Delay Factors: A Comparative Analysis between Road Infrastructure and Building Projects

Abstract

[EN] Delay is one of the most common, complex and risky phenomena that adversely affects performance of construction projects. Several studies have been conducted on delay factors identification, some focused on road infrastructures, others on buildings, or on construction projects broadly. However, there are scarce publications with a comprehensive and sound analysis among projects of different type. This study presents a comparative analysis of delay factors between road infrastructure and building projects using the following research process: (1) a systematic review of articles published in specialized and peer-reviewed journals is performed; 2) relevant studies are chosen based on inclusion/exclusion criteria; (3) qualitative evidence is categorized; (4) quantitative evidence is analyzed with Spearman¿s Rank Correlation Coefficient; and (5) contributions are summarized. A final set of twenty published articles provided quantitative and qualitative evidence of construction delays. The findings indicated that delay factors identification and prioritization differs between projects and countries. Some critical delay factors for road infrastructure projects were inadequate contractor's experience and payment delays to contractor, while for building projects were shortage of materials and financial difficulties of contractor.