Delays, what delays? A critical review of the literature on delays in construction

Despite a wealth of research into the causes and impacts of delays in construction, time and cost overruns remain a perennial problem in the construction industry. In this critical review, the literature on delays in construction is revisited with a view to inject fresh perspectives of the problem. Early studies have adopted rational, naturalistic positions to explain structural characteristics that lead to project delays. These studies tend to place primacy on what contractors can do to manage and eradicate delays, and usually take the planned project time for granted. Recent attempts have been made to articulate the possibility of strategic misrepresentation that could result in under-estimation of project time and costs, which in turn creates a perceived delay. Through the review, it was found that the intentions of the multitude of actors involved in delivering construction projects remain a relatively under-researched area, especially during the fuzzy-front-end of the project life cycle. A case is made for the need to study how intentions of different project stakeholders in the early stages of the project could potentially create unintended delays. Specifically, a number of critical questions were raised, including how stakeholder intentions are collectively constituted, and whether intentionality materially influences planned and achieved schedules in projects.