Causes and Effects of Project Delay in Public Construction Projects in Ethiopia

Abstract Projects especially public construction projects have a vital role for the economic development of a nation by transforming the living standard of the community. This study aimed to assess the causes and effects of public construction projects in Dessie town. To achieve the objective of the study 128 respondents approached from the clients, contractors and consultants of the ongoing projects of Dessie town. Questionnaires used to collect primary data from the target population. It has both a likert scale and open ended items. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive data analysis techniques along with the relative importance index. The index widely used in similar studies to measure the level of importance and occurrence of delay causes and effects. The findings of the study showed that the causes of delays emanated from clients, contractors, consultants and externals. Furthermore the main responsible stakeholder for delay of projects in Dessie town is clients. In addition the top ranked causes are delay of progress payment by clients, poor communication and coordination by contracting parties, slowness of the decision making process by owners and financial difficulties of stakeholders. Regarding to the effects of delay, time overrun cost overrun, total abandonment, dispute, litigation, poor project quality, negotiation and bad public relation are confirmed. Based on the findings, the study recommends clients the so called public agencies to revise their project management system, improve financial management system and need to ensure regular project monitoring and evaluation. In addition the study also recommends corrupted individuals should be identified and accountable legally.