Construction projects are now widely recognized as being among the most important factors contributing to the overall economic development of a nation. When delays occur in these construction projects, however, both the overall progress of the projects and their profitability are affected. In this investigation, a literature review and a questionnaire survey were used to find the most important factors that cause delays in the Indian construction industry. The survey participants included clients, contractors, and structural designers. The research disclosed a total of twelve different reasons for the cost overrun. After that, the causes of these delays were ranked using three different methods: a frequency index, a severity index, and an importance index that took into account the degree of severity and the frequency with which they occurred. The responses are utilized in the procedure, which is carried out through Questionnaire. Reliability of questionnaires is carried out with the help of the Cronbach`s Alpha value, which is found to be greater than 0.70, which measures the internal consistency of values. The case study is carried out in Chennai, a metropolitan city, with the purpose of doing more research into the primary factors contributing to cost overruns. It is envisaged that the findings of this study would help in the identification of factors and causes in the building projects of India and allow the stakeholders in these projects to take efforts to prevent the incidence of these delays.
Keywords: Cost overrun; Frequency Index; Importance Index; Ranking; Reliability; Severity Index; Sustainable buildings.
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