Measures for Improving Project Planning in the Delivery of Civil Engineering Projects in South Africa

the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa ntebon@uj.ac.za Planning civil engineering projects is important for achieving the expected time, cost and quality outcomes of infrastructure delivery. However, recurring project delays and cost overruns in South Africa continue to raise concerns about the adequacy of existing planning practices. This study assessed measures to improve project planning and examined how these measures form broader areas of planning capability. A quantitative questionnaire was completed by 163 built environment professionals in Gauteng Province. The data were analysed using mean item scores, standard deviations, reliability testing and exploratory factor analysis. All 23 measures received high ratings, with proper project planning and scheduling ranked first (MIS = 4.90). The scale yielded a Cronbach's alpha of 0.910, and the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin value of 0.851, along with a significant Bartlett's test, confirmed the suitability of the data for factor analysis. Principal component analysis with a direct oblimin rotation yielded six factors, accounting for 64.103% of the cumulative variance. These factors covered planning and execution practices, project management success, risk and dispute management, strategic collaboration and procurement, technology-enabled design readiness, and technical capability. The findings show that improved project planning depends on the combined application of managerial, collaborative, technical and digital measures. Identification and ranking of key factors associated with construction material procurement process using Random Forest– Shapley Additive Explanations (SHAP) H.H.A. Prasad Hemantha1, K.G.A.S Waidyasekara1, N. L. S. Uduwage Don1, R.K. Shiwakoti2