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INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF

PROJECT
MANAGEMENT
International Journal of Project Management 25 (2007) 517526
www.elsevier.com/locate/ijproman

Causes and eects of delays in Malaysian construction industry


Murali Sambasivan *, Yau Wen Soon
Graduate School of Management, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM, Serdang Selangor, Malaysia
Received 21 April 2006; received in revised form 27 June 2006; accepted 21 November 2006

Abstract
The problem of delays in the construction industry is a global phenomenon and the construction industry in Malaysia is no exception.
The main purpose of this study is to identify the delay factors and their impact (eect) on project completion. Earlier studies either considered the causes or the eects of project delays, separately. This study takes an integrated approach and attempts to analyze the impact
of specic causes on specic eects. A questionnaire survey was conducted to solicit the causes and eects of delay from clients, consultants, and contractors. About 150 respondents participated in the survey. This study identied 10 most important causes of delay from a
list of 28 dierent causes and 6 dierent eects of delay. Ten most important causes were: (1) contractors improper planning, (2) contractors poor site management, (3) inadequate contractor experience, (4) inadequate clients nance and payments for completed work,
(5) problems with subcontractors, (6) shortage in material, (7) labor supply, (8) equipment availability and failure, (9) lack of communication between parties, and (10) mistakes during the construction stage. Six main eects of delay were: (1) time overrun, (2) cost overrun, (3) disputes, (4) arbitration, (5) litigation, and (6) total abandonment. This study has also established an empirical relationship
between each cause and eect.
2006 Elsevier Ltd and IPMA. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Delay causes; Delay eects; Construction industry; Malaysia; Correlational analysis

1. Introduction
The problem of delays in the construction industry is a
global phenomenon. In Saudi Arabia, Assaf and Al-Hejji
[6] found that only 30% of construction projects were completed within the scheduled completion dates and that the
average time overrun was between 10% and 30%. In Nigeria, Ajanlekoko [2] observed that the performance of the
construction industry in terms of time was poor. Odeyinka
and Yusif [16] have shown that seven out of ten projects surveyed in Nigeria suered delays in their execution. Ogunlana and Promkuntong [17] conducted a study on
construction delays in Thailand. Al-Momani [5] carried
out a quantitative analysis on construction delays in Jordan. Frimpong et al. [10] conducted a survey to identify
and evaluate the relative importance of the signicant fac*

Corresponding author. Tel.: +60 389467698; fax: +60 389434019.


E-mail address: murali@econ.upm.edu.my (M. Sambasivan).

0263-7863/$30.00 2006 Elsevier Ltd and IPMA. All rights reserved.


doi:10.1016/j.ijproman.2006.11.007

tors contributing to delay and cost overruns in Ghana


groundwater construction projects. Chan and Kumaraswamy [8] studied delays in Hong Kong construction industry.
They emphasized that timely delivery of projects within
budget and to the level of quality standard specied by
the client is an index of successful project delivery. Failure
to achieve targeted time, budgeted cost and specied quality
result in various unexpected negative eects on the projects.
Normally, when the projects are delayed, they are either
extended or accelerated and therefore, incur additional cost.
The normal practices usually allow a percentage of the project cost as a contingency allowance in the contract price
and this allowance is usually based on judgment [3].
Although the contract parties agreed upon the extra time
and cost associated with delay, in many cases there were
problems between the owner and contractor as to whether
the contractor was entitled to claim the extra cost. Such situations, usually involved questioning the facts, causal factors and contract interpretation [4]. Therefore, delays in

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M. Sambasivan, Y.W. Soon / International Journal of Project Management 25 (2007) 517526

construction projects give rise to dissatisfaction to all the


parties involved and the main role of the project manager
is to make sure that the projects are completed within the
budgeted time and cost. The construction sector in Malaysia, a fast developing country in South-East Asia has not
escaped the problem of delays. In 2005, about 17.3% (of
417 government contract projects in Malaysia) were considered sick (more than 3 months of delay or abandoned).
The Construction Sector is one of the important sectors
that contribute to Malaysias economic growth. The sector
accounted for nearly 3.3% of GDP in the year 2005 and
employed about 600,000 workers including 109,000 foreign
workers (MALBEX [12]). The huge volume and complexity
of projects in Malaysias construction sector pose a great
challenge and provide a wealth of opportunities to various
companies in the construction industry. The construction
sector in Malaysia can be divided into four broad categories: oce, retail, residential and infrastructure. This sector
suered a temporary crisis between 1997 and 2000 (ASEAN
crisis) and now it has started to improve. However, the
delays in the projects continue to occur. The main purpose
of this study is to identify the delay factors and their impact
(eect) on project completion. Earlier studies either considered the causes or the eects of project delays, separately.
This study takes an integrated approach and attempts to
analyze the impact of specic causes on specic eects.
Some causes and eects of delays in construction projects
can be country-specic. The logical question at this point
is: Why is it necessary to link the causes and eects of delays
and how can the link help the practitioners to prevent or
remedy future delays? In this research, we identied major
causes of delay and categorized them as client-related, contractor-related, consultant-related, material-related, laborrelated, contract-related, contract relationship-related,
and external factors. We have also identied major eects
of delay as: time overrun, cost overrun, dispute, arbitration,
litigation, and total abandonment. Identication of causes
and eects alone does not help the project managers to take
appropriate remedial or preventive steps. The project managers need to understand, for example, what causes or factors result in time overrun or cost overrun. Once these
factors become clear, the managers can take proactive steps
to avoid such situations. For example, if it is known that
time overruns are predominantly caused by client-related
factors, the project manager can: (1) make sure that payments for the completed work are paid on time, (2) reduce
owner interference, (3) speed up the decision-making process, and (4) avoid unrealistic contract duration and
requirements. Therefore, the link between causes and eects
of delays need to be established.
This paper is organized as follows. Section 2 deals with
the previous studies on causes and eects of delays in projects. Section 3 explains the methodology of research. Section 4 discusses the analysis the data using statistical
procedures. Section 5 discusses the results. Section 6 presents the strategies for reducing delays in construction projects and Section 7 presents the conclusions.

2. Previous studies
Many researchers have studied the causes and few
researchers have studied the eects of project delays in
the construction industry. We have broken the studies into
two parts: (1) Studies on causes of delay and (2) Studies on
eects of delay.
2.1. Studies on causes of delay
Manseld [14] identied 16 major factors that caused
delays and cost overruns in Nigeria. A questionnaire survey was carried out with contractors, consultants and client
organizations in Nigeria. They presented that the causes of
delay and cost overruns in Nigerian construction projects
were attributed to nance and payment arrangements,
poor contract management, shortages in materials, inaccurate estimation, and overall price uctuations.
Assaf et al. [7] identied 56 main causes of delay in
Saudi large building construction projects and their relative
importance. Based on the contractors surveyed the most
important delay factors were: preparation and approval
of shop drawings, delays in contractors progress, payment
by owners and design changes. From the view of the architects and engineers the cash problems during construction,
the relationship between subcontractors and the slow decision making process of the owner were the main causes of
delay. However, the owners agreed that the design errors,
labor shortages and inadequate labor skills were important
delay factors.
Ogunlana and Promkuntong [17] conducted a study on
construction delays in Thailand. They found that the problems faced by the construction industry in developing economies like Thailand could be: (a) shortages or inadequacies
in industry infrastructure (mainly supply of resources); (b)
caused by clients and consultants and (c) caused by contractors incompetence/inadequacies. They recommended
that there should be concerted eort by economy managers
and construction industry associations to provide the necessary infrastructure for ecient project management.
Chan and Kumaraswamy [8] conducted a survey to
determine and evaluate the relative importance of the signicant factors causing delays in Hong Kong construction
projects. They analyzed and ranked main reasons for
delays and classied them into two groups: (a) the role of
the parties in the local construction industry (i.e. whether
client, consultants or contractors) and (b) the type of projects. Results indicated that ve major causes of delays
were: poor site management and supervision, unforeseen
ground conditions, low speed of decision making involving
all project teams, client initiated variations and necessary
variations of works.
Odeyinka and Yusif [16] have addressed the causes of
delays in building projects in Nigeria. They classied the
causes of delay as project participants and extraneous
factors. Client-related delays included variation in orders,
slow decision-making and cash ow problems. Contrac-

M. Sambasivan, Y.W. Soon / International Journal of Project Management 25 (2007) 517526

tor-related delays identied were: nancial diculties,


material management problems, planning and scheduling
problems, inadequate site inspection, equipment management problems and shortage of manpower. Extraneous
causes of delay identied were: inclement weather, acts of
nature, labor disputes and strikes.
Al-Momani [5] carried out a quantitative analysis on
construction delays in Jordan. The result of his study indicated that the main causes of delay in construction of public projects were related to designers, user changes,
weather, site conditions, late deliveries, economic conditions and increase in quantity. Similarly, Odeh and Battaineh [15] also conducted a survey aimed at identifying the
most important causes of delays in construction projects
with traditional type of contracts from the viewpoint of
construction contractors and consultants. Results of the
survey indicated that contractors and consultants agreed
that owner interference, inadequate contractor experience,
nancing and payments, labor productivity, slow decision
making, improper planning, and subcontractors were
among the top ten most important factors.
Frimpong et. al., [10] conducted a survey to identify and
evaluate the relative importance of signicant factors contributing to delay and cost overruns in Ghana groundwater
construction projects. A questionnaire with 26 factors was
carefully designed from preliminary investigations conducted in groundwater drilling projects between 1970 and
1999 in Ghana. The questionnaire was directed towards
three groups in both public and private organizations:
owners of the groundwater projects, consulting oces,
and contractors working in the groundwater works. The
questionnaire was distributed to a random sample of 55
owners, 40 contractors and 30 consultants. The result of
the study revealed the main causes of delay and cost overruns in construction of groundwater projects: monthly
payment diculties from agencies; poor contractor management; material procurement; poor technical performance; and escalation of material prices.
Assaf and Al-Hejji [6] conducted a survey on time performance of large construction projects in Saudi Arabia.
The survey had 73 dierent causes of delay. He studied
the importance of various causes from the viewpoint of
contractors, consultants, and owners. The most common
cause of delay identied by all the parties was change
order. He also found that about 70% of the projects experienced time overruns.
2.2. Studies on eects of delay
Aibinu and Jagboro [1] studied and evaluated the eects
of construction delays on project delivery in Nigerian construction industry. They found that the six eects of construction delay were: time overrun, cost overrun, dispute,
arbitration and litigation and total abandonment. The
questionnaires were sent to three groups of construction
practitioners: quantity surveyors, architects and engineers,
and contractors.

519

Manavazhia and Adhikarib [13] conducted a survey to


investigate material and equipment procurement delays in
highway projects in Nepal. Delay in the delivery of materials and equipment to construction sites is often a contributory cause to cost overruns in construction projects in
developing countries. An assessment of the causes of the
delays and the magnitude of their impact on project costs
were also made. The survey method was used in conducting
this research involving 22 highway projects. The main
causes of material and equipment procurement delays were
found to be (in rank order) organizational weaknesses, suppliers defaults, governmental regulations and transportation delays. However, the actual impact of these delays
on project costs was found to be on average, only about
0.5% of the total budgeted cost of the projects. Among
materials, delays in the supply of aggregates and equipment
were found to occur most frequently.
Chan and Kumaraswamy [9] explored strategies of compressing construction durations of various types of building projects on the basis of the lessons learned from
Hong Kong based surveys and other research ndings.
The literature from dierent countries on the factors aecting construction durations, reasons for project delays and
existing statistical models for duration forecasts were
reviewed. A regression-based model developed from Hong
Kong public housing construction project data was used
for predicting the durations of the primary work packages
in the building process and the overall completion period.
And nally, a survey was conducted by the researchers to
explore the construction time performance of projects in
three building sub-sectors (i.e. public housing, public
non-residential and private sector). Based on the factors
identied as signicant from the above research, specic
technological and managerial strategies for reducing construction periods in particular building sub-sectors were
formulated in order to improve the construction time performance of Hong Kong building projects.
Terry Williams [19] studied the standard methods currently available for assessing extension of time delays on
major projects, and issues around such assessment. He used
network causal mapping and system dynamics approach to
study the impact of delays on a project.
Based on the above studies, it can be inferred that the
earlier studies concentrated on either the causes or the
eects. However, some studies have alluded to the probable
link between the causes and eects of delays without a systematic analysis. Manavizha and Adhikarib [13] linked the
material-related causes to the probable cost overruns in
construction projects in Nepal. Assaf and Al-Hejji [6] linked
the contractor-related and labor-related causes to the probable time overruns in construction projects in Saudi Arabia.
Odeh and Battaineh [15] linked the contract-linked causes
to the probable disputes occurring in construction projects
in Jordan. Chan and Kumaraswamy [8] linked the consultant-related and client-related causes to the probable time
overruns in construction projects in Hong Kong. Manseld
et al. [14] and Frimpong et al. [10] linked the client-related,

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M. Sambasivan, Y.W. Soon / International Journal of Project Management 25 (2007) 517526

consultant-related, and material-related factors to the probable cost and time overruns. In this research, we take an
integrated approach and attempt to link the causes and
the eects of delays in Malaysian construction industry
through a systematic analysis.
3. Methodology
A questionnaire was developed to assess the perceptions
of clients, consultants, and contractors on the relative
importance of causes and eects of delay in Malaysian construction industry. The questionnaire was divided into
three parts. The rst part requested background information about the respondents.
The second part of the questionnaire focused on causes
of construction delay. The respondents were asked to indicate their response category on 28 well-recognized construction delay factors identied by Odeh and Battaineh
[15]. These causes were categorized into the following eight
major groups:
1. Client related factors: nance and payments of completed work, owner interference, slow decision making
and unrealistic contract duration imposed by owners.
2. Contractor related factors: delays caused by subcontractor, site management, improper construction methods,
improper planning and errors during construction, and
inadequate contractor experience.
3. Consultant related factors: contract management, preparation and approval of drawings, quality assurance and
waiting time for approval of test and inspection.
4. Material related factors: quality of material and shortage in material.
5. Labor and equipment related factors: labor supply,
labor productivity and equipment availability and
failure.
6. Contract related factors: change orders and mistakes or
discrepancies in contract document.
7. Contract relationship related factors: major disputes
and negotiations, inappropriate overall organizational
structure linking to the project and lack of communication between the parties.
8. External factors: weather condition, regulatory changes,
problem with neighbors and unforeseen site condition.
The respondents were asked to highlight their recommendations to improve the performance of Malaysian construction industry through an open-ended question at the
end of second part of the questionnaire.
Third part of the questionnaire focused on the eects of
construction delay in Malaysian construction industry. The
six eects of construction delay identied were: time overrun, cost overrun, dispute, arbitration, litigation, and total
abandonment [1]. Similar to the second part of the questionnaire, the respondents were asked to highlight their recommendation to minimize the eects of construction delays
through an open-ended question. A ve-point Likert scale

ranging from 1 (not important) to 5 (extremely important)


was adopted to capture the importance of causes and
eects of delays.
Before distributing the questionnaire, a small pilot study
was conducted using 10 consultants, 10 clients, and 10 contractors. The basic purpose of the pilot study was to verify
the completeness of the questionnaire in capturing the factors relevant for Malaysia. All the respondents agreed that
the questionnaire was sucient to capture the causes and
eects of delays. Therefore, we did not make any modication to the causes of delay identied by Odeh and Battaineh [15] and eects of delay identied by Aibinu and
Jagboro [1].
The sampling method used in this study was convenience and snowball sampling. This sampling comes under
the class of non-probability sampling techniques. As the
name implies, sample elements are identied by convenience (friends) and through referral networks. This
method of sampling is preferred when it is dicult to get
response from sample elements selected at random [18].
We distributed the questionnaires through our friends
working in Public Works Department of Malaysia, developers, consultants and construction rms. Our friends in
turn distributed to their friends. This sampling method
enabled us to obtain a large number of completed questionnaires quickly and economically. Two hundred sets of
questionnaires were distributed to the potential respondents at all levels in the organizations within the construction industry. One hundred sets were distributed to clients
(50 sets to Public Works Department of Malaysia and 50
sets to private developers), 50 sets to consultants and 50
sets to the contractors. Of the 200 questionnaires, 150 sets
(75%) were returned and there were 67 sets (67%) from clients, 48 sets (96%) from consultants and 35 sets (70%) from
contractors.
3.1. Calculation of relative importance of factors
Kometa et al. [11] used the relative importance index
method to determine the relative importance of the various
causes and eects of delays. The same method was adopted
in this study within various groups (i.e. clients, consultants
or contractors). The ve-point scale ranged from 1 (not
important) to 5 (extremely important) was adopted and
transformed to relative importance indices (RII) for each
factor as follows:
P
W
RII
1
AN
where W is the weighting given to each factor by the
respondents (ranging from 1 to 5), A is the highest weight
(i.e. 5 in this case), and N is the total number of respondents. The RII value had a range from 0 to 1 (0 not inclusive), higher the value of RII, more important was the
cause or eect of delays.
The RII was used to rank (R) the dierent causes. These
rankings made it possible to cross-compare the relative

M. Sambasivan, Y.W. Soon / International Journal of Project Management 25 (2007) 517526

importance of the factors as perceived by the three groups


of respondents (i.e. clients, consultants and contractors).
Each individual causes RII perceived by all respondents
were used to assess the general and overall rankings in
order to give an overall picture of the causes of construction delays in Malaysian construction industry. The same
procedure was adopted for ranking the eects. The indices
(RII) were then used to determine the rank of each item
(eect). These rankings made it possible to cross compare
the relative importance of the items as perceived by the
three groups of respondents. The weighted average for each
item for the three groups of respondents was determined
and ranks (R) were assigned to each item representing the
perception of the three groups.
4. Analysis of data
The demographic characteristics of the respondents are
given in Table 1.
4.1. Causes of delay
The primary data collected from the second part of the
questionnaire was analyzed from the perspective of clients,
consultants and contractors. Each individual causes RII
perceived by all respondents was computed for overall
analysis.
The relative importance index, RII, was computed for
each cause to identify the most signicant causes. The
causes were ranked based on RII values. From the ranking
assigned to each cause of delays, we were able to identify
the most important factors or causes of delays in Malaysian construction industry.
Based on the ranking, the ve most important causes of
construction delays as perceived by clients were: (1) contractors improper planning (RII = 0.821); (2) contractors
site management (RII = 0.779); (3) inadequate contractor
experience (RII = 0.770); (4) labor supply problems (RII
= 0.770) and (5) subcontractor problems (RII = 0.758).
The ve most important causes of construction delays as
perceived by consultants were: (1) contractors improper
planning (RII = 0.842); (2) contractors site management
(RII = 0.821); (3) shortage in material (RII = 0.804); (4)
inadequate contractor experience (RII = 0.770), and (5)
inadequate clients nance and payments of completed
work (RII = 0.792). The ve most important causes of construction delays as perceived by contractor were: (1) contractors poor site management (RII = 0.869); (2)
inadequate clients nance and payments of completed
work (RII = 0.823); (3) subcontractors (RII = 0.789); (4)
inadequate contractor experience (RII = 0.783), and (5)
equipment availability and failures (RII = 0.777). From
the above list, it is interesting to compare the causes as perceived by clients and contractors. Most of the disputes that
arise in the construction industry in Malaysia are between
clients and contractors, most often, one party blaming the
other. Three of the causes perceived common between

521

Table 1
Demographic characteristics of respondents
Demographic characteristic

Frequency

Percent

Age
Less than 20
2029
3039
4049
50 and above

2
71
43
24
10

1.3
47.3
28.7
16.0
6.7

Sex
Male
Female

96
54

64.0
36.0

Education
Lower secondary (Form 1 3)
Upper secondary (Form 45)
Pre-university (Form 6)
University
Post graduate

1
12
19
90
28

0.7
8.0
12.7
60.0
18.7

Type of organization
Clients (government or developer)
Consultants
Contractors

67
48
35

44.7
32.0
23.3

Occupational level
Non-executive
Executive
Managerial

23
99
28

15.3
66.0
18.7

Number of years working experience


Less than 2 years
25 years
610 years
More than 10 years

20
43
42
45

13.3
28.7
28.0
30.0

Fields of specializations
Building
Infrastructure
Mechanical and electrical
Others

60
41
19
30

40.0
27.3
12.7
20.0

Largest project involved based on contract sum


Less than RM 10 millions
27
RM 10 millionsRM 50 millions
47
More than RM 50 millions
76

18.0
31.3
50.7

clients and contractors are: contractors site management,


inadequate contractor experience, and subcontractors.
The clients blame contractors improper planning and
labor supply as other important causes of delay. The contractors inability to plan can be attributed to contractors
inexperience. A signicant portion of the labor force in the
construction industry is from neighboring countries like
Indonesia. It is quite dicult to prevent the movement of
these laborers from one construction company to another
causing disruption of work. The contractors blame clients
inability to pay for the completed work and equipment
availability and failures as other important causes of delay.
These causes can be attributed to the clients nancial position and contractors improper planning. In government
related projects, payments to the contractors take relatively
longer time. It is the responsibility of the contractors to factor in this time during the planning process. Table 2 gives

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M. Sambasivan, Y.W. Soon / International Journal of Project Management 25 (2007) 517526

Table 2
Ranking of causes (based on overall)
Causes of delays

Percentage of respondents scoring

RII

Rank

Client related causes


Finance and payments of completed work
Owner Interference
Slow decision making
Unrealistic contract duration and requirements imposed

3.3
3.3
2.0
5.3

4.0
8.7
7.3
10.7

23.3
40.0
31.3
42.0

38.0
37.3
41.3
32.0

31.3
10.7
18.0
10.0

0.780
0.687
0.732
0.661

4
20
13
24

Contractor related causes


Subcontractors
Site management
Construction methods
Improper planning
Mistakes during construction stage
Inadequate contractor experience

0.0
0.7
2.0
1.3
0.0
0.0

7.3
2.0
9.3
4.0
8.0
7.3

25.3
20.0
32.0
15.3
31.3
25.3

42.0
44.7
44.0
44.7
36.7
36.0

25.3
32.7
12.7
34.7
24.0
31.3

0.771
0.813
0.712
0.815
0.753
0.783

5
2
15
1
10
3

Consultant related causes


Contract management
Preparation and approval of drawings
Quality assurance/control
Waiting time for approval of tests and inspection

0.7
0.0
0.0
1.3

17.3
6.7
14.7
14.0

34.7
48.0
44.7
44.0

31.3
31.3
31.3
30.0

16.0
14.0
9.3
10.7

0.689
0.705
0.671
0.669

19
16
22
23

Material related causes


Quality of material
Shortage in material

0.0
0.0

9.3
7.3

29.3
28.0

46.7
36.7

14.7
28.0

0.733
0.771

12
6

Labor and equipment category causes


Labor supply
Labor productivity
Equipment availability and failure

2.7
1.3
0.7

7.3
10.7
9.3

18.0
24.7
27.3

52.7
40.7
37.3

19.3
22.7
25.3

0.757
0.745
0.755

7
11
8

Contract related causes


Change orders
Mistakes and discrepancies in contract document

0.7
0.0

14.0
16.0

38.7
29.3

38.0
41.3

8.7
13.3

0.680
0.704

21
17

Contract relationships related causes


Major disputes and negotiations
Inappropriate overall organizational structure linking to the project
Lack of communication between the parties

0.7
0.0
0.0

10.0
14.7
7.3

36.7
48.0
28.7

36.7
29.3
43.3

16.0
8.0
20.7

0.715
0.661
0.755

14
25
9

External causes
Weather condition
Regulatory changes
Problem with neighbors
Unforeseen site condition

2.7
3.3
4.0
1.3

20.0
20.0
20.7
13.3

34.0
34.0
44.7
33.3

38.0
30.0
26.7
42.7

5.3
12.7
4.0
9.3

0.647
0.657
0.612
0.720

27
26
28
18

the ranking of causes based on response of all respondents


(clients, contractors and consultants). Table 3 summarizes
RII and ranking of the categories of causes of delay as perceived by all respondents.
In order to test the degree of agreement between the
three groups of respondents as to the causes of delays, a
correlation analysis using Spearmens rank correlation
coecient was done [6]. Table 4 gives the results of the
analysis. High correlation indicates that there is a high
degree of agreement between the respondents.
4.2. Eects of delay
The primary data collected from the third part of the
questionnaire was analyzed from the perspective of clients, consultants and contractors. The calculation of RII
and ranking were done as explained in the previous
section.

Based on the ranking, the important eects of construction delays as perceived by clients were: time overrun
(RII = 0.821), cost overrun (RII = 0.782), dispute
(RII = 0.687),
arbitration
(RII = 0.621),
litigation
(RII = 0.591), and total abandonment (RII = 0.585). The
important eects of construction delays as perceived by
contractors and consultants were exactly the same as those
of clients and therefore, a separate analysis using Spearmens Rank correlation was not done to test the agreement
between the three groups of respondents. Table 5 gives the
ranking of eects based on response of all respondents (clients, contractors and consultants).
The next step in the analysis was to identify the empirical relationships between the causes and the eects. Empirical relationships are based on observations and
propositions that are based on sense experience and are
derived from methods of inductive logic, including mathematics and statistics [18]. In short, empirical relationships

M. Sambasivan, Y.W. Soon / International Journal of Project Management 25 (2007) 517526

523

Table 3
RII and ranking of categories of causes of delay
Category

Clients

Consultants

Contractors

Overall

RII

Rank

RII

Rank

RII

Rank

RII

Rank

Client-related
Contractor-related
Consultant-related
Material-related
Labor and equipment-related
Contract-related
Contract relationships-related
External-related

0.674
0.758
0.664
0.721
0.741
0.679
0.694
0.637

6
1
7
3
2
5
4
8

0.742
0.791
0.697
0.792
0.768
0.708
0.735
0.655

4
2
7
1
3
6
5
8

0.757
0.783
0.703
0.757
0.752
0.694
0.709
0.674

3
1
6
2
4
7
5
8

0.715
0.774
0.684
0.752
0.752
0.692
0.710
0.652

4
1
7
2
3
6
5
8

Table 4
Spearmans rank correlation coecients of the ranking of clients, consultants and contractors for causes of delay (28 causes)
Ranking

Client

Consultant

Contractor

Client

q
Signicance probability
N (number of causes)

1.000

28

0.867a
0.000
28

0.772a
0.000
28

Consultant

q
Signicance probability
N (number of causes)

0.867a
0.000
28

1.000

28

0.896a
0.000
28

Contractor

q
Signicance probability
N (number of causes)

0.772a
0.000
28

0.896a
0.000
28

1.000

28

Correlation is signicant at the 0.01 level of signicance if signicance probability is lesser than the level of signicance, correlation is signicant.

Table 5
Ranking of eects (based on overall)
Eects of delays

Percentage of respondents scoring

RII

Rank

Time overrun
Cost overrun
Dispute
Arbitration
Litigation

0.0
0.7
0.7
2.0
4.7

0.7
2.7
14.7
22.0
21.3

20.7
29.3
41.3
46.0
48.7

56.0
37.3
38.0
24.7
22.7

22.7
30.0
5.3
5.3
2.7

0.801
0.787
0.665
0.619
0.595

1
2
3
4
5

Total abandonment

6.7

36.0

29.3

21.3

6.7

0.571

Table 6
Correlation between the categories of causes and eects of delays
Eects

Causes of delay
Client

Contractor

Consultant

Material

Labor

Contract related

Contract relationship

External

Time overrun
Cost overrun
Dispute
Arbitration
Litigation

0.164
0.145
0.171
0.172
0.170

0.277
0.148
0.001
0.051
0.019

0.045
0.097
0.042
0.050
0.103

0.092
0.024
0.067
0.033
0.152

0.046
0.037
0.155
0.096
0.204

0.019
0.165
0.222
0.146
0.273

0.134
0.087
0.251
0.203
0.288

0.007
0.004
0.165
0.104
0.214

Total abandonment

0.165

0.129

0.216

0.093

0.294

0.287

0.159

0.301

Highlighted coecients are signicant at 0.05 signicance level.

attempt to describe, explain, and make predictions through


observation. In this research, we attempt to establish relationship between causes and eects through observable
data. Since the data we have collected through survey is
based on Likert-scale, it can be considered as interval data.

Correlation analysis is a powerful method to study the relationship between variables that have interval data [18].
Therefore, a correlation analysis was done to study the
empirical relationships between the categories of causes
and eects. Table 6 gives the results of the analysis.

524

M. Sambasivan, Y.W. Soon / International Journal of Project Management 25 (2007) 517526

5. Discussion of results
This section discusses the results obtained in the earlier
section. First, we discuss the results obtained by analyzing
the causes of delays. Second, we discuss the results
obtained by analyzing the eects of the delays. Third, we
link each of the eect with the causes of delay.
The ten most important causes of delays (based on all
respondents) as shown in the Table 2 were: (1) contractors
improper planning (RII = 0.815), (2) contractors poor site
management (RII = 0.813), (3) inadequate contractor
experience (RII = 0.783), (4) inadequate clients nance
and payments for completed work (RII = 0.792), (5) problems with subcontractors (RII = 0.771), (6) shortage in
material (RII = 0.771), (7) labor supply (RII = 0.757), (8)
equipment availability and failure (RII = 0.755), (9) lack
of communication between parties (RII = 0.755), and
(10) mistakes during the construction stage (RII = 0.753).
5.1. Contractors improper planning
Local contractors often fail to come out with a practical
and workable work program at the initial planning
stage. This failure is interrelated with lack of systematic site
management and inadequate contractors experience
towards the projects. The consultant only checks and
reviews the work program submitted by the contractors
based on experience and intuitive judgment. Improper
planning at the initial stages of a project manifests throughout the project and causes delays at various stages. Only a
project that is well planned can be well executed.

are delayed. Work progress can be delayed due to the late


payments from the clients because there is inadequate cash
ow to support construction expenses especially for those
contractors who are not nancially sound.
5.5. Problems with subcontractors
Typically in huge projects, there are many subcontractors working under main contractors. If the subcontractor
is capable, the project can be completed on time as
planned. The project can be delayed if the subcontractor
under performs because of inadequate experience or capability. High degree of subcontracting in Malaysia leads to
high risk of delays and this leads to ineciencies in the
Malaysian construction industry.
5.6. Shortage in material
Shortages in basic materials like sand, cement, stones,
bricks, and iron can cause major delays in projects. Since
Malaysia is a country that is developing very fast, often
times demand exceeds the supply and this causes prices
to increase. The contractors postpone the purchase activities until the prices decrease. Manavazhia and Adhikarib
[13] investigated material and equipment procurement
delays in highway projects in Nepal and found these delays
to cause cost overrun.
5.7. Labor supply

Contractors poor site management is one of the most


signicant causes in causing the construction delays. The
results of this research indicate that local contractors face
deciency in site planning, implementation and controls.
A poor site management results in delays in responding
to the issues that arise at the site and causes negative
impact on the overall work progress.

The quality and quantity of labor supply can have major


impact on the projects. About 20% of the workers in the
Malaysian construction industry are foreign workers,
mainly from Indonesia and Vietnam (MALBEX [12]). A
few of them are illegal workers and their work quality is
relatively low when compared to local laborers. The low
quality and productivity of the foreign workers have
impact on the project progress and eciency. The illegal
workers are frequently caught by the Malaysian immigrant
ocials and deported and this causes shortage of labor
pool in the construction industry.

5.3. Inadequate contractor experience

5.8. Equipment availability and failure

Odeh and Battaineh [15] indicated that inadequate contractor experience was an important factor and this could
be linked to the contract awarding procedure where most
projects were awarded to the lowest bidder. A contractor
with inadequate experience cannot plan and manage the
projects properly and this can lead to disastrous
consequences.

Many of the contractors do not own equipments that


are required for the construction work. They rent the
equipments when required. During the season when there
are many construction projects, the equipments are in short
supply and are poorly maintained. This leads to failure of
the equipments causing the progress to be hampered.

5.2. Contractors poor site management

5.9. Lack of communication between parties


5.4. Clients nance and payments for completed work
Construction works involve huge amounts of money
and most of the contractors nd it very dicult to bear
the heavy daily construction expenses when the payments

Since there are many parties involved in a project (client,


consultant, contractor, sub-contractors), the communication between the parties is very crucial for the success of
the project. Proper communication channels between the

M. Sambasivan, Y.W. Soon / International Journal of Project Management 25 (2007) 517526

various parties must be established during the planning


stage. Any problem with communication can lead to severe
misunderstanding and therefore, delays in the execution of
the project.
5.10. Mistakes during the construction stage
The mistakes during the construction stage can be due
to accidents, inadequate planning, or miscommunication
between the parties. Whatever the reason, the mistakes
can have impact on the progress of the project.
While analyzing the eects of delays, all respondents
were unanimous in ranking the eects. The time and cost
overruns were ranked highly by the respondents. Any delay
in a project can lead to cost and time overruns and these
two are linked. Whenever there are delays, there are disputes as to who should bear the responsibility and the cost.
These disputes often lead to an arbitration process by third
parties and failure in this process leads to litigation where
the disputes are settled by the court. In extreme cases, some
projects might be totally abandoned. About 17% of the
projects in Malaysia are abandoned (MALBEX [12]).
In the following paragraphs, we analyze the impact of
causes on each eect of delay. Correlation analysis results
given in Table 6 establish the link between them. From
the table, we can identify the causes for each of the eects
of delay.
5.11. Time overrun
Client-related and contractor-related factors have
impact on the time overrun. Out of the ten most important
causes of delay discussed earlier, six causes belong to clientrelated and contractor-related factors. Factors such as
inadequate planning by the contractors, improper site
management by the contractors, inadequate project handling experience of contractors, and delay in the payments
for the work completed directly aect the completion of the
project and cause time overrun.

525

that arise during the course of the project. Factors such


as delay in the payments for completed work, frequent
owner interference, changing requirements, lack of communication between the various parties, problems with
neighbors, and unforeseen site conditions give rise to disputes between the various parties. The disputes, if not
resolved amicably, can lead to arbitration or litigation.
5.14. Arbitration
Client-related and contract relationship-related factors
escalate disputes to be settled by arbitration process. A
competent third-party can settle the disputes amicably
without going to the court.
5.15. Litigation
Client-related, labor-related, contract-related, contract
relationship-related, and external factors escalate disputes
to be settled by the litigation process. The parties involved
in the projects use litigation as a last resort to settle
disputes.
5.16. Total abandonment
Client-related, consultant-related, labor-related, contract-related, and external factors contribute to the total
abandonment of the projects. In Malaysia, many projects
were temporarily abandoned during the nancial crisis
between 1997 and 2000. Promoters of various projects
backed out because of poor cash ow and economic conditions. Many of these projects have now become so prohibitive that they have been abandoned permanently
(MALBEX [12]).
Based on the discussions above, the next step is to provide suggestions to clients, contractors, and consultants to
reduce delays. These suggestions, we hope, will alleviate the
problems faced by the construction industry in Malaysia.
6. Prescriptions to reduce delays

5.12. Cost overrun


Contract-related factors such as change orders (changes
in the deliverables and requirements) and mistakes and discrepancies in the contract document result in cost overrun.
Mistakes and discrepancies in the contract document can
be in scope, deliverables, resources available and allocated,
payment terms, achievement of various milestones, and the
project duration. In most of the instances, time overrun
leads to cost overrun. Correlation analysis between cost
and time overruns indicated a strong linkage (correlation
coecient = 0.487, signicant at 0.01 level of signicance)
5.13. Disputes
Client-related, contract-related, contract relationshiprelated, and external factors have impact on the disputes

We divide the prescriptions to adopted into three


groups: (1) prescriptions for the clients, (2) prescriptions
for the consultants, and (3) prescriptions for the
contractors.
6.1. Prescriptions for the clients
(1) While selecting the contractors, clients have to make
sure that the contractors are not selected based only on the
lowest bid. The selected contractor must have sucient
experience, technical capability, nancial capability, and
sucient manpower to execute the project, (2) clients
should not interfere frequently during the execution and
keep making major changes to the requirements. This can
cause inordinate delays in the project, (3) clients should
have the nances in time to pay the contractors after com-

526

M. Sambasivan, Y.W. Soon / International Journal of Project Management 25 (2007) 517526

pletion of a work. Therefore, clients should work closely


with the nancing bodies and institutions to release the
payment on schedule, and (4) clients must make quick decisions to solve any problem that arise during the execution.

reduce the incidences of delays. The academicians can conduct similar studies in other parts of world and identify
causes and eects of delays. As mentioned earlier, some
causes and eects may be unique to certain countries.

6.2. Prescriptions for the consultants

References

(1) While drawing the contract between the client and


contractor, the consultant must include items such as duration of contract, mechanism to solve disputes, mechanism
to assess the causes of delay, if there are any and risk management plans, (2) consultants should prepare and approve
drawings on time, and (3) consultants should monitor the
work closely by making inspections at appropriate times.

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6.3. Prescriptions for the contractors


(1) Contractors should not take up the job in which they
do not have sucient expertise, (2) contractors should have
able site-managers for the smooth execution of work, (3)
contractors must plan their work properly and provide
the entire schedule to the clients, and (4) contractors must
make sure they have a sound nancial backing.
7. Conclusions
We investigated the causes and eects of delays facing in
the Malaysian construction industry. A questionnaire was
designed and distributed among the three major groups
of participants (clients, consultants and contractors). We
identied main causes of delay and ten most important
causes were: (1) contractors improper planning, (2) contractors poor site management, (3) inadequate contractor
experience, (4) inadequate clients nance and payments
for completed work, (5) problems with subcontractors,
(6) shortage in material, (7) labor supply, (8) equipment
availability and failure, (9) lack of communication between
parties, and (10) mistakes during the construction stage.
We identied main eects of delay and they were: (1) time
overrun, (2) cost overrun, (3) disputes, (4) arbitration, (5)
litigation, and (6) total abandonment. As an important
contribution, we also studied the empirical relationships
between the causes and eects of delays. We isolated the
causes of delay for each of the six eects. We believe that
the results of this study can be of immense help to the practitioners (clients, contractors and consultants) and academicians. The practitioners can better understand the
dynamics of project management and make eorts to

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