Asnaashari, E; Knight, A; Hurst, A and Farahani, S S (2009) Causes of construction delays in Iran: Project management, logistics, technology and environment. In: Dainty, A R J (ed.) Proceedings of 25th Annual ARCOM Conference, 7-9 September 2009, Nottingham, UK.
Abstract
Delay is one of the most reoccurring problems in the construction industry and has negative impacts on project success in terms of time, cost, quality and safety. To minimise these impacts, identifying the most significant causes of delay is vital. The construction industry in Iran, with an annual turnover of US$ 38.4 billion, is one of the most profitable sectors in the country. However, the process of construction is very slow and expensive in Iran. Recently, due to a sharp increase in the price of land, materials, equipment and the high rate of population growth more efforts are being made to bring efficiency to the industry and mitigate delays in construction projects. This paper presents the second part of an investigation into factors which cause construction delay. The first part was focused on the role of Stakeholders, Politics and Economy in causing delays in projects. The second part will focus on causes of delays associated with Project Management, Logistics, Technology and the Environment. Eleven in-depth interviews were conducted with construction managers and practitioners associated with the Iranian construction industry. Interviewees, with more than 10 years' experience, explained the factors that cause delay in the construction industry in Iran. Responses were analysed qualitatively and a comprehensive interpretation was developed. The results revealed that most construction projects in Iran are subject to delay. Traditional management style, poor scheduling, using old technology, purchasing problems, low level of commitment among supply chain members, storage issues, and poor weather conditions are the top causes of delays in the Iranian construction industry, all of which will be discussed in this paper.
| Item Type: | Conference Paper (Paper) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | construction projects; delay; Iran; management; time |
| Index terms: | population, construction project, construction delay, investigation, causes of delay, construction manager, practitioner, land, construction industry, weather, project management, interview, management style, turnover, efficiency, low level, project success, scheduling, commitment, purchasing, politics |
| Subjects: | practitioner, air quality, profession, data collection methods, business management, operations research, real estate economics, psychology, project management theory and practice, production management, performance management, management, political science, procurement strategy, industry analysis, measurement and scaling, project controls, demography |
| Topics: | Time Control, Organizational Design, Quality Management, Human Resources, Urban Studies, Sustainability, Governance, Procurement, Roles and Professions, Research Practice, Project Management, Business Strategy |
| Descriptive scope: | 5 PCTEA |
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