Risk factors for delays in rail investments implemented in the Design & Build contracts

The article presents the results of nationwide surveys on the causes of delays during the implementation of rail investments in Poland, carried out in the Design & Build formula for the design stage. The study did not examine typical causes of threats to general construction works, only those that result from the specifics of works at rail facilities. The survey was conducted with the participation of experts from various industries, representing all the key participants in the investment process. The selection of experts was limited to people who have extensive professional experience in implementing rail projects. Statistical analyzes were performed using the IBM SPSS Statistics 23 package. It was used to test chi 2 and a one-way repeated measures ANOVA. The greatest threats to the deadlines for the implementation of rail investments in Poland, which were indicated by the respondents as the delay threats of a high importance are: negligence in the preparation of tender documents and problems with obtaining current maps for project purposes from rail geodesic centers. The research results can be helpful when planning future rail investments, calculating the necessary time reserves and increasing the reliability of the set dates of their completion.