J. Civil Eng. Architect. Res.

Journal of
Vol. 2, No. 9, 2015, pp. 947-955 Civil Engineering
Received: March 6, 2015; Published: September 25, 2015 and Architecture Research

Investigating the Delay Factors of Construction Projects

in Metropolitan City of a Developing Country

Rehan Masood1, Mahboob Ali2, Faizan Shafique3, Muhammad Awais Shafique3, Bilal Zafar4, Ahsen Maqsoom5
and Zeeshan Ullah6
1. Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, The University of Auckland, Auckland, 1142, New Zealand.
2. The University of Lahore, Lahore, Punjab 54000, Pakistan
3. University of Engineering and Technology (UET), Lahore, Punjab 54890, Pakistan
4. Department of Construction Engineering and Management, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, National University
of Sciences and Technology (NUST), Islamabad, Pakistan
5. Civil Engineering Department, COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, Wah Cantt., Pakistan
6. Department of Civil Engineering, University of South Asia, Lahore, Pakistan

Corresponding author: Rehan Masood (rmas769@aucklanduni.ac.nz, engr.rehan@yahoo.com)

Abstract: Delay in the construction projects is a phenomenon observed globally and new metropolitan cities like Lahore are no
exception. The primary objective of this research is to determine the factors causing delay in construction and their impact (effect) on
project completion and allocation of responsibility for delay causes. Previous studies have separately focused on the reasons and
impacts of delays. This study makes an integrated approach in this regard to evaluate the impact of various causes on various effects.
The allocation of responsibility is also sought. The causes and effects of delay in construction were solicited from contractors, clients,
and consultants through a questionnaire survey with the participation of 26 respondents. The study identified 10 main delay causes
and their effects from a list of 53 causes in total. 10 most important causes of delays in construction thus identified were: (1) Delay in
payments; (2) Poor weather conditions; (3) Less use of highly technology mechanical equipment’s; (4) Ineffective project planning
and scheduling; (5) Rework resulting from errors during construction; (6) Delay due to subcontractor; (7) Poor site conditions; (8)
Coordination problem with other stakeholders; (9) Delay in review and approval of design documents and (10) Unclear design details
in drawing. Five main effects of delay found included: (1) Time overrun; (2) Cost overrun; (3) Arbitration; (4) Loss of interest of
stakeholders and (5) Black listing. This study has also established an allocation of responsibility for each group of factors that result
in delays in construction projects. Overall responsibility allocation shows that contractor has 40% responsibility, consultant has 21%,
and owner has 9% whereas stakeholders share 30% responsibility because of contingencies. This study helps foreign and indigenous
stakeholders monitor and control delay risk by understanding pivotal causes in context of Lahore.

Key words: Construction projects, lahore, delay factors, delay effects, responsibility allocation, Relative Importance Index (RII).

1. Introduction contracting is a business prone to great risks and

Construction industry is a major player in the
economic growth of any nation and holds a polar
position in the country’s development plan [1].
Construction projects are distinct because of the
number of parties involved with their own stakes,
and contradictory interests [2].
complexities, which leads to high level of uncertainty
and huge susceptibility to environmental influences
[3]. Pakistan’s construction industry is facing
problems like other developing countries including
shortage of material, skilled personal and equipment;
inadequate technological development; domination
Construction of small and fragile local firms; stronghold of foreign
948 Investigating the Delay Factors of Construction Projects in Metropolitan City of a Developing Country
firms on the large projects; faulty procedures and
contract documentation. Construction project risks
should be effectively managed, otherwise they can
end up in failure to achieve the desired project
objectives. This leads to increased costs, time delays,
and reduced quality. Majority of the organizations in
Pakistan believe in reactive and informal risk
management. There is no or very little commitment
of resources to deal with risks. The documentation of
risks is almost non-existent, and is though as a trivial
and time wasting practice [4]. Time delay is a vital
risk factor for construction projects because of
complex nature and uncertain environment
involving contractors, consultants, clients, and
suppliers [5].
The success of a project can be described as
meeting the targets and objectives within the budget,
time and quality constraints. We live in modern times,
where Project Management tools and techniques have
been developed and reinforced with technological
advancement. However, the projects still get delayed,
which is a point to ponder. There are various basic
reasons for delays including shortage of material and
failure of equipment etc. In some scenarios, where the
delays are interlinked, situation becomes more
complicated. Construction delays become a source of
many negative impacts on the project and its
stakeholders, including legal proceedings, loss of
profit, and contract cancellations [2]. Delay of a
project is the primary cause of construction claims.
Therefore, there is immense need to find out the
causes of delays as well as their effects on the
construction industry.
Lahore is undergoing development on massive scale
such as Metro Bus service project, Inter-city flyovers,
and Lahore Ring Road. Current study is an attempt to
investigate delay factors, causes and responsibility of
construction projects located in the vicinity of Lahore.
This study helps local and foreign stakeholders to
learn about delay risk monitoring and control for
timely completion of construction projects.
2. Literature Review
Delay can be defined as the overrun of time past the
date of completion stipulated in the contract or beyond
the date mutually consented upon by the parties for the
delivery of project [6]. It is the event or happening
which extends the required time, as per the contract, to
perform or complete [6], and may be caused by the
contractor, the employer, third parties, or force
majeure [7].
Delay is normally regarded as the most common,
expensive, complicated and uncertain issue faced in
the construction projects. Time is significant for both
owner (the requirement of performance) and
contractor (the requirement of profit). Therefore
delays are the biggest source of claims which often
end up in litigation. Although delays are a common
trait of all construction projects, the magnitude varies
from one project to another ranging from days to
months and even years. It is very important to
thoroughly investigate and define real causes so that
delays in the construction projects can be minimized
[8]. There is a wide range of views on this subject.
Some views attribute the delays to a single party,
others hold different quarters responsible, and many
attribute them more to systemic deficiencies or faults
than to one or more groups [9].
Being a project-based activity, each construction
project is distinct and unique [10]. In a construction
project, delay is a project getting slipped over the
planned schedule and is often frequent and a major
problem. Faulty planning induces many possibilities
for failure of project [11]. To the client/owner, delay
stands for loss of revenue (in terms of lack of
production facilities and space available for rent
and/or reliance on present facilities). In most cases,
delays are unfavourable for the contractor as well.
Some of the reasons are: extra overheads because of
the extended period of work, higher costs of material
because of inflation, and liquidated damages as
mentioned in the contract. Timely completion of
project is highly desirable, but the process of
 Investigating the Delay Factors of Construction Projects in Metropolitan City of a Developing Country
construction is subject to various risks and
unpredictable factors, emerging from different sources
including (but are not limited to) the performance of
parties, the availability of resources, the conditions of
environment, the involvement of many parties, and the
contractual relations. Therefore, it is quite rare that a
construction project is completed according to the
original schedule [12].
Construction delays can be categorized into five
basic types follows as:
Excusable Delays are also called “force majeure”
delays. These delays occur because of natural
calamities or other drastic reasons. That is why they
are commonly known as the “acts of God”. As these
delays do not occur because of the negligence of any
specific party, most contracts allow the contractor
leverage to have extension of time for excusable
delays, but without extra reimbursement.
Non-Excusable Delays occur because of the
negligence of contractors, subcontractors or material
suppliers. In case of non-excusable delays, no extra
time and money is given to the contractor. The
contractor, however, might be entitled to get
reimbursement from the sub-contractor or supplier
responsible for the delay.
Compensable Delays result from the negligence of
owner or its agents. Inadequate drawings and
specifications is the most common form of this delay.
Compensable delays may also occur because of
owner’s failure to provide adequate information or
respond properly in time. The contractor is provided
with both extra money and extra time in case of
compensable delays.
Non-Compensable Delays are induced by events
or third parties beyond the reach of the client or the
contractor. Some of its examples are protests,
shutdowns, fires, and government actions in its
sovereign capacity, etc. In these delays, the
contractor normally gets extension of completion
time but no reimbursement is given for damages
caused by delay.
949
Concurrent Delays apply if one factor alone is the
reason of delay. It is relatively very easy to find out
time as well as money resulting from that single issue.
Typically, many factors delay the project
simultaneously in an overlapping manner, which is
more complicated in nature [13].
A previous research study for delay factors in
Pakistan benchmarked the situation in broader aspect
and focused on projects in Karachi [14]. According to
this study, major delay categories, in descending order
(of criticality) are delays related to Design,
Economy/Finance, Contract, Construction Site, and
Sub-contractor. The point to be established here is that
the causes of delays in the above mentioned categories
have major impact on project completion on average,
which other categories do not have. The most critical
causes of delays, in descending order of criticality, are
change orders; issues of labour productivity; weak site
supervision; audits or inspections; defective estimation
and control of cost; poor project scheduling; faulty
design; ineffective methods of construction; payment
delays; and unfinished project drawings. Contractors
endure major delays’ responsibility. This is especially
true for construction site-related delays,
material-related delays, subcontracted work-related
delays, machinery-related delays, management delays,
and worker-related delays [15] Consultants are
entitled to be responsible for design-related delays.
Owners are entitled to be responsible for both
financial/economic delays and contract-related delays
since payment issues, cash-flow delays, contract
selection and development, and contract changes are
generally caused by Owner. Owners also bear the
responsibility of administrative delays, but to a lesser
extent. The Government is also held responsible for
certain issues related to administration, regulation, law,
order, and politics. This matter is especially important
for Pakistan, all major projects are public projects and
government is the owner. In case of delays related to
construction sites, like unforeseen soil conditions,
suspensions, climate change and natural calamities.
950 Investigating the Delay Factors of Construction Projects in Metropolitan City of a Developing Country
Delays because of technological backwardness and
shortage of material are also taken as shared
responsibility.
Marzouk, et al. (2014) [16] identified, categorized
and prioritized delay factors in the construction
industry of Egypt. It was found that the owner-related
causes were most important, followed by the
contractor-related causes, the external causes, the
consultant-related causes, the machinery/
equipment-related causes, and the project-related
causes. Material-related causes were given the least
priority. In another similar research [17], however, the
contractor-related causes were given priority over all
others. The impact of different categories depends
upon many factors and varies from environment to
environment.
In the construction industry of Pakistan,
stakeholders are well aware of the importance of
delays and their ramifications in terms of cost and
quality, but they are still oblivious of the formal and
proper delay analysis and prevention procedures and
techniques.
3. Methodology
This study identified the causes of delay given by
previous researches and filtered them on the basis of
expert advice by the experienced industry personnel.
Total 53 causes were filtered. A questionnaire
presented these filtered causes for the purpose of data
collection. It is important to mention here that these
causes were pertinent to all the parties of the project
(Client, Consultant and Contractor), directly or
indirectly.
3.1 Sampling
Methods of non-probability sampling are beneficial
in case of limited resources, when member of the
population cannot be identified, and when it is
required to develop a problem’s existence [18].
Unrestricted non probability samples are termed as
convenience samples [19] therefore non probability
convenience sampling was used as it the most
economical and easy way to conduct the survey very
effectively. There is freedom to choose whoever is
available as long as they have the required
information.
3.2 Survey Instrument-Questionnaire
Prior to the data collection process, research
instrument is extremely important since it facilities the
study direction of the researcher and clarifies what has
to be determined, from whom, and how. Survey
through the questionnaire is quite an effective method
to involve a large number of individuals in the process;
self-administrated survey of all types typically cost
less than the personal interviews [19]. A questionnaire,
if designed well, also causes the respondent to
generate comprehensive and accurate information. So
questionnaire was mostly used as a research
instrument, which is primary data collection’s
structured technique. There were mostly closed-ended
questions (dichotomous multiple choices and Likert
scale) in the questionnaire to address respondents’
attitudes and perceptions of several effects of the
delay causes in construction projects. The
questionnaire had five parts: General Information of
Respondent; Project Information; All Delay Causes;
Effect of Delay; and Recommendation.
3.3 Data Collection
Response rate was significant since survey was
successfully conducted on around twenty six (26)
construction projects located in Lahore. These projects
were diverse in nature and type including 44%
non-residential projects, 16% residential projects, 16%
infrastructure and heavy engineering, 4% industrial,
12% special purpose project, and 8% other projects;
according to funding, 50% were public and 50%
privately funded; and cost of projects varied from 10
to 300 Million (Rupees). Respondents’ education
background was bachelor’s degree (58%), Master
degree (31%), doctoral degree (4%), and diploma
 Investigating the Delay Factors of Construction Projects in Metropolitan City of a Developing Country
(7%). They were well-experienced as 46% had 1 to 5
years of experience, 23% had experience from 5 to 10
years, 19% had experience from 10 to 15 years, and
2% had more than 20 years of experience.
3.4 Data Analysis
Collected data was analysed using statistical tool.
The questionnaire was processed, filtered, and entered
using spreadsheets and then analysed using the basic
principles of statistics. In short, data was processed into
required information by interpreting and understanding
the answer from the filled-out questionnaire. This
procedure was opted for in this research within different
groups (i.e. contractors, clients, consultants, project,
owner, labours, material, equipment, contingency). The
five-point scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5
(strongly agree) was used and converted to relative
importance indices (RII) for each group.
Likert scale: Strong Disagree = 1, Disagree = 2,
Neutral = 3, Agree = 4, Strongly Agree = 5.
The range of RII value was from 0 to 1 (0 not
inclusive), magnitude of the value of RII directly
indicated the level of importance of the delay’s cause
or effect. Different causes were ranked (R) using RII
so that the relative importance method could be
cross-compared. Following equation was used to
determine RII:
RII =
(I  F ) (1)
A N
Where, RII = relative importance index; I = scale
value; F = frequency corresponding to scale value; A
= highest scale value which in this case is 5; N = total
respondents’ number i.e. total frequency in this case.
4. Results and Discussion
RII for each cause was calculated on maximum
scale value of 1. The highest ranked cause had index
of 0.892 while the minimum cause had index of 0.569.
Top 10 causes have index more than 0.762 have been
selected for further discussion. Some of these causes
951
are interrelated while some are independent. Bar
charts are drawn using the ranking data for each group
and as well as for overall.
Delay in Payments (0.892): The payment should be
made on time to the contractor to support the
contractor’s strength to finance the project.
Poor weather conditions (0.815): Poor weather
conditions also delay the project especially in monsoon
season when the rain intensity and duration is more.
Even in summer, the temperature goes above 49 Celsius
which decreases the productivity of labours and makes
it very difficult to concrete at such high temperature.
Less use of highly technology mechanical
equipment’s (0.800): Pakistan construction is under
development process. Due to limited resources the use
of highly technology mechanical equipment is not
practicing in the field. Old methods and old fashion
technology begin continually use in construction
projects.
Ineffective project planning and scheduling (0.792):
Planning for most projects evolves from a high-level
plan in the early stages to a very detailed integrated
implementation plan during the execution/
construction phase. It is important to realize that a
project plan is dynamic. We expect it to change, either
due to changing client requirements or because of
strategic changes. Most projects get delayed because
they have not been properly planned with due
consideration paid to contingencies.
Rework resulting from errors during construction
(0.785): Errors happen during construction due to lack
of experience of contractor and subcontractor causing
the project to get delayed. Sometimes, the contractor
does not follow the specifications in an attempt to save
money, so work has to be redone to correct it as per the
consultant’s notifications which causes delay in project.
Delay due to subcontractor (0.785): A subcontractor
is normally involved in more than one project at a
time. This reduces the priority level of the project in
hand with the attention distributed. Subsequently it
may end up in delays.
952 Investigating the Delay Factors of Construction Projects in Metropolitan City of a Developing Country
Poor site conditions (0.785): Poor site conditions
also cause delays in project. Sometimes, water table of
site also creates problem for the construction activities.
Unsuitable soil conditions have to be improved for the
foundation which consumes extra time.
Coordination problem with other stakeholders
(0.769): Poor coordination among the stakeholders is
also a serious problem which causes delay in
construction projects.
Delay in review and approval of design documents
(0.769): Construction activities are dependent upon
the construction drawings, and thus delays caused by
the designer in drawing evaluation, review,
amendment or approval can cause a delay to the
project itself.
Fig. 1 Project related delay causes.
Fig. 2 Owner related delay causes.
Fig. 3 Contractor related delay causes.
Unclear design details in drawing (0.762): Due to
negligence of the consultant, unclear design detail in
drawings cause delay in the project.
There are nine major categories for factors which
cause delays including project-related delays (3
causes); owner-related delays (5 causes);
contractor-related delays (7 causes);
consultant-related delays (4 causes); material-related
delays (7 causes); labour-related delays (6 causes);
design-related delays (6 causes); equipment-related
delays (6 causes); and contingency-related delays (9
causes). Ranking of causes under each category has
been done graphically (Figs. 1 to 9). Respondents
provided opinions about possible effects of delays on
projects, refer to Fig. 10.
 Investigating the Delay Factors of Construction Projects in Metropolitan City of a Developing Country 953

Fig. 4 Consultant related delay causes.

Fig. 5 Material related delay causes.

Fig. 6 Equipment related delay causes.

Fig. 7 Design related delay causes.

Fig. 8 Labour related delay causes.

954 Investigating the Delay Factors of Construction Projects in Metropolitan City of a Developing Country
Fig. 9 Design related delay causes.
Fig. 10 Effects of delay on projects.
Recommendations from respondents were solicited
to avoid the risk of delay which are presented in
ascending order as follows; project manager
capability and experience; organizational planning;
clarity on scope of project; motivation of project
team; proper planning and payment from the client;
development of insurance claims; suitable scheduling
program; clarity of contract and accuracy of bill of
quantities; and computation of the amount of
financial damages.
7. Conclusion
The study identified and ranked the 10 most critical
delay causes out of the 53 selected delay causes. The
factors were classified into different phases of
construction plus general causes. The result was
reliable and matched to factors causing construction
delay. The research further explored and ranked the
causes of delay for each group. Furthermore,
allocation of responsibility was separately done for
each group as well as for overall factors causing
delays in construction projects. Implications of this
study are valid for projects in developing countries in
general and Lahore in particular.
8. Recommendations
In light of the above mentioned findings, following
recommendations can be made for prevention of
delays in the construction projects of Lahore: the
owner must ensure timely payments on the project;
Extensive risk management should be done for
adverse weather conditions; modern management
tools and advanced technology should be introduced
and used; Robust and detailed planning and
subsequent monitoring/controlling should be practiced;
the contractor should be carefully selected on the basis
of skills and expertise in order to avoid rework due to
immature workmanship; sub-contracting should be
avoided, and where inevitable, subcontractors should
be engaged in a strictly controlled environment to
make sure that they deliver; extensive investigations
should be performed in order to evaluate the site
conditions properly instead of relying on basic
reconnaissance surveys during the initiation phase;
 Investigating the Delay Factors of Construction Projects in Metropolitan City of a Developing Country
smooth communication and sturdy coordination
should exist amongst the stakeholders; the design
should be detailed and explicit; and lastly the
consultant should make sure that the design is timely
approved and delivered.
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