International Journal of Construction Project Management ISSN: 1944-1436

Volume 13, Number 1 © 2021 Nova Science Publishers, Inc.

A GLOBAL SURVEY OF TOP CONSTRUCTION

DELAY FACTORS

Yue Choong Kog, PhD

East West Engineering Consultants, Singapore

ABSTRACT
Construction delay is a global problem. Schedule performance was ranked higher
than budget and quality performances in judging project success. The first stage in
understanding construction delay is to pinpoint the top delay factors. To achieve an
improved schedule performance, suitable policies and actions must be implemented. A
global review of more than 200 studies reported for 59 countries/administrations is
carried out in the present study.
Are the top delay factors for different regions different? Which are the common top
delay factors globally? The aim of the present study is to address these issues. The top
construction delay factors for each region are ascertained and a comparison of the top
factors for the different regions is presented. The six regions include Africa, the Middle
East, South Asia, Southeast Asia, East Asia, and the more developed countries of
Oceania, Europe, and Americas. The findings of top delay factors for each of the regions
are useful because they highlight the main challenges faced by each region to improve
their schedule performances. Because of the high similarity level of construction
practices within each region, the bulk of the top delay factors ascertained for each of the
regions are most likely to be valid for countries within the regions where the top delay
factors have not been ascertained.
This study shows that ‘variation orders/changes of scope by owner during
construction’ and ‘late delivery/shortage of construction materials or fuel’ are among the
top delay factors for all the regions. Several top delay factors are found to be unique to
one particular region only.

INTRODUCTION
Schedule performance was ranked as the most important as compared to budget and
quality performances (Chua et al. 1999). Therefore, ascertaining the top delay factors (TDFs)
is important and the essential step in appreciating the key factors affecting schedule
performance. Suitable policies and actions should be implemented to tackle problems related
to the top delay factors identified. Construction delay is common globally. There are more
than 200 investigations to determine TDFs for 59 countries. Are the TDFs identical for these

 Corresponding Author’s Email: eastwestconsult@yahoo.co.uk

64 Yue Choong Kog

59 countries/administrations? Construction practices are dependent on business environment

risk, contractual arrangements, regulatory restrictions, and differences in culture and in
standards. The similarity level of the construction practices within the same region is high.
Will the top delay factors of different regions differ? Which are the global common top delay
factors? What are the TDFs for all the 59 countries/administrations? The aim of this paper is
to address these issues by a comparative study of the top delay factors identified in these
studies. A review of these studies is carried out to ascertain the TDFs in different regions, i.e.
South Asia, East Asia, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and the more developed
countries in Oceania, Europe and Americas. Comparison of the TDFs for different regions
reveals interesting differences. The TDFs for all the 59 countries/ administrations are also
identified. No global survey of TDFs has been reported and the TDFs that are common
globally have not been identified. A comparison of TDFs of different regions has yet to be
reported in the literature. The findings of TDFs for each of the regions are useful because they
highlight the main challenges faced by each region to improve their schedule performances.
Because of the high similarity level of construction practices within each region, the bulk of
the TDFs identified for each of the regions are most likely to be the TDFs for countries within
the regions where the TDFs have not been identified.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The methodology adopted for the review is encapsulated in Figure. 1.

Figure 1 Research Methodology.

 A Global Survey of Top Construction Delay Factors 65

STANDARDIZED DELAY FACTORS

The standardized construction delay factors are summarized in Table 1. The category
indicates the party exerting the largest impact on the outcome of each of the factors. Factors
not influenced by the owner, consultant and contractor are placed under the category of ‘other
factors’. Construction delay factors identified by more than 200 studies are summarized in
Tables 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, and 12. Some of the studies identified slightly more than ten TDFs and
others only identified three TDFs.
As pointed out in Kog (2017a to 2017e, 2018a to 2018e, 2019a to 2019b), the naming of
delay factors were not standardized in the various studies. This was the main problem in
reviewing the TDFs reported and has to be standardized. Also, similar delay factors are
merged for consistency in this review. It is not possible to list all of them and some of them
can be found in Kog (2017a to 2017e, 2018a to 2018e, 2019a to 2019b). For example,
‘consultants endeavored to complete the design through shop drawing review’ reported by
Keen (2010) is grouped together with ‘approval of shop drawings’. Similarly, delay factors
‘late issuance of instructions’, ‘late issuance of information’, ‘late issuance of drawings’,
‘incomplete drawings’, ‘inadequate information’, ‘delay in revising design documents and
approving works’, and ‘delays in design work’ are grouped together and delay factors ‘wrong
choice of consultants’, ‘poor contract management by the consultants’ and ‘inappropriate
design by the consultants’ are grouped together.

TOP DELAY FACTORS FOR DIFFERENT REGIONS

Table 2 summarizes the TDFs identified for each of the countries in Africa. The ranking
of each of the TDFs ascertained by this study and their respective proportions of the total
number of countries are shown in Table 3. The top five delay factors, namely ‘finance and
payments of completed work by owner’, ‘financing by contractor’, ‘variation orders/changes
of scope by owner during construction’, ‘late delivery/shortage of construction materials or
fuel’, and ‘equipment (or operator) availability and failure’ are identified by more than
half of the 20 countries studied. It will be of interest to note that the followings:
‘unrealistic/optimistic deadline set by client’ and ‘staff recruitment delay’ by consultants are
unique to Kenya only and ‘natural disaster/acts of God’ is unique to Nigeria only.

Table 1. Summary of construction delay factors from existing literature

DF Construction delay factor (DF)

All project participants related factor
1 Communication problems/lack of adequate project coordination
Owner-related factors
2 Finance and payments of completed work by owner
3 Variation orders/changes of scope by owner during construction
4 Contractor selection methods (negotiation, lowest bidder)
5 Slow decisions from owner

(Table 1 continued on next page)

66 Yue Choong Kog

6 Owner interference
7 Owner’s lack of experience/incompetent project team
8 Excessive bureaucracy in project-owner organization
9 Late release of site/land acquisition problems/delay or non-payment of compensation to the communities
10 Unrealistic/optimistic deadline set by client
Contractor-related factors
11 Inadequate contractor experience/incompetence contractor
12 Lack of technical professionals/incompetent project team
13 Ineffective planning and scheduling
14 Inaccurate estimating of construction materials quantities/price
15 Poor site management and supervision
16 Poor site coordination
17 Late delivery/shortage of construction materials or fuel
18 Financing by contractor
19 Subcontractor problems/mechanical and electrical works
20 Rework due to mistakes in construction/construction defects
21 Low productivity level of labors
22 Shortage of labor
23 Unqualified workforce/low skilled labor
24 Labor disputes/strikes/personal conflict among labors
25 Equipment (or operator) availability and failure
Consultants-related factors
26 Inadequate site investigation/unforeseen subsurface conditions
27 Lack of clarity in project scope
28 Poor contract management by consultants/Substandard contract
29 Mistakes and discrepancies in design documents by consultants
30 Delay in inspection and approval of works, approval of shop drawings, materials, and documents submitted by
contractor/complete design through shop drawings review
31 Late issuance of instructions, information or drawings/incomplete drawings/inadequate information/delay in
revising design documents and approving works or materials/delays in design work/delay due to progress
payment evaluation and issuance of certificate by quantity surveyor
32 Lack of constructability reviews in design
33 Wrong choice of consultants/poor contract management by consultants/inappropriate design by consultants
requiring redesign/incompetent or inexperience staff
34 Staff recruitment delay
Other factors
35 Inclement weather
36 Rise in prices of materials
37 Economic conditions
38 Security/political situations/border closures/segmentation
39 Corruption
40 Lack of community buy-in/environmental impact/civil disturbances, youth unrest, militancy and communal
crises
41 Delays by utility agencies/relocation/inaccurate as-built utility drawings
42 Natural disaster/acts of God
43 Government regulations and permit approval
 Table 2. Summary of main causes of construction delay from existing literature on Africa

Burkina South
C Algeria Benin Botswana Cameroon Chad Egypt Ghana Kenya Libya Malawi Morocco Nigeria Rwanda Tanzania Uganda Zambia Zimbabwe
Faso Africa
R 1 2 3 4 5 76 6 3 7 8 9 10 11 3 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
M S S S S S S S S F F F S S S S I I F S S S S S S S S S S+P
N 18 175 18 49 150 140 84 18 - - - ? 72 18 45 33 12 - 38 142 22 75 60 247 52 26 53 27+4
T C A C B A A C C A A A A A C C A B A A A A B A A B C A A
1 X X X X X X X
2 X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X
3 X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X
4 X X X
5 X X X X X X
7 X X X
8 X
9 X X X X X X
11 X X X X X X X X X X X
12 X X X X X
13 X X X X X X X X X X X X
14 X X X
15 X X X X X X X X X X X
16 X X X X
17 X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X
18 X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X
19 X X X X X X X X X
20 X X X X X X
21 X X X
22 X X X X

(Table 2 continued on next page)

 Burkina South
C Algeria Benin Botswana Cameroon Chad Egypt Ghana Kenya Libya Malawi Morocco Nigeria Rwanda Tanzania Uganda Zambia Zimbabwe
Faso Africa
23 X X X X X X
24 X X X X
25 X X X X X X X X X X X X X X
26 X X X X
27 X X
28 X X X
29 X X X X X
30 X
31 X X X X X X X X X
33 X X
35 X X X X
36 X X
37 X X X X X
38 X X X X X
39 X X
40 X
41 X X
43 X X X X X X
Legends: C = Country/Administration; R = Reference; M = Methodology of study; N = Number of respondents in the questionnaire survey/projects; T = Type of construction
projects studied; S = study is based on a survey of views of owners, contractors and consultants; P = study is based on actual construction projects; I = open ended interviews;
F = review of all relevant reported studies; A = Building, road, water and sewer etc. projects; B = Building projects; C = Civil engineering infrastructural projects such as
highway, water, sewer, pipeline projects; G = Ground water work projects; O = Oil and gas projects; @=not able to check this; ? = number of respondents not stated in the
reference
References: 1 = Kadry et al. (2016); 2 = Akogbe (2013); 3 = Tumi et al. (2009); 4 = Joseph (2004); 5 = Adeyemi and Masalila (2016); 76 = Bagaya and Song (2016); 6 = Akoa
(2011); 7 = Kog (2019a); 77 = Woldeyohannes et al. (2020); 8 = Kog (2017a); 9 = Kog (2018a); 10 = Mezher and Tawil (1998); 11 = Shebob et al. (2012); 12 = Kamanga
and Steyn (2013); 13 = Challal and Tkiouat (2012a); 14 = Challal and Tkiouat (2012b) ; 15 = Kog (2017b); 16 = Amandin and Kule (2016).; 17 = Mukuka (2014); 18 =
Baloyi and Bekker (2011); 19 = Adugna (2015); 20 = Kikwasi (2012); 21 = Alinaitwe et al. (2013) and Apolot et al. (2016); 22 = Muhwezi et al. (2014); 23 = Kaliba et al.
(2009); 24 = Muya et al. (2013); 25 = Shiri (2015).
 A Global Survey of Top Construction Delay Factors 69

Table 3. Top construction delay factors for African countries

Construction delay factor Rank No. Proportion*

Finance and payments of completed work by owner 1 14 70%

Financing by contractor 2 11 55%

Late delivery/shortage of construction materials or fuel 2 11 55%

Variation orders/changes of scope by owner during

4 10 50%
construction

Equipment (or operator) availability and failure 4 10 50%

Ineffective planning and scheduling by contractor 6 9 45%

Late issuance of instructions, information or

drawings/incomplete drawings/inadequate
7 8 40%
information/delay in revising design documents and
approving works or materials/delays in design work

Poor site management and supervision by contractor 8 7 35%

Subcontractor problems 8 7 35%

Inadequate contractor experienceincompetence

8 7 35%
contractor
*Proportion of studies that identified the factor to be one of the top 10 delay factors.

Table 4 summarizes the top delay factors for each of the countries/administrations in the
Middle East. The top delay factors for the Middle East ascertained by this study
are summarized in Table 5. The seven top delay factors, namely ‘financing by
contractor’, ‘finance and payments of completed work by owner’, ‘late delivery/shortage
of construction materials or fuel’, ‘variation orders/changes of scope by owner
during construction’, ‘ineffective planning and scheduling’, ‘poor site management
and supervision’, and ‘inadequate contractor experience/incompetence contractor’ are
identified by more than half of the fourteen countries/administrations that were studied.
One top delay factor that is unique in Gaza and that was identified by Enshassi et al.
(2010a, 2010b) is ‘border closures’. Delay factor ‘corruption’ is unique to Afghanistan
only, and ‘delays by utility agencies/ relocation/inaccurate as-built utility drawings’ is
unique to Bahrain only. Corruption in construction normally serves to accelerate
the resolution of issues adversely affecting the schedule performance and provide alternatives
to shorten construction time. It is, therefore, surprising that it is one of the top delay
factors in Afghanistan. Unfortunately, no explanation was given in Niazai and Gidado
(2012).
 Table 4. Major delay factors from literature on the Middle East

United
Saudi West Bank
C Afghanistan Bahrain Gaza Iran Iraq Jordan Kuwait Lebanon Oman Qatar Turkey Arab
Arabia of Palestine
Emirates
R 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 33 46 47

M S S S S F S S F S S S P P S S S+I F S S S S F S S

N 21 144 124 66 27 134 - 450 48 36 32 14 59 37 15+15 - 20 71 151 64 - 64 219

T A C A A A A A A B B A B B O C A A A A A A A C A

1 X X X X

2 X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X

3 X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X

4 X X X X X

5 X X X X X X X X

6 X X

7 X X X X X X X

9 X X X

10 X

11 X X X X X X X X X

12 X X

13 X X X X X X X X X X X X

15 X X X X X X X X X X

16 X X X

17 X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X

18 X X X X X X X X X X X X X X

19 X X X X X X X
 United
Saudi West Bank
C Afghanistan Bahrain Gaza Iran Iraq Jordan Kuwait Lebanon Oman Qatar Turkey Arab
Arabia of Palestine
Emirates
20 X X

21 X X X

22 X X X X X X

23 X X X

25 X X X X X

26 X

29 X X

30 X X X X

31 X X X

33 X X X

35 X X

36 X X X X X

37 X X

38 X X X X

39 X

40 X

41 X X

43 X X X X
References : 26 = Niazai and Gidado (2012); 27 = Hasan et al. (2014); 28 = Enshassi et al. (2009) and Al-Najjar(2008); 29 = Enshassi et al. (2010a) and Enshassi et al. (2010b);
30 = Kog (2017c); 31 = Hindawi and Awad (2007); 32 = Bekr (2015); 33 = Kog (2017e); 34 = Koushki et al. (2005); 35 = Al-Tabtabai (2002); 36 = Tumi et al. (2009);
37 = Alnuaimi and Mohsin (2013); 38 = Ruqaishi and Bashir (2013); 39 = Emam et al. (2015); 40 = Al-Jurf and Beheiry (2010); 41 = Kog (2018b); 42 = Arditi et al. (1985);
43 = Kazaz et al. (2012); 44 = Cülfik et al. (2014); 45 = Gündüz et al. (2013); 46 = Mahamid et al. (2012) and Mahamid (2013); 47 = Albatsh (2015)
72 Yue Choong Kog

Table 5. Top construction delay factors for the Middle East countries

Construction delay factor Rank No. Proportion

Financing by contractor 1 11 78.6%
Finance and payments of completed work by owner 2 10 71.4%
Variation orders/changes of scope by owner during construction 2 10 71.4%
Late delivery/shortage of construction materials or fuel 2 10 71.4%
Ineffective planning and scheduling 5 9 64.3%
Poor site management and supervision by contractor 6 8 57.1%
Inadequate contractor experience/incompetence contractor 7 7 50%
Slow decisions from owner 8 6 42.9%
Owner’s lack of experience/incompetent project team 9 5 35.7%
Subcontractor problems/mechanical and electrical works 9 5 35.7%
Shortage of labor 9 5 35.7%

Table 6. Major delay factors from literature on South Asia

C Bangladesh India Nepal Pakistan Sri Lanka

R 48 49 50 51 33 33
M A F S+I P F F
N 31 - 10+5 22 - -
T C A B C A A
2 X X X X X
3 X X X
5 X X
7 X
8 X
9 X
11 X X
12 X X
13 X X X X
15 X X X X X
16 X
17 X X X X X
18 X X X
20 X X
21 X
22 X
23 X
25 X X X X
31 X
33 X X
34 X
35 X X
42 X X
43 X X X X
References: 33 = Kog (2017e); 48 = Ahsan and Gunawan (2010); 49 = Kog (2018c); 50 = Koirala (2014); 51 = Manavazhi
and Adhikari (2002).
 A Global Survey of Top Construction Delay Factors 73

Table 6 summarizes the TDFs for each of the countries in South Asia. The TDFs for
South Asia ascertained by this study are summarized in Table 7. The seven TDFs, namely
‘finance and payments of completed work by owner’, ‘late delivery/shortage of construction
materials or fuel’, ‘poor site management and supervision’, ‘equipment (or operator)
availability and failure’, ‘variation orders/changes of scope by owner during construction’,
‘ineffective planning and scheduling by contractor’, and ‘government regulation and permit
approval’ are identified by more than half of the five countries studied. The top delay factors
unique to some countries are as follows. ‘Communication problems/lack of adequate project
coordination’ among the project participants, ‘poor site co-ordination’ and ‘unqualified
workforce/low skilled labor’ are unique to India only. ‘Excessive bureaucracy in project-
owner organization’ and ‘late release of site/land acquisition problems/delay or non-payment
of compensation to the communities’ and ‘staff recruitment delay’ by consultants are unique
to Bangladesh only. Contractor’s ‘lack of technical professionals/incompetent project team’ is
unique to Nepal only. ‘Shortage of labor’ is unique to Sri Lanka only.

Table 7. Top construction delay factors for South Asian countries

Construction delay factor Rank No. Proportion

Finance and payments of completed work by owner 1 5 100%
Late delivery/shortage of construction materials or fuel 1 5 100%
Poor site management and supervision by contractor 3 4 80%
Equipment (or operator) availability and failure 3 4 80%
Variation orders/changes of scope by owner during construction 5 3 60%
Ineffective planning and scheduling by contractor 5 3 60%
Government regulation and permit approval 5 3 60%
Slow decisions from owner 8 2 40%
Inadequate contractor experience/incompetence contractor 8 2 40%
Financing by contractor 8 2 40%
Rework due to mistakes in construction/construction defects 8 2 40%
Wrong choice of consultants/poor contract management by consultants/inappropriate
8 2 40%
design by consultants requiring redesign/incompetent or inexperience staff
Inclement weather 8 2 40%
Natural disaster/acts of God 8 2 40%

Table 8 summarizes the TDFs for each of the countries/administrations in East Asia. The
TDFs for East Asia found by this review are summarized in Table 9. All the TDFs found by
this review are identified by more than half of the four countries/administrations studied.
‘Finance and payments of completed work by owner’ and ‘staff recruitment delay’ by
consultants are unique to China. This is because the TDFs of China are identified based
on infrastructural projects of the Asian Development Bank. ‘Inadequate contractor
experience/incompetence contractor’, ‘lack of technical professionals/incompetent project
team’, ‘ineffective planning and scheduling’ by the contractor, ‘poor site management
and supervision’, ‘late issuance of instructions, information or drawings/incomplete
drawings/inadequate information/delay in revising design documents and approving works or
74 Yue Choong Kog

materials/delays in design work’ and ‘wrong choice of consultants/poor contract management

by consultants/inappropriate design by consultants requiring redesign/incompetent or
inexperience staff’ are unique to Hong Kong only.

Table 8. Major delay factors from literature on East Asia

C China Hong Kong Korea Taiwan

R 48 52 53 54 R 48
M P F P S M P
N 30 - 3 450 N 30
T C A C B T C
2 X 2 X
3 X X X X 3 X
5 X X 5 X
6 6
7 X X 7
8 X 8 X
9 X X X 9 X
10 X 10
11 X 11
12 X 12
13 X 13
15 X 15
17 X 17 X
18 X 18
19 X X X 19
20 X 20
23 X 23
26 X X X 26
29 X 29
31 X 31
33 X 33
34 X 34 X
36 36
40 X X 40
41 41
43 X X X 43 X
References: 48 = Ahsan and Gunawan (2010); 52 = Kog (2018d); 53 = Han et al. (2009); 54 = Acharya et al. (2006); 55 =
Yang and Liao (2008); 56 = Yang et al. (2010).

Table 9. Top construction delay factors for East Asian countries/administrations

Construction delay factor Rank No. Proportion

Variation orders/changes of scope by owner during construction 1 4 100%
Inadequate site investigation/unforeseen subsurface conditions 2 3 75%
Government regulation and permit approval 2 3 75%
Slow decisions from owner 4 2 50%
Owner’s lack of experience/incompetent project team 4 2 50%
Excessive bureaucracy in project-owner organization 4 2 50%
Late release of site/land acquisition problems 4 2 50%
 A Global Survey of Top Construction Delay Factors 75

Table 10. Major delay factors from literature on Southeast Asia

C Brunei Cambodia Indonesia Malaysia Singapore Thailand Vietnam

R 57 58 59 60 60 61 62 63 60 60
M S S S F F S S P F F
N 75 153 48 - - 66 36 - - -
T B C A A A B B B A A
1 X X X
2 X X X X X X X
3 X X X X X X X X
5 X X
7 X
9 X X X
10 X
11 X X X X X
12 X
13 X X X X X X
14 X X
15 X X X X X
16 X X
17 X X X X X X X X
18 X X X X
19 X X X
20 X X
22 X X X X X X
23 X X
25 X X X
28 X
29 X
31 X X X X
33 X
35 X X X X
42 X
43 X
References: 57 = Salleh (2009); 58 = Santoso and Soeng (2016); 59 = Durdyev et al. (2017); 60 = Kog (2019b);
61=Ayudhya (2011); 62 = Hwang et al. (2013); 63 = Kog (2017d).

Table 10 summarizes the TDFs reported for each of the countries in Southeast Asia. The
TDFs for Southeast Asian countries identified by this study are summarized in Table 11. The
seven TDFs, namely, ‘finance and payments of completed work by owner’, ‘variation
orders/changes of scope by owner during construction’, ‘ineffective planning and scheduling
by contractor’, ‘late delivery/shortage of construction materials’, ‘inadequate contractor
experience/incompetence contractor’, ‘poor site management and supervision’, and ‘shortage
of labor’ are identified by more than half of the seven countries/administrations studied.
The TDFs unique to some countries are discussed as follows. ‘Owner’s lack of
experience/incompetent project team’, ‘poor contract management by consultants/
substandard contract’, and ‘government regulations and permit approval’ are unique to
Thailand only. ‘Unrealistic/optimistic deadline set by client’ and ‘natural disaster/
acts of God’, are unique to Cambodia only. ‘Mistakes and discrepancies in design
documents by consultants’ is unique to Brunei only. ‘Wrong choice of consultants/poor
contract management by consultants/inappropriate design by consultants requiring
redesign/incompetent or inexperience staff’ is unique to Malaysia only. ‘Inaccurate estimating
76 Yue Choong Kog

of construction materials quantities/price’ is unique to Vietnam only. ‘Lack of technical

professionals/incompetent project team’ by the contractor is unique to Singapore only even
though this TDF was pinpointed by only one study of Singapore and not the other two. ‘Slow
decisions from owner’ is unique to Brunei and Thailand only. ‘Poor site coordination’ by the
contractor is unique to Singapore and Thailand only. ‘Financing by contractor’ is unique to
Malaysia and Thailand only. ‘Rework due to mistakes in construction/construction defects’ is
unique to Indonesia and Malaysia only. ‘Unqualified workforce/low skilled labor’ is unique to
Cambodia and Indonesia only. ‘Equipment (or operator) availability and failure’ is unique to
Indonesia and Thailand only.

Table 11. Top construction delay factors for Southeast Asian countries

Construction delay factor Rank No. Proportion

Finance and payments of completed work by owner 1 7 100%
Variation orders/changes of scope by owner during construction 1 7 100%
Ineffective planning and scheduling by contractor 3 6 86%
Late delivery/shortage of construction materials or fuel 3 6 86%
Inadequate contractor experience/incompetence contractor 5 5 71%
Poor site management and supervision by contractor 5 5 71%
Shortage of labor 5 5 71%
Communication problems by all project participants 8 3 43%
Late release of site/land acquisition problems/delay or non-payment of compensation to
8 3 43%
the communities
Financing by contractor 8 3 43%
Subcontractor problems 8 3 43%
Late issuance of instructions, information or drawings/incomplete drawings/inadequate
8 3 43%
information/delay in revising and approving design documents/delays in design work
Inclement weather 8 3 43%

Table 12 summarizes the TDFs identified for Australia, New Zealand, Portugal, Norway,
Slovenia, UK, Chile, Canada, and US. The respective TDFs for these countries ascertained by
this study are summarized in Table 13. The eight TDFs, namely, ‘late issuance of instructions,
information or drawings/incomplete drawings/inadequate information/delay in revising and
approving design documents/delays in design work’, ‘variation orders/changes of scope by
owner during construction’, ‘slow decisions from owner’, ‘mistakes and discrepancies in
design documents by consultants’, ‘communication problems by all project participants’,
‘ineffective planning and scheduling by contractor’, ‘subcontractor problems/mechanical and
electrical works’, and ‘inadequate site investigation/unforeseen subsurface conditions’ are
identified by more than half of the nine countries/administrations studied. The TDFs that
are unique to some countries are discussed as follows. ‘Contractor selection methods
(negotiation, lowest bidder)’ is unique to New Zealand only. ‘Low productivity level of
labors’, ‘equipment (or operator) availability and failure’ and ‘natural disaster/acts of God’
are unique to Chile only. ‘Poor contract management by consultants/substandard contract’ is
unique to Slovenia only. Keen (2010) is the only study among the more than 200 studies on
construction delay factors that identified that the consultants in Canada ‘completed design
through shop drawings review’ as a TDF.
 A Global Survey of Top Construction Delay Factors 77

Table 12. Major delay factors from literature on Australia, New Zealand,
Europe, and Americas

New
C Australia Canada Chile Norway Portugal Slovenia UK US
Zealand
R 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 74 74
M S P+S I P P S P S S S F S F F
N 32 33+33 ? 175 24 87 16 28 143 202 - 62 - -
T A B C B A O B A A A A A A A
1 X X X X X X X
2 X X X
3 X X X X X X X X X
4 X
5 X X X X X X
7 X X X
9 X X
10 X X X
11 X X X
12 X
13 X X X X X X X X
14 X
15 X X X X X
16 X X X
17 X X X X X
19 X X X X X
20 X X
21 X X
22 X X
23 X X X
25 X
26 X X X X X X
27 X
28 X
29 X X X X X X X
30 X X X
31 X X X X X X X X X X
32 X X
33 X X X X
35 X X X
42 X
43 X X X X
Reference: 64 = Wong and Vimonsatit (2002); 65 = Walker(1995); 66 = Orangi et al. (2011); 67 = Keen (2010); 68 =
Semple et al. (1994); 69 = Jergeas and Ruwanpura (2010) and Ruwanpura and Jergeas (2010); 70 = Alarcón et al.
(2008); 71 = Lessing et al. (2017); 72 = Zidane et al. (2015); 73 = Eik-Andresen et al. (2015); 74 = Kog (2018e); 75 =
Srdić and Šelih (2015).
78 Yue Choong Kog

The ten TDFs for 59 countries/administrations ascertained by this study are summarized
in Table 14. The four TDFs, namely, ‘finance and payments of completed work by
owner’, ‘variation orders/changes of scope by owner during construction’, ‘late
delivery/shortage of construction materials or fuel’, ‘ineffective planning and scheduling’, and
‘financing by contractor’ are identified by more than half of the 59 countries/administrations
studied.
Table 13. Top construction delay factors for Oceania
and European and American countries

Construction delay factor Rank No. Proportion

Late issuance of instructions, information or drawings/incomplete drawings/inadequate

1 8 88.9%
information/delay in revising and approving design documents/delays in design work

Variation orders/changes of scope by owner during construction 2 7 77.8%

Slow decisions from owner 3 6 66.7%
Mistakes and discrepancies in design documents by consultants 3 6 66.7%
Communication problems by all project participants 5 5 55.6%
Ineffective planning and scheduling by contractor 5 5 55.6%
Subcontractor problems/mechanical and electrical works 5 5 55.6%
Inadequate site investigation/unforeseen subsurface conditions 5 5 55.6%
Late delivery/shortage of construction materials or fuel 9 4 44.4%

Wrong choice of consultants/poor contract management by consultants/inappropriate

9 4 44.4%
design by consultants requiring redesign/incompetent or inexperience staff

Government regulations and permit approval 9 4 44.4%

Table 14. Top 10 construction delay factors of 59 countries/administrations

Countries/Administrations
Construction delay factor Rank
No. Proportion

Finance and payments of completed work by owner 1 43 72.9%

Variation orders/changes of scope by owner during construction 2 37 62.7%
Late delivery/shortage of construction materials or fuel 2 37 62.7%
Ineffective planning and scheduling 4 32 54.2%
Financing by contractor 5 29 49.2%
Poor site management and supervision by contractor 6 27 45.8%
Inadequate contractor experience/incompetence contractor 7 25 42.4%
Equipment (or operator) availability and failure 8 23 39%
Slow decisions by owner 8 23 39%
Late issuance of instructions, information or drawings/incomplete drawings/
inadequate information/delay in revising and approving design documents/ 10 22 37.3%
delays in design work
 A Global Survey of Top Construction Delay Factors 79

Table 15. Top construction delay factors for different regions

South Oceania,
South East Middle
Construction delay factor East Europe and Africa All
Asia Asia East
Asia Americas
Finance and payments of completed
1 1 10 2 12 1 1
work by owner
Variation orders/changes of scope
1 5 1 2 2 4 2
by owner during construction
Poor site management and supervision
5 3 10 6 12 8 6
by contractor
Late delivery/shortage of
3 1 4 2 9 2 2
construction materials or fuel
Financing by contractor 8 8 10 1 30 2 5
Mistakes and discrepancies in
14 25 10 22 3 21 17
design documents by consultants
Communication problems by
8 13 27 22 5 21 14
all project participants
Owner’s lack of experience/
21 13 4 9 18 28 17
incompetent project team
Excessive bureaucracy in project-owner
29 13 4 37 30 40 37
organization
Inadequate contractor experience/
5 8 10 7 12 8 7
incompetence contractor
Ineffective planning and scheduling
3 5 10 5 5 6 4
by contractor
Shortage of labor 5 13 27 9 18 15 12
Equipment (or operator) availability
14 3 27 14 24 4 8
and failure
Late issuance of instructions, information or
drawings/incomplete drawings/ inadequate
8 13 10 22 1 7 10
information/delay in revising and approving
design documents/delays in design work
Wrong choice of consultants/poor contract
management by consultants/inappropriate
21 8 10 14 9 28 17
design by consultants requiring
redesign/incompetent or inexperience staff
Inclement weather 8 8 27 22 12 13 13
Slow decisions from owner 14 8 4 8 3 11 8
Subcontractor problems 8 25 4 9 5 8 11
Inadequate site investigation/unforeseen
21 25 2 31 5 28 23
subsurface conditions
Government regulation and permit approval 21 5 2 22 9 15 16
Late release of site/land acquisition
8 13 4 14 18 11 13
problems
Natural disaster/acts of God 21 8 27 37 24 36 25

COMPARISON OF THE TOP DELAY FACTORS

FOR DIFFERENT REGIONS

Table 15 summarizes the TDFs found by this review for Africa, the Middle East, South
Asia, East Asia, Southeast Asia, and the grouping of Oceania, Europe and Americas
representing the relatively more developed countries. Delay factors ‘variation orders/changes
of scope by owner during construction’ and ‘late delivery/shortage of construction materials
80 Yue Choong Kog

or fuel’ are among the TDFs for all regions. The delay factor ‘ineffective planning and
scheduling’ by contractor is a TDF for all regions except East Asia. There are some delay
factors that are the TDF unique to one particular region only. For example, ‘natural
disaster/acts of God’ is unique to South Asia and ‘mistakes and discrepancies in design
documents by consultants’ is unique to the grouping of Oceania, Europe and Americas.
Many suggestions were made in Kog (2017a to 2017e, 2018a to 2018e, 2019a to 2019b)
on measures that could be taken to address various delay factors to improve schedule
performance. If such suggestions can be implemented rigorously in a sustained manner, the
schedule performance of construction projects can definitely be improved and construction
delay can be reduced substantially. The adverse impact of variation orders to the construction
schedule performance is well known. Why are architects in building projects and civil
engineers in civil engineering projects persisted in issuing variation orders after the
commencement of construction? Unfortunately, there is no study reported on the underlying
reasons on the issuance of variation orders. The present study highlights the importance that
future research should be undertaken so that appropriate actions are taken to curtail the
issuance of variation orders after the commencement of construction. Similarly, there is no
study reported on the underlying reasons for the late delivery/shortage of construction
materials or fuel. Shortage of fuel is confined to the region of Africa. According to Table 15,
‘late delivery/shortage of construction materials’ is a TDF for the grouping of Oceania,
Europe and Americas representing the relatively more developed countries. How much of
‘late delivery/shortage of construction materials’ can be attributed to the local logistics system
and other causes? Future research should be undertaken so that suitable policies and actions
are taken to tackle this important delay factor.

CONCLUSION
A review of more than 200 studies for 59 countries/administrations shows that the TDFs
are ‘finance and payments of completed work by owner’, ‘variation orders/changes of
scope by owner during construction’, ‘late delivery/shortage of construction materials or
fuel’, ‘ineffective planning and scheduling’, ‘financing by contractor’, ‘poor site management
and supervision’, ‘inadequate contractor experience/incompetence contractor’, ‘equipment
(or operator) availability and failure’, ‘late issuance of instructions, information or
drawings/incomplete drawings/ inadequate information/delay in revising and approving
design documents/delays in design work’, and ‘slow decisions from owner’.
Comparison of the TDFs for the different regions shows that ‘variation orders/changes of
scope by owner during construction’ and ‘late delivery/shortage of construction materials or
fuel’ are among the TDFs for all regions. On the other hand, ‘natural disaster/acts of God’ as
a top delay factor is unique to South Asia only, and ‘mistakes and discrepancies in design
documents by consultants’ is unique to the grouping of Oceania, Europe and Americas only.
The findings of TDFs for each of the regions are useful because they highlight the main
challenges faced by each region to improve their schedule performances. The practical
implications of the present study are that appropriate measures must be taken to address the
TDFs of ‘variation orders/changes of scope by owner during construction’ and ‘late
delivery/shortage of construction materials or fuel’ and other TDFs unique to each region to
improve the schedule performance of construction projects.
 A Global Survey of Top Construction Delay Factors 81

Because of the high similarity level of construction practices within each region, the bulk
of the TDFs identified for each of the regions are most likely to be the TDFs for countries
within the regions where the TDFs have not been identified. The present study highlights the
importance that future research should be undertaken so that appropriate actions are taken to
curtail the issuance of variation orders after the commencement of construction and the late
delivery/shortage of construction materials. As a practitioner for more than forty years, it is
clear that the frequent issuances of variation order are often related to the level of
professionalism of the project participants and the fast track nature of many construction
projects particularly the civil engineering projects. For fast track projects, some stakeholders
do not have sufficient time to finalize their requirements. It is also not possible to obtain all
the necessary approvals from the relevant authorities before calling tender. Variations may be
required to comply with the authorities’ requirements and the stakeholders’ finalized
requirements during construction. The number of variation orders will definitely be reduced if
appropriate measures, such as allowing more time for project participants to finalize the
design and obtaining authorities’ approvals before calling the construction tender, are
implemented.

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