Prioritizing of Factors Affecting Delays in Construction Projects in Iran

Successful implementation of civil projects is one of the key factors for the economic development of each society. Every year, a major part of the country’s capital allocates to civil and infrastructure projects. Most of these projects are implemented with delay. Analyzing the factors affecting delays in these projects is essential with the aim of omitting the factors and timely implementation of the projects. Over the years, professionals and researchers have investigated various aspects of delays. For example, causes of delay in large construction projects in Saudi Arabia were studied by Assaf and Al-Hejji (2006). Sweis et al. (2008) identified and classified causes of construction delays in residential projects in Jordan. Factors affecting delays in Indian construction projects were analyzed by Doloi et al. (2012). Aziz (2013) identified various factors causing delay in construction projects in Egypt. Delay causes of road construction projects in Egypt were explored by Aziz and Abdel-Hakam (2016). Arditi et al. (2017) studied the effect of organizational culture on delay in construction. In this paper, after a revision of related researches and considering experts' opinions, different factors affecting projects delay in Iran are identified. Then the factors are prioritized by using the analytical hierarchy process (AHP).