Thesis (MSc) - Cyprus International University. Institute of Graduate Studies and Research Civil Engineering Department

Includes bibliography (sheets 101-104)

ABSTRACT
Construction delay occurs whenever a project is not completed within the scheduled
contract period, thereby causing the project to go beyond schedule delays and
possibly leading to additional overall costs for the project, as well as claims from
some key stakeholders. This is a typical problem in construction projects.
Construction project delays remain a big issue in the Palestinian construction
industry. This study seeks to evaluate the causes and effects of delays in construction
projects within the Gaza strip, Palestine to inform critical decisions that could help
minimize various losses in several forms such as monies, reputation, and livelihood
among several others. Within this study, numerous construction project delays
factors were obtained and further stratified into ten (10) strata such as project owner
factors, project factors, design factors, contractor factors, material factors, equipment
factors, consultant factors, labour factors, external factors and environmental factors.
Also, eleven (11) effects of delay in construction projects around the Palestine region
were established; these would include issues arising from time-overrun, cost overrun,
dispute, project abandonment by the owner, litigation, arbitration, project suspension
by the owner, non-productive loss, forfeiture of future projects by contractors,
clients’ dissatisfaction, and devaluation of contractor’s market worth. All of the
respondents were either consultants, contractors or on-site/office engineers; project
managers, as well as project engineers, dominated the sample population
(approximately about 72%). majority of the respondents (approximately 48%)
specialized in residential and commercial buildings, while the next most
specialization of the respondents was “industrial facilities”. After analysis of the data
from the survey, it was obtained that the most important delay factor for construction
projects in Gaza was the “equipment factor”, while the least important delay factor
was “environmental-based factors”. Also, it was obtained that the most significant
effect of delay is “suspension of work by owner”, while the least important effect of
delay was “forfeiture of future project by contractors”. After carrying out a reliability
test on the data, Cronbach’s alpha was obtained at 0.944; indicating a high level of
internal consistency in the responses to the appraisal questions provided by the
respondents. The outcome of this study will then drive the focus as to the area(s) to
which many concerns are to be focused if delays and their economic/social
consequences on construction projects are to be averted in the Palestine region, as
well as the global construction industry by extension.
Keywords: Causes Of Delay; Construction Industry; Construction Management;
Effects Of Delay; Gaza Strip.