An-Najah Staff

This study aims at identifying the risk map for factors affecting cost overrun in building construction projects in the West Bank in Palestine from the consultants’ perspective. The field survey included 26 consultants. 41 factors are identified through literature review. The factors are divided into 5 groups. The analysis of the identified 41 factors indicates that 1 factor is located in the green zone, 14 factors are located in the yellow zone, and 26 factors are located in the red zone of the risk map. The results indicate that the top five affecting factors are: political situation, fluctuation of prices of materials, economic instability, currency exchange, and level of competitors. It is hoped that these findings will guide efforts to enhance the  cost performance of construction industry

The time schedule in construction projects is one of the prime measures for project success. However, the construction industry worldwide is full of projects that were completed with significant time overrun. This problem is critical and has negative effects on construction parties in terms of growth in adversarial relationships, mistrust, litigation, arbitration and cash flow problems. This study aims at identifying the time overrun causes in public construction projects in Saudi Arabia from contractors’ viewpoint. To do so, 62 contractors from Northern Province of Saudi Arabia who are working on public construction completed a structured questionnaire survey. 35 time overrun causes were identified through literature review. The results indicated that the top affecting causes are: additional work, bid award for lowest price, changes in material types and specifications during construction, contract management, fluctuation of prices of materials, improper planning, inflationary pressure, lack of contractor experience, poor labor productivity, and rework.