A study on causes of construction delays in real estate projects in the metropolitan region of São Paulo

The aim of this article is to list the main causes of delays in Brazilian real estate projects. Based on a literature review, this article starts by identifying the factors that affect construction times around the world, focusing on developing countries. The conditions and difficulties that entrepreneurs and builders face in those countries are probably the same as those in Brazil. Based on this list of delays, a classification and correlation was established, identifying possible causes. This framework was used to perform analytical research in 32 construction works executed in the metropolitan region of São Paulo in the past 7 years. The results showed that although entrepreneurs' interference significantly affects the projects (at least in this sample), the main problems seem to be related much more to internal and organizational issues on the construction site, which are the responsibility of construction managers, than to issues external to the construction environment (rain, soil, market changes, suppliers, customer engagement, etc.). This aspect reinforces the importance of investing in training, planning and control systems and methodologies, even if simplified.

本文旨在梳理巴西房地产项目延期的主要成因。本文首先通过文献综述，梳理全球范围内影响建筑工期的各类因素，研究重点聚焦于发展中国家。这些国家中开发商与建筑承包商所面临的境况与困境，或与巴西国内的情况相仿。基于上述延期因素清单，本文构建了分类与关联体系，以明确潜在致因。依托该分析框架，本文对过去7年间圣保罗都会区范围内已完工的32项建筑工程开展了分析研究。研究结果显示，尽管开发商的干预对项目工期存在显著影响（至少在本次采样样本中如此），但核心问题更多源于施工现场的内部管理与组织层面的问题——此类问题由施工项目经理负责统筹解决——而非建筑项目外部环境相关的各类因素（如降雨、地质条件、市场波动、供应商协作、客户参与度等）。这一结论进一步凸显了对培训、规划与管控体系及方法论进行投入的重要性，即便相关体系与方法为简化版本。