Alinaitwe, H; Apolot, R and Tindiwensi, D (2013) Investigation into the causes of delays and cost overruns in Uganda's public sector construction projects. Journal of Construction in Developing Countries, 18(2), pp. 33-47. ISSN 1823-6499
Abstract
There is great concern in Uganda about delays and cost overruns in public sector construction projects because such projects are implemented using taxpayers' money. At the national and international levels, there is considerable debate regarding how to minimise project delays and cost overruns. The main objective of this study was to investigate the causes of construction project delays and cost overruns in Uganda's public sector. Specifically, this study was conducted to identify the causes of delays and overruns and to rank them according to their frequency, severity and importance. The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) was selected as a case study as a means of validating the results of the survey. Frequency index, severity index and importance index values were computed and all 20 factors involved were ranked. The five most important causes of delays in construction projects were found to be the following: Changes to the scope of work, delayed payments, poor monitoring and control, the high cost of capital and political insecurity and instability. The relationship between the factors that cause delays and those that cause cost overruns was found to be moderate. Recommendations are made for improved project management, a change from the traditional contract type to the design-build type and improved cash flow on the part of the client to reduce payment delays. The results of this research should help construction practitioners, policy makers and researchers in the field of construction management.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | construction; cost overrun; public projects; time overrun; Uganda |
| Index terms: | project delay, public project, construction project, construction practitioner, overrun, survey, cash flow, project management, Uganda, severity index, investigation, causes of delay, monitoring, public sector, cost overrun, time overrun, aviation, case study |
| Subjects: | project controls, industry analysis, administrative law, environmental hazards, financial management, Geography, production management, project management theory and practice, infrastructure engineering, professional development, financial and cost management, data collection methods, control systems |
| Topics: | Cost Management, Engineering Principles, Information Management, Geographical Context, Project Management, Research Practice, Sustainability, Legal Issues, Site Management, Time Control |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCEA |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here