Duration Overrun in Building a New Academic Campus

Identify what causes the duration overruns in the construction of new academic campuses in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA).
Evaluate the significance and relate the causes of overruns using the viewpoint of the project owner, consultant, and contractor.
The objective of this paper is to examine the issue of duration overrun using the example of Saudi Arabia and the perspectives of project stakeholders.

Justification for Research Problem: (Why is the research problem important to the industry, and why should you do the research?)
One of the significant factors of any projects success is delivering the project on time. The main issue is that delays cause time overrun, cost overrun, conflicts, and project abandonment (Fugar and Agyakwah-Baah 2010). However, this topic is sensitive due to many factors that affect the project timeline (Assaf et al. 1995). The variety of factors that can impact the delivery of the project can relate to issues with one of the three parties owner, consultant, or contractor. By identifying and addressing this problem, the project managers will be able to overcome the quality and cost problems associated with overruns.

In the last decades, KSA experiencing a construction boom due to its economic thrive. Therefore, it is the most suitable time for universities to improve their campuseshowever, these projects experience delays due to many causes (Albogamy et al. 2012). Whereas, there are few studies on duration overrun in projects construction undertaken in KSA as well as in the Middle East region.

Therefore, there is an essential requisite for such a study to identify the causes resulting in duration overrun in the construction of KSA academic campuses. Additionally, this study will evaluate the importance of addressing overruns and examine this problem from the viewpoint of the project parties.

Knowledge Areas for Literature Review
Project duration overrun can be defined as the delay of delivering a venture on an agreed timeline with an end date (Stumpf 2000). In the modern world, many studies claim that project construction success is dependant on completing the project within a specific timeline, agreed with a budget, and specified quality outcomes (Aziz 2013). The Knowledge area for this study will focus on finding the causes of projects duration overrun and their connection to project success.

Initial References to be Considered
In general, this research will examine fifteen scholarly sources published within the last 25 years, which outline the fundamental causes of project delays. Specifically, the review will focus on case studies that relate to Saudi Arabia public construction projects, including studies by Albogamy, Scott and Dawood (no date), Al-Kharashi and Skitmore (2009), Falqi (2005), . (2016), and Elawi et al. (2016), which cite issues with the contractor as a primary problem.

These case studies will help define the categories of problems most commonly considered in similar projects with specifics to the responsible party, for example, project owner, consultant, or contractor. Other sources included in the research are focused on the issue of delays in project management in general, including studies by Frank and Agyakwah-Baah (2010), Khoshgoftar et al. (2010), Mahamid, Bruland and Dmaidi (2012), Marzouk and El-Rasas (2014), Shebob et al. (2011) that help examine the context of project delays.

Literature Review
In most construction projects, whether simple or complicated, a case of exceeding the project time plan might occur due to some circumstances (Shebob et al. 2011). Duration overrun in construction is defined as the exceeding of a contracted timeline.

When considering project management, accounting for possible delays or other problems is a part of contingency planning, however, in some cases, delays may be a result of systemic error of planning and can be addressed before the project begins. According to Albogamy, Scott, and Dawood (no date), approximately 70% of in Saudi Arabia are delayed, which signifies the importance of this research for understanding the causes, impact, and possible ways of addressing these overruns. As a result, the inability to deliver a public service on time, financial losses, and quality issues have to be addressed apart from managing the project itself.

Albogamy, Scott, and Dawood (no date) report that based on their assessment of Saudi Arabias public sector projects and literature review the client or owner-related problems are the most significant and usually cause delays. Other studies that provide an assessment of the delay issue in project management are examined as well.

Not all of the examined literature is focused on Saudi Arabia, however, using the cases of other countries in Asia, the Middle East, and Africa can be helpful to determine the root cause of the issue of the delays because of similarities in culture, religion, and other aspects. One example is Almutairi (2016), who argues that in Kuwait, projects get delayed because the application of project management planning and managing tools is inadequate. Other causes are related to cost-cutting and the strategy of choosing unreliable contractors. Next, Aziz (2013) offers an outlook on the central issues with Egyptian projects, where owner-related factors are associated with payment delays, as well as others, and the authors determined nine critical categories of factors.

Therefore, this research uses articles that outline the possible issues that can result in project delays and can be used to examine the specifics of Saudi Arabia. The majority of authors, for example, Bjorvatn and Wald (2018) define at least nine categories of possible causes, suggesting that the examined issue is complicated. Table 1 is an assessment of case studies specific to Saudi Arabias construction projects that outline its main reasons for delays.

Author Study Title Delay causes
Albogamy, Scott and Dawood (no date) Addressing Construction Delays in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia The most significant are the owner or client-related factors.
Al-Kharashi and Skitmore (2009) Causes of Delays in Saudi Arabian Public Sector Construction Projects Mainly, issues with contractors cause delays.
Alzara et al. (2016) Using PIPS To Minimise Causes Of Delay In Saudi Arabian Construction Projects: Both owner and contractor issues are identified, including the delay of approving the design, payment, and other problems.
Elawi et al. (2016) Owners Perspective Of Factors Contributing To Project Delay: Case Studies Of Road And Bridge Projects In Saudi Arabia The authors determined ten risk factors, which can be grouped into five categories. Land acquisition is a significant problem. Next, the lack of a contractors expertise is the second most important problem.
Falqi (2005) Delays in Project Completion: A Comparative Study of in Saudi Arabia and the United Kingdom Consultants and project owners report issues with contractors as the main cause.
Table 1. Project delays case studies in Saudi Arabia.