Identification and assessment of factors causing delays in construction projects at public sector universities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

Abstract

In recent years, Pakistan has faced many challenges in promoting higher education. According to government vision 2025, Pakistan is facing numerous problems; one is the provision of higher education. Although many new public sector universities are under construction, public sector universities are usually overloaded due to higher enrollment demand. Besides other construction sector projects, public sector university projects in Pakistan usually face lengthy delays. This research investigated the factors that cause delays in constructing public-sector university projects in Pakistan. Initially, a pilot study was conducted, and structured survey interviews were prepared in consultation with the field experts. Cronbach’s Alpha statistic method was also applied. The result of this study shows that the main delaying factors for public sector university construction projects included: dishonesty in the projects, hiring of irrelevant Project Directors, and allocation of technical positions to incompetent staff, as the top three significant delaying factors. Identifying top delaying factors and their appropriate management will be useful in similar nature projects for timely completion within the allocated budget avoiding time delays and cost overruns.