Abstract
Construction projects have been observed to have problems of project delays and disruptions and the South African construction industry is not an exception. These project delays and disruptions can be reduced as long as the main reasons and impacts of such delays and disruptions can be identified and handled in a well-timed manner.
In this research, causes and effects of project delays and disruptions were identified through a desktop study. Subsequently, a questionnaire was designed and used to conduct a survey in the City of Johannesburg (CoJ) (the economic hub of South Africa (SA)) to obtain the views of the three main construction project participants – client, consultants, and contractors. The questionnaire contains 48 causes and 13 effects of project delay and disruption identified from the desktop study. The identified 48 causes were categorised into ten major groups. The questionnaire survey conducted involved 75 construction participants. The data collected through the questionnaire survey was validated and analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) and Indices.
The analysis conducted with the indices was used to rank the causes and effects of project delay and disruption. The analysis revealed the sixteen most important causes of project delay and disruption and five most important effects of delay and disruption. The sixteen most important causes of project delay and disruption, comprises 3 contractors related, 3 materials related, 2 clients related, 2 consultants related, 2 external related, 1 design-team related, 1 labour and equipment related, 1 contract related, and 1 contractual relationship related factors. The five major effects include: (1) create stress on contractors, (2) cost overrun, (3) time overrun, (4) poor quality of work due to rush, and (5) disputes.
This research further examines the views and difference in the views of the three main participants. ANOVA was used to get the difference in the views of the three main participants. Also, the result of this current research was compared with the result of previous studies conducted in other regions of Africa and SA in terms of causes and effects of project delay and disruption.
The research concludes that numerous causes and effects of delay and disruption are limited to South African construction projects based on the comparison and some recommendations were made in order to minimise the causes of delay and disruption identified.
M.Ing. (Engineering Management)