| 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. |
