Delay and cost overruns in Vietnam large construction projects: A comparison with other selected countries

Authors: Long Le-Hoai1 , Young Dai Lee2 and Jun Yong Lee1
(1) Interdisciplinary Program of Construction Engineering and Management, Pukyong National University, Busan, 608-739, Korea
(2) Division of Construction Engineering, Pukyong National University, Busan, 608-739, Korea

lehoailong@hcmut.edu.vn

Abstract  In-planned duration and cost at project closing are the two of criteria of successful project and successful project management. In Vietnam, regularly, construction projects have met delays and cost overruns. This research has employed a questionnaire survey to elicit the causes of this situation by interviewing 87 Vietnamese construction experts. Twenty one causes of delay and cost overruns appropriate with building and industrial construction project were inferred and ranked with respect to frequency, severity and importance indices. Spearman’s rank correlation tests showed that there are no differences in the viewpoints between three principal parties in the project. A comparison of causes of time and cost overruns was done with various selected construction industries in Asia and Africa. Factor analysis technique was applied to categorize the causes, which yielded 7 factors: Slowness and Lack of constraint; Incompetence; Design; Market and Estimate; Financial capability; Government; and Worker. These findings might encourage practitioners to focus on delay and cost overruns problem that might have existed in their present or future projects. 

Keywords large construction projects - delay - cost overruns - factor analysis – Vietnam