Causes of Delay in Road Construction Projects

The construction industry is one of the main sectors that provides important ingredients for the development of an economy. However, many projects experience extensive delays and thereby exceed initial time and cost estimates. Construction delay is considered to be one of the most recurring problems in the construction industry and it has an adverse effect on project success in terms of time, cost, quality, and safety. This study is conducted to investigate the time performance of road construction projects in the West Bank in Palestine to identify the causes of delay and their severity according to contractors and consultants through a questionnaire survey. The field survey included 34 contractors and 30 consultants. A total of 52 causes of delay were identified during the research. The survey concluded that the top five severe delay causes are political situation, segmentation of the West Bank and limited movement between areas, award project to lowest bid price, progress payment delay by owner, and shortage of equipment.