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PROJECT DELAY CAUSES AND EFFECTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY

Conference Paper · August 2016

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Edo oga Ojoko Bruno Lot Tanko

Universiti Teknologi Malaysia University of Jos
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Federal Polytech Universiti Teknologi Malaysia
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 IGCESH2016
Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Johor Bahru, Malaysia 15-17 August 2016

PROJECT DELAY CAUSES AND EFFECTS IN THE

CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY

E.O. Ojoko1*, B.L. Tanko 2, M. Jibrin 3, O. Ojoko4 and W.L. Enegbuma 5

1
Department of Structures and Materials, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Johor Bahru,
MALAYSIA
2
Department of Quantity Surveying, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Johor Bahru, MALAYSIA.
1,3
Department of Building Technology, Federal Polytechnic Nasarawa, Nasarawa, NIGERIA.
4
Department of Architectural Technology, Federal Polytechnic Nasarawa, Nasarawa, NIGERIA.
5
Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Computer Science, Swinburne University of
Technology, 93350 Kuching, MALAYSIA
(E-mail: edoojoko2000@yahoo.com, tankob@unijos.edu.ng, wenegbuma2@live.utm.my
jibrinmusa@gmail.com, ojokosnr@gmail.com)

ABSTRACT
Delays in project delivery with its adverse effects have over the years remained the biggest
problem in the construction industry. The objective of this study therefore is to identify and proffer
solutions through the identification of delay causes and their effects on project delivery. Literature
reviewed in conjunction responses obtained through questionnaire from stakeholders’ (client,
consultant, and contractor), revealed a total of thirty-four delay causes and ten effects. The delay
causes were further classified into eight major groups. The data were analysed using the weighted
mean score method. The result suggests that Client-related factors (interim payment and changed
order) and Contractor-related factors (poor financing, poor planning and scheduling) are the most
significant causes of project delay in this study. The three leading effects on project delivery are
Time overruns, Cost overruns, and Claims. In order to mitigate causes of delays and their effects
on projects, it is suggested that clients promptly honour verified interim certificates and take
measures to minimise incidences of the change order. It is required of the contractor to undertake
adequate budgeting and proper project planning right from the tendering stage. Also, on the ranks
of the project delay factors and effects, the outcome of the Spearman rank correlation coefficient
signified the existence of statistically significant agreement between the stakeholders. To
overcome the limitations of this study, further studies could explore stakeholders’ perception of
exact project type (building or civil), either public or private projects only and in other geo-
political zones not covered in this paper.

Keywords: Stakeholders, Project delay factors, Delay effects, Project delivery,

Construction industry.

INTRODUCTION
The consequences of a delayed building project to stakeholders are multifaceted. The client,
on one hand suffers loss of benefit for not putting the structure to use at the intended time. Also, if
the finance was a loan from bank, he suffers an added problem of mounting interest on
nonperforming capital. The contractor on the other hand, not only bears the penalties of standby
costs of non-engaged workers and tools, but as well incurs expenses on disrupted materials and
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equipment schedules in addition to overhead. The nation’s economy at large equally loses the
benefit of taxable incomes from such a project. All these, further, forestall the taking off of other
projects and activities. Studies on project delay (Alwi & Hampson, 2003; Fugar and Agyakwah-
Baah, 2010) are unfortunately focussed more on only the causes, with limited attention to the
effects of delay on project delivery. The focus of this study, therefore, is on identifying the various
project delay causes and delay effects on project delivery on one hand, and also evaluating their
effects as perceived by the major stakeholders (client, contractor & consultant) on the other. The
study outcome will guide in recommending mitigating measures to causes and delay effects on
building project delivery in Nigeria. Hopefully, this will assist in improving the performance of the
Nigerian construction industry.

MAIN RESULTS

Causes of Delay
From the responses of stakeholders, the two leading delay causal factors are interim payment
(Av.MS=4.50) and changed order (Av.MS=4.48) under Client-related factors; followed by poor
financing (Av.MS=4.34) and poor planning & scheduling (Av.MS=4.21) in Contractor-related
factors and material prices escalation (Av.MS=4.19) under Material-related factors. The outcome
of this study shares similarities with that of Owolabi et al. (2014).

Client-related Delay Factors

The findings ranked Client-related factors (Av.MS=3.99) as the leading cause of project delay by
all stakeholders; Client, MS=3.90; Consultant, MS=3.72 and Contractor, MS=4.42.

Contractor-related Delay Factors

The results reveal that factors in this group are highly rated, with four (4) out of the identified six
(6) factors in the group being ranked within the top 20 by all the stakeholders. Poor financing
(Av.MS=4.24) and Poor planning & scheduling (Av.MS=4.21) leading the causes of delay in this
group. Other studies (Sambasivan & Soon, 2007; Fugar & Agyakwah-Baah, 2010) reported similar
findings.

Interactive-related Factors
The findings show that interactive-related factors was the third delay causing factor. Poor
communication and coordination ranked sixth (Av.MS=4.02) in this study. Mezher & Tawil (1998)
observed coordination to be among the leading top ten (10) project delay causes in Lebanon.
AbdulKadir et al. (2006) and El-Razek et al. (2008) reported similar observations in Malaysia and
Egypt respectively.

Test of Agreement on causal Delay Factors by Stakeholders

At 95% confidence interval i.e., significant level of (P > 0.05%), there exists no statistically
significant difference in the opinion of the stakeholders on all the delay causing factors as depicted
in table 1.

Table 1. Test of Agreement of Causal Delay Factors Between Stakeholders

Stakeholders Rs P-Value Level of Sig. H0 Remark
Client and Contractor 0.840 5.14E-10 0.05 Reject SS
Client and Contractor 0.667 1.66E-05 0.05 Reject SS
Consultant and Contractor 0.677 1.08E-05 0.05 Reject SS

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 Effects of Delays
Statistically therefore, from table 2, basing the test on 95% confidence interval (CI) i.e., a
significance level of 5% (P> 0.05%), the outcome shows a no significant difference between all
stakeholders’ perception of delay effects on project delivery. It implies that all the stakeholders are
of similar opinion on project delivery.

Table 2. Test of Agreement of Effects of Delay Factors Between Stakeholders

Stakeholders Rs P-Value Level of Sig. H0 Remark
Client and Contractor 0.854 0.00166 0.05 Reject SS
Client and Contractor 0.797 0.00575 0.05 Reject SS
Consultant and Contractor 0.752 0.01206 0.05 Reject SS

CONCLUSION

Delay, though appears an inevitable phenomenon in building project delivery, but can be
effectively minimized or mitigated when its causes are properly identified and analyzed. In
this study, stakeholders examined and rated a total of thirty-two (32) identified causal delay
factors and ten (10) delay effects on prompt building project delivery in Nigeria. The analysis
results revealed the leading ten (10) factors causing project delay are; that Delay in interim
payment, Change orders, Poor financing, Poor planning & Scheduling, Material prices escalation,
Poor Communication & Coordination, Delay in material availability, Poor monitoring & feedback,
Contract document variances, and Inadequate essential materials. In the same vein, Time
overruns, Cost overruns, Claim, Arbitration, Dispute, and Loss of profit were identified as the
leading six (6) effects prevalent in the Nigerian building industry.

REFERENCES
1. Alwi, S. and Hampson, K. Identifying the important causes of delays in building construction projects. In
Proc. 2003, The 9th East Asia-Pacific Conference on Structural Engineering and Construction. Bali,
Indonesia: QUT. (2003), 319–335.

2. AbdulKadir, M.R., Lee, W.P., Jaafar, M.S., et al. Construction performance comparison between
conventional and industrialised building systems in Malaysia. Structural Survey 24(5) (2006), 14.

3. El-Razek, M.E., Bassioni, H.A. and Mobarak, A.M. Causes of delay in building construction projects in
Egypt. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 134 (211)2008), 831-841.

4. Fugar, F.D.K. and Agyakwah-Baah, A.B. Delays in building construction projects in Ghana. Australian
Journal of Construction Economics and Building, 10(1/2) (2010), 103–116.

5. Mezher, T.M. and Tawil, W. Causes of delays in the construction industry in Lebanon. Engineering
Construction and Architectural Management, 5(3)(1998), 252-260.
6. Owolabi, J.D., Amusan, L.M., Oloke, C.O., et al. Causes and effects of delay on project construction
delivery time. International Journal of Education and Research 2(4) (2014), 197–208.

7. Sambasivan, M. and Soon, Y.W. Causes and effects of delays in Malaysian construction industry.
International Journal of Project Management 25(5) (2007), 517–526.

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