Abstract
The construction industry plays a vital role in the economy and failure to deliver projects on
time can be detrimental to the development of the economy. In addition, failure to deliver
construction projects on time can impact the owner and the contractor working on the
project. The current research investigates the problem of failure to deliver construction
projects on time, by determining the critical factors causing failure to deliver projects on time
and the measures that need to be taken to manage and reduce the impact of failure to
deliver projects on time. The objective of the research is to develop guidelines that will
enable the project managers to manage and reduce the factors impacting project on-time
delivery in the South African railway industry. The literature review and a questionnaire
survey were used to answer the research questions and to meet the research objective.
The research used a quantitative research method and a deductive research approach to
collect and analyse the data. Data was collected using an online questionnaire on
Questionpro and the data was analysed using Statistical Package for Social Science
(SPSS) software. The findings from the literature review and the feedback from the survey
were compared to determine the critical factors impacting project on-time delivery in the
South African railway construction industry and the measures to manage these critical
factors. The literature review findings were confirmed to be true by the collected data. The
following critical factors were confirmed ; lack of experience, change orders, poor project
planning, late payments, conflict among parties and poor design. Guidelines to manage
these factors were highlighted in the study. The findings from this research can be provided
as guidelines for project managers to avoid, reduce and manage the factors impacting
project on-time delivery in construction projects. These factors and measures can be
incorporated in the project planning phase and be used as guidelines throughout the project
life cycle of many construction projects. The research will not only improve project on-time
delivery but will also contribute to the construction industry’s GDP and the general public.
The research also contributes to the current construction management body of knowledge
and will enable other academics or researchers who are conducting research on project ontime
delivery to use the findings as a guideline.