Exploring Highway Construction Delay Factors in Malaysia: A Quantitative Analysis

Building new highways is important for a nation’s infrastructure development, particularly in developing countries such as Malaysia. The construction of highways not only increases accessibility and stimulates growth, but most importantly, it boosts economic growth via the connection of towns, cities, and rural areas. The positive impact of highway construction will minimise fuel consumption, shorten travel journeys, reduce traffic, and improve environmental sustainability. However, delays in highway construction are prevalent and continue to pose various negative impacts, both for organisations and for public users. Most importantly, these challenges are faced by clients, contractors, and consultants apart from disrupting project schedules and escalating expenses. This topic in the construction sector is an important area of research since they often arise from a combination of management, financial, and technological factors. This study investigates the reasons behind construction delays in Malaysian highway projects and identifies the delay factors from the context of client-related factors, contractors-related factors, and consultant-related factors. The findings of this research show that the contractor and client contribute to the construction highway delay factors whereas the consultant-related factor is associated with a reduction, rather than an increase in the construction delays. The research seeks to provide insights that can help government agencies, contractors, consultants, and project management consultancies (PMCs) improve project execution and minimize disruptions in future developments by identifying important contributing elements.