Analysis of Cost Overrun and Schedule Delays of Infrastructure Projects in Low Income Economies: Case Studies in Ethiopia

Table 8

Critical risks leading to schedule delays in construction projects.

Critical risks leading to schedule delay	Mean score
	Overall		Contractor		Consultant		Client		Academia
	Mean score	Rank	Mean score	Rank	Mean score	Rank	Mean score	Rank	Mean score	Rank
Variations (design changes/extra work)	4.71	1	4.55	9	4.33	3	4.50	1	4.56	1
Economic conditions (currency, inflation)	4.48	2	4.92	1	4.75	1	4.67	3	4.50	2
Escalation of material prices	4.48	3	4.58	8	4.25	5	4.17	5	4.50	4
Shortage of construction materials	4.38	4	4.58	5	4.42	2	4.67	2	4.17	3
Delay in payments	4.33	5	4.25	3	3.83	9	3.50	21	4.22	5
Financial problems/constraints	4.33	6	4.67	14	4.08	17	3.50	22	4.17	17
Delay in preparation and approval of drawings	4.29	7	4.25	15	4.33	4	3.67	17	4.06	26
Poor site management	4.24	8	4.58	4	4.17	6	3.50	12	3.83	15
Poor planning (material and labor estimation)	4.24	9	4.67	6	4.17	7	3.83	23	4.00	29
Construction methods	4.14	10	4.33	2	3.83	12	3.50	4	4.06	6
Delay of material delivery on-site	4.14	11	4.75	12	3.92	18	4.50	24	4.11	9
Unrealistic contract durations imposed by owner	4.1	12	4.25	10	3.75	13	3.50	25	4.00	23
Underestimation of project cost	4.1	13	4.42	16	3.92	22	3.17	31	4.11	30
Poorly defined project scope	4.05	14	4.42	7	4.00	10	3.67	10	4.17	13
Slow decision making by owners	4.05	15	4.58	11	3.75	23	4.00	18	3.89	31
Poor communication between project team	4	16	4.08	19	3.92	14	4.17	6	3.94	7
Inadequate experience and competency of contractor	4	17	4.00	21	3.83	19	4.17	7	3.72	14
Lack of experience of consulting firm	3.95	18	3.83	25	4.17	8	3.33	28	3.56	32
Waiting time for approval of tests and inspections	3.86	19	3.83	13	4.00	11	3.50	8	3.78	10
Poor communication and misunderstandings	3.86	20	4.17	17	3.75	24	3.83	13	3.89	11
Bureaucracy in government agencies	3.86	21	4.33	22	3.58	27	4.17	26	4.17	22
Poor collaboration between major parties	3.86	22	4.00	26	3.67	32	3.00	32	3.94	27
Subcontractors (lack of experience, etc.)	3.76	23	4.09	18	3.67	20	3.67	14	3.61	8
Poor material procurement techniques	3.76	24	4.08	20	3.83	28	3.83	19	4.11	24
Owner interference	3.71	25	3.91	23	3.67	15	3.83	9	3.78	16
Poor inspection/supervision	3.71	26	3.75	24	3.75	25	3.50	15	4.11	18
Ineffective legislative regulations	3.71	27	3.67	29	3.67	29	4.17	27	3.94	20
Major claims and disputes	3.71	28	3.92	30	3.92	30	3.33	29	3.53	25
Inappropriate type of contract (procurement process)	3.67	29	3.83	27	3.67	31	3.33	30	3.78	28
Slow permits by government agencies	3.62	30	3.83	28	3.83	21	3.83	11	3.67	12
Political interference	3.62	31	3.67	31	3.75	26	4.00	16	3.56	19
Low quality of materials	3.48	32	3.33	32	3.92	16	3.67	20	3.72	21