Elyas Faal Sezavari - Bs Civil Engineer at Islamic Azad University Of Mashhad
Zeinab Ghanian - Ms Public Administration at Islamic Azad University Of Mashhad
Maral Javad Zadeh Tabatabaei - Bs Business Administration at Ferdowsi University Of Mashhad
Mahmoud Mematti - Assistant Professor, Department of Civil Engineering Islamic Azad University of Mashhad

Construction projects are the basis for development and industrialization of developing countries. However, delays in carrying out these projects is one of the reasons for cost increases. The aim of this study is to investigate the factors affecting the length (time) duration of construction projects with a case study of Mashhad. The researcher designed a reliable and valid questionnaire and provided the needed instruments under Cronbach s alpha coefficient %19 and presented it to public and private employers of professional engineers and private contractors who had at least three years of experience in construction projects. The relative importance index and (ANOVA) test were used to analyze the data. The results showed that three factors of budgeting with the financing of projects’ management, project’s site supervision and the interim payment of the cash flow are the most important causes of delays in construction projects in Mashhad. The results promise that the needed time for the project to be completed depends on the factors such as customers, the design team, contractors, labor, equipment, building materials, and related external factors. According to the results, identifying and using effective factors in the design and timing of projects can reduce time delays in carrying out projects to a minimum.

construction project, delay factors, timing, project management