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

Introduction

Construction delay is ubiquitous in construction business, as well as being one of the most common risks to project success. This phenomenon largely overlaps the roles and interests of various project stakeholders in a multicultural society. Construction delay can be defined as the time overrun either beyond the contract deadline or beyond the date on which the parties agree upon for the delivery (Assaf & Al-Hajji, 2006). Project success is considered to have been achieved when it is completed within time, cost, on specification and to stakeholders’ satisfaction (Majid, 2006). Delay is considered a frequently recurring problem in many developing countries, especially those that have grown so quickly despite the recent financial crisis, for example, the UAE construction sector (Faridi & El-Sayegh, 2006; Motaleb, 2009).

Many researchers have classified the causes of construction project delay by stakeholders in groups like clients, contractors, consultants, project managers, resources (such as labor, materials, equipment), external and financial/economic factors (Odeh & Battaineh, 2002; Ahmed et al., 2003; Assaf & Al-Hajji, 2006; Faridi & El-Sayegh, 2006; Motaleb, 2009). The literature is extensive on this phenomenon. An investigation into selected global research in Table 1 has supported the way forward and future work for UAE construction projects. They have been classified into public and private sectors according to causes of group/category. It is reported as full/partial agreements beyond the studies, between 2000 -2010 to identify gaps in knowledge.