Critical Factors behind Construction Delay in Petrochemical Projects in Saudi Arabia

This paper presents a study conducted to identify, assess, rank, and compare the most influencing factors causing schedule delays during the construction phase of petrochemical projects in Saudi Arabia. The methodology followed in this research to achieve the main aims is a combination of the comprehensive review of the literature and the interviewing of a number of local experts, which have resulted in identifying 23 factors. A total of 90 completed responses were gathered from 106 received responses. The study found that the most influencing factors causing schedule delays during the construction of petrochemical projects in Saudi Arabia are "Poor site management and supervision by contractors"; "Conflict between the main contractor and subcontractor"; "Poor planning and scheduling of projects by the contractor"; "Delays in material or equipment delivery"; and followed by "Delays in Handing Over Construction Site to the Contractor". This paper is original in the sense that the areas of knowledge and practice covered in the identified factors were distributed and not available in one source. The factors are derived from personal interviews with selected project managers, project engineers, construction supervisors, and the others from different positions in the project department and from the relevant literature.