Abstract
Poor cost planning and inaccurate initial cost estimation are elements that contribute to project failure. The goal of this research was to identify problems in the construction industry affecting the ability of construction projects to achieve budgeted costs and give recommendations for meeting budget cost criteria. The research findings showed that project scope changes, project design changes, unexpected site conditions, pre-tender cost underestimation, insufficient resources due to a lack of capital and poor site management and supervision were the main challenges that caused construction projects not to meet their budgeted costs. To overcome these challenges, some strategies which could be used to ensure compliance with the budgeted costs were identified. Strategies included cost control by acting when deviations occurred during the implementation stage, ensuring accurate project cost estimation, regular cost checking against the planned budget, regular cost reporting to stakeholders as the project progressed, planning cost for each project stage to keep track of spending, ensuring that project was budgeted for before execution and regular assessment of cost performance to guarantee that costs stayed within budget.
Keywords: cost overrun, construction, project management, project cost, project planning, budgeted costs