Evaluation of delay criteria in water and sewage infrastructure projects in Bushehr province

The main goal of this research was to assess the criteria pertaining to delays in infrastructure projects of Bushehr Water and Sewerage Company. Assessments were conducted by library studies, interviews, and questionnaires. The relating factors were provided to the statistical population in the form of a questionnaire. Subsequently, using the fuzzy TOPSIS method, the most effective factors were calculated and then the factors were introduced by degree of effectiveness. The statistical population of this research was divided into three categories with different responsibilities, characteristics, and perspectives as follows: Consulting engineers, Contracting companies, and Employer. Purposeful and available sampling method was used to determine the sample size and 30 persons were considered as the statistical sample. In this study, the factors influencing water and sewage project delays were identified in four categories of factors caused by financial issues, resources and materials, manpower management, and the knowledge and experience of the contractor, as well as 28 sub-criteria. Ranking factors effective in Bushehr water and sewage project delays indicated that the most important ones of these factors by importance respectively are: Failure to pay the contractor's claims on time; Inefficient manpower management and poor quality of work performed by the contractor; Lack of pricing by contractors to win the tender; Weak history or low number of contractor's technical and executive personnel; and Poor work planning due to inexperienced contractor.