Delay is something that causes biggest problems often experienced on construction project sites. The parties that mainly involved in ensuring the success of a construction projects are owners, contractors and consultants. Construction delays will lead to bad relations between these parties and the cost of a construction project will be increased along the addition of the time given. Delays generally regarded as the most common problem, complex, risky and frequently encountered in a construction project. The vital objective of this study was to identify the critical causes of delays in Government construction projects. An intensive literature review was carried out to identify the causes of delays in construction projects. Then, a questionnaire survey was employed to collect data from 298 participants’ from the Public Works Department (JKR) officers selected based on random sampling from different sectors or background of expertise. The totals of 38 causes of delay were integrated in the questionnaires which were grouped under four main categories: Owner related (10 factors), Contractor related (9 factors), Consultant related (10 factors) and External related (9 factors). The data obtained from the survey use a Likert Scale and ranked according to its significance by using Relative Important Index (RII) and Mean Index Score (MIS). As a results, the study found that the group of contractor related was ranked the top most critical causes of delays with RII = 0.853, followed by owner related factors (RII = 0.809), consultant related (RII = 0.799) and external related (RII = 0.767). Furthermore, the results reveal that the top ten causes behind the group of delays in public construction projects in Malaysia are: (1) Contractors’ financial instability (RII = 0.905); (2) Major changes in project scope during construct work (RII = 0.874); (3) Ineffective planning and scheduling (RII = 0.866); (4) Shortage of labors at construction sites (RII = 0.862); (5) Slow in making decisions (RII = 0.860); (6) Poor communication and coordination between involved parties (RII = 0.856); (7) Poor financial management (RII = 0.855); (8) Poor coordination with contractors and other stakeholders (RII = 0.854); (9) Delay in sub contractor’s work (RII = 0.852); and (10) Rework due to mistake (RII = 0.848). Finally, the findings of the study can help the parties involved in the Government construction projects to give out appropriate solutions for countering the delay. Herewith are presented some recommendations to minimize these project delays.
