THE SIGNIFICANT FACTORS CONTRIBUTING TO GOVERNMENT CONSTRUCTION PROJECT FAILURE: A CASE STUDY OF MULTIMODAL TRANSPORT FACILITIES

In South Africa, there are assertions that construction projects undertaken by national, provincial, and local governments have a history of failure. The demand in construction industries for rapid and cost-effective growth has exceeded their ability to effectively manage risks, costs, and schedules, resulting in continuous failures. Project failure can result from exceeding budget, schedule, and scope and not meeting project functional requirements. This study used the Thohoyandou multimodal transport facility as a case study to identify the predominant construction failure factor (CFF) responsible for the failure of this government project. Additionally, the study aims to determine at what stage of the construction lifecycle the CFFs occur. Lastly, the study aims to identify appropriate best practices for future project implementation as the government plans to develop comparable multimodal transport facilities. This study analyses the literature on construction project failures using a systematic review approach. Data was collected through a questionnaire survey, with descriptive statistics and thematic analysis used. The findings revealed that the most significant CFFs are low speed in decision-making, inability to engage qualified professionals with technical expertise and experience, frequent design scope changes and errors, and political interference and corruption. Furthermore, CFFs can occur at any stage of the construction lifecycle. The study found that best practices were not applied from the beginning of the project lifecycle. The study suggests reducing project failure risks by documenting lessons learnt, establishing an engineering profession watchdog, and promoting sustainable building techniques. Further research should focus on strategies for operationalising the facility.