Factors Affecting Schedule Delay, Cost Overrun, and Quality Level in Public Construction Projects

TLDR

Construction projects frequently suffer time and cost overruns and quality reductions, prompting stakeholders to seek ways to optimize resources. This study examines which factors most strongly influence schedule, cost, and quality in public construction projects and whether their impacts differ. A survey of all publicly employed project managers assessed 26 interview‑derived factors, ranked by relative importance, and tested for differences with Friedman's test and Wilcoxon post‑hoc analysis. Unsettled funding most affects schedule, consultant material errors drive cost overruns, and construction work errors drive quality loss, showing that schedule, cost, and quality are impacted in distinct ways.

Abstract

As a result of the loss of financial resources and the need to optimize projects, academics, politicians, and the construction industry have become increasingly aware of the challenges presented by the frequent time and cost overruns and reduced quality of construction projects. The purpose of this study was to analyze the factors that project managers experience as having the greatest effect on time, cost, and quality, and to discover whether the effects of these factors are significantly different from each other. A questionnaire with 26 factors identified from interviews was sent to the full population of publicly employed project managers. Factors were ranked using the relative importance index and tested for significant differences using Friedman's test. Wilcoxon's test was used in a post-hoc analysis. From the findings it was determined that the most influential factor for time is unsettled or lack of project funding; for cost, errors or omissions in consultant material; and for quality, errors or omissions in construction work. The main conclusion of this research is that project schedule, budget, and quality level are affected in significantly different ways. Therefore, a project manager cannot handle such critical issues by focusing only on schedule or budget complications; nor can he or she assume that time, cost, and quality are equally affected.