Project failure has become a recurrent feature of construction projects in developing countries as revealed by research works. This manifests not only as abandonment of projects, but in the form of structural defaults leading to structural collapse, prolonged projects delivery time, cost overshoots and client dissatisfaction. The aim of this research therefore was to critically analyse the factors that may lead to project failure in Anambra State, South East, Nigeria, with a view to ameliorating the high level of project failure. Primary information used in the research were sourced from a survey of one hundred (100) project professionals, with a minimum of 5 years of experience. Structured questionnaires based on the Likert-5-Point Scale of Responses were used to capture their opinions on the reasons for project failure, while Secondary information were sourced from review of literature. Results were analyzed using appropriate statistical tools based on the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (version 16.0). Our results show that indeed, the rate of failure of projects is high (p = 0.000). We have established and firmly ranked the first five factors responsible for project failure in Anambra State, South East, Nigeria. The researchers concludes that the most important factor for project failure is increase in the price of starting materials. It is recommended that the results presented in this research be widely disseminated and used in community enlightenment, and in further policy guidance and regulation. It is also recommended that the study be applied to the entire South East, Nigeria in order to generate better client satisfaction in subsequent projects.
Keywords: Project Failure, South East Nigeria, developing countries
