A novel hybrid approach for determinants of construction projects failure: An application of Delphi-DEMATEL methodology

The construction industry plays a significant role in the socioeconomic development of a country. Given the high failure rates of public construction projects, various researchers have studied and ranked the factors of delay and cost overrun independently, without considering their interdependencies. It is increasingly evident that these factors are important not only on an individual level, but also that recognizing their interdependencies is crucial. In the current study, the factors of delay and cost overrun were initially validated and ranked through the Delphi technique. In the next step, the Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) method was applied to identify interrelationships among the causal factors and classify them into cause and effect groups. This study identifies and ranks the key 34 causal factors, determines their interrelationships, and categorizes them into cause-and-effect groups. The findings of the study indicate that ineffective project planning, financial difficulties faced by contractors, delays in decision making, and conflict among different stakeholders are the top four critical factors, with prominence values of 4.149, 4.136, 4.052, and 3.859, respectively. The results indicate that there are 17 factors in the cause group and 17 in the effect group. Various statistical tests were performed to ensure the robustness, validity, and reliability of the study's findings. These tests, including Cronbach's Alpha (0.954), Kendall’s W (0.604), average stability (97%), and Spearman's correlation (0.998), indicate high consistency and validity. Eventually, this research study will help policymakers and procurement managers determine actionable interventions to reduce time and cost overruns in public construction projects.