The professionals’ perspective on the causes of project delay in the construction industry

Abstract

Purpose

Construction project delays are described as a universal problem, which has led to many empirical studies. However, most of these studies were based on the rankings by respondents, and they were rarely verified. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to explore professional perspectives on the causes of delay in the construction industry, where there has been little explicit consideration on this subject in recent decades.

Design/methodology/approach

A critical literature review and a qualitative approach was considered for a deeper and fresh understanding of the causes of delays, rather than recycling the existing themes and the risk of a statistically biased approach. A total of 41 interviews were undertaken which included the London Olympic 2012 project team.

Findings

In all, 32 themes were identified, which were categorised into 15 categories of causes of delay in the construction projects. Almost two-thirds of the main themes are not ranked top 15 causes of delay. These include knowledge and competence shortage, poor commercial decisions, unnecessary health and safety restrictions, poor risk management and poor space and logistics management.

Research limitations/implications

Due to the qualitative nature of the study, the findings might not be considered as representative.

Practical implications

The findings provide consideration of the causes of delay in the construction industry as seen by practitioners, which should provide guidance to enhance performance.

Originality/value

The study contributes to the better understanding of the causes of delays by using qualitative research strategy which is limited in the construction management literature. This study is an empirical investigation into the causes of delay in the twenty-first century and it represents an important edition to the body of knowledge within the subject area.

Citation

Agyekum-Mensah, G. and Knight, A.D. (2017), "The professionals’ perspective on the causes of project delay in the construction industry", Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, Vol. 24 No. 5, pp. 828-841. https://doi.org/10.1108/ECAM-03-2016-0085