Assessment of the cause of delay and frequency of occurrences in the case of road construction projects in addis ababa

Abstract

It has become well known that most road construction projects in Ethiopia and Addis Ababa city are exposed to time and cost overrun. It becomes difficult to complete road projects in the allocated cost, time and quality. These problems occur frequently during project life-time leading to disputes and litigations. Therefore, it is essential to study and analyse causes of construction delays. This research presents a list of construction delay causes retrieved from literature. Therefore, this research was carried out to dig-out information on the factors that cause delay and their frequency of occurrence on Asphalt road construction projects in Addis Ababa City administration. Quantitative data was collected from clients, consultants and contractors using questionnaires and then the data obtained were analyzed using the Relative Importance Index (RII). The survey analysis results obtained identified ten major causes of delays. And the causes for delay was then ranked using the RII method. Based on the RII ranking it was identified that contractors financial difficulties, delay in preparation and approval, lack of timely decision, design change, materials shortage in the local market were the top five delay causing factors as it was identified by the respondents. And based on the results few recommendations were drawn as follows: the client is mostly the responsible party for financing of the project. And should be able to fulfill contractual obligations. More attention should be given during the design phase by the consultant to minimize the probability of change orders. In addition to that, contractors should plan their schedule and resource properly.