Angelo final revised completed (1)

Table of Contents

CHAPTER ONE....................................................4INTRODUCTION...................................................41.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY.........................................4

1.1.1 Brief Historical review of school infrastructure projects in Ghana.............................................................6

1.2 PROBLEM STATEMENT...............................................71.3 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES.............................................8

1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS..............................................81.5 ORGANIZATION OF THE STUDY.......................................9

CHAPTER TWO:..................................................10LITERATURE REVIEW.............................................102.1 INTRODUCTION...................................................102.2 CAUSES AND EFFECTS OF DELAYS IN MALAYSIAN CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY10

2.3 SIGNIFICANT CAUSES AND EFFECTS OF PROJECT DELAYS IN THE NIGER DELTA REGION, NIGERIA..............................................13

2.4 A SYSTEM THINKING APPROACH TO ELIMINATE DELAYS ON BUILDING CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS IN SOUTH AFRICA..............................17

2.5 DELAYS IN BUILDING CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS IN GHANA..............192.6 AN INVESTIGATION INTO CAUSES AND EFFECTS OF CONSTRUCTION DELAYS IN UAE.............................................................212.7 CHAPTER SUMMARY................................................23

CHAPTER THREE.................................................25METHODOLOGY...................................................253.1 INTRODUCTION...................................................253.2 RESEARCH DESIGN................................................25

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3.3 TARGET POPULATION..............................................263.4 SAMPLING SIZE AND SAMPLING TECHNIQUE...........................27

3.5 SOURCES OF DATA................................................273.6 DATA COLLECTION TOOL...........................................27

3.7 DATA ANALYSIS..................................................28

CHAPTER FOUR..................................................29DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF FINDINGS..................294.1 INTRODUCTION...................................................29

4.2 PERSONAL DETAILS OF RESPONDENTS................................294.2.1 Distribution of Sex of Respondents.........................29

4.2.2 Distribution of Respondents Age............................304.2.3 Respondents Qualification..................................31

4.2.4 Respondents’ Experience in Project Management..............314.2.5 Respondents Job Position...................................32

4.3 PERCEPTION OF PROJECT SUCCESS..................................334.3.1 What do you think a successful project should be?..........33

4.3.2 Do you think a project can be said to have absolute success or absolute failure rather than some degree of success or some degree of failure?...............................................344.3.3 Do you think a project involving the construction of government school infrastructure can be said to have absolute success or absolute failure rather than some degree of success or some degree of failure?..........................................35

4.4 CRITICAL FACTORS INFLUENCING PROJECT DELAYS....................36

4.4.1 Inadequate Funding.........................................364.4.2 Political Interference.....................................37

4.4.3 Increasing Cost of construction............................384.4.4 Improper planning..........................................39

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4.4.5 Weather Condition..........................................414.4.7 inadequate contractor experience in that particular area...43

4.4.8 Shortage in material.......................................444.4.9 Do you think there are external (outside the project environment) factors that affect project success or failure?.....46

4.5 PROJECT SUCCESS FACTORS........................................46

4.5.1 Management support is essential for the project to succeed 474.5.2 Skilled and experience project managers and staff is criticalfor project to be successful.....................................474.5.3 Communicating the expectation of the project to all groups involved, and roles clearly defined for each and every group will ensure a successful project......................................49

4.6 COMPOSITE RANKING OF SUCCESS FACTORS FROM ALL CATEGORIES OF RESPONDENTS........................................................50

CHAPTER FIVE..................................................55SUMMARY OF FINDINGS, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS...........555.1INTRODUCTION....................................................555.2 SUMMARY OF FINDINGS............................................55

5.3 CONCLUSION.....................................................575.4 RECOMMENDATIONS................................................60

REFERENCES....................................................61APPENDIX-RESEARCH QUESTIONNAIRE...............................64

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CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

There have been advocates about projects being successful if it

satisfies all three legs of triple constraint, namely,

performance (specification), cost and time. This is viewed by

Greer (1999) as the most basic level of project success. Thomsett

(2002) in a general examination of 20 failing projects over a

period of 18 years expands this criteria of project success as:

“satisfies stakeholder groups, meets functional requirements,

meets quality expectations and requirements, within cost, within

deadline, delivers sustained and actual benefits and provides the

team with professional satisfaction and learning”. However,

extensive as it may appear, this definition does not seem to

fully embrace the meaning of project success.

4

According to Munns and Bjeirmi (1996) a project can be considered

to be the achievement of a specific objective, which involves a

series of activities and tasks which consume resources. It has to

be completed within a set of time, having definite start and end

dates. For a project to be successful, major factors need to be

put in place effectively. According to Crawford (2002) project

success is an important project management issue, and thus one of

the most frequently discussed topics and there is a lack of

agreement concerning the criteria by which success is judged

(Baccarini 1999).

Shenhar et al. (2002) argued that basic measures have often

equated success with meeting the objectives of project budget and

schedule, and achieving an acceptable level of performance.

Nevertheless, all the measures are at best partial and

misleading. For example, these types of measures may be regarded

successful, projects that resulted in a product which was

difficult to market. Shenhar et al. (2002) contended that project

5

success may also differ according to the assessor; thus success

means different things to different people. For instance, they

argued that an architect may regard as success in terms of

aesthetic appearance, an engineer in terms of technical

competence, an accountant in terms of expenditure under budget,

and a human resources manager in terms of employee satisfaction.

Therefore, they disputed that a comprehensive success criterion

must reflect different views and interests.

Aside project successes or failures, there is another dimension

which is project delays whose elements when not controlled that

culminate into project failure. Delay is defined as an act or

event that extends the time required to perform the tasks under a

contract. It usually shows up as an additional days of work or as

a delayed start of an activity (Sweis et al., 2007). Sadi et al.

(2006) also defined delay as the time overrun either beyond

completion date specified in a contract, or beyond the date that

the parties agreed upon for delivery of a project. There is a

relationship between schedule, the scope of work and project

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conditions. Changes to any one or more of these three can affect

the compensation level and time of completion. It has been argued

that it is necessary to create awareness of causes of project

schedule delays, their frequency, and the extent to which they

adversely affect project delivery (Al-Khalil & Al-Gafly, 1999).

The contribution of government projects such as construction to

the general economy cannot be underestimated. Arditi et al.

(1985), for instance, reported that investment in Turkey’s

construction industry is about 50% from the total investment.

INTAN in 1994 reported that Malaysian Government plays an

important role in providing major infrastructure facilities in

order to satisfy the need of the socioeconomic environment and to

increase the living standard of people. In spite of the various

benefits of government projects to the general economy,

Woudhnysen and Abley (2004), however, found that there have been

a lot of problems in managing construction projects in order to

get maximum performance. Performance in construction projects

have been influenced by several factors such as external

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organization, internal organization, intra organization,

political and specific issues. The magnitude of the delay varies

considerably from project to project and from country to country.

From the Ghanaian perspective, this study aims to shed light on

the causes of government school infrastructure project delays and

their effects on completion.

1.2 PROBLEM STATEMENT

Project delays are part of the main problems affecting project

execution in the world over and mostly developing countries.

Despite the significant development of project management

principles in recent years, there are still a large proportion of

projects that fail, or otherwise, projects that are deemed as

unsuccessful. Many projects have been and still be undertaken in

the country be it expansion projects or process change projects.

It is therefore imperative that, unless some form of intervention

occurs, that a large number of future projects could still be

unsuccessful.

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The consequences of project delays can be very dire especially

for government school infrastructure projects. Delays can result

in crippling of some students’ academic aspirations and on a

larger scale shifts in the academic curricular as partly see in

the transition from three years to four year curriculum. Further

such delays irrespective of the causes results ultimately into

cost over-runs that leaks the already tight and inadequate public

purse which should be catering for other needs of the citizenry.

There are numerous reported cases where at the due completion

dates, projects were just 40% completed. Due to construction

delays and cost overruns, less and less work is performed despite

the increase in construction budgets. Moreover there are limited

studies (empirical evidence) conducted on why government school

infrastructure project in particular delay. This concentration is

necessary because the government pumps so much funds into such

projects but little is achieved at the completion date.

The aim of the research is to investigate the causes of delays on

government school infrastructure projects in Ghana with focus on

the western region as an area of interest.

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1.3 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

The following are the questions that will direct the collection

of relevant data for achieving research objectives.

i. What are the problems or factors that contribute to the delay

of government school infrastructure projects in Ghana?

ii. What are the effects of the delays on government school

infrastructure projects?

iii. What are the possible mitigation measures to minimize the

causes and effects of the delays of government school

infrastructure projects?

1.4 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

The ultimate aim of the study is to ascertain the major internal

and external factors that cause delays in government school

infrastructure projects. The specific objectives are however

presented below;

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i. To investigate factors which contribute to delays in

completing government school infrastructure projects?

ii. To examine how the causes of project delays can lead to

project failure.

iii. To develop measures that could be used to mitigate the

factors that expose government school projects to the risk

of delays.

1.5 ORGANIZATION OF THE STUDY

The study’s report is divided into five chapters. These are

chapter one which gives a brief introduction, define the existing

problem, outline the objectives of the study, and descried the

research goals and scope of the study.

Chapter two is devoted to the review of literature and broadly

contains a theoretical review and empirical evidence gathered on

the subject of study.

Chapter three describes the methodology used for this study. This

comprises the research strategy, sources and method of data

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collection, the type of data (primary) as well as description of

the mode of the analysis and presentation of data.

Chapter four discusses the research findings resulting from the

analysis of data and chapter five summarizes the entire research

and concludes the study as well as gives recommendations for the

study.

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CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 INTRODUCTIONThis part of the study elaborates on assessing the causes of

delay in government projects. The chapter presents a review for

relevant articles towards gaining a good understanding of the

theories that formed the basis of their research, the methods

they used and the conclusions that were made.

2.2 EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE ON CAUSES AND EFFECTS OF DELAYS:MALAYSIANCONSTRUCTION INDUSTRYSambasivan and Soon (2007) conducted a study on causes and effect

of delays in Malaysian construction industry. The main purpose of

the study was to identify the delay factors and their impact on

project completion. The main problem for occurrence of the study

was that the construction sector is an important sector that

contributes to Malaysia’s economic growth which accounted for

nearly3.3% of GDP in 2005 and employed about 600,000 workers

including 109,000 foreign workers. But the huge volume and

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complexity of projects in Malaysia’s construction sector pose a

great challenge and provide wealth opportunities to the various

companies in the construction industry.

The study revealed that the construction sector in Malaysia’s is

divided into four categories namely office, retail, residential

and infrastructure. The study took an integrated approach and

attempted to analyse the impact of specific causes on specific

effects and the research question was why is it necessary to link

help the practitioners to prevent or remedy future delays. The

major effects of delay are time overrun, cost overrun, dispute,

arbitration, litigation and total abandonment. Previous studies

on related topics on the studies on causes of delay as well as

studies on effects of delay in other countries by different

authors were also outlined in the works of Sambasivan and Soon

(2007).

The methodology revealed that a questionnaire was used to assess

the perceptions of clients, consultants and contractors on the

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relative importance of causes and effects of delay in Malaysian

construction industry. The questionnaire was divided into the

background information about respondents, focus on construction

delay which was identified by Odeh and Battained (2002) and the

effects of construction delays in Malaysian construction industry

through an open ended question.

The causes were categorized into the major causes and delay are

categorized as client-related, contractor related, consultant-

related, material-related, labour-related, contract-related,

contract relationship-relates and external factors. A point

likert scale ranging from 1-5 was used to capture the importance

of causes and effects of delays. A non-probability sampling

methods (convenience and snowball) was used in gathering data.

Two hundred (200) questionnaires were distributed to employees

within the construction industry which includes 50 public works

department of Malaysia, 50 development operators, 50 consultants

and 50 contractors. Out of the two hundred questionnaires

distributed, only 150 set were returned. Kometa et al, (1994)

15

used the relative importance index method to determine the

relative importance of the various causes and effects of delays

and this method was adopted in this study.

In the discussion of results, the results obtained by analyzing

the cause of delays were discussed, secondly, the results

obtained by analyzing the effects of the delay was also discussed

and thirdly, each of the effect were linked with the causes of

delay. The ten most important causes of delay were explained and

they include contractor’s improper planning, contractor’s poor

site management, inadequate contractor experience, client’s

finance and payments for completed work, problems with

subcontractors, shortage in material, labour supply, equipment

availability and failure, lack of communication between parties

and mistakes during the construction stage.

Other causes of delay discussed include time overrun, cost

overrun, disputes, arbitration, litigation and total abandonment.

The prescriptions to reduce delays were also discussed and they

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were grouped into three categories. They include prescriptions

for the clients where clients are to be selected based on their

experience, technical capability, financial capability and

sufficient man power to execute the project.

The second prescription is prescription for the consultants here

when drawing the contract, the consultant must include items such

as duration of contract, mechanism to solve disputes, mechanism

to assess the causes of delay, preparing and approving drawings

on time, and monitoring work closely and making inspection. With

the perceptions for the contractors, contractors should not take

jobs that they have insufficient expertise, they should have able

site-managers for smooth execution of work and they must plan

work properly and provide the entire schedule to the clients and

must make sure they have sound financial backing.

The study concludes that the findings of this study will be of

immense help to the practitioners and academicians, the

practitioners can better understand the dynamics of project

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management and make efforts to reduce the incidences of delays.

Some of the causes and effects may be unique to certain countries

and academicians can conduct similar research in other parts of

the country.

2.3 SIGNIFICANT CAUSES AND EFFECTS OF PROJECT DELAYS IN THE NIGERDELTA REGION, NIGERIASunjka and Jacob (2013) conducted a study on the significant

causes and effects of project delays in the Niger delta region,

Nigeria. The study proceeded by introducing the Niger Delta

regional Development Master Plan (NDRDMP). The main problem which

brought about the emergence of the research is the delay in the

completion of construction projects in the Niger Delta Region and

the research question is what is the nature and significance of

construction project delays experienced in the Niger Delta

Region. The objectives were to identify the causes of project

delays and determine the most important ones in the Niger Delta

region, Nigeria; identify the effects of project delays and

determine the most important ones in the Niger Delta Region,

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Nigeria and propose solutions to project delays in the Niger

Delta region by ranking their impacts and investigating how they

could be eliminated or minimized.

In the study construction projects were defined as an industry

that involves complex and dynamic processes which consist of

successful coordination of multiple discrete business entities

such as professionals, tradesmen, manufacturer, trade unions,

investors, local authorities, specialists, trade contractors

(Keane and Caletka, 2008) and others and it impact on a nations

economy. a successful completion of construction projects leads

to wealth creation, socio-economic growth and improved standard

of living (Sweis, et al, 2008) whiles delay in construction

projects impact on the economic projection of a nation. The most

occurring problem in the construction industry is the delay in

the completion of constructed projects which is a common global

phenomenon.

19

The study further revealed the construction projects in the Niger

Delta region and indicated that Nigeria is the tenth largest

contributor to the world’s crude oil supply with 90% of its

foreign exchange obtained from the sale of its crude oil. The

Niger Delta comprises of nine states of federation and despite

the successful exploration of oil and gas there are inadequate

infrastructural projects such as roads, hospitals and school

building which has led to youth unrest, militant and

consequently, hindered oil and gas exploration. Hence the supply

of oil and gas in the world oil market has dropped (Ejibunu,

2007). Construction projects in the Niger Delta region include

infrastructure and utilities projects such as building,

electrification, jetties or shore protection, channelization,

roads or bridges and water works and they consume 60-70% of

annual capital budgetary expenditure in the region. Donor

agencies such as European Union and NGO’s partner with some

benefitting communities to execute infrastructural projects in

the region according to the terms and conditions stipulated on

the memorandum of understanding (MOU) agreed between them.

20

Terms such as project delays, classification of delays and

effects of project delays are defined. Projects delay is when the

stipulated completion duration of a project have not been

achieved. Delays are categorized as excusable non-compensable

delays, non-excusable delays, excusable compensable delays and

concurrent delays. The impact of delay in project completion is

termed the effect of project delay.

The study identifies thirty eight (38) causes of construction

project delay which were used for investigation in this study.

The causes were grouped into clients’ related issues which

include insufficient funding, interference with project

performance, delay or non-payment for completed works,

impractical allocation of resources, unrealistic contract

duration, wrong choice of consultants and contractors, slow

decision making, design alterations and change orders. Other

causes include contractor-related issues which include poor

coordination of subcontractors, inappropriate construction

methods, inadequate planning, inadequate experience, mistakes

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during construction stage, incompetent site management, and wrong

choice of Bankers.

Labour and equipment related issues also include unskilled site

manpower, improper equipment selection and faulty equipment,

labour disputes. Material related issues also include poor

quality materials, material shortages. Consultant-related issues

include inappropriate design, poor contract management, late

identification and resolution of drawings and specification

errors and omissions, late preparation of drawings and other

contract documents, improper contract packaging or delivery

strategy, over inspection, long waiting time for inspection and

testing, inappropriate coordination of information.

The community related issues include lack of community buy-in,

delay or Non-payment of Compensation, youth unrest, Militancy and

communal crises. Contractual relationships related issues include

lack of adequate communication between the parties, major

disputes and negotiations, wrong organizational structure linking

22

to the project and external issues which include weather

conditions, change in government’s leadership and policies,

natural disasters, interference by political leaders. The effects

of project delays identified for investigation include time

overrun, budget overrun, poor quality completed project, bad

quality completed project, bad public relations, litigation,

arbitration, disputes and claims and total abandonment.

A questionnaire was appropriate for the survey and the

participants were the public sector, multinational companies and

private companies which include consultants, clients and

contractors at Port Harcourt city in Nigeria which is situated in

the Niger Delta region. Qualitative sample was used and eighty-

three (83) returned questionnaires was used for the study. The

survey was analysed using inferential statistics (factor

analysis, analysis of variance and t-test).

The study concluded that there are eleven (11) most important

factors for the cause of project delays and three (3) most

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important effects of delays in the Niger Delta region. There are

also benefits derived from project delays by contractors.

Construction work in the Niger Delta is challenged by weather and

strict planning is required to meet project timelines.

Recommendations include solutions to the causes of project delays

in the Niger Delta region and they include solutions to youth

unrest, militancy and communal crises, solutions to inadequate

planning by contractors, solution to delay or non-payment of

compensation to the community, solution to wrong choice of

consultants and contractors by the clients and solutions to lack

of community buy-in.

2.4 A SYSTEM THINKING APPROACH TO ELIMINATE DELAYS ON BUILDINGCONSTRUCTION PROJECTS IN SOUTH AFRICAAiyetan, Smallwood and Shakantu, (2011) conducted a study on a

system thinking approach to eliminate delays on building

construction projects in South Africa. The study revealed that

the process of construction demand accuracy and very high

precision. The prediction of project completion time is a means

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of realizing client satisfaction and will result in a competitive

advantage all other things being equal or constant. Lack of

project management competence could adversely affect delivery

time of a project.

Cooke-Davies (2001) indicated that project management is a tool

for project success hence project management competence level is

directly proportional to the level of success a project may

attain. The literature classifies the factors pertaining to the

subject of delay the delivery process and they include clients

understanding of the design, quality of management during

developed, quality of management during construction, motivation

of staff, site ground conditions, site access, constructability

of design, management style, management techniques used for

planning and control, physical environmental conditions, economic

policy and socio-political conditions.

Aiyetan et al. (2011) used both quantitative and qualitative

research approaches in their study. The sample consisted of

25

architects, clients, contractors, quantity surveyors and

structural engineers in South African construction industry.

Eighty-eight practitioners were surveyed during the phase one of

the study and four during the validation of the model and were

randomly sampled from samples in phase one. Background of the

respondents was collected, followed by the ranking of the

influences of factor categories on project delivery on time.

Presentation of the results and Discussion was also done on the

ranking of the influences of factor categories on project

delivery on time. The study was also introduced to systems

thinking and it was revealed that the system model for this study

is an approach to develop a holistic understanding of the

delivery process of building construction projects, the

complexity of the interrelationships of task, the actions of

professionals and the influence of environment has on the process

and delivery time of projects.

The factors that are problematic and require attention in the

delivery of projects on time is the poor performance practices in

the building construction industry hence the problem of delay is

26

mainly constructed-related. The study used a model to ensure

project delivery on time. The model is discussed in the following

sequence as basis for the model, the model flowchart, elements

constituting the model, validation of the model and summary of

the validation of the model. The study concluded that the most

important category of interventions is the construction stage. In

addition, all interventions proposed at each stage of

construction have between a moderate influences to a near major

or near major influence on the delivery of projects in South

Africa hence only pre-qualification of suppliers falls outside

the range. Furthermore, interventions at the construction stage

are deemed as most effective for the elimination of delays on

project delivery time and all the interventions proposed in the

models are important for completion of projects on time.

The study recommends a pre-qualification for suppliers; attention

should be paid to adequate briefing, confirmation of client

financial capability and design quality assurance at the brief or

design stage. In addition, things that will contribute to

eliminating delays in project should be adhered to and the study

27

indicated various strategies that should be made part of tender

documents at the tender stage.

2.5 DELAYS IN BUILDING CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS IN GHANAFugar and Agyakwah-Baah (2010) conducted a study to investigate

the causes of delays of building construction projects in Ghana.

The objectives of the study were to identify the perceptions of

the three main parties regarding the causes of delays and suggest

possible ways of eradicating or minimizing them. The study out

lined various definitions of delay. For example, Sambasivan and

Soon (2007) were of the view that delays are insidious often

resulting in time overrun, cost overrun, disputes, litigation and

complete abandonment of projects. In addition to this,

construction delay is a major problem facing the Ghanaian

construction industry.

The study revealed that the construction industry is an important

sector of the Ghanaian economy as it contributes an average of

8.5% of the Gross Domestic Product and provides means of

28

production for other industries or commodities to be consumed.

Delays in construction are caused by several factors and Ahmed et

al. (2003) grouped delays into two categories namely internal

causes and external causes. On the other hand Bolton classified

delay as excusable but non-compensable delay, compensable delay

and inexcusable delay. Other empirical reviews on the causes of

delay in construction project have been outlined in the study and

it was revealed that factors that cause delay in construction

projects are many and vary from country to country and from one

circumstance to another.

Fugar and Agyakwah-Baah (2010) study selected 130 respondents

made up of 39 contractors, 37 clients and 54 consultants.

Questionnaires were given to these respondents to aid in the

research. The study used a semi-structured interview on 15 key

players who were selected by a non-probabilistic snow ball

technique. The key players consists of 5 contractors, client’s

representatives and consultants who were interviewed essentially

to validate a preliminary set of construction delay causes

29

gleaned from the literature and to determine from their

experience other factors which cause construction delay in Ghana.

The survey data consisted of 32 causes of delay which were

analysed and grouped into nine major areas according to a

modified version of Assaf et al. (1995) classifications and they

include materials, manpower, equipment, financing, environment,

changes, government action, contractual relationships and

scheduling and controlling techniques and his seventh major

classification was Government relations’ which was substituted by

the research with Government actions. A spearman’s rank

correlation coefficient was used to show the degree of agreement

between the rankings of any two parties.

Fugar and Agyakwah-Baah (2010) study concluded that all the three

groups of respondents (clients, consultants and contractors)

agree that out of the 32 factors the top ten influencing factors

in causing delay in descending order are delay in honouring

certificates, underestimation of the costs of projects,

30

underestimation of the complexity of projects, difficulty in

assessing bank credit, poor supervision, understanding of time

for completion of projects by contractors, shortage of materials,

poor professional management, fluctuation of prices or rising

cost of materials and poor site management. In addition to this

the respondents agreed that the financing group of delay factors

was the most influential factor and material factors were

considered as the second most important factor causing delay

followed by scheduling and controlling factors.

Fugar and Agyakwah-Baah (2010) study also recommends that the

importance of adequate and timely provision of financial

resources in building construction project management cannot be

over emphasized. Furthermore, a project is not only delayed but

the morale of workers plummet because of non-payment or irregular

payment of wages. The study also gave some recommendations to the

challenge to construction managers and clients since it is to

identify ways to eliminate or at least reduce the occurrence of

financial crisis during the construction process. In addition,

31

recommendations to overcome some contractor’s ineptitude which

correlates directly with delay factors such as understanding of

cost, time of completion and complexity of projects, poor

scheduling and control and poor site management have been

indicated in this study.

2.6 AN INVESTIGATION INTO CAUSES AND EFFECTS OF CONSTRUCTION

DELAYS IN UAE

Motaled and Kishk (2010) conducted a study to investigate into

the causes and effects of construction delays in United Arab,

Emirates (UAE). The main objective of this study is to identify

the main causes and effects of construction project delays in

UAE. The study revealed that a UAE construction company is the

growing rate of delays in project delivery. Assaf and Al-Hajji

(2006) described construction delay as the time overrun either

beyond the contract date or beyond the date that the parties

agree upon for delivery and it is one of the most recurring

problems in the construction industry. Project can be delayed as

a result of a large number of factors hence different authors

from Ghana by Frimpong (2003), Vietnam by Long et al. (2004),

Kuwait by Koushki et al. (2005), Saudi Arabia by Assaf and Al-

Hejji (2006) and in Jordan by Sweis et al. (2008). Delays also

have an adverse impact on project success in terms of time, cost,

quality and safety hence the effect of construction delays are

32

not confined to construction companies but can however influence

the overall economy of a country where construction plays a major

role in its development and contribute the gross domestic product

(GDP). In the UAE, half of construction projects encounter delays

(Faridi and El-Sayegh, 2006).

The study was based on literature review of the various causes

and effects of project delay. A questionnaire survey was used to

investigate 42 potential delay factors. The questionnaire was

designed in such a way that the first section was intended

generate information about the respondents profile whiles the

second and third sections was related to questions on the causes

and effects of construction projects delays respectively. The

Questionnaire was distributed to a random sample of 50 experts

working in the local consulting, project management and

contracting companies in UAE. The data analysis was carried out

using SPSS for windows and Microsoft excel.

Forty two potential causes of construction projects delay were

identified and it was categorized into contractor, consultant,

project managers, client, financial and unforeseen categories.

33

Fifteen top causes of delay include 6 client related factors, 4

project manager-related factors, 3 financial factors and 2

contractor related factors. The client related factors was more

significant cause of delay which is followed by project team or

management related factors and various financial factors faced by

contractors. Time and cost overrun was identified as the two most

important effects. Hence the study recommended the need for

training clients and their representatives and the project teams.

The study also recommends for a further future work on conducting

a well-grounded survey of construction delays in the UAE to

triangulate the initial approach adopted in this research

findings which will in turn address the limitations of the study

considering the sample size and methodology adopted.

2.7BRIEF HISTORICAL REVIEW OF SCHOOL INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS IN GHANASchools infrastructure projects dates back to the pre-colonial

era. When the Gold Coast was colonized, the colonial masters

sought to educate Ghanaians and as such built churches and

schools. As early as 1848, the first college of education

34

(training college) was established in Akuapem-Akropog by the

Presbyterian/Basel missionaries and later transferred under

government’s control. The construction of schools continued

through independence period until now. The issue was that, each

government had its own approach to building schools. This

continued till the establishment of Ghana Educational Trust Fund

(GET fund) in 2000 by an Act of parliament Act 581 which

formalized the procedures leading to the implementation of

government schools infrastructure projects.

There have been reports of blunders committed especially in

supervising the execution of projects as found in the Auditor

General’s reports for 2010. Since many of projects considered in

this study are mostly funded by GET Fund, challenges found will

be beneficial to policy makers at GET Fund as well.

2.8 CHAPTER SUMMARYIt is refreshing to know that, the subject area of this study is

not virgin, thus a number of authors in Ghana and around the

world have research on similar issues in their respective

35

countries. While Sambasivan and Soon (2007) conducted a study on

causes and effect of delays in Malaysian construction industry,

Sunjka and Jacob (2013) conducted a study on the significant

causes and effects of project delays in the Niger delta region,

Nigeria. Also, Aiyetan, Smallwood and Shakantu, (2011) conducted

a study on a system thinking approach to eliminate delays on

building construction projects in South Africa while Motaled and

Kishk (2010) conducteda study to investigate into the causes and

effects of construction delays in United Arab, Emirates (UAE).

One of the major indigenous works which was reviewed was by Fugar

and Agyakwah-Baah (2010). They conducted a study to investigate

the causes of delays of building construction projects in Ghana.

The main theme that runs through all five articles is project

delays while the research setting is the major difference among

all major articles reviewed. In relation to this study, one can

see a relatively new approach being presented, thus though the

causes of project delay is common to all research works

conducted, none of them focused on school infrastructure

36

projects. This indeed places this study in a position that makes

it capable on adding something valuable to extant literature.

The methodological approaches used by all papers reviewed were

similar, thus all of them used a survey approach among certain

person who are contractors, consultants or clients. In the data

gathering process, they are presented a list of possible causes

of project delays from which respondents were to rank which ones

were most frequent or dominant in accounting for the overall

project delays.

It has been seen that, the causes of project delays were quite

similar across all papers except that the factors that were

attributable to the public sector inefficiencies were only common

to the African countries like Nigeria and Ghana. These factors

include delay in honouring certificates and fund disbursements.

The other causes of project delay that were revealed include

underestimation of the costs of projects, underestimation of the

complexity of projects, difficulty in assessing bank credit, poor

37

supervision, understanding of time for completion of projects by

contractors, shortage of materials, poor professional management,

fluctuation of prices or rising cost of materials and poor site

management among others.

CHAPTER THREE

METHODOLOGY

3.1 INTRODUCTION This chapter deals with the methods used in the research to help

answer the research questions. It covers the research design to

38

be used, the population to sample, sample size and sampling

technique, research instrument and instrumentation, and data

analysis procedure. The research design is discussed first since

it partly explains all or some of other items mentioned above.

3.2 RESEARCH DESIGNThe research was designed to use only primary data and secondary

sources of data. The research administered questionnaire for the

collection of primary data. Two types of questions defined the

questionnaire: close-ended and open-ended questions. The Close-

ended questions had predetermined options from which respondents

will select from. On the other hand the open-ended questions

allowed respondents to express their opinion about the subject

being investigated or is understudy.

The primary data was gathered through administering a survey

questionnaire to project managers (contractors), consultants and

the district/municipal/metropolitan assembly engineer who in most

cases have an oversight responsibility over government awarded

39

contracts being implemented in their locality. Both qualitative

and quantitative data were used obtained for analysis towards

answering the research objectives. Therefore descriptive

qualitative and quantitative designs were used to guide the data

collection for analysis. The design was descriptive since the

researcher tried to identify and describe the factors that limit

project managers or contractors’ ability to complete government

projects on time especially those which involved the construction

of school infrastructure.

Descriptive research design is a scientific method involving the

description of the behavior of a subject without influencing it

in any way (Shuttleworth, 2008). Also qualitative and

quantitative design is used since the study will rely on both

qualitative and quantitative data are good and such data can be

analyzed using descriptive analysis.

The data gathered from the questionnaires and analyzed with

content analysis and descriptive analysis. The Descriptive

40

analysis was conducted using Microsoft Excel 2007 and SPSS

(Statistical Product and Services Solutions). The research design

was informed mainly by the works of Sambasivan and Soon (2007)

and Fugar and Agyakwah-Baah (2010).

3.3 TARGET POPULATIONThe study’s target population consisted of all constructing

firms, government agencies and consultant in the greater Accra

region. The study used a stratified sampling to select a sample

of 50 respondents from each strata, three stratum constituting

respondents from constructing firms, government agencies and

consultants, the purpose for stratified sampling is because the

population consist of a number of distinctive components, it is a

useful method of sampling since we are sampling a relatively

small sample from the extremely large and diverse heterogeneous

population.

3.4 SAMPLING SIZE AND SAMPLING TECHNIQUEData or information for the study was obtained by administering

fifty (50) questionnaires to project managers, contractors and

41

government agencies respectively from the target population. Thus

a total of One Hundred and Fifty (150) questionnaires were given

out to the total respondents. Simple Random sampling formed the

sampling technique for the selection of the hundred respondents.

By this technique, the researcher hoped to eliminate biasness in

the selection of potential respondents. Teddlie and Yu (2007)

state that simple random sampling is a probability sampling

technique where each unit (e.g., persons, cases) in the

accessible population has an equal chance of being included in

the sample, and the probability of a unit being selected is

independent of the selection of other units in the population.

3.5 SOURCES OF DATAAs stated in the design the researcher relied on both primary and

secondary sources. The primary form of data was obtained from the

questionnaires that were administered to respondents. The

secondary data was obtained from sources such as journals,

articles and newspapers.

42

3.6 DATA COLLECTION TOOLThe study used carefully designed questionnaires made up of

mostly closed ended questions with a table that had thirty-five

(35) possible causes of project delays learnt from the literature

reviewed in the previous chapter. These possible causes of

project delay were presented in a tabular schedule and

respondents were then required to indicate the extent to which

they agreed to any of the named factors as a cause of overall

project delay in the construction of school infrastructure as

appendixed to this chapter.

3.7 DATA ANALYSISData analysis is the process of planning, organizing,

transforming and modeling data to arrive at useful information

for decision making and in the case of research to address the

research objectives. The researcher used content and descriptive

analysis to achieve the research objectives. The close-ended

questions were analyzed using descriptive methods such as tables,

charts and graphs. Content analysis was carried out the open-

43

ended questions to identify and group similar responses on main

themes the responses carry.

Content analysis or textual analysis is a methodology used to

study the content of communication or textual information.

Responses to open-ended questions when grouped under themes will

be analyzed using descriptive analysis. Descriptive analysis will

be conducted using Microsoft Excel 2007 and SPSS.

44

CHAPTER FOUR

DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF FINDINGS

4.1 INTRODUCTIONThis chapter deals with making a statistical sense out of the

data. It compresses the data and attempts to bring the

statistical meaning out of it. This chapter considers descriptive

and inferential method of analysis. It also discusses the

relevant issues to answer the research objectives. The population

was divided into three strata and a random sampling of 50

respondents was taken from each stratum and interviewed.

4.2 PERSONAL DETAILS OF RESPONDENTSThe part of the analysis examines the demographic data such as

age, sex, qualification and work experience and job description

of the respondents. The reliability of data gathered in a survey

to a large extent depends on the facts available to the

respondent to the time of the survey. Hence, it makes logical

sense to examine the biographical data on the respondent before

assessing the implications of their responses on the research

questions raised.

45

4.2.1 Distribution of Sex of RespondentsTable 4.1 below depicts that out of the 150 respondents sampled

from the three strata in the Greater Accra metropolis, 76.67% of

the total sampled population were males whiles 23.33% of the

total sampled population were female. . The incidence of more

number of males than females may be explained by the nature of

Ghanaian traditional working environment which encourage more

males than females to take professional careers, for the purpose

of the research, the responses from both sexes will be given

equal consideration as there is no distinct correlation between

gender and the perception of the subject of study.

Table 4.1: The sex of the respondents

Frequency Valid

Percent

Valid male 115 76.67

female 35 23.33

Total 150 100.00

Source: Data Survey

46

4.2.2 Distribution of Respondents AgeFrom figure 4.1 it could be seen that out of the 150 respondents

sampled 3.3% of them were between the age of 20 to 29 years,37

constituting 25% of the total sampled population were between the

age of 30 to 39 year,53 representing 35% of the sampled

population were between the age of 40 to 49 years, also those

between the age of 50 to 59 years made up of 37 respondents

constituting 25% of the total sampled population, furthermore 18

respondents constituting 11.67% of the total sampled population

were 60 years and above

20-29 30-39 40-49 50-59 60 and above

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Ages

numb

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dent

s

47

Figure 4.1: Age of Respondents

Source: Data Survey

4.2.3 Respondents QualificationFrom table 4.2 below show that out of the 150 respondents 5

constituting 3.3% are Diploma and HND holders, 47 constituting

31.67% of the total population sampled are Bachelor degree

holders, 55 constituting 36.67% of the total sampled population

are masters degree holders, also those who hold PHD make up of 10

respondents constituting of 6.67% of the total sampled

population. Lastly 33 constituting of 21.67% of the total sampled

population are professional degree.

Table 4.2: Qualification of Respondents

Qualificat

ion

Frequen

cy

Valid

Percent

Diploma/

HND5 3.333333

Bachelor’s

Degree47 31.66667

48

Master’s

Degree55 36.66667

PHD 10 6.666667

Profession

al33 21.66667

Total 150 100

Source: Data Survey

4.2.4 Respondents’ Experience in Project ManagementFrom figure 4.2 below it could be seen that those whose project

management experience is less than 5 year are 18 constituting

11.67% of the total sampled population,55 constituting 36.675 of

the total sampled population has a project management experience

between the years of 6 t0 10,40 constituting 26.67% of the

respondents are those with project management experience between

11 to 15 years,8.33% respondents said they have manage project

between 16 to 20 years, another 8.33% said they have also managed

projects between 21 to 25 years, furthermore 8respondents

constituting 5% of the total sampled population said they have

49

managed project between 26 to 30 years, lastly those who said

they have managed project for more than 30 years made up of 5

respondents representing 3.33% of the total sampled population.

0204060

years of experience

numb

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spon

dent

s

Figure 4.2: Experience gained by respondents in project

management

Source: Data Survey

4.2.5 Respondents Job PositionIt could be seen from table 4.3 below that 77 out of the total

sampled population were project managers or civil engineers, 45

constituting 30% of the total sampled population are site

engineers, 25 respondent representing 16.67% of the total sampled

50

population are site engineers, lastly 3 respondents constituting

1.67% of the total sampled population are those with other job

positions.

Table 4.3: Respondents Job Position

Frequen

cy

Valid

Percent

Project

manager/civil

engineer

77 51.66667

Site engineer 45 30

Site supervisor 25 16.66667

Other 3 1.666667

Total 60 100

Source: Data Survey

4.3 PERCEPTION OF PROJECT SUCCESSThis part of the data analysis ascertains the perception of the

respondent on the success of the school infrastructure project in

the Greater Accra metropolis.

51

4.3.1 What do you think a successful project should be?From figure 4.3 it could be seen that out of the 150 respondents

sampled 27 constituting 18.33% said the completed project should

at least meet the expectation of all stakeholders,33 respondent

representing 22.33% of the total respondents said the project

should deliver what is expected with the minimum cost possible,

those who said projects should be completed within the timescale

set out for the completion were 34 constituting 22.67% of the

total sampled population, also 30 constituting 19.67% of the

total sampled population said completed projects should meet all

the functional requirements, lastly those who said completed

project should deliver sustained and actual benefits to the

stakeholders are 26 constituting 17% of the total sampled

population.

52

010203040

characteristics of project success

numb

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dent

s

Figure 4.3 what do you think a successful project should be?

Source: Data Survey

4.3.2 Do you think a project can be said to have absolute successor absolute failure rather than some degree of success or somedegree of failure?From table 4.4 below, out of the 150 respondents sampled 145

constituting 96.67% of the total sampled population said yes,

projects should either be evaluated as absolute success or

absolute failure whiles 5 respondents constituting 3.335 of the

total sampled population said no, projects should rather be

evaluated as some degree of success or some degree of failure.

53

Table 4.4 Do you think a project can be said to have absolute

success or absolute failure rather than some degree of success or

some degree of failure

Frequen

cy

Valid

Percen

t

Yes it should either be evaluated as

absolute success or absolute failure145

96.666

67

No it should rather be evaluated as

some degree of success or some degree

of failure

53.3333

33

Total 150

Source: Data Survey

54

4.3.3 Do you think a project involving the construction ofgovernment school infrastructure can be said to have absolutesuccess or absolute failure rather than some degree of success orsome degree of failure?From figure 4.4 below it could be seen that out of 150

respondents, 140 respondents constituting 93.33% said “Yes”,

project involving the construction of government school

infrastructure can be said to have absolute success or absolute

failure, 10 respondents constituting 6.67% of the total sampled

population responded “No”, project involving the construction of

government school infrastructure should rather be said to have

some degree of success or some degree of failure.

04080120160

response

numb

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spon

dent

s

55

Figure 4.4 Do you think a project involving the construction of

government school infrastructure can be said to have absolute


some degree of failure?

4.4 CRITICAL FACTORS INFLUENCING PROJECT DELAYSThis part of the data analysis is to deal with the critical

factors that influence the delay on the construction of

government school infrastructure in the greater Accra metropolis.

4.4.1 Inadequate FundingFrom Table 4.5, it could be seen that out of the 150 sampled for

the purpose of the research,110 constituting 73.33% said they

strongly agree that inadequate funding contribute to the delay in

the completion of construction of the school infrastructure,35

constituting 23.335 of the total respondents said they agree that

inadequate funding influences the delay in the delays in the

completion of the construction of the school project,5

constituting 3.33% of the total respondents said they are not

sure if inadequate funding influences the delay in the

construction of the school project.

Table 4.5 Inadequate Funding

56

Frequen

cy

Valid

Percent

not sure 5 3.333333

agree 35 23.33333

strongly

agree110 73.33333

Total 150 100

Source: Data Survey

4.4.2 Political InterferenceIt could be depicted from figure 4.5 that out of the 150

respondents,90 respondents constituting 60% said they strongly

agree that political interference influences the delay in the

construction of the school infrastructure project, 45

constituting 30% of the total sampled population said they agree

that political interference influences the delay in the

construction of the school infrastructure project by the

government,15 respondents constituting 10% of the total

respondents said that they are not sure if political interference

57

influences the delay in the construction of the school

infrastructure project by government in the greater Accra.

not sure agree strongly agree0102030405060708090100

response for factor contributing to project failure

numb

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spon

dents

Figure 4.5 Political Interference

Source: Data Survey

4.4.3 Increasing Cost of constructionFrom table 4.6,it could be seen that out of the total sampled

population of 150 respondents,57 respondents constituting 38.33%

said they strongly agree that increasing cost of construction

influences the delay in completion of the construction of the

school infrastructure project by the government in Greater

Accra,50 constituting 33.33% of the total respondents said they

58

that increasing cost of production influences the delay in

completion of the construction of the school infrastructure

project by the government in Greater accra,33 respondents

constituting 21.67% of the total respondents said they are not

sure that increasing cost of construction influences the delay

in completion of the construction of the school infrastructure

project by the government in Greater Accra, also 5 constituting

3.33% of the total respondents said they disagree that increasing

cost of production influences the delay in completion of the


government in Greater Accra, lastly 5 constituting of 3.33% of

the total sampled population said that they strongly disagree

that increasing cost of production influences the delay in


project by the government in Greater Accra.

Table 4.6 increasing cost of production

Frequen

cy

Valid Percent

59

strongly

disagree5 3.333333

disagree 5 3.333333

not sure 33 21.66667

agree 50 33.33333

strongly agree 57 38.33333

Total 150 100

Source: Data Survey

4.4.4 Improper planningfrom figure 4.5,it could be seen that out of the sampled

population of 150 respondents,55 respondents constituting 37% of

the total sampled population said they agree that improper

planning influences the delay in completion of the construction

of the school infrastructure project by the government in Greater

Accra,50 constituting 33% of the total sampled population said

they strongly agree that improper planning influences the delay


project by the government in Greater Accra,25 of the respondents

constituting 17% of the total sampled population said they are

60

not sure that improper planning influences the delay in


project by the government in Greater Accra,12 respondents

representing 8% of the total sampled population said they

disagree that improper planning influences the delay in


project by the government in Greater Accra,5 constituting 3% of

the total respondents said they strongly disagree that improper

planning influences the delay in completion of the construction

of the school infrastructure project by the government in Greater

Accra, lastly 3 respondents constituting 2% of the total sampled

population said it is not applicable that improper planning


school infrastructure project by the government in Greater Accra.

61

0

20

40

60

response to factors contributing to project failure

numb

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spon

se

Figure 4.6 Improper Planning

Source: Data Survey

4.4.5 Weather ConditionFrom table 4.8 below it could be that 55 respondents constituting

37% of the total sampled population agree that weather condition


school infrastructure project by the government in Greater Accra,

40 constituting 27% of the total sampled population said that

they strongly agree that weather condition influences the delay


project by the government in Greater Accra, also another 40

62

respondents constituting 27% of the total respondents said they

were not sure that weather condition influences the delay in



constituting 6% of the total sampled population said it was not

applicable that weather condition influences the delay in


project by the government in Greater Accra, lastly 5 constituting

3% of the total sampled population said they strongly disagree

that weather condition influences the delay in completion of the

construction of the school infrastructure.

Table 4.7 Weather Condition

Frequen

cy

Valid

Percent

not

applicable10 6

strongly

disagree5 3

63

not sure 40 27

Agree 55 37

strongly

agree40 27

Total 150 100

Source: Data Survey

4.4.6 Equipment availability and failure

from figure 4.7 it could be seen that out of the 150 sampled from

the three strata,61 constituting of 41% of the total sampled

population said they are not sure that equipment availability and

failure influences the delay in completion of the construction of

the school infrastructure project by the government in Greater

Accra,31 constituting 20% of the total sampled population said

they agree and strongly agree each that equipment availability

and failure influences the delay in completion of the


government in Greater Accra,25 of the respondents representing

17% of the total sampled population said they disagree that

64

equipment availability and failure influences the delay in


project by the government in Greater Accra, lastly 3 constituting

2%of the total sampled population for the research said it is not

applicable that equipment availability and failure influences the

delay in completion of the construction of the school

infrastructure project by the government in Greater Accra.

65

not apllicable

disagree

not sure

agree

strongly agree

0

20

40

60


numb

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f re

spon

dent

s

Figure 4.7 equipment availability and Failure

Source: Data Survey

4.4.7 inadequate contractor experience in that particular areaFrom table 4.8,it could be seen that out of the 150 respondent

sampled,49 constituting 33% of the total sampled population said

they agree that inadeguate contrators experience in that

particular area influences the delay in completion of the


government in Greater Accra,44 constituting 29% of the total

respondents said they are not sure that inadeguate contrators

experience in that particular area influences the delay in

66



constituting 22% of the total sampled population said they

disagree that inadeguate contrators experience in that particular

area influences the delay in completion of the construction of

the school infrastructure project by the government in Greater

Accra,21 constituting 145 of the total respondents said they

strongly agree that inadeguate contrators experience in that

particular area influences the delay in completion of the


government in Greater Accra, lastly 3 constituting 2% of the

total sampled population said they strongly agree that inadeguate

contrators experience in that particular area influences the

delay in completion of the construction of the school

infrastructure project by the government in Greater Accra.

Table 4.8Inadequate Contractor Experience In That Particular Area

Frequen

cy

Valid

Percent

67

strongly

disagree3 2

disagree 34 22

not sure 44 29

agree 49 33

strongly

agree21 14

Total 150 100

Source: Data Survey

4.4.8 Shortage in materialFigure 4.8 depicts that out of the total sampled population of

150 respondents,53 constituting 36% were not sure that shortage

in material influences the delay in completion of the


government in Greater Accra,41 constituting 36% of the total

sampled population agrees that shortage in material influences

the delay in completion of the construction of the school

infrastructure project by the government,25 constituting 17% of

the total sampled respondents disagree that shortage in material

68


school infrastructure project by the government,18 respondents

constituting 12% of the total respondents strongly disagree that

shortage in material influences the delay in completion of the


government,lastly13 constituting 8% of the total respondents

strongly agree that shortage in material influences the delay in


project by the government.

strongly disagree

disagree not sure agree strongly agree

0

10

20

30

40

50

60


numb

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f re

spon

dent

s

Figure 4.8 Shortages in Material

69

Source: Data Survey

4.4.9 Do you think there are external (outside the projectenvironment) factors that affect project success or failure?Figure 4.9 indicate that 120 constituting 80% of the total

sampled population said yes they think there are external

(outside the project environment) factors that affect the project

success or failure whiles 30 constituting 20% of the total

sampled population said no there is don’t think there are

external factors that affects the project’s success or failure.

yes no020406080100120140

response

numb

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spon

dent

s

70

Figure 4.9 Do you think there are external (outside the project

environment) factors that affect project success or failure?

Source: Data Survey

4.5 PROJECT SUCCESS FACTORSThis part of the data analysis deals with the factors that are

associated with project success of the school infrastructure

project by the government.

4.5.1 Management support is essential for the project to succeedFrom table 4.10 below it could be seen that 67 respondents

constituting 45% of the total sampled population strongly agree

that management support is essential for the school

infrastructure project to succed,another 67 constituing 45% of

the total respondents agree that management support is essential

for the school infrastructure project to succed,3 constituting 2%

of the total sampled poipulation said they were not sure if

management support is essential for the school infrastructure

project to succed,out of the total sampled population of 150

71

respondents 10 constituting 7%,disagree that management support

is essential for the school infrastructure project to

succed,lastly 3 constituting 2% of the total sampled population

strongly disagree that management support is essential for the

school infrastructure project to succed.

Table 4.9 Management support is essential for the project to

succed

Frequen

cy

Valid

Percent

strongly

agree67 45

agree 67 45

not sure 3 2

disagree 10 7

strongly

disagree3 2

Source: Data Survey

72

4.5.2 Skilled and experience project managers and staff iscritical for project to be successfulFigure 4.9,it could be seen that out of the total sampled

population of 150 respondents,73 constituting 48% of the total

sampled population strongly agree that skilled and experienced

project managers and staffs is critical for the success of the

school infrastructure project,65 constituting 43% of the total

sampled population agree that skilled and experienced project

managers and staffs is critical for the success of the school

infrastructure project,10 constituting 7% of the total sampled

population were not sure that skilled and experienced project

managers and staffs is critical for the success of the school


population disagree that skilled and experienced project managers

and staffs is critical for the success of the school

infrastructure project.

73

strongly agree

agree not sure disagree0

1020304050607080

response to project success

numb

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f re

spon

dent

ss

Figure 4.10 Skilled and experience project managers and staffs is

critical for project to be successful

Source: Data Survey

4.5.3 Communicating the expectation of the project to all groupsinvolved, and roles clearly defined for each and every group willensure a successful projectFrom table 4.11 below show that out of the total sample

population of 150 respondents,75 constituting 50% of the total

respondents strongly agree that communicating the expectation of

the project to all groups involved and roles clearly defined for

each and every group will ensure the success of the school


74

population agree that, communicating the expectation of the

project to all groups involved and roles clearly defined for each

and every group will ensure the success of the school

infrastructure project,12 respondents constituting 8% of the

total sampled population were not sure that communicating the

expectation of the project to all groups involved and roles

clearly defined for each and every group will ensure the success

of the school infrastructure project, lastly 10 constituting 7%

of the total sampled population disagree that communicating the

expectation of the project to all groups involved and roles

clearly defined for each and every group will ensure the success

of the school infrastructure project.

Table 4.10 Communicating the Expectation of the Project to All

Groups Involve, and Roles Clearly Defined for each and every

Group will ensure a Successful Project

Frequency Valid Percent

strongly agree 75 50Agree 53 35not sure 12 8

75

disagree 10 7Total 150 100

Source: Data Survey

This aspect of the data analysis deal with all critical factors

that influences the delay in the completion of the school

infrastructure project and the most relevant of the critical

factors with respect to the various strata that was randomly

sampled to select the 150 respondent, each stratum was analyzed

with respect to the critical factors and the top ten most

relevant ones was selected.

4.6 COMPOSITE RANKING OF SUCCESS FACTORS FROM ALL CATEGORIES OFRESPONDENTSThe study acknowledges that all three respondents groups play a

specialized role in project management; hence it will be very

importance to pool all their responses together to ascertain the

overall ranking of success factors as revealed from the study’s

total respondent group. Table 4.14 shows this below using the

Respondent Importance Index (RII).

76

Table 4.11 ranking of Delay factors and RII by Building

contractors

building contractors RII %ranking

Owner Interference 92.8 1Delay in the release of funds 92.4 2Weather condition 91.2 3Mistakes during construction stage 88.4 4Poor Site management 84.4 5Inadequate funding 84 6Improper planning 80 7High cost of funding 74.4 8Unrealistic contract duration andrequirements imposed 71.6 9Contract relationships related causes Majordisputes and negotiations 70 10

The relative importance index table above lists the building

contractor’s results of responses per factor causing delay in the

school construction project in Ghana; the table depicts that

building contractor’s rank the factor ‘owner interference’ as the

prime cause of the school construction project delay in Ghana

with a relative importance index of 92.8%,the factor ‘contract

relationships related causes major disputes and negotiations’ as

the less cause of school construction project delay in Ghana.

77

Table 4.12 ranking of Delay factors and RII by government

agencies

GOVERNMENT AGENCIES

RelativeimportanceIndex

ranking

Inadequate funding 94.4 1Political interference 91.2 2Unforeseen adverse site condition 81.6 3Poor Site management 80.8 4Poor stakeholder management 75.6 5Inappropriate overall organizationalstructure linking to the project 74.4 6Delay in the release of funds 73.2 7Material related causes Quality of material 72.4 8Quality assurance/control 71.6 9Contract related causes Change orders 66.8 10




building contractor’s rank the factor ‘inadequate funding’ as the


with a relative importance index of 94.4%, the factor ‘contract

78

related causes change orders’ as the less cause of school

construction project delay in Ghana.

Table 4.13 ranking of Delay factors and RII by consultant

consultant

relativeimportanceindex

ranking

Inadequate funding 90 1political interference 86.4 2Owner Interference 73.6 3Delay in the release of funds 72 4Unrealistic contract duration andrequirements imposed 71.6 5Poor Site management 70.4 6consultant related causes contractmanagement 68.8 7material related cause qualitymaterial 68 8preparation and approval ofdrawings 67.2 9contract related causes changeorder 66.8 10



79


building contractor’s rank the factor ‘inadequate funding’ as the


with a relative importance index of 92.8%,the factor ‘contract

related causes change order’ as the less cause of school

construction project delay in Ghana.

Table 4.14: Ranking of delay factors and RII

Ranking Delay factor description

Frequency

RelativeimportanceIndex RII %

1 Inadequate funding 143 952 Political interference 138 91.66673 Unforeseen adverse site condition 128 85.31074 Poor stakeholder management 127 84.7701

5Contractor related causesSubcontractors 127 84.7222

6 Inappropriate overall 127 84.4828

80

organizational structure linking tothe project

7 Increasing cost of production 127 84.44448 Owner Interference 126 84.1954

9Lack of communication between theparties 126 84.1954

10Mistakes and discrepancies incontract document 125 83.3333

11 Regulatory changes 124 82.471312 Poor Site management 123 81.920913 Weather condition 123 81.920914 Problem with neighbors 123 81.8966

15Unrealistic contract duration andrequirements imposed 121 80.8333

16

Wrong timing of projectcommencement dates (like rainyseasons) 121 80.5085

17Preparation and approval ofdrawings 120 80.226

18

Conflict of interest betweencontractor’s expectation and theproject objective 120

80.1724

19Labor and equipment category causesLabor supply 120 79.8851

20 Delay in the release of funds 118 78.8889

21Waiting time for approval of testsand inspection 117 77.7778

22

Contract relationships relatedcauses Major disputes andnegotiations 116 77.381

23 Slow decision making 116 77.118624 Improper planning 113 7525 Equipment availability and failure 112 74.4253

26Consultant related causes Contractmanagement 110 73.6111

27 Labor and equipment category causes 110 73.0556

81

Labor supply28 Quality assurance/control 109 72.598929 Mistakes during construction stage 109 72.413830 Shortage in material 107 71.186431 High cost of funding 107 71.0526

32Inadequate contractor experience inthat particular area 104 69.4444

33 Labor productivity 102 68.3333

34Contract related causes Changeorders 102 68.3333

35Material related causes Quality ofmaterial 102 67.7778

The relative importance index table above lists the total

results of responses per factor causing delay in the school

construction project in Ghana, the table depicts that respondents

rank the factor “inadequate funding” as the highest cause of the

delay in the school construction project in Ghana with a relative

importance index of 95%, the respondents also ranked the factor

“Material related causes (Quality Material)” as the least cause

of the delay in the school construction project with a relative

importance index of 67.7778% .

82

CHAPTER FIVE

SUMMARY OF FINDINGS, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

5.1INTRODUCTIONThis part of the study presents the final stage of the entire

work. It summarizes the findings from the data collected and

gives adequate conclusion and recommendations for policy

consideration.

5.2 SUMMARY OF FINDINGSLooking at their experience on the job, assessment of how

respondents viewed a successful project revealed that most of

them believed that a successful project should be completed

within the time scale set out for the completion of the project.

83

This was followed by the view that a successful project should

deliver what is expected within a minimum cost possible.

Meanwhile others also deemed a successful project to be able to

meet all functional requirements of the project. The remaining

views were that at least a successful project should meet the

expectations of all project stakeholders and also deliver

sustained actual benefits ti the stakeholders. This indicates

that successful projects should primarily be completed within the

time scale set out for the project.

Respondents were further probed on whether a project could be

considered as an absolute success or failure rather than some

degree of success or failure. Majority representing about 97%

believed that indeed a project can be deemed as an absolute

success or absolute failure. However, the rest thought a process

could have some elements of failure or success. They therefore

indicated that the construction of a government school

infrastructure can be deemed as either successful or failed.

84

Assessment of the factors that influenced project delays were

found to include more importantly, inadequate finance, political

interference and improper planning and increase cost of

production even though a few of them did not believe their impact

on project delays. Moreover, factors such as weather condition,

inadequate contractor experience and other external factors also

affect the success of projects undertaken. However, elements such

as shortage in material and equipment availability and failure do

not really affect the completion of projects on time.

Findings further revealed that there are various success factors

such as management support, skilled and experience project

managers and staffs as well as the communication of the

expectation of the project to all groups involve, and roles

clearly defined for each and every group will ensure a successful

project. This indicates that for a project to be successful there

should be total support for the project and project managers as

well as staff need the requisite skills and be abreast with the

expectations of the project.

85

Moreover, other critical success factors that influence project

delay from building contractors view indicate that, factor such

as unrealistic contract duration and requirements imposed,

inadequate funding and poor site management and high cost of

funding all have a strong influence on the delay of school

infrastructure in Ghana. Others also agree that contractual

relationships and improper planning contribute to delay in

completion. Others comprise of owner interference and weather

conditions. This indicates that there are myriad factors that

influence project delays in the contractors’ point of view.

However, from the consultants view, factors that causes delay in

construction include delay in the release of fund, political

interference, material related causes, quality of material and

unrealistic contract duration and requirements imposed as well as

owner interference. However, respondents were indifferent about

factors such as poor site management, consultant related clauses

in contract management and preparation and approval of drawings

in their influence on project delays.

86

Meanwhile, from the government agency perspective, factors such

as inadequate funding, delay in the release of funds and

political interference have critical influence on the delay of

construction projects. Other pressing factors include poor site

management, quality assurance, unforeseen adverse site condition,

poor stakeholder management and inappropriate overall

organizational structure linking to the project as well as

quality of materials. However, factors that were not highly

considered to influence the delay in construction projects

include contract related causes that Change orders.

5.3 CONCLUSIONThe main objective of the study was to assess the causes of

project delays in Ghana with specific emphasis on the

infrastructure government school projects in the Greater Accra

Region. Findings have been able to achieve the research

objectives and as such, it can be concluded that there are

various causes of delays in projects from the perspectives of

contractors, the government agency and the consultants. From the

building contractors’ perspective, it is evident that

87

insufficient funds needed for the construction of the projects

tend to impede the progress of the construction. Additionally,

contractors believe that contract durations are often

characterized by unrealistic contract duration that tends to make

it difficult for contractors to meet that duration. Additionally,

construction site management is essential in ensuring the

successful completion of projects. Meanwhile, high cost of

funding the projects sometimes affects the progress and

completion of the projects due to the contractors’ inability to

meet the rising cost. This finding is buttressed by Sambasivan

and Soon (2007) who indicated that delays are mainly caused by

time and cost overruns among others.

Apart from the above mentioned factors, other pressing issues

such as improper planning, mistakes during the construction stage

as well as owner interference and weather conditions all affect

the progress and completion of projects. This shows that delays

in construction projects can be caused by the constructors

themselves through poor planning on the particular project.

88

Additionally, unforeseen situations such as poor weather

conditions and owner interference also cause project delays. This

is buttressed by the findings of Kometa et al. (1994) who

indicated almost all these factors as causes of delay in

construction.

From the consultants view, it can be concluded that delay in the

release of funds from the government tend to impede the progress

of the project as funds needed for the procurement of the

construction materials tend to delay. Additionally, factors

mentioned by the contractors have also been mentioned by the

consultants. Some of these include unrealistic contact duration,

material related causes and owner interference. Other identified

issues from their perspective included consultant related clauses

in contract management that are hard to comply and the duration

of drawing preparation and approval. All these are critical

issues that tend to cause project delays. These findings are

further in accordance with the findings of [Assaf et al. (1995);

Sunjka and Jacob (2013)] who identified that issues concerning

89

materials, equipment and manpower, finance and environment as

well as government actions all contribute to project delays.

Moreover, from the government agency’s perspective, delays in

construction are mainly caused by delay in release of funds

coupled with their inadequacies as well as political interference

as stipulated by (Assaf et al. 1995). This indicates that the

government does not allow the agency to control the project

construction adequately. Also, funds are not released to the

agencies on time for prompt delivery to contractors. Other

identified issues also include poor site management as mentioned

earlier, quality assurance issues, unforeseen adverse site

condition and poor stakeholder management. All these show that

certain unplanned circumstances also contribute to the delay in

construction. Additionally, stakeholders are not properly managed

to ensure the progress of the projects. Meanwhile, the

organizational structure that links to the project tends to be

inefficient in ensuring the progress of the project.

90

In general, causes of government construction project delays

comprises of factors such as inadequate funding, political

interference, increase cost of production due to high cost of

prices on market, improper planning on the projects as well as

weather conditions and equipment availability and failure.

Additionally, the experience of the contactors assigned and

shortage of materials to a particular project also contribute to

the delay of construction.

It could be seen that all these delays can have adverse effect on

the success of the project. This is due to the fact that it will

have impact on project success in terms of time, cost, quality

and safety as indicated by (Faridi and El-Sayegh, 2006).

Meanwhile, considering the success of government construction

project, it can be concluded that communication of the

expectations of the project to all groups need to be ensured.

Additionally, management needs to provide the needed support to

equip contractors to give their best. Meanwhile, project success

91

also is highly dependent on the skills and experience of project

managers and staff who will undertake.

5.4 RECOMMENDATIONSThe study has been able to identify the various causes of delay

in construction government school projects in Ghana. It therefore

recommends among others that it is important that adequate and

timely provision of financial resources in building construction

government school projects is provided by the government to avoid

delay and subsequent failure of the projects. Furthermore,

government agencies that contract the contractors for the school

projects need to assess the competencies of the contractors to

ensure that they are capable to deliver at the right time

Stakeholders are critical to the success of every project and as

such, managers and contractors of projects need to be adequately

managed to ensure that stakeholders are abreast with the project

and its progress. The Government of Ghana needs to give

contractors and agencies the needed timeand opportunity to work

to ensure the successful completion of the projects as the

92

interference causes delay and subsequently affects the overall

success of the project.

Procurement for government school projects need to be provided on

time for prompt delivery by agencies to avoid project delay and

frustrations. Finally, contractors and staff assigned to a

particular school project need to be equipped with the requisite

skills to avoid all inadequacies on the project. This could be

done through periodic research and training on the job.

Implementation plan

Action

points

resources Responsible

agency

Time

frame

cost

Stakeholder

s meeting

for players

in the

constructio

n industry

Publicity

Venue for

meeting

Logistics/

stationary

GET Fund

and GES

3

weeks(

should

be done

by

August

To be

determi

ne by

the

respons

ible

93

like

ministry of

education,

GES and GET

Fund

so that

the

outcome

could

be

conside

red in

the

nationa

l

budget

prepara

tion

agency

Strengtheni

ng of

committees

that have

oversight

Budget

allocation

Inclusion of

prosecution

powers in the

GES,GETFUND

and

parliament

6

months

To be

determi

ned by

respons

ible

94

responsibil

ity in

supervising

government

school

project at

GES,GETFUND

and

parliament

regulatory

establishing

this committees

agency

REFERENCESAhmed, S. M., Azhar, S., Kappagntula, P. and Gollapudil, D.

(2003). “Delays in construction: a brief study of Florida

construction industry”. Proceedings of the 39th Annual ASC

Conference, Clemson University, Clemson, SC, pg. 257-266.

Aiyetan, A. Smallwood, J. and Shakantu, W. (2011). A systems

thinking approach to eliminate delays on building

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construction projects in South Africa. Vol. 18, No. 2, pg.

20-39.

Assaf, S A and Al-Hejji S (2006) Causes of delay in large

construction projects. International Journal of Project

Management, 24(4), 349-57.

Assaf, S. A., Alkhail, M. and Al-Hazmi, M. (1995) “Causes of

delay in large building construction projects”. Journal of

Management in Engineering, ASCE, Vol. 11, No. 2, pg. 40-45.

Cooke-Davies, T. (2001). The ‘real’ success factors on projects.

International journal of project management, Vol. 20, No. 3,

pg. 185-190.

EJibunu, H. T. (2007). Nigeria’s Niger Delta crisis: root cause

of peacelessness. European Peace Univerity Research Papers.

Faridi, A S, and El-Sayegh, S M (2006) Significant factors

causing delay in the UAE construction industry. Construction

Management and Economics, 24, 1167-76.

Frimpong, Y, Oluwoye, J and Crawford, L (2003) Causes of delay

and cost overruns in construction of groundwater projects in

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a developing countries: Ghana as a case study. International

Journal of Project Management, 21, 321-6.

Fugar, F. D. K. and Agyakwah-Baah, A. B. (2010). “Delays in

building construction projects in Ghana”. Australasian

Journal of construction Economics and Building, Vol. 10, No.

½, pg. 103-116.

Keane, P. J., and Caletka, A. F. (2008). Delay Analysis in

Construction Contracts. UK: John Wiley and Sons LTD, Vol. 1,

pg. 116-117.

Kometta, S. T., Olomolaiye, P. O. and Harris, F. C. (1994).

Attributes of UK construction clients influencing project

consultants’ performance. Construction Manage Econ, Vol. 12,

pg. 433-443.

Koushki, P A, Al-Rashid, K and Kartam, N (2005) Delays and cost

increase in the construction of private residential projects

in Kuwait. Construction Management and Economics, 23, 285-

94.

Long, D N, Ogunlana, S O, Quang T and Lam, K C (2004) Large

construction projects in developing countries: a case study

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from Vietnam. International Journal of Project Management,

Vol. 22, pg. 553-561.

Motaleb, O and Kishk, M (2010). An investigation into causes and

effects of construction delays in UAE. In: Egbu, C. (Ed)

Procs 26th Annual ARCOM Conference, 6-8 September 2010,

Leeds, UK, Association of Researchers in Construction

Management, 1149-1157.

Odeh, A. M., Battaineh, H. T. (2002). Causes of construction

delay:traditional contracts. Int J Project Manage. Vol.20,

pg. 67-73.

Sambasivan, M. and Soon, Y. W. (2007). “Causes and effects of

delays in Malaysian construction industry”. International

Journal of Project Management, Vol. 25, No. 5, pg. 517-526.

Sambasivan, M. and Soon, Y. W. (2007). Causes and effects of

delays in Malaysians construction industry. International Journal

of Project Management, Vol. 25, pg. 517-526.

Sunjka, B. P. and Jacob, U. (2013). Significant Causes and

Effects of Project Delays in the Niger Delta Region,

Nigeria. Pg. 641-655.

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Sweis G, SweisR, Abu Hammad A, and Shboul A (2008) Delays in

construction projects: the case of Jordan. International

Journal of Project Management, 26, 665-74.

Sweis, G., Sweis, R., Hammad, A. A. And Shboul, A. (2008). Delays

in Construction Projects. The case of Jordan. International

Journal of Project Management. Vol. 26, No. 6, pg. 665-674.

Shuttleworth, Martyn (2008) Descriptive Research Design. Accessed on

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99

http://explorable.com/descriptive-research-design

APPENDIX-RESEARCH QUESTIONNAIRE

GHANA INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT AND PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

RESEARCH QUESTIONNAIRE

This questionnaire is aimed at obtaining information on the

factors that cause delays in the implementation of construction

project involving the construction of government school

infrastructure. The researcher is a student of the Ghana

Institute of Management and Public Administration and this study

is in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the award of the

Master of Business Administration in project management. The

researcher would be grateful if answers could be provided to the

questions below. Thanks for your contribution.

SECTION A: PERSONAL BACKGROUND

100

1. Name of organization:

_________________________________________________

2. Gender of respondent [ ] Male [ ] Female

3. Age (in years) [ ] 20—29 [ ] 30—39 [ ]

40—49

[ ] 50—59 [ ] 60 and above

4. Educational Qualification

[ ] Diploma/HND [ ] Bachelor’s Degree [ ] Master’s

Degree [ ] PHD

[ ] Professional [ ] Other ……………………………………………….

5. Experience in project management

[ ] Less than equal to 5 years [ ] 6 to 10 years [ ]

11 to 15 years

[ ] 16 to 20 years [ ] 21 to 25 [ ] 26 to 30 years [ ] above

30 years

101

6. How many government contracts won over the past decade?

………………………………

7. How many of such projects involved the construction of school

buildings? ……………….

How many of such government project have been completed and

handed over? ……………….

SECTION B: PERCEPTION OF PROJECT SUCCESS

8. What do you think a successful project should be?

Tick [ ] as many as possible√

The completed project should at least meet the expectation

of all stakeholders [ ]

The project should deliver what is expected with the minimum

cost possible [ ]

Project should have been completed within the timescale

setout [ ]

102

Completed project should meet all functional requirements

[ ]

Completed project should deliver sustained and actual

benefits to stakeholders [ ]

Other (state)

[ ]

9. Do you think a project can be said to have absolute success or

absolute failure rather than some degree of success or some

degree of failure?

[ ] Yes [ ] No

10. Do you think a project involving the construction of

government school infrastructure can be said to have absolute


some degree of failure? [ ] Yes [ ] No

103

SECTION C: CRITICAL FACTORS INFLUENCING PROJECT DELAYS

11. Please indicate the extent to which the following factor(s)

limit successful completion of government school infrastructure

project in Ghana based on your experience? On a five point scale

where 5=strongly agree, 4= agree. 3=not sure, 2=disagree and

1=strongly disagree.

5 4 3 2 1

1. Inadequate funding

2. Delay in the release of funds

3. Wrong timing of project commencement dates

(like rainy seasons)

4. Political interference

5. Conflict of interest between contractor’s

expectation and the project objective

6. Increasing cost of production

7. High cost of funding

104

8. Labor and equipment category causes Labor

supply

9. Owner Interference

10. Slow decision making

11. Unrealistic contract duration and

requirements imposed

12. Contractor related causes

Subcontractors

13. Poor Site management

14. Improper planning

15. Mistakes during construction stage

16. Inadequate contractor experience in

that particular area

17. Consultant related causes Contract

management

105

18. Preparation and approval of drawings

19. Quality assurance/control

20. Waiting time for approval of tests and

inspection

21. Material related causes Quality of

material

22. Shortage in material

23. Labor and equipment category causes

Labor supply

24. Labor productivity

25. Equipment availability and failure

26. Contract related causes Change orders

27. Mistakes and discrepancies in contract

document

106

28. Contract relationships related causes

Major disputes and negotiations

29. Inappropriate overall organizational

structure linking to the project

30. Lack of communication between the

parties

31. Poor stakeholder management

32. Weather condition

33. Regulatory changes

34. Problem with neighbors

35. Unforeseen adverse site condition

Other (please state)

107

12. Do you think there are external (outside the project

environment) factors that affect project success or failure?

[ ] Yes [ ] No

13. Give reasons for your choice in question 9.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………

..……………………………………………………………………………………………………..

……………………………………………………………………………………………..………..

……………………………………………………………………………………………………....

………………………………………………………………………………………………………

11. Indicate by how much you agree with each of the following

statements regarding project success factors.

(i) User involvement is critical to getting feedback towards a

satisfactory project outcome.

[ ] Strongly Agree [ ] Agree [ ] Not sure [ ]

Disagree [ ] Strongly Disagree

(ii) Management support is essential for the project to succeed.

108



(iii) Skilled and experience project managers and staff is

critical for project to be successful



(iv) Communicating the expectation of the project to all groups

involve, and roles clearly defined for each and every group will

ensure a successful project.



(v) Clear definition of the scope of the project—including what

will be done, boundaries—is essential for a project to be

successful.



109

(vi) Clear statement of requirements.



(vii) Sound methodology



(viii) Comprehensive planning



SECTION D: CHALLENGES FACED BY PROJECT MANAGERS IN GHANA

12. Indicate some of the challenges you face as a project manager

in Ghana.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………………………………………....

110

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

…………………………………THANK YOU!

111

Angelo final revised completed (1)

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