Opportunity Lost: Mismanagment of the Closeout Phase of Construction Projects

Acknowledgement Thanks are owed to a number of people, without whose help this project would not have been possible. First, to the members of my examining committee: Dr. Randy R. suggestions, and general support were instrumental in helping to focus and define the scope of the project. Particular thanks go to my committee chair, Dr. Rapp, a faithful reviewer and provider of direction. By any measure, however, the one person who most facilitated this project was my loving, dedicated wife: motivator, believer, super parent. Words fail to express my gratitude, appreciation, and admiration. Author's Abstract In nearly every construction project, completing the project on time is one of the most critical things for everyone involved. Late project completion causes a wide variety of complications for the entire project team. This paper seeks to identify some of the causes for delay in the last phase of construction projects: the closeout phase. Original research was conducted to gather input from construction industry professionals about their experiences with the closeout phase of projects. Factors perceived to cause closeout delay were identified, along with perceptions about the closeout performance of survey participant's firms. The research validated the study's premise that the closeout phase is difficult to successfully execute, for a variety of reasons. The collective responses also shed light on the perceived effectiveness of several strategies to encourage timely project completion.