The construction industry is a vital part of every nation’s economy. Construction activities influence the social, environmental, and economic aspects of sustainability. There are so many barriers to sustainable construction and demolition waste management (C&DWM). This study aims to identify barriers for effective sustainable C&DWM in developed and developing countries. To achieve the objective, 11 barriers have been selected and identified based on an excessive and comprehensive literature review, and then reviewed by experts. These reviewed barriers were further examined by various experts within different organizations using a questionnaire survey. Ranking of the barriers was carried out using the Relative Importance Index (RI), and the results were statistically analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). Practical solutions were proposed to overcome the identified barriers. The overall ranking of barriers by RI indicates that insufficient attention paid to C&DWM, lack of law enforcement, lack of regulation, and financial constraints represent the four major barriers to sustainable C&DWM in these countries. The findings of this study and the proposed solutions are enablers for decision-makers to develop effective strategies to tackle construction and demolition wastes in sustainable manners.

In rapidly developing countries such as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), where the construction of buildings and supporting infrastructure is critical to achieving strategic developmental milestones, delays to capital projects can derail other sectors of the economy and could derail the Vision 2030 agenda. Attempts have been made over the years to explore the causes of construction project delays, including those in Saudi Arabia. Many of these studies are either outdated, narrow in scope, or tend to use only qualitative data, and not many have focused on the client-related delay factors affecting projects critical to Vision 2030. This study investigates client-related delay factors in terms of their correlation with key characteristics of recently completed construction projects in KSA. This objective necessitated the use of historical data; hence, an archival analysis was conducted for 37 projects among three different public sector ministries. The data were subjected to manual extraction, descriptive statistical analysis, and the use of established models such as schedule performance index (SPI) and cost performance index (CPI), and inferential (correlation) in Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) using point-biserial correlation coefficient (rpb, where p > 0.05) to explore association and impact of project characteristics on themselves and on client-related causes of delay. Results revealed eight unique client-related causes of delay, with SPI values of 0.71 to 0.82, as well as CPI values ranging from 0.84 to 0.89, suggesting very poor time and cost performance across all projects, as well as the magnitude of correlation of key project characteristics (cost, duration, additional time, and additional cost) with the eight client-related causes of delay. The findings can help the client (authorities) understand and curb delays that are due to their own making, and it is recommended that such delay factors, whose likelihood are now established and whose potential impact can be measured against key project characteristics, be developed into a delay risk impact tool. International joint ventures can bring technical expertise for Vision 2030, but they cannot eliminate delays due to government practices.