Review of Delay Factors in Construction Projects of Riyadh; A Case Study to Enhance Project Performance with Sustainability

The construction project delays can be defined as an extension of time beyond the contractual time agreed during the tender stage, in past decade almost 70% of mega construction projects experienced time overruns. The construction professionals have specified that they have been facing average time delay of 10 to 30% from the original duration of the project. In modern building projects delays during MEP (Mechanical, Electrical and Plumbing) system installation phase are exceeding due to complexity and mechanized application of services in building projects. This study investigates the key challenges affecting the timely completion of construction projects and causing delays. As a case study chosen two mega ongoing construction projects in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia to investigate delays and their impact on project performance and sustainable development in construction. The challenges were discovered from the literature and investigated to analyze their significance towards project performance improvement and sustainable construction development. Data collection was administered through structured questionnaire survey performed among 291 construction professionals according to the sample size to find the objectives using 5-point Likert-scale. The impacts were grouped into main Kep Performance Indicator (KPI’s) of project i.e. quality, cost and time. The outcome reported various critical challenges contributed to project delays; poor communication, non-compliance with specifications, design approvals and monthly payments related factors being the most important challenge in the construction industry. The top strategies such as smooth coordination, approved design before execution, mock-ups, prototypes and timely payments of claims could significantly control project delays and enhance performance with sustainability. Finally, the study findings will contribute to the body of knowledge to mitigate delays and will help the construction professionals to enhance performance with sustainability for upcoming construction projects in Saudi Arabia.