Determinants of delay and cost overruns in Kenyan`s public sector construction projects: a case of Meru county, Kenya.
Abstract
Delay and cost overruns in public sectors investments can raise the capital-output ratio in
the sector and elsewhere, bringing down the efficacy of investments. Yet there are no
estimates of the delays and cost overruns, and of their opportunity cost. The general
objective of the study was to establish determinants of delay and cost overruns in public
sector construction projects in Kenya with a specific reference to construction projects in
Meru County. The study targeted clients, consultants and contractors to provide
information with regard to the determinants of delays cost overruns in Kenya‘s public
sector construction projects. The research employed descriptive research design and
target population consisted of ongoing and completed construction projects in Meru
County, Kenya. The respondents constituted the management and other staff representing
different positions in the construction firms, regulatory association officials and
professionals in the public construction sector who were involved in different stages of
the construction projects. The study targeted 39 public sector construction projects. The
study adopted Yamane‘s formula to come with 39 construction projects as the sample
size. Each of the 39 projects had 3 respondents. Data was collected using selfadministered
questionnaires and drop and pick later method was adopted. Entry and
analysis of data was done using descriptive analysis with the help of SPSS (Statistical
Package for Social Science) version 22 tool for quantitative data and data was presented
using tables and percentages. The major research findings revealed that public sector
construction projects were frequently faced by delay and cost overruns due to rising
contractual issues, changes in project financing, lack of qualified labor and modern
equipment in use, changes in project scheduling and irregular changes in project design
and documentation. From the findings, it was concluded that project delay and cost
overruns can be reduced if their causes are critically examined before commencing on
any project. Thus, it was recommended that when sourcing for a contractor to undertake a
project, it is of paramount importance to vet them to ensure that they have capacity and
are well capable to undertake the project in question, there should be there proper
documentation prior to project commencement, during and after project completion is
important, and that there should be there a monitoring and evaluation tools and
techniques which are employed to ensure projects completion are on course. Proper
financing as well as deployment of the right equipment and experience labour is
paramount for the success of the projects. Similarly, all the stakeholders must understand
the contractual issues which might cause delays and cost overruns during the life of the
projects.
Publisher
University of Nairobi
Rights
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United StatesUsage Rights
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/Collections
- Faculty of Education (FEd) [6020]
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