“ASSESSMENT OF THE RELATIVE IMPORTANCE OF PROJECT DELAY FACTORS ON GRADE ONE CONTRACTORS IN ADDIS ABABA.”

Abstract

The construction industry is growing rapidly in Ethiopia, particularly in Addis Ababa. However, it becomes hard to finalize projects at the allocated cost and time planned initially. Construction project delays become a critical issue from time to time. As a result, this study was carried out to gather information on the most important factors that contribute to construction project delays and mitigation methods for reducing delays on grade one contractors in Addis Ababa. The study uses a descriptive research design on the causes of project delay. Quantitative method is used and the research used stratified random sampling technique for the questionnaire survey. For the investigation, thirty-nine delay-causing factors were chosen from seven groups that contribute to the causes of delay. Interview was conducted with fifteen respondents on mitigation measures of project delay. One hundred and eight questionnaires were distributed to three primary project stakeholders in construction industry, which are contractors, consultants, and clients. Eighty-two of the questioners are filled properly and completely then used as an input for data analysis. Relative Importance Index (RII) was used to analyze and rank the delay causing factors and effects of project delay. According to the survey, the most important delay causing factors are material shortages in the market, price increases/price escalation, inadequate planning and scheduling, material delivery delays, progress payment delays by owners, longer waiting periods for approval and supervision, and awarding projects to the lowest bid price. The interview conducted on mitigation methods of project delays suggests that adequate project detailed planning and project monitoring and evaluation practices are delay minimizing methods.