations to improve the performance of Malaysian con-
struction industry through an open-ended question at the
end of second part of the questionnaire.
Third part of the questionnaire focused on the effects of
construction delay in Malaysian construction industry. The
six effects of construction delay identified were: time over-
run, cost overrun, dispute, arbitration, litigation, and total
abandonment [1]. Similar to the second part of the ques-
tionnaire, the respondents were asked to highlight their rec-
ommendation to minimize the effects of construction delays
through an open-ended question. A five-point Likert scale
ranging from 1 (not important) to 5 (extremely important)
was adopted to capture the importance of causes and
effects of delays.
Before distributing the questionnaire, a small pilot study
was conducted using 10 consultants, 10 clients, and 10 con-
tractors. The basic purpose of the pilot study was to verify
the completeness of the questionnaire in capturing the fac-
tors relevant for Malaysia. All the respondents agreed that
the questionnaire was sufficient to capture the causes and
effects of delays. Therefore, we did not make any modifica-
tion to the causes of delay identified by Odeh and Battai-
neh [15] and effects of delay identified by Aibinu and
Jagboro [1].
The sampling method used in this study was conve-
nience and snowball sampling. This sampling comes under
the class of non-probability sampling techniques. As the
name implies, sample elements are identified by conve-
nience (friends) and through referral networks. This
method of sampling is preferred when it is difficult to get
response from sample elements selected at random [18].
We distributed the questionnaires through our friends
working in Public Works Department of Malaysia, devel-
opers, consultants and construction firms. Our friends in
turn distributed to their friends. This sampling method
enabled us to obtain a large number of completed question-
naires quickly and economically. Two hundred sets of
questionnaires were distributed to the potential respon-
dents at all levels in the organizations within the construc-
tion industry. One hundred sets were distributed to clients
(50 sets to Public Works Department of Malaysia and 50
sets to private developers), 50 sets to consultants and 50
sets to the contractors. Of the 200 questionnaires, 150 sets
(75%) were returned and there were 67 sets (67%) from cli-
ents, 48 sets (96%) from consultants and 35 sets (70%) from
contractors.
3.1. Calculation of relative importance of factors
Kometa et al. [11] used the relative importance index
method to determine the relative importance of the various
causes and effects of delays. The same method was adopted
in this study within various groups (i.e. clients, consultants
or contractors). The five-point scale ranged from 1 (not
important) to 5 (extremely important) was adopted and
transformed to relative importance indices (RII) for each
factor as follows:
P
W
RII ¼ ð1Þ
AN
where W is the weighting given to each factor by the
respondents (ranging from 1 to 5), A is the highest weight
(i.e. 5 in this case), and N is the total number of respon-
dents. The RII value had a range from 0 to 1 (0 not inclu-
sive), higher the value of RII, more important was the
cause or effect of delays.
The RII was used to rank (R) the different causes. These
rankings made it possible to cross-compare the relative
 M. Sambasivan, Y.W. Soon / International Journal of Project Management 25 (2007) 517–526 521

importance of the factors as perceived by the three groups Table 1

of respondents (i.e. clients, consultants and contractors). Demographic characteristics of respondents
Each individual cause’s RII perceived by all respondents Demographic characteristic Frequency Percent
were used to assess the general and overall rankings in Age
order to give an overall picture of the causes of construc- Less than 20 2 1.3
tion delays in Malaysian construction industry. The same 20–29 71 47.3
30–39 43 28.7
procedure was adopted for ranking the effects. The indices 40–49 24 16.0
(RII) were then used to determine the rank of each item 50 and above 10 6.7
(effect). These rankings made it possible to cross compare
Sex
the relative importance of the items as perceived by the Male 96 64.0
three groups of respondents. The weighted average for each Female 54 36.0
item for the three groups of respondents was determined
Education
and ranks (R) were assigned to each item representing the Lower secondary (Form 1– 3) 1 0.7
perception of the three groups. Upper secondary (Form 4–5) 12 8.0
Pre-university (Form 6) 19 12.7
4. Analysis of data University 90 60.0
Post graduate 28 18.7

The demographic characteristics of the respondents are Type of organization

given in Table 1. Clients (government or developer) 67 44.7
Consultants 48 32.0
Contractors 35 23.3
4.1. Causes of delay
Occupational level
Non-executive 23 15.3
The primary data collected from the second part of the Executive 99 66.0
questionnaire was analyzed from the perspective of clients, Managerial 28 18.7
consultants and contractors. Each individual cause’s RII Number of years working experience
perceived by all respondents was computed for overall Less than 2 years 20 13.3
analysis. 2–5 years 43 28.7
The relative importance index, RII, was computed for 6–10 years 42 28.0
each cause to identify the most significant causes. The More than 10 years 45 30.0
causes were ranked based on RII values. From the ranking Fields of specializations
assigned to each cause of delays, we were able to identify Building 60 40.0
Infrastructure 41 27.3
the most important factors or causes of delays in Malay-
Mechanical and electrical 19 12.7
sian construction industry. Others 30 20.0
Based on the ranking, the five most important causes of
Largest project involved based on contract sum
construction delays as perceived by clients were: (1) con- Less than RM 10 millions 27 18.0
tractor’s improper planning (RII = 0.821); (2) contractor’s RM 10 millions–RM 50 millions 47 31.3
site management (RII = 0.779); (3) inadequate contractor More than RM 50 millions 76 50.7
experience (RII = 0.770); (4) labor supply problems (RII
= 0.770) and (5) subcontractor problems (RII = 0.758).
The five most important causes of construction delays as
perceived by consultants were: (1) contractor’s improper clients and contractors are: contractor’s site management,
planning (RII = 0.842); (2) contractor’s site management inadequate contractor experience, and subcontractors.
(RII = 0.821); (3) shortage in material (RII = 0.804); (4) The clients blame contractor’s improper planning and
inadequate contractor experience (RII = 0.770), and (5) labor supply as other important causes of delay. The con-
inadequate client’s finance and payments of completed tractors’ inability to plan can be attributed to contractor’s
work (RII = 0.792). The five most important causes of con- inexperience. A significant portion of the labor force in the
struction delays as perceived by contractor were: (1) con- construction industry is from neighboring countries like
tractor’s poor site management (RII = 0.869); (2) Indonesia. It is quite difficult to prevent the movement of
inadequate client’s finance and payments of completed these laborers from one construction company to another
work (RII = 0.823); (3) subcontractors (RII = 0.789); (4) causing disruption of work. The contractors blame client’s
inadequate contractor experience (RII = 0.783), and (5) inability to pay for the completed work and equipment
equipment availability and failures (RII = 0.777). From availability and failures as other important causes of delay.
the above list, it is interesting to compare the causes as per- These causes can be attributed to the client’s financial posi-
ceived by clients and contractors. Most of the disputes that tion and contractor’s improper planning. In government
arise in the construction industry in Malaysia are between related projects, payments to the contractors take relatively
clients and contractors, most often, one party blaming the longer time. It is the responsibility of the contractors to fac-
other. Three of the causes perceived common between tor in this time during the planning process. Table 2 gives
522 M. Sambasivan, Y.W. Soon / International Journal of Project Management 25 (2007) 517–526

Table 2
Ranking of causes (based on overall)
Causes of delays Percentage of respondents scoring RII Rank
1 2 3 4 5
Client related causes
Finance and payments of completed work 3.3 4.0 23.3 38.0 31.3 0.780 4
Owner Interference 3.3 8.7 40.0 37.3 10.7 0.687 20
Slow decision making 2.0 7.3 31.3 41.3 18.0 0.732 13
Unrealistic contract duration and requirements imposed 5.3 10.7 42.0 32.0 10.0 0.661 24
Contractor related causes
Subcontractors 0.0 7.3 25.3 42.0 25.3 0.771 5
Site management 0.7 2.0 20.0 44.7 32.7 0.813 2
Construction methods 2.0 9.3 32.0 44.0 12.7 0.712 15
Improper planning 1.3 4.0 15.3 44.7 34.7 0.815 1
Mistakes during construction stage 0.0 8.0 31.3 36.7 24.0 0.753 10
Inadequate contractor experience 0.0 7.3 25.3 36.0 31.3 0.783 3
Consultant related causes
Contract management 0.7 17.3 34.7 31.3 16.0 0.689 19
Preparation and approval of drawings 0.0 6.7 48.0 31.3 14.0 0.705 16
Quality assurance/control 0.0 14.7 44.7 31.3 9.3 0.671 22
Waiting time for approval of tests and inspection 1.3 14.0 44.0 30.0 10.7 0.669 23
Material related causes
Quality of material 0.0 9.3 29.3 46.7 14.7 0.733 12
Shortage in material 0.0 7.3 28.0 36.7 28.0 0.771 6
Labor and equipment category causes
Labor supply 2.7 7.3 18.0 52.7 19.3 0.757 7
Labor productivity 1.3 10.7 24.7 40.7 22.7 0.745 11
Equipment availability and failure 0.7 9.3 27.3 37.3 25.3 0.755 8
Contract related causes
Change orders 0.7 14.0 38.7 38.0 8.7 0.680 21
Mistakes and discrepancies in contract document 0.0 16.0 29.3 41.3 13.3 0.704 17
Contract relationships related causes
Major disputes and negotiations 0.7 10.0 36.7 36.7 16.0 0.715 14
Inappropriate overall organizational structure linking to the project 0.0 14.7 48.0 29.3 8.0 0.661 25
Lack of communication between the parties 0.0 7.3 28.7 43.3 20.7 0.755 9
External causes
Weather condition 2.7 20.0 34.0 38.0 5.3 0.647 27
Regulatory changes 3.3 20.0 34.0 30.0 12.7 0.657 26
Problem with neighbors 4.0 20.7 44.7 26.7 4.0 0.612 28
Unforeseen site condition 1.3 13.3 33.3 42.7 9.3 0.720 18

the ranking of causes based on response of all respondents
(clients, contractors and consultants). Table 3 summarizes
RII and ranking of the categories of causes of delay as per-
ceived by all respondents.
In order to test the degree of agreement between the
three groups of respondents as to the causes of delays, a
correlation analysis using Spearmen’s rank correlation
coefficient was done [6]. Table 4 gives the results of the
analysis. High correlation indicates that there is a high
degree of agreement between the respondents.
4.2. Effects of delay
The primary data collected from the third part of the
questionnaire was analyzed from the perspective of cli-
ents, consultants and contractors. The calculation of RII
and ranking were done as explained in the previous
section.
Based on the ranking, the important effects of construc-
tion delays as perceived by clients were: time overrun
(RII = 0.821), cost overrun (RII = 0.782), dispute
(RII = 0.687), arbitration (RII = 0.621), litigation
(RII = 0.591), and total abandonment (RII = 0.585). The
important effects of construction delays as perceived by
contractors and consultants were exactly the same as those
of clients and therefore, a separate analysis using Spear-
men’s Rank correlation was not done to test the agreement
between the three groups of respondents. Table 5 gives the
ranking of effects based on response of all respondents (cli-
ents, contractors and consultants).
The next step in the analysis was to identify the empiri-
cal relationships between the causes and the effects. Empir-
ical relationships are based on observations and
propositions that are based on sense experience and are
derived from methods of inductive logic, including mathe-
matics and statistics [18]. In short, empirical relationships
 M. Sambasivan, Y.W. Soon / International Journal of Project Management 25 (2007) 517–526 523

Table 3
RII and ranking of categories of causes of delay
Category Clients Consultants Contractors Overall
RII Rank RII Rank RII Rank RII Rank
Client-related 0.674 6 0.742 4 0.757 3 0.715 4
Contractor-related 0.758 1 0.791 2 0.783 1 0.774 1
Consultant-related 0.664 7 0.697 7 0.703 6 0.684 7
Material-related 0.721 3 0.792 1 0.757 2 0.752 2
Labor and equipment-related 0.741 2 0.768 3 0.752 4 0.752 3
Contract-related 0.679 5 0.708 6 0.694 7 0.692 6
Contract relationships-related 0.694 4 0.735 5 0.709 5 0.710 5
External-related 0.637 8 0.655 8 0.674 8 0.652 8

Table 4
Spearman’s rank correlation coefficients of the ranking of clients, consultants and contractors for causes of delay (28 causes)
Ranking Client Consultant Contractor
Client q 1.000 0.867a 0.772a
Significance probability – 0.000 0.000
N (number of causes) 28 28 28
Consultant q 0.867a 1.000 0.896a
Significance probability 0.000 – 0.000
N (number of causes) 28 28 28
Contractor q 0.772a 0.896a 1.000
Significance probability 0.000 0.000 –
N (number of causes) 28 28 28
a
Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level of significance – if significance probability is lesser than the level of significance, correlation is significant.

Table 5
Ranking of effects (based on overall)
Effects of delays Percentage of respondents scoring RII Rank
1 2 3 4 5
Time overrun 0.0 0.7 20.7 56.0 22.7 0.801 1
Cost overrun 0.7 2.7 29.3 37.3 30.0 0.787 2
Dispute 0.7 14.7 41.3 38.0 5.3 0.665 3
Arbitration 2.0 22.0 46.0 24.7 5.3 0.619 4
Litigation 4.7 21.3 48.7 22.7 2.7 0.595 5
Total abandonment 6.7 36.0 29.3 21.3 6.7 0.571 6

Table 6
Correlation between the categories of causes and effects of delays
Effects Causes of delay
Client Contractor Consultant Material Labor Contract related Contract relationship External
Time overrun 0.164 0.277 0.045 0.092 0.046 0.019 0.134 0.007
Cost overrun 0.145 0.148 0.097 0.024 0.037 0.165 0.087 0.004
Dispute 0.171 0.001 0.042 0.067 0.155 0.222 0.251 0.165
Arbitration 0.172 0.051 0.050 0.033 0.096 0.146 0.203 0.104
Litigation 0.170 0.019 0.103 0.152 0.204 0.273 0.288 0.214
Total abandonment 0.165 0.129 0.216 0.093 0.294 0.287 0.159 0.301
Highlighted coefficients are significant at 0.05 significance level.

attempt to describe, explain, and make predictions through
observation. In this research, we attempt to establish rela-
tionship between causes and effects through observable
data. Since the data we have collected through survey is
based on Likert-scale, it can be considered as interval data.
Correlation analysis is a powerful method to study the rela-
tionship between variables that have interval data [18].
Therefore, a correlation analysis was done to study the
empirical relationships between the categories of causes
and effects. Table 6 gives the results of the analysis.
524 M. Sambasivan, Y.W. Soon / International Journal of Project Management 25 (2007) 517–526
5. Discussion of results
This section discusses the results obtained in the earlier
section. First, we discuss the results obtained by analyzing
the causes of delays. Second, we discuss the results
obtained by analyzing the effects of the delays. Third, we
link each of the effect with the causes of delay.
The ten most important causes of delays (based on all
respondents) as shown in the Table 2 were: (1) contractor’s
improper planning (RII = 0.815), (2) contractor’s poor site
management (RII = 0.813), (3) inadequate contractor
experience (RII = 0.783), (4) inadequate client’s finance
and payments for completed work (RII = 0.792), (5) prob-
lems with subcontractors (RII = 0.771), (6) shortage in
material (RII = 0.771), (7) labor supply (RII = 0.757), (8)
equipment availability and failure (RII = 0.755), (9) lack
of communication between parties (RII = 0.755), and
(10) mistakes during the construction stage (RII = 0.753).
5.1. Contractor’s improper planning
Local contractors often fail to come out with a practical
and workable ‘‘work program’’ at the initial planning
stage. This failure is interrelated with lack of systematic site
management and inadequate contractor’s experience
towards the projects. The consultant only checks and
reviews the work program submitted by the contractors
based on experience and intuitive judgment. Improper
planning at the initial stages of a project manifests through-
out the project and causes delays at various stages. Only a
project that is well planned can be well executed.
5.2. Contractor’s poor site management
Contractor’s poor site management is one of the most
significant causes in causing the construction delays. The
results of this research indicate that local contractors face
deficiency in site planning, implementation and controls.
A poor site management results in delays in responding
to the issues that arise at the site and causes negative
impact on the overall work progress.
5.3. Inadequate contractor experience
Odeh and Battaineh [15] indicated that inadequate con-
tractor experience was an important factor and this could
be linked to the contract awarding procedure where most
projects were awarded to the lowest bidder. A contractor
with inadequate experience cannot plan and manage the
projects properly and this can lead to disastrous
consequences.
5.4. Client’s finance and payments for completed work
Construction works involve huge amounts of money
and most of the contractors find it very difficult to bear
the heavy daily construction expenses when the payments
are delayed. Work progress can be delayed due to the late
payments from the clients because there is inadequate cash
flow to support construction expenses especially for those
contractors who are not financially sound.
5.5. Problems with subcontractors
Typically in huge projects, there are many subcontrac-
tors working under main contractors. If the subcontractor
is capable, the project can be completed on time as
planned. The project can be delayed if the subcontractor
under performs because of inadequate experience or capa-
bility. High degree of subcontracting in Malaysia leads to
high risk of delays and this leads to inefficiencies in the
Malaysian construction industry.
5.6. Shortage in material
Shortages in basic materials like sand, cement, stones,
bricks, and iron can cause major delays in projects. Since
Malaysia is a country that is developing very fast, often
times demand exceeds the supply and this causes prices
to increase. The contractors postpone the purchase activi-
ties until the prices decrease. Manavazhia and Adhikarib
[13] investigated material and equipment procurement
delays in highway projects in Nepal and found these delays
to cause cost overrun.
5.7. Labor supply
The quality and quantity of labor supply can have major
impact on the projects. About 20% of the workers in the
Malaysian construction industry are foreign workers,
mainly from Indonesia and Vietnam (MALBEX [12]). A
few of them are illegal workers and their work quality is
relatively low when compared to local laborers. The low
quality and productivity of the foreign workers have
impact on the project progress and efficiency. The illegal
workers are frequently caught by the Malaysian immigrant
officials and deported and this causes shortage of labor
pool in the construction industry.
5.8. Equipment availability and failure
Many of the contractors do not own equipments that
are required for the construction work. They rent the
equipments when required. During the season when there
are many construction projects, the equipments are in short
supply and are poorly maintained. This leads to failure of
the equipments causing the progress to be hampered.
5.9. Lack of communication between parties
Since there are many parties involved in a project (client,
consultant, contractor, sub-contractors), the communica-
tion between the parties is very crucial for the success of
the project. Proper communication channels between the
 M. Sambasivan, Y.W. Soon / International Journal of Project Management 25 (2007) 517–526
various parties must be established during the planning
stage. Any problem with communication can lead to severe
misunderstanding and therefore, delays in the execution of
the project.
5.10. Mistakes during the construction stage
The mistakes during the construction stage can be due
to accidents, inadequate planning, or miscommunication
between the parties. Whatever the reason, the mistakes
can have impact on the progress of the project.
While analyzing the effects of delays, all respondents
were unanimous in ranking the effects. The time and cost
overruns were ranked highly by the respondents. Any delay
in a project can lead to cost and time overruns and these
two are linked. Whenever there are delays, there are dis-
putes as to who should bear the responsibility and the cost.
These disputes often lead to an arbitration process by third
parties and failure in this process leads to litigation where
the disputes are settled by the court. In extreme cases, some
projects might be totally abandoned. About 17% of the
projects in Malaysia are abandoned (MALBEX [12]).
In the following paragraphs, we analyze the impact of
causes on each effect of delay. Correlation analysis results
given in Table 6 establish the link between them. From
the table, we can identify the causes for each of the effects
of delay.
5.11. Time overrun
Client-related and contractor-related factors have
impact on the time overrun. Out of the ten most important
causes of delay discussed earlier, six causes belong to client-
related and contractor-related factors. Factors such as
inadequate planning by the contractors, improper site
management by the contractors, inadequate project han-
dling experience of contractors, and delay in the payments
for the work completed directly affect the completion of the
project and cause time overrun.
5.12. Cost overrun
Contract-related factors such as change orders (changes
in the deliverables and requirements) and mistakes and dis-
crepancies in the contract document result in cost overrun.
Mistakes and discrepancies in the contract document can
be in scope, deliverables, resources available and allocated,
payment terms, achievement of various milestones, and the
project duration. In most of the instances, time overrun
leads to cost overrun. Correlation analysis between cost
and time overruns indicated a strong linkage (correlation
coefficient = 0.487, significant at 0.01 level of significance)
5.13. Disputes
Client-related, contract-related, contract relationship-
related, and external factors have impact on the disputes
525
that arise during the course of the project. Factors such
as delay in the payments for completed work, frequent
owner interference, changing requirements, lack of com-
munication between the various parties, problems with
neighbors, and unforeseen site conditions give rise to dis-
putes between the various parties. The disputes, if not
resolved amicably, can lead to arbitration or litigation.
5.14. Arbitration
Client-related and contract relationship-related factors
escalate disputes to be settled by arbitration process. A
competent third-party can settle the disputes amicably
without going to the court.
5.15. Litigation
Client-related, labor-related, contract-related, contract
relationship-related, and external factors escalate disputes
to be settled by the litigation process. The parties involved
in the projects use litigation as a last resort to settle
disputes.
5.16. Total abandonment
Client-related, consultant-related, labor-related, con-
tract-related, and external factors contribute to the total
abandonment of the projects. In Malaysia, many projects
were temporarily abandoned during the financial crisis
between 1997 and 2000. Promoters of various projects
backed out because of poor cash flow and economic condi-
tions. Many of these projects have now become so prohib-
itive that they have been abandoned permanently
(MALBEX [12]).
Based on the discussions above, the next step is to pro-
vide suggestions to clients, contractors, and consultants to
reduce delays. These suggestions, we hope, will alleviate the
problems faced by the construction industry in Malaysia.
6. Prescriptions to reduce delays
We divide the prescriptions to adopted into three
groups: (1) prescriptions for the clients, (2) prescriptions
for the consultants, and (3) prescriptions for the
contractors.
6.1. Prescriptions for the clients
(1) While selecting the contractors, clients have to make
sure that the contractors are not selected based only on the
lowest bid. The selected contractor must have sufficient
experience, technical capability, financial capability, and
sufficient manpower to execute the project, (2) clients
should not interfere frequently during the execution and
keep making major changes to the requirements. This can
cause inordinate delays in the project, (3) clients should
have the finances in time to pay the contractors after com-
526 M. Sambasivan, Y.W. Soon / International Journal of Project Management 25 (2007) 517–526
pletion of a work. Therefore, clients should work closely
with the financing bodies and institutions to release the
payment on schedule, and (4) clients must make quick deci-
sions to solve any problem that arise during the execution.
6.2. Prescriptions for the consultants
(1) While drawing the contract between the client and
contractor, the consultant must include items such as dura-
tion of contract, mechanism to solve disputes, mechanism
to assess the causes of delay, if there are any and risk man-
agement plans, (2) consultants should prepare and approve
drawings on time, and (3) consultants should monitor the
work closely by making inspections at appropriate times.
6.3. Prescriptions for the contractors
(1) Contractors should not take up the job in which they
do not have sufficient expertise, (2) contractors should have
able site-managers for the smooth execution of work, (3)
contractors must plan their work properly and provide
the entire schedule to the clients, and (4) contractors must
make sure they have a sound financial backing.
7. Conclusions
We investigated the causes and effects of delays facing in
the Malaysian construction industry. A questionnaire was
designed and distributed among the three major groups
of participants (clients, consultants and contractors). We
identified main causes of delay and ten most important
causes were: (1) contractor’s improper planning, (2) con-
tractor’s poor site management, (3) inadequate contractor
experience, (4) inadequate client’s finance and payments
for completed work, (5) problems with subcontractors,
(6) shortage in material, (7) labor supply, (8) equipment
availability and failure, (9) lack of communication between
parties, and (10) mistakes during the construction stage.
We identified main effects of delay and they were: (1) time
overrun, (2) cost overrun, (3) disputes, (4) arbitration, (5)
litigation, and (6) total abandonment. As an important
contribution, we also studied the empirical relationships
between the causes and effects of delays. We isolated the
causes of delay for each of the six effects. We believe that
the results of this study can be of immense help to the prac-
titioners (clients, contractors and consultants) and acade-
micians. The practitioners can better understand the
dynamics of project management and make efforts to
reduce the incidences of delays. The academicians can con-
duct similar studies in other parts of world and identify
causes and effects of delays. As mentioned earlier, some
causes and effects may be unique to certain countries.
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