International Journal of Construction Management

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Empirical study of schedule delay in Moroccan

construction projects

Mohamed Saad Bajjou & Anas Chafi

To cite this article: Mohamed Saad Bajjou & Anas Chafi (2020) Empirical study of schedule
delay in Moroccan construction projects, International Journal of Construction Management,
20:7, 783-800, DOI: 10.1080/15623599.2018.1484859

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Published online: 24 Sep 2018.

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INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT
2020, VOL. 20, NO. 7, 783–800
https://doi.org/10.1080/15623599.2018.1484859

Empirical study of schedule delay in Moroccan construction projects

Mohamed Saad Bajjou and Anas Chafi
Department of Industrial Engineering, Faculty of Sciences and Techniques, Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah University, Fes, Morocco

ABSTRACT KEYWORDS
As a chronic and a common problem worldwide, most construction projects suffer from sched- Construction projects; delay
ule delay and construction projects in Morocco are not an exception. The aim of this study is to causes; Moroccan
determine the critical causes affecting projects delays in Moroccan construction industry. Forty- construction industry;
statistical analysis;
nine causes of delay were identified from the literature review and redefined through interviews survey study
with Moroccan experts. These causes are classified according to nine categories: client, contrac-
tor, consultant/designer, finance, planning and scheduling, communication and contractual rela-
tionship, material, labours and equipment, and external. A questionnaire survey was conducted
with public and private contractors and consultants in order to assess the relative importance of
construction delay causes in Morocco. A total of 330 valid responses were collected. Statistical
analysis of data collected from this survey study reveals that the top-10 delay causes are: delay
of progress payment, lack of training for employees, lack of waste management strategy, unreal-
istic contract duration imposed by clients, rework due to the construction errors, excessive sub-
contracting, delay in obtaining permits from governmental agencies, ineffective planning and
scheduling, lack of collective planning, and unskilled workforce. These findings can be helpful
for construction project managers to guide efforts in improving the performance of the
Moroccan construction industry.

Introduction
The construction industry is a strategic field contribu-
ting tangibly to the economic growth of developing
countries (Sambasivan and Soon 2007; Toor and
Ogunlana 2008; Mahamid 2013; Khanh and Kim
2014). At the national level, the sector of construction
is considered amongst the most dynamic and the
most promising of the Moroccan economy as it con-
tributes in strengthening other sectors by providing
the required infrastructure and reducing the
unemployment rate. It currently encompasses more
than 53,000 construction companies. The total turn-
over of all of these production units exceeded an
annual amount of 30 billion Dirhams, with an average
turnover of 15.9 million Dirhams. It contributes an
average of 6.6% of the gross domestic product (GDP)
and represents 50.1% of the gross fixed capital forma-
tion (GFCF) (Habchi et al. 2016). It employed nearly
a million workers, about 9.3% of the active population
(Ministry of economy and finance, 2015).
As a chronic and a common problem worldwide,
most of construction projects, both in developing and
developed countries, suffer from time delay (Arditi et al.
1985; Kaming et al. 1997; Al-Khalil and Al-Ghafly 1999;
Koushki et al. 2005; Faridi and El-Sayegh 2006; Sun and
Meng 2009; Doloi et al. 2012; Kazaz et al. 2012;
Durdyev et al. 2017; Patil et al. 2017; Mpofu et al.
2017). Similarly, the Moroccan construction indus-
try encounters many challenges that are limiting the
performance of construction projects. These chal-
lenges can be separated into two main dimensions,
the first consisting of external barriers (price rigid-
ity, low cash, downturn and foreign supply), the
second dimension includes internal barriers (higher
expenses, local sourcing and debt collection, unsat-
isfactory competitiveness atmosphere) (Khalfaoui
and Zenasni 2014). Under those pressures, the field
of construction in Morocco is also experiencing
schedule delay in most of its construction projects
(Habchi et al. 2016).
Being the case, Moroccan construction organiza-
tions constantly need to improve the performance of
their projects even in light of the critical challenges
highlighted above. Along with budgets and quality,
the project schedule is considered to be the most rele-
vant performance criteria of construction projects
management (Alkass et al. 1996; Kumaraswamy and
Chan 1998; Boukendour 2009; Durdyev et al. 2017).

CONTACT Mohamed Saad Bajjou mohamedsaad.bajjou@usmba.ac.ma

ß 2018 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group
784 M. S. BAJJOU AND A. CHAFI
Normally, a delayed construction project is also
accompanied by an additional cost and a decrease in
quality and safety. Moreover, such delay usually
results in several consequences in the form of a cash-
flow problem, mistrust, arbitration and adversarial
relationships (Mpofu et al. 2017). Habchi et al. (2016)
has tested, which is the first research with a focus on
project delay in Morocco, the implementation of Last
Planner System (LPS) in a Moroccan construction
project in order to explore its impacts on-time project
completion. The findings of this work indicate a
major improvement in the traditional planning system
especially at the level of achieving the targeted sched-
ule while ensuring a collective planning. However, the
results of a unique case study are not enough to have
a holistic overview on the current situation of the
Moroccan construction industry with a specific con-
cern to main factors affecting projects delay in the
Moroccan construction sector. Hence, by using a
structured questionnaire survey, this study attempts
to cover a large population in order to investigate the
critical factors that hinder the capacity of Moroccan
construction practitioners to deliver projects on time.
By doing so, the factors influencing time in the
Moroccan construction and real estate sector could be
significantly controlled and reduced, which will even-
tually lead to the on-time project completion.
This study sought to accomplish the following
objectives: (a) to identify the causes of delay of con-
struction projects through assessment of previous
research carried out in several countries and semi-
structured interviews with experts to pre-test the sur-
vey before producing the final version; (b) to assess
the relative importance of the major causes of time
overrun in the Moroccan construction industry from
the point of view of the main constructions stake-
holders by means of a structured questionnaire sur-
vey; and (c) to analyse the degree of agreement
between the perceptions of contractors and consul-
tants using a Spearman rank correlation.
Literature review
The success of construction projects is based largely
on the satisfaction of the objectives defined in the
project specifications (Doloi et al. 2012). A successful
project is carried out according to the pre-defined
execution time, the budget allocated for the project,
the quality requested by the client while respecting
the safety condition of the workforce (Frimpong et al.
2007, Bajjou et al. 2017a). Projects delay in the con-
struction industry has been a research scope for
decades. Studies conducted in this scope are broadly
divided into two streams – one stream relating to
delay analysis and second relating to factors causing
project delays. The second stream focusing on assess-
ing delay factors which is more relevant to this study
is reviewed below.
Baldwin and Manthei (1971) carried out one of the
of the early survey studies with contractors, architects
and engineers to clearly provide the causes of delays
in construction project in the United States.
Seventeen factors affecting project delay were
explored: seventeen items were examined: design
changes, subcontractors, sample approvals, jurisdic-
tional disputes, finances, construction mistakes, con-
tracts, labour supply, inspections, equipment failure,
shop drawings, material shortage, foundation condi-
tions, manufactured items, building codes, permits
and weather. Those found to be most important were
labour supply, subcontractors, shop drawings, design
changes, foundation conditions and weather.
This was followed by the study performed by
Arditi et al. (1985) in the Turkish construction indus-
try and 23 causes of projects delay were identified.
The top four causes of delay were shortage of materi-
als, delay of payment, contractor’s difficulties to get
credit purchase and organizational characteristics.
Sullivan and Harris (1986) presented 19 causes of
delays influencing the performance of large construc-
tion projects in the United Kingdom (UK). The main
factors that led to unexpected delays and additional
for major UK projects were delays in receiving infor-
mation, variability, construction and procurement
delays for mechanical and electrical (M&E) projects,
ground problems and bad weather.
Odeh and Battaineh (2002) identified 28 causes of
delay in Jordan construction projects with the trad-
itional type of contracts. By using a questionnaire sur-
vey, they collected 82 completed and valid responses:
63 from contractors and 19 from consultants. They
illustrated that; according to consultants, inadequate
contractor experience was the most important cause
of delay. However, labour productivity was the most
significant cause of delay to contractors. Contractors
and consultants agreed that the most important
causes of delay are: owner interference, inadequate
contractor experience, financing of completed work,
labour productivity, slow decision making, improper
planning and subcontractors.
Assaf and Al-hejji (2006) conducted a survey in
order to determine the main causes of delays in
construction in the Eastern Province of Saudi
Arabia. The field survey includes 23 contractors, 19

consultants and 15 owners. It was reported by all
the three parties that: change order is the most
important cause of delay and that 70% of construc-
tion projects in Saudi Arabia were delayed.
Sambasivan and Soon (2007) conducted a ques-
tionnaire survey to assess the point of view of own-
ers, contractors and consultants on the relative
importance of causes of delay in Malaysia. The
findings of this study revealed that the top-10 delay
causes were: contractor’s improper planning, con-
tractor’s poor site management, inadequate contrac-
tor experience, inadequate client’s finance and
payments for completed work, problems with sub-
contractors, shortage in material, labour supply,
equipment availability and failure, lack of commu-
nication between parties and mistakes during the
construction stage.
Enshassi et al. (2009) assessed the causes leading to
delayed construction projects in the Gaza Strip. The
survey comprised 110 causes/factors of delay that
were clustered into 12 main groups: consultants’
responsibilities, owners’ responsibilities, contractors’
responsibilities, project-related, professional manage-
ment; materials, labour and equipment, design and
documentation, execution, government relations, con-
tractual relationship and external factors. A survey of
a random sample of 27 consultants, of 66 contractors
and 31 owners was conducted. The major factors that
have been found to be most important included
material-related factor, delayed materials delivery to
the construction site, strikes and border closures,
shortage of materials in markets.
Doloi et al. (2012) identified and analysed the key
factors impacting schedule in Indian construction
projects. A total of 45 causes of delay were identified
under six categories namely: site related, project
related, human-related, authority related, process
related and technical issues. Seventy-seven valid
responses were collected: 16 from clients, 51 from
contractors and 10 from designers/architects. From
the factor analysis, top-7 delay causes were: lack of
commitment, inefficient site management, poor site
coordination, improper planning, lack of clarity in
project scope, lack of communication and substand-
ard contract.
Kazaz et al. (2012) conducted a survey study on
the factors of time overrun in the Turkish construc-
tion industry and determined the levels of their
importance, considering 34 delay factors. A question-
naire survey was administered to 71 construction
firms in Turkey. According to the study outcome,
design and material changes was the most critical
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT 785
factor, followed by delay of payments and cash
flow problems.
Fallahnejad (2013) identified and assessed the
causes of delay in Iran gas pipeline projects. By using
a questionnaire survey 43 items have been evaluated
through literature review, evaluation of 24 executed
gas pipeline projects and 10 initial interviews with
Iranian experts. The result indicates that the top-10
causes of delay were imported material, client-related
material, unrealistic duration of projects, expropri-
ation of land, contractor selection procedures, alter-
ation orders, licensing, contractor payment, suppliers
and contractor cash flow.
Marzouk and El-Rasas (2014) analysed the key fac-
tors leading to construction projects delays in Egypt.
Forty-three delay attributes have been determined
through literature study and interviews with Egyptian
construction experts. This list of causes was grouped
into seven categories: consultant related, contractor
related, owner related, material related, project related,
labour and equipment related, and external related. This
study concluded that the top ten delay causes ranked
according to importance index were: finance and pay-
ments of completed work by owner, variation orders/
changes of scope by owner during construction, effects
of subsurface conditions, low productivity level of
labours, ineffective planning and scheduling of project,
difficulties in financing project by contractor, type of
project bidding and award (negotiation and lowest bid-
der), shortage of construction materials in market, late
in revising and approving design documents by owner,
unqualified workforce.
Durdyev et al. (2017) identified the various causes
of delay that are limiting the performance of the con-
struction industry in Cambodia, especially the resi-
dential building projects. This study used relative
importance index (RII) to assess the perceptions of
contractors and consultants. The analysis of feedback
showed that unrealistic project scheduling; shortage of
materials on site, shortage of skilled labour, late deliv-
ery of material complexity of project, late payment by
the owner for the completed work, labour absentee-
ism, delay by subcontractor, poor site management,
accidents due to poor site safety are ranked by all par-
ties as the main factors leading to project delays
in Cambodia.
Al-Emad et al. (2017) developed a structured ques-
tionnaire through literature review and a pilot study
with experts involved in Makkah’s construction
industry. The survey yielded 100 validated responses
that were used to classify factors using the mean
importance rating (MIR). This study concluded that
786 M. S. BAJJOU AND A. CHAFI
the top 10 delay causes in Makkah’s construction
industry are difficulties in financing project by con-
tractor, shortage of manpower, poor coordination
between parties, delays in producing design
documents, delay in progress payments, improper
planning and scheduling of the project, poor commu-
nication between parties, low productivity level of
labour, unqualified workforce and poor con-
tract management.
Mpofu et al. (2017) conducted a questionnaire sur-
vey to identify the keys factors generating delays of
construction projects in the United Arab Emirates
(UAE). A total of 500 questionnaires were distributed
and 208 responses were collected. The findings of this
study shows that the top-5 causes of delay were:
unrealistic contract duration imposed by the client,
incomplete design at the time of tender, too many
scope changes and change orders, inadequate plan-
ning and scheduling, and poor project planning
and control.
Bagaya and Song (2016) conducted a structured
questionnaire survey to assess the causes of project
delays from 140 experts (contractors, clients and con-
sultants) in Burkina Faso. The top five most critical
factors of schedule delay were ranked by using
Importance Index (II), and the ranking is as follows:
financial difficulties of the contractor, financial cap-
ability of the owner, availability of equipment, slow
payment progress for completed work and poor sub-
contractor performance.
Chen et al. (2017) investigated the major delays
factors affecting time overrun in Chinese grain bin
construction projects. An in-depth literature review
Table 1. Summary of previous studies of the causes of delay in construction projects in Africa.
Country Title
Egypt Analysing delay causes in Egyptian Marzouk and El-Rasas (2014)
construction projects
Egypt Exploring delay causes of road con- Aziz and Abdel-Hakam (2016)
struction projects in Egypt
and 15 semi-structured interviews have been estab-
lished, and a structured questionnaire was adminis-
trated to 108 practitioners with experiences in the
field of constructing grain bin projects. This study
shows that the top five delay factors were lack of
adequate equipment, difficulties in communication
between contracting parties, unqualified subcontrac-
tors, insufficient experience of the design team and
frequent change orders by owners.
Maqsoom et al. (2018) investigated and analysed
the causes influencing the time overrun in Pakistani
construction projects. A total of 130 responses were
returned and 113were considered for statistical ana-
lysis as they were valid (39 from building, 26 from
electrical and mechanical, 43 from civil works and 5
from other specialization) which represent a response
rate of 62.7%. The major factors causing time overrun
were design changes during construction and
improvements to standard drawings, bad performance
of subcontractors and suppliers, shortage of technical
staff, poor technical performance, shortage of material
and material fluctuation, and problem in land
acquisition.
Despite the large number of research on construc-
tion projects delays, no survey study has been under-
taken in Morocco to explore the key factors affecting
project time completion. Moreover, few studies have
been conducted in Africa to identify the most signifi-
cant factors causing project delay. Such studies are
accomplished in different countries like Egypt,
Nigeria, Tanzania, Ghana, Benin and Burkina Faso.
Table 1 shows a summary of previous studies on con-
struction delays in Africa.
Authors Top-10 time delay causes
1. Finance and payments of completed work by owner
2. Variation orders/changes of scope by owner during
construction
3. Effects of subsurface conditions (e.g. soil, high water
table, etc.)
4. Low productivity level of labours
5. Ineffective planning and scheduling of project
6. Difficulties in financing project by contractor
7. Type of project bidding and award (negotiation and
lowest bidder)
8. Shortage of construction materials in market
9. Late in revising and approving design documents
by owner
10. Unqualified workforce
1. Owner financial problems/client finance/economic abil-
ity for the project
2. Shortage in equipment/insufficient numbers
3. Inadequate contractor experience (work) causing error
4. Shortage (availability) in construction materials
5. Equipment failure (breakdown)
(continued)
 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT 787

Table 1. Continued.
Country Title Authors Top-10 time delay causes
6. Design errors made by designers (due to unfamiliarity
with local conditions and environment)
7. Mistakes in soil investigation
8. Poor subcontractor performance/delays
9. Rework due to change of design or deviation order
10. Poor site management and supervision by contractor
Nigeria Construction delays and their causa- Aibinu and Odeyinka (2006) 1. Contractors’ financial difficulties
tive factors in Nigeria 2. Clients’ cash flow problem
3. Architects’ incomplete drawing
4. Sub-contractors’ slow mobilization
5. Equipment breakdown and maintenance problems
6. Suppliers’ late delivery of ordered materials
7. Incomplete structural drawings
8. Contractors’ planning and scheduling problems
9. Price escalation
10. Subcontractors’ financial difficulties
Ghana Delays in building construction proj- Fugar and Agyakwah-baah (2010) 1. Delay in honouring payment certificates
ects in Ghana 2. Underestimation of the cost of project
3. Underestimation of complexity of project
4. Difficulty in accessing bank credit
5. Poor supervision
6. Underestimation of time for completion of projects by
contractors
7. Shortage of materials
8. Poor professional management
9. Fluctuation of prices/rising cost of materials
10. Poor site management
Tanzania Analysis of delays in Tanzanian con- Sambasivan et al. (2017) 1. Lack of finance and payment of completed works
struction industry: transaction cost 2. Improper planning
economics (TCE) and structural equa- 3. On-time delivery of material
tion modelling (SEM) approach 4. Unforeseen site condition
5. Site management
6. Waiting for approval of tests and inspection
7. Lack of communication between Parties
8. Preparation and approval of drawings
9. Lack of appropriate skills
10. Equipment availability
Benin Importance and ranking evaluation of Akogbe et al. (2013) 1. Financial capability by contractor
delay factors for development con- 2. Financial difficulties by owner
struction projects in Benin 3. Poor subcontractor performance
4. Materials procurement of contractor
5. Changes in drawings of architect
6. Inadequate planning and scheduling of contractor
7. Slow inspection of completed works by the consultant
8. Equipment availability of contractor
9. Preparation and approval of drawings by consultant
10. Acceptance of inadequate design drawings
Burkina Faso Empirical study of factors influencing Bagaya and Song (2016) 1. Financial capability of contractor
schedule delays of public construction 2. Financial difficulties of owner
projects in Burkina Faso 3. Equipment availability
4. Slow payments of completed work
5. Poor subcontractor performance
6. Inadequate planning and scheduling
7. Weather condition (heavy rains and floods)
8. Low bidding of contractor
9. Unfavourable site conditions
10. Poor site management and supervision

Research methodology respondents, as well as its cost-effectiveness (Shang

and Sui Pheng 2014). Moreover, this approach fits
This study is based on a questionnaire survey
with the quantitative research methodology that sup-
approach to providing a holistic overview of the most
ports the statistical testing of the data to obtain
significant factors causing project delay in the
meaningful interpretations that provide a better under-
Moroccan construction industry. This approach was
standing of the survey topic (Abawi 2008). This survey
employed to collect a wide range of views from indi-
is based on a conventional approach as shown in Figure
viduals, to have a better generalizability of the
1. The first step was to identify the key delay causes
research findings, to reach a wide population of
reported in the literature. Before producing the final
788 M. S. BAJJOU AND A. CHAFI
Literature review Delay causes
Questionnaire Survey
• Semi-structured
interviews with
Moroccan experts
Redefined delay causes
Data analysis
• Relative Importance
Index (RII)
• Spearman rank
correlation tests
Discussions Critical delay causes
Comparison with other
countries
Conclusions
Figure 1. Research flowchart.
version of the questionnaire, semi-structured interviews
with experts was carried out to ensure the relevance of
the questionnaire and to verify the suitability of the
causes of projects delay reported in the literature with
the Moroccan context.
The questionnaire includes two main sections. The
first section is designed to gather general information
about the surveyed respondents. The second section,
respondents were asked to give their perceptions of the
relative importance of each of the 49 causes of project
delay in the Moroccan construction industry. An ordinal
five-point Likert scale was used to measure the relative
importance of each item (1 – not important, 2 – slightly
important, 3 – moderately important, 4 – very import-
ant and 5 – extremely important).
A random sampling method was employed to tar-
get Moroccan construction practitioners from differ-
ent locations in Morocco. This technique was selected
by the authors because it allows obtaining representa-
tive samples and reducing bias in the selection pro-
cedure (Gravetter and Forzano 2011). To apply
random sampling method, in accordance to (Saunders
et al. 2009), it is important to have a list of potentials
respondents. A list of 834 potentials respondents was
identified in collaboration with the Moroccan
Federation of Buildings and Civil engineering
(MFBCE). The MFBCE is considered among the lead-
ing professional organization in Morocco, and it
includes companies with a good organizational set up
(high managerial level with experienced professio-
nals); its members encompass contractors, consul-
tants, owners, architects and suppliers. A set of
criteria was established by the authors to identify the
correct sample. Hence, the following criteria were
employed for the sample selection: (1) consultants
and contractors, (2) construction firms located in
Morocco (private, public, small, medium, large; any
field of specialization), (3) having a valid address,
e-mail address, and phone/fax number. After elimi-
nating firms that are out of the scope of this study
(e.g. international firms, suppliers, architect, own-
ers, and firms with incorrect contact information)
the remaining sample size was 440.
A multitude of distribution techniques has been
used to ensure the spread of the questionnaire among
the Moroccan construction professionals. First, the
questionnaire was sent by e-mail to public and private
construction firms. Second, hardcopy questionnaires
were handed out to several consulting agencies and
contractor. Third, the questionnaire was faxed. Three
hundred and fifty were sent via email, 60 were per-
sonally handed out, and 30 were faxed. The question-
naire survey was started in March 2017 in Morocco.
To increase the return and response rates the sur-
veyed participants were assured of their anonymity
and confidentiality during the entire survey. In add-
ition, the respondents were promised to share with
them the summary of the research findings. Over a
period of four months, 352 questionnaires were
returned representing a return rate of 80%. Of these,
22 were discarded because of invalid or incomplete
information given by the surveyed participants. The
remaining 330 valid questionnaires were used for data
analysis, representing a very good response rate of
75% which is good enough for reliable statistical test-
ing (Ye et al. 2014; Idrus and Newman 2002).
Reliability
Internal reliability
Reliability is defined as the extent to which an observa-
tion, questionnaire or any measurement procedure gen-
erates the same results on repeated tests Wragg et al.
(2000). Reliability analysis allows measuring the
responses consistency on repeated application of the
same measurement tool (Shang and Sui Pheng 2012). It
was deemed necessary to test the reliability since the
data for this study used a 5-point Likert type response.

In order to test internal reliability, Cronbach’s alpha
coefficient a, which is a widely used reliability indicator,
was calculated to check the internal reliability of the col-
lected responses. Cronbach’s alpha coefficient can be
calculated as follows:
P 2
k ri
a¼ 1 (1)
k1 ri
P 2
where ri2 variance of scores on each item; ri is
the variance of the observed total test scores and k is
the number of items (Cronbach 1951).
Theoretically a range from 0 to 1, where a higher
value indicates a stronger linear internal consistency.
As a rule of thumb, if a > 0.9 indicate excellent
internal consistency (Doloi et al. 2012). The mean
value of Cronbach’s alpha coefficient a for all attrib-
utes is 0.963 which is considered to be excellent. This
result indicates that a respondent who selected a cer-
tain Likert-scale score for one of the items related the
causes of construction project delay in the Moroccan
industry would be likely to give a similar score for
the related items (Jin et al. 2017).
External reliability
External reliability is concerned with the extent to
which a measure varies from one test to another. The
initial questionnaire has been reviewed by ten experts
(including four project managers, two academics and
four on-site managers with more than 10 years of
working experience). Their objective was to check
how accurately the selected items reflected the defined
constructs and to assess the content validity and the
technical accuracy. As a result, several improvements
have been added to the final version of the question-
naire in order to identify the most suitable delay
causes to the Moroccan construction context; some
causes merged with each other, other causes have
been added, modified, changed or omitted due to
ambiguity and recurrence. The analysis of the litera-
ture review and the interviews with experts allowed
us to produce a final list including 49 key attributes.
These causes are classified according to nine catego-
ries: client, contractor, consultant/designer, finance,
planning and scheduling, communication and con-
tractual relationship, material, labours and equipment,
and external as summarized in Table 2.
Moreover, Spearman correlation coefficient of each
item and the total items was performed using
Statistical Package for Social Sciences, SPSS version
25.0 for Windows (IBM Corp.: Armonk, NY) com-
puter software. As a result, it has been found that the
p value (Significance) is less than .01 for all items and
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT 789
the correlations are significant at the .01 level, so it
can be concluded that the 49 delay causes are consist-
ent and valid to ensure external reliability.
Validity
Face validity
Face validity refers to the relevance or transparency
of a test as it appears to test participants Holden
(2010). In order to achieve this purpose, the initial
questionnaire was reviewed by six external advisors
which were proficient in questionnaire design. They
were asked to evaluate the survey instrument for clar-
ity, readability and completeness. Appropriate changes
have been performed to the survey according to their
feedback. In addition, according to their recommen-
dations, the questionnaire forms were distributed in
both languages (English and French) based on the
preference of the respondent.
Construct validity
Construct validity is useful to assess whether a survey
instrument actually measures what it is supposed to
measure Bagozzi et al. (1991). Construct validity was
performed to check for unifactoriality and to test
whether or not a single factor is extracted for each
test (Black and Porter 1996). Kaiser–Meyer–Olkin
(KMO) test and Bartlett’s test of sphericity were con-
ducted. KMO coefficient for the 49 delay factors is
greater than 0.7 (KMO ¼ 0.94), which indicate suffi-
cient intercorrelations. Bartlett’s test of sphericity is
7423.174 and the associated significance level is small
(p ¼ .000); on this basis, the null hypothesis is rejected
and which implies that the correlation matrix is not
an identity matrix. Both of two parameters (KMO test
and Bartlett’s test of sphericity) justify that the col-
lected data are appropriate to ensure construct valid-
ity and demonstrate the aptness of the variables for
use in future research concerning factor analysis.
Results
Respondent profile/sample and data collection
A total of 440 questionnaires were distributed to pub-
lic and private stakeholders associated with the
Moroccan construction industry. The scope of this
survey includes several specialization fields such as
building, road and bridge, and mechanical, electrical
and plumbing projects. From each specialization
fields, a random sample was selected. A total of 330
professionals have participated in this survey. This
790 M. S. BAJJOU AND A. CHAFI

Table 2. Redefined delay causes grouped into nine categories.

Category No. Causes of project delay
Client 1 Unrealistic contract duration imposed by clients
2 Frequent changes in material specification and type during the construc-
tion phase
3 Confusing and ambiguous requirements
4 Lack of clients’ representative/lack of client involvement
5 Late in delivering the site to contractors
Contractor 6 Inadequate contractor experience
7 Poor site management and supervision
8 Lack of top management commitment
9 Ineffective construction methods
10 Complex working instructions
11 Lack of waste management strategy
12 Rework due to the construction errors
13 Quality defect
14 repair work
15 Unorganized break time
16 Work accidents during construction
17 Poor qualification of subcontractor’s technical staff
18 Frequent change of subcontractors during the construction stage
19 Excessive subcontracting
Consultant/designer 20 Design changes
21 Discrepancies and mistakes in design drawings
22 Un-use of recent and advanced engineering design software
23 Lack of quality control of finished works
Finance 24 Cash flow and financial difficulties faced by contractors
25 Delay of progress payment
26 Price fluctuations
Planning and scheduling 27 Ineffective planning and scheduling
28 Lack of a collective planning
Communication, information flow and contractual 29 Lack of communication and coordination between the project stakeholders
relationship (owner, contractor, architect, subcontractors and consultant)
30 Slow information flow between parties
31 Erroneous information
32 Disputes/conflicts amongst project participants
Material 33 Delay of material delivery
34 Poor quality of materials
35 Improper materials handling on site
36 Improper storage leading to materials damage
37 Shortage of materials
Labours and equipment 38 Unskilled workforce
39 Low productivity levels of workers
40 Inadequate experience of workers
41 Unnecessary movements of labours
42 Lack of training for employees
43 Inadequacy between the qualifications of the staff and the position held
44 Equipment breakdowns
External 45 Bad weather conditions
46 Inappropriate choice of construction sites
47 Robbery/vandalism
48 Delay in obtaining permits from governmental agencies
49 Transportation delays

included 188 from contractors and 142 from consul-
tants. Table 3 summarizes a brief description of the
respondent’s profiles. It worth noting that most
respondents are highly experienced (62.1% have more
than 10 years’ experience) and have a sufficient edu-
cational background (54.6% have Master degree and
11.5% have Ph.D. degree) which can affect the validity
of the results obtained in this survey.
Ranking of delay causes
In previous studies, several techniques have been used
to rank delay factors such as II, MIR and RII. Table 4
shows that the majority of previous studies have
adopted the RII technique (13 from a total of
19 studies).
This technique was also used in this study to deter-
mine the relative importance of each item of the 49 key
attributes according to the degree of their importance as
perceived by consultants and contractors. The RII was
computed using the following equation:
P
5
ai  x i
RIIð%Þ ¼ i¼1  100 (2)
AN
where RII is the RII for each item and i indicates the
response category index, such as 1 – not important,
2 – slightly important, 3 – moderately important, 4
 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT 791

Table 3. Description of the respondent’s profiles. consultants). In addition, the overall RII of each cause
Respondent’s characteristics Frequency Percentage (%) is determined based on the responses of all respond-
Type of organization ents (combined the point of view of the contractors
Contractors 188 57.0
Consultants 142 43.0 and the consultants). The ranking of factors causing
Education project delay in the Moroccan construction industry
Baccalaureate diploma 15 4.5
Bachelor’s degree 97 29.4 is presented in Table 5.
Master’s degree 180 54.6 Based on the ranking, the 10 most critical causes
PhD degree 38 11.5
Number of years working experiences
of time overrun from the perception of contractors were
Less than 5 years 125 37.9 (1) lack of training for employees (RII (%) ¼ 73.84); (2)
5–10 years
More than 10 years
43
162
13.0
49.1
delay of progress payment (RII (%) ¼ 72.88); (3) exces-
Fields of specialization sive subcontracting (RII (%) ¼ 69.78); (4) lack of waste
Building 147 44.5 management strategy (RII (%) ¼ 68.72); (5) unrealistic
Road and bridge projects 96 29.1
Mechanical, electrical and plumbing 87 26.4 contract duration imposed by clients (RII (%) ¼ 68.40);
Organization size (6) rework due to the construction errors (RII
Small (less than 50 employees) 161 48.8
medium (50–200 employees) 79 24.0 (%) ¼ 68.20); (7) ineffective planning and scheduling
large (more than 200 employees) 90 27.2 (RII (%) ¼ 67.56); (8) slow information flow between
Activity area
Public 155 47.0 parties involved in the project (RII (%) ¼ 66.38); (9)
Private 175 53.0 lack of a collective planning (RII (%) ¼ 66.18); (10)
unskilled workforce (RII (%) ¼ 65.96). The 10 most crit-
– very important and 5 – extremely important. In ical causes of time overrun from the perception of con-
the numerator, ai indicates the numerical value sultants were: (1) delay of progress payment (RII
assigned to the ith response, varying between 1 and (%) ¼ 73.24); (2) lack of waste management strategy
5, and xi shows the frequency of ith response in total (RII (%) ¼ 73.20); (3) lack of training for employees
answers given to i. In the denominator, A is the (RII (%) ¼ 71.26); (4) unrealistic contract duration
highest weight (i.e. 5 in this case) and N is the total imposed by clients (RII (%) ¼ 70.00); (5) delay in
number of respondents. obtaining permits from governmental agencies (RII
As part of its objectives, this study identifies, evalu- (%) ¼ 69.10); (6) rework due to the construction errors
ates and classifies the causes of project delay in the (RII (%) ¼ 68.46); (7) repair work during construction
Moroccan construction industry under nine major (RII (%) ¼ 66.62); (8) lack of collective planning (RII
groups (client, contractor, consultant/designer, (%) ¼ 66.34); (9) quality defect (RII (%) ¼ 65.50); (10)
finance, planning and scheduling, communication and excessive subcontracting (RII (%) ¼ 64.94).
contractual relationship, material, labours and equip- Although the contractors and consultants have a
ment and external). To this end, the RII of the 49 high level of agreement on most of the causes of pro-
causes of project delay is computed and ranked based ject delay, there were some disagreements. Slow infor-
on the responses of each group (contractors/ mation flow between parties involved in the project is

Table 4. Techniques used to rank delay causes in previous studies (in the
21st century).
Authors
Odeh and Battaineh (2002)
Assaf and Al-hejji (2006)
Aibinu and Odeyinka (2006)
Sambasivan and Soon (2007)
Enshassi et al. (2009)
Fugar and Agyakwah-baah (2010)
Doloi et al. (2012)
Kazaz et al. (2012)
Fallahnejad (2013)
Akogbe et al. (2013)
Marzouk and El-Rasas (2014)
Aziz and Abdel-Hakam (2016)
Durdyev et al. (2017)
Sambasivan et al. (2017)
Al-Emad et al. (2017)
Mpofu et al. (2017)
Bagaya and Song (2016)
Chen et al. (2017)
Maqsoom et al. (2018)
Techniques Country of study
Importance Index (II) Jordan
Relative importance index (RII) Saudi Arabia
Relative importance index (RII) Nigeria
Relative importance index (RII) Malaysia
Relative importance index (RII) Gaza Strip (Palestine)
Relative importance index (RII) Ghana
Relative importance index (RII) India
Mean Importance Rating (MIR) Turkey
Relative importance index (RII) Iran
Relative importance index (RII) Benin
Relative importance index (RII) Egypt
Relative importance index (RII) Egypt
Relative importance index (RII) Cambodia
Relative importance index (RII) Tanzania
Average index (AI) Makkah (Kingdom of Saudi)
Relative importance index (RII) UAE
Importance index (II) Burkina Faso
Mean importance rating (MIR) China
Mean importance rating (MIR) Pakistan
792 M. S. BAJJOU AND A. CHAFI

Table 5. Ranking of delay causes.

Contractor Consultant Overall
Category No. Causes of project delay RII (%) Rank RII (%) Rank RII (%) Rank
Client 1 Unrealistic contract duration imposed 68.40 5 70.00 4 69.20 4
by clients
2 Frequent changes in material specifi- 59.14 33 57.18 37 58.16 35
cation and type during the construc-
tion phase
3 Confusing and ambiguous 50.00 48 49.44 48 49.72 48
requirements
4 Lack of clients’ representative/lack of 62.02 20 61.56 23 61.79 21
client involvement
5 Late in delivering the site to 63.30 14 62.82 18 63.06 16
contractors
Contractor 6 Inadequate contractor experience 57.44 38 57.32 36 57.38 38
7 Poor site management and 51.60 46 48.18 49 49.89 47
supervision
8 Lack of top management commitment 60.86 26 59.30 31 60.08 29
9 Ineffective construction methods 60.74 27 61.40 24 61.07 26
10 Complex working instructions 51.80 45 50.98 45 51.39 45
11 Lack of waste management strategy 68.72 4 73.20 2 70.96 3
12 Rework due to the construction errors 68.20 6 68.46 6 68.33 5
13 Quality defect 64.04 12 65.50 9 64.77 12
14 Repair work during construction 63.20 15 66.62 7 64.91 13
15 Unorganized break time 54.68 43 56.76 38 55.72 40
16 Work accidents during construction 52.34 44 52.54 44 52.44 44
17 Poor qualification of subcontractor’s 63.84 13 61.84 20 62.84 17
technical staff
18 Frequent change of subcontractors 60.54 28 58.02 35 59.28 32
during the construction stage
19 Excessive subcontracting 69.78 3 64.94 10 67.36 6
Consultant/ 20 Design changes 55.86 40 53.66 43 54.76 43
designer 21 Discrepancies and mistakes in 59.78 31 58.74 33 59.26 33
design drawings
22 Un-use of recent and advanced engin- 59.78 32 59.30 32 59.54 31
eering design software
23 Lack of quality control of fin- 60.22 29 63.24 15 61.73 23
ished works
Finance 24 Cash flow and financial difficulties 61.18 24 61.70 21 61.44 25
faced by contractors
25 Delay of progress payment 72.88 2 73.24 1 73.06 1
26 Price fluctuations 61.18 25 59.58 30 60.38 28
Planning 27 Ineffective Planning and scheduling 67.56 7 65.10 11 66.33 8
and scheduling 28 Lack of a collective planning 66.18 9 66.34 8 66.26 9
Communication, 29 Lack of communication and coordin- 62.34 18 64.36 12 63.35 15
information flow ation between the project stakehold-
and contractual ers (owner, contractor, architect,
relationship subcontractors and consultant)
30 Slow information flow between parties 66.38 8 62.82 19 64.60 11
involved in the project
31 Erroneous information 61.50 22 59.72 28 60.61 27
32 Disputes/conflicts amongst project 65.00 12 63.66 13 64.33 14
participants
Material 33 Delay of material delivery 61.60 21 61.56 22 61.58 22
34 Poor quality of materials 57.56 36 60.56 26 59.06 34
35 Improper materials handling on site 57.98 35 58.60 34 58.29 36
36 Improper storage leading to materi- 55.54 41 55.64 41 55.59 41
als damage
37 Shortage of materials 58.72 34 56.34 39 57.53 37
Labours 38 Unskilled workforce 65.96 10 64.52 14 64.74 10
and equipment 39 Low productivity level of workers 62.98 16 60.84 25 61.91 19
40 Inadequate experience of workers 62.34 19 60.42 27 61.38 24
41 Unnecessary movements of labours 59.90 30 59.58 29 59.74 30
42 Lack of training for employees 73.84 1 71.26 3 72.55 2
43 Inadequacy between the qualifications 62.44 17 62.96 16 62.70 18
of the staff and the position held
44 Equipment breakdowns 61.28 23 62.96 17 62.12 20
External 45 Bad weather conditions 56.28 39 55.22 42 55.75 39
46 Inappropriate choice of construc- 49.26 49 50.14 47 49.70 49
tion sites
47 Robbery/Vandalism 50.74 47 50.56 46 50.65 46
48 Delay in obtaining permits from gov- 65.42 11 69.10 5 67.26 7
ernmental agencies
49 Transportation delays 55.00 42 56.06 40 55.53 42
 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT 793

ranked lower (rank 19) for consultants’ category
whereas this cause was ranked much higher (rank 8)
for contractors’ category. Repair work during con-
struction was ranked much lower (rank 15) for con-
tractors’ category as compared to the ranking given
for consultants’ category (rank 7). Delay in obtaining
permits from governmental agencies is ranked much
lower (rank 5) for consultants’ category whereas this
was ranked higher (rank 11) for contractors’ category.
In general, contractors have a tendency to blame
consultants for some project delay. In this case, the
contractors’ perspective did not consider consultants
as a significant contributor to delays, so there was no
cause of project delay related to consultants/designers
in the top-10 delay causes of contractors. In contrast,
consultants consider that the contractors contribute
significantly to project delay and there are four causes
originated by contractors amongst the top-10 delay
causes of consultants.
Based on the overall ranking, the top-10 causes of
delay for the Moroccan construction project were
identified as can be seen in Table 6.
These 10 factors belong to six categories: finance
(one item); labours and equipment (two items); con-
tractor (three items); client (one item); external (one
item); planning and scheduling (two items).
Contractors and consultants are recommended to
provide a greater degree of priority to the causes of
delays arising from these categories. Overall, the most
critical causes were: (1) delay of progress payment
(RII (%) ¼ 73.06); (2) lack of training for employees
(RII (%) ¼ 72.55); (3) lack of waste management strat-
egy (RII (%) ¼ 70.96); (4) unrealistic contract duration
imposed by clients (RII (%) ¼ 69.20); (5) rework due
to the construction errors (RII (%) ¼ 68.33); (6) exces-
sive subcontracting (RII (%) ¼ 67.36); (7) delay in
obtaining permits from governmental agencies (RII
(%) ¼ 67.26); (8) ineffective planning and scheduling
(RII (%) ¼ 66.33); (9) lack of collective planning (RII
(%) ¼ 66.26); (10) unskilled workforce (RII
(%) ¼ 65.74). The analysis of the results indicates that
based on contractors’ perceptions, nine of the top-10
causes of delays belong to the overall top 10 causes of
delays. Whereas eight causes of delays based on con-
sultants’ perspectives are cited amongst the overall
top 10 causes.
Table 7 shows the ranking of the top-10 causes’
categories and their RII based on the analysis
responses of contractors, consultants and combined
perceptions of both contractors and consultants.
As can be seen in Table 7, contractors, consultants
and overall respondents (combined the point of view
of both contractors and consultants) there is a high
level of agreement on the ranking of the top-10
causes’ categories. The only exception is found in the
rankings of the two categories (client/contractor).
According to contractors’ perceptions, client and con-
tractor are ranked fifth and sixth, respectively. In con-
trast, consultants ranked these two causes’ categories
as sixth and fifth, respectively.

Table 6. The top-10 causes of delays in the Moroccan construction project (based
on overall).
Category Causes of project delay Rank RII (%)
Finance Delay of progress payment 1 73.06
Labours and equipment Lack of training for employees 2 72.55
Contractor Lack of waste management strategy 3 70.96
Client Unrealistic contract duration imposed by clients 4 69.20
Contractor Rework due to the construction errors 5 68.33
Contractor Excessive subcontracting 6 67.36
External Delay in obtaining permits from governmental agencies 7 67.26
Planning and scheduling Ineffective planning and scheduling 8 66.33
Planning and scheduling Lack of collective planning 9 66.26
Labours and equipment Unskilled workforce 10 65.74

Table 7. The top-10 of categories of delay causes in the Moroccan construc-

tion industry.
Contractor Consultant Overall
Category RII (%) Rank RII (%) Rank RII (%) Rank
Planning and scheduling 66.87 1 65.72 1 66.30 1
Finance 65.08 2 64.84 2 64.96 2
Labours and equipment 64.11 3 63.22 3 63.67 3
Communication, information flow and contractual relationship 63.81 4 62.64 4 63.23 4
Contractor 60.56 6 60.36 5 60.46 5
Client 60.57 5 60.20 6 60.39 6
Consultant/designer 58.91 7 58.74 7 58.83 7
Material 58.28 8 59.22 8 58.75 8
External 55.34 9 56.22 9 55.78 9
794 M. S. BAJJOU AND A. CHAFI
Kendall’s W (also called Kendall’s coefficient of
concordance) was computed to assess whether dif-
ferent groups of respondents consistently respond
or not to the ranking of the 49 delay factors. The
Kendall W value ranges from 0 to 1, where a value
of 1 implies full consensus within the group on the
ranking of specified items, 0 indicates that there is
no consensus, and a significant W value of 0.05
means a general consensus among respondents
Siegel and Castellan (1988). The Kendall’s coeffi-
cient of concordance was 0.079, and the level of sig-
nificance was at 0.000, which was statistically
significant at 1% level. This indicates that there was
significant agreement among 330 respondents on
ranking the 49 items.
Spearman rank correlation
To analyse the degree of agreement between two sets
of ranking, a non-parametric test – Spearman rank
correlation – was used. The Spearman rank correl-
ation coefficient (rs) is calculated to evaluate the asso-
ciation, the strength and the direction of the
relationship between the rankings of two parties for
all the causes of project delay while ignoring the third
party (Assaf and Al-hejji 2006; Fallahnejad 2013). The
coefficient can be computed as follows (Aziz and
Abdel-Hakam 2016):
P
6 d2
rs ¼ 1  (3)
NN 2 1
where rs show Spearman’s rank correlation coeffi-
cient; d ¼ difference in ranking given by two
respondents for an individual cause; and N is the
number of pairs of ranks. The value of the
Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient ranges
between þ1 and 1, where 1 means perfect nega-
tive relationship (disagreement); 0 indicates (no cor-
relation) and 1 means perfect positive
relationship (agreement).
To study the strength of the correlation between
the perceptions of contractors and consultants, a
Spearman rank correlation was done to indicate the
level of agreement between these two groups of
respondents. The Spearman’s rank correlation coeffi-
cient of the ranking of contractors and consultants is
found to be 0.939 for all causes and 0.983 for the
main causes’ categories. These results show a high
agreement between contractors and consultants either
by analysing the correlation for all the 49 causes or
causes’ categories.
Discussion
Top-10 delay causes
This section discusses the top-10 delay causes
obtained in the previous section. Based on combined
perception of all respondents the most significant
causes of project delay in the Moroccan construction
industry are (1) delay of progress payment; (2) lack of
training for employees; (3) lack of waste management
strategy; (4) unrealistic contract duration imposed by
clients; (5) rework due to the construction errors; (6)
excessive subcontracting; (7) delay in obtaining per-
mits from governmental agencies; (8) ineffective plan-
ning and scheduling; (9) lack of collective planning;
(10) unskilled workforce.
Delay of progress payment
Construction projects require funding within the time
and in the case of a delay of progress payment the main
contractor and its subcontractors encounter several
financial issues to ensure the daily construction
expenses. In the most case, the contractors find it very
difficult to support their financial resources which lead
to project delay. This problem becomes more critical for
companies that are not financially sound. In the
Moroccan construction industry, most of the construc-
tion projects are characterized by payment periods that
exceed 90 days which constitutes a real barrier hindering
the progress of construction projects according to the
predefined contract duration.
Lack of training for employees
In order to withstand the great competitiveness with
deadlines getting shorter and shorter, the construction
companies should establish and follow the progress of
the new production techniques. A high degree of
training of employees from upper management to the
shop floor is needed to reduce the criticality of several
problems such as unskilled workforce, low productiv-
ity of labours, and construction errors. In addition,
training generates a greater level of involvement and
commitment from employees to accomplish the tasks
on time as well as the increased motivation of staff.
Lack of waste management strategy
Between 40 and 60% of the time spent on site is used
for non-productive construction work that does not
generate value for clients (Dupin 2014). The value-
added activities (direct work) do not exceed in most
Table 8. Summary of previous studies of the causes of delay in construction projects in Africa.
Bagaya and
Marzouk Fugar and Song (2016) Sambasivan
and El-Rasas Aziz and Agyakwah- Sambasivan Akogbe – Mpofu et al. and Soon Durdyev Occurrence
(2014) Abdel-Hakam baah (2010) et al. (2017) et al. (2013) Burkina (2017) (2007) Fallahnejad et al. (2017) percentage
Top-10 delay causes in Morocco (current study) – Egypt (2016) – Egypt – Ghana – Tanzania – Benin Faso – UAE – Malaysia (2013) –Iran – Cambodia (%)
(1) Delay of progress payment 1 1 1 1 2 4 – 4 7 – 80
(2) Lack of training for employees – – – – – – – – – – 0
(3) Lack of waste management strategy – – – – – – – – – – 0
(4) Unrealistic contract duration imposed by clients – – 6 – – – 1 – 2 2 40
(5) Rework due to the construction errors – 9 – – – – – 10 – 6 30
(6) Excessive subcontracting – 8 – – 3 5 – 5 9 9 60
(7) Delay in obtaining permits from governmen- – – – – – – 6 – 8 – 20
tal agencies
(8) Ineffective planning and scheduling 5 – – 2 6 6 4 – – – 50
(9) Lack of collective planning – – – – – – – – – – 0
(10) Unskilled workforce 10 – – 9 – – – – – 4 30
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT
795
796 M. S. BAJJOU AND A. CHAFI
of the cases 32% of time spent on construction site
and the rest of tasks are wasted in waiting, move-
ments of employees, instructions and so on (Bajjou
et al. 2017b, 2017c). The reasons for this loss of time
are due to the lack of effective strategies for reducing
waste generation and increasing the company’s profit-
ability. Most of the project stakeholders in the
Moroccan construction industry lack knowledge of
waste reduction approach which resists the spread of
new cultures and strategies that aims at reducing the
overall project time according to the budget allocated
and the quality required by the client. Lean construc-
tion philosophy could be a reliable strategy to opti-
mize the management of construction projects and
reduce the project cost and delays.
Unrealistic contract duration imposed by clients
The fourth most significant cause of project delay in
the Moroccan construction industry is related to the
unrealistic project duration. In the case of an unreal-
istic scheduling, the project stakeholders tend to
accelerate the workflow which may increase the work-
loads on labours, so that may generate mental and
physical fatigue, stress and discouragement of employ-
ees. Eventually, unrealistic duration not only leads to
a time extension but also causes quality defects,
rework, as well as accidents on the construction site
due to the high pressure imposed on contractors to
accomplish construction tasks exceeding its produc-
tion resources especially with unrealistic contract dur-
ation imposed by clients. The estimate of project
duration should be carried out by experts in the con-
struction field based on feasibility studies and rigor-
ous analysis and the coordination between client and
contractor should be ensured to avoid time overrun.
Rework due to the construction errors
Rework is a recurring problem in construction proj-
ects and it is considered as a critical source of per-
formance reduction. On average, rework contributes
by 22% in the overall project delay and it causes the
increase of the costs incurred by almost 52% (Forcada
et al. 2017). Construction companies must identify
the factors that increase the appearance of rework
tasks at first. Second, these factors must be controlled
through preventive action plans in order to avoid
time overrun.
Excessive subcontracting
The existence of multiple levels of subcontractors
constitutes a critical barrier for coordination and
communication between the main contractor and its
subcontractors especially in developing countries like
Morocco, where the majority of construction proc-
esses are subcontracted. This problem becomes more
severe for project execution time in the case of sub-
contracting companies working in the informal sector
and that is not legitimate businesses.
Delay in obtaining permits from
governmental agencies
Government agencies are responsible for delay in
obtaining permits to start constructions stages which
increase the overall schedule of the project. It has
become crucial for the Moroccan government to sim-
plify administrative procedures for users in order to
facilitate and reduce the time allowed for the permit-
ting process.
Ineffective planning and scheduling
Planning and scheduling are considered amongst the
key factors of success of any construction project. In
the traditional system of planning and scheduling
more than half of the scheduled construction tasks
are not carried out on time. Improper planning and
scheduling is the result of assigning works to the
main contractor and its subcontractors, in order to
perform the planned tasks in the master schedule,
without taking into consideration factors that may
affect the execution of schedule on time such as the
availability of materials and workers when they are
needed, assurance of safety conditions and provision
of the necessary financial resources. Furthermore, the
planning team must continuously monitor the pro-
gress of the work and find solutions to common
problems leading to project delays in order to avoid
them in future projects.
Lack of collective planning
In the Moroccan construction industry, a single entity
(project manager) perform the general planning
‘Master Schedule’ on the basis of the targeted objec-
tives of the project without taking into account the
ability of construction companies to carry out their
missions on time. Thus, in most cases, lack of com-
munication and coordination between stakeholders in
the planning phase generate a contractual planning

with no incentive to work together and to collaborate
with each other. LPS is a collaborative planning tech-
nique that can be used by project stockholders (main
contractors, subcontractors, architect and suppliers) to
promote collective planning through involving the last
planner in planning activities.
Unskilled workforce
Lack and shortage of skilled workers is a critical barrier
influencing the fulfillment of construction projects on
time. Unskilled workforce and poor workmanship may
promote the generation of other problems such as qual-
ity defects, construction errors and low productivity lev-
els of workers which influence the overall performance
of the project. In case the hiring of unskilled workers is
inevitable, the Moroccan construction contractors
should reduce the effect of such a problem by ensuring a
proper supervision over them on construction site. In
addition, training programs must be established to
improve their technical level and to familiarize them
with the new construction technologies.
Comparison with other countries
The purpose of this section is to provide an overview of
the causes of schedule delay among developing coun-
tries through an examination of top-10 major delay fac-
tors from this survey and six African developing
countries and four Asian developing countries. The
selected studies are up-to-date or have been carried out
in past nearly 11 years. Although these studies are not
entirely identical in their purpose and methods of inves-
tigation, the comparison is a useful means of under-
standing the problems of time overrun in African and
Asian context. As shown in Table 8, the ranking of the
top-10 delay factors that have also been found in the 10
countries was mentioned. In addition, Frequency counts
of each cause of delay were introduced as a percentage of
the total number of the selected countries.
From these survey studies, it appears that ‘delay of
progress payment’ is not only the most critical delay
factor of Moroccan construction industry, but also
occurs in all the selected countries, except in UAE
and Cambodia, with an occurrence of 80%. Moreover,
it has been found that this cause of delay is ranked in
the top five delay factor in several countries like
Egypt (rank 1), Ghana (rank 1), Tanzania (rank 1),
Benin (rank 2), Burkina Faso (rank 4) and Malaysia
(rank 4). Most of the time, contractors advance their
funding for projects advancement and do not obtain
the payment until the construction work has been
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT 797
finished. A delay of progress payment will certainly
affect the financial capability of contractors which
lead to project delay. This problem is common
between Morocco and most of the selected countries.
It was followed by problems related to subcontractors
with an occurrence of 60%. This cause of delay is
ranked in the top five delay factor in Benin (rank 3),
Burkina Faso (rank 5) and Malaysia (rank 5).
‘Ineffective Planning’ has an occurrence percentage of
50% and it has been found among the top five delay
factors in Egypt (rank 5), Tanzania (rank 2) and UAE
(rank 4). It was followed by ‘unrealistic contract dur-
ation imposed by clients’ with an occurrence percent-
age of 40% and which appears more in Asian
countries and it has been ranked among the most critical
delay factors in AUE (rank 1), Iran (rank 2) and
Cambodia (rank 2). This finding demonstrates that
Asian developing countries suffer more from this prob-
lem compared to African developing countries. ‘Rework
due to the construction errors’ and ‘Unskilled work-
force’ has an occurrence of 30%. ‘Lack of training for
employee ’,‘Lack of waste management strategy and
‘Lack of collective planning’ were ranked last with an
occurrence rate of 0% which indicate that these delays
factors concern particularly the context and the charac-
teristics of construction projects in Morocco.
The analysis of these causes of delays shows that
there are certain similarities between this study and
the selected countries in several factors such as ‘delay
of progress payment’, ‘excessive subcontracting’, and
‘ineffective Planning’. Therefore, it is suggested that
contractors, especially in developing African coun-
tries, should benefit from a strong financial support, a
more efficient planning system, and qualified sub-
contractors in order to overcome the problem related
to schedule delay.
Conclusions and recommendations
This study was designed to assess the perception of
contractors and consultants regarding the key causes
of delay causes in the Moroccan construction indus-
try. By conducting and analysing a questionnaire sur-
vey, this study identified the key factors affecting
construction schedule and ranked them using RII.
The survey was based on causes of delay extracted
from findings research of other countries, together
with socio-economic factors specific to Moroccan
context that were identified through semi-structured
interviews with Moroccan experts. Spearman rank
correlation showed a high agreement between contrac-
tors and consultants either by analysing the rank of all
798 M. S. BAJJOU AND A. CHAFI
causes or causes’ categories. Results indicated that the
most important delay causes as perceived by the two
parties are delay of progress payment, lack of training
for employees, lack of waste management strategy,
unrealistic contract duration imposed by clients, rework
due to the construction errors, excessive subcontracting,
delay in obtaining permits from governmental agencies,
ineffective planning and scheduling, lack of collective
planning and unskilled workforce.
A comparison with other survey studies pointed
out that several developing countries have faced
analogous delay factors. ‘Delay of progress payment’
is the most frequent cause of delays, affecting 80% of
the selected African and Asian developing countries.
Followed by problems related to subcontractors with
an occurrence of 60%.
This article contributes to a better understanding of
factors causing a delay in construction projects in
Morocco which represent a significant contribution in
controlling and preventing the time overruns through
identifying and minimizing the vital causes of delay.
Although this study is specific to the Moroccan context,
its findings could help construction stakeholders gets a
better understanding of the main causes of projects
delay affecting the efficient completion of construction
projects in other developing countries, especially those
facing similar problems in their construction sectors.
Moreover, most of the delay factors identified in this
study confirm those found in previous studies, especially
in developing countries in Africa and Asia, which con-
solidate the existing knowledge with new evidence from
Morocco. New delay factors such as lack of training for
employees and lack of waste management strategy are
also assessed which helps expand the existing knowledge
for the global construction community. Further, it
might be beneficial if studies like this were followed up
by, for example, factor analysis, regression analysis or
case studies to explain and demonstrate the effect of
these factors at a higher level.
There are no straightforward solutions to the chal-
lenges of schedule delays in Moroccan construction
projects. There are, however, systematic steps that can
be taken to minimize their causes. For the specific
factors causing schedule delays in construction proj-
ects in Morocco, the following recommendations
are suggested.
 The different project actors should review the pay-
ment clauses in the contract. A clear and transpar-
ent timeline and procedure should be explicitly
stipulated in the agreement and the payment pro-
cess should be actively supervised by the funding
agencies. In addition, it is recommended to pre-
pare the payment schedule at the planning stage to
ensure that companies are paid regularly.
 There is an urgent need for improving the manage-
ment skills of the construction staff. Training pro-
grams should be established to provide workers the
required skills and techniques concerning schedul-
ing, cost and time control, building information
modelling (BIM) technology and risk analysis.
 Adopting innovative waste management techniques
such as lean construction. This philosophy may
bring several benefits to the construction industry,
especially in terms of waste minimization, deadline
compliance and quality improvement.
 The owners are recommended to define a realistic
duration in the contract in order to avoid not only
time extension but also rework, quality defects and
accidents on construction sites.
 Contractors are recommended to continuously
monitor the quality of construction activities con-
tinuously in order to avoid any mistakes that may
lead to rework, and finally to an expanded deadline.
 Contractors are advised not to depend on lowest
price subcontractors but to choose them according
to their experience and technical qualification of
staff in order to be able to follow the different
managerial and technical aspects of the project. In
addition, owners are recommended to directly
intervene in case of disputes between contractors
and subcontractors to reduce the negative impact
of such problems on project execution.
 The Moroccan government should simplify admin-
istrative procedures for construction firms to
reduce the time allowed for the permitting process.
Contractors are recommended to act early to
obtain approvals from the different government
agencies in order to avoid any potential repercus-
sion on project schedule.
 Adopting new approaches to planning, such as LPS.
Such approach allows performing a collaborative
planning by involving all the project stockholders
(main contractors, subcontractors, architect and sup-
pliers). Furthermore, the planning team should con-
tinuously monitor the project progress and find
solutions to common problems leading to project
delays in order to avoid them in future projects.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by
the authors.

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