Study the delays and conflicts for construction projects and their mutual relationship: A review

Delays and conflicts (D&Cs) are adversely affecting the performance of construction projects. They have separately been addressed by many authors but the mutual relationship among them is still a key grey area. Therefore, this study aims to explore this hidden relationship. Literature was reviewed to identify the previous ranking of D&Cs causes to develop a global ranking and to explore other hidden aspects of mutual relationships. Data were classified through Jenks optimization that resulted in the identification of, the top five causes of D&Cs in a global perspective and commonality among them. Among the top five identified global causes of D&Cs, the common causes are; (1) financial problems on behalf of the owner, (2) Change orders/ Variations, and (3) Lack of communication/ Poor relationship. Such exploration of hidden relationships among D&Cs will not only improve construction management strategies but will also define new pathways for future research to secure project success parameters.(c) 2022 THE AUTHORS. Published by Elsevier BV on behalf of Faculty of Engineering, Ain Shams University This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-ncnd/4.0/).