An Investigation into the Risk of Construction Projects Delays in the UAE

The growing rate of delays in project delivery is considered a major criticism of the construction companies in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). This paper aims to investigate the causes and effects behind the delays pertaining to delivery of construction projects in the UAE. The study is exploratory in nature, and incorporates a pilot questionnaire survey and interviews. An extensive literature review indicates potential factors that have possible effects on construction completion delay. The questionnaire forms were sent to 50 construction companies. Thirty-five (70%) completed responses were received. Analysis of the survey data has revealed that about 42 potential causes and effects of delay relate to various groups of stakeholders. The results show the top fifteen factors relate to clients, project managers and finance aspects. It was found that cost and time overruns are the most significant effects. These results are in partial agreement with previous studies. The paper argues that the key determinant in ensuring project control is on-time project delivery. The results of the study can provide moderate support for a suggested hypothesis, through a framework of project success factors. It should be of high concern to knowledge managers in various roles and decision-makers.