An exploration of consultants-related causes of project delays of road construction contracts in Ghana

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Date
2021-06-16
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Abstract
The study explores consultants-related causes of project delays of road construction contracts in Ghana. The study employed quantitative research strategy and convenience sampling technique, which was used to ensure that only consultants in the road sector were selected for study. In all 130 respondents, which constitute the sample size were selected and administered with a questionnaire. The data collected were analyzed using analytical tool, Relative Importance Significance index of each variable was calculated to identify the major consultants’ - related causes of project delays. The Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20 was the software that was used to code and interpret the data for analysis. The findings indicate that the most significant causes of consultant - related road construction project delays with respect to cost and time as perceived by consultants are Poor contract management and Discrepancies between contract documents respectively; majority of these are as a result of economic issues or indicators. The study recommended that delays could be mitigated if construction stakeholders increase working time of workers in order to meet schedules. The government should strengthen the procurement and bidding process when awarding road contract. This should be made available to all stakeholders in the construction sector through open and competitive tendering. The process should have punitive sanctions for consultants with bad reputation. The findings call for urgent attention in improving the Ghanaian road construction industry’s ability and performance to achieve improved cost performance and to mitigate against further project failure.
Description
A master’s thesis submitted to the Department of Construction Technology and management, Institute of Distance Learning, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the Award of a Master of Science in Project Management.
Keywords
Consultants, Delays, Projects, Project-Related Causes, Road Construction
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