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Construction industry is considered as one of the most important industries in Iraq. It is well known that most construction projects in this country are exposed to time and cost overrun or both. The main objective of this study is to find the most important causes of delay in public projects in Iraq. This objective was achieved through an intensive literature review and a survey which included a questionnaire used to assess the perceptions of the main participants involved in the construction of the projects. The questionnaire was divided into three parts. The main part focused on the causes of delay in construction sites. The 65 causes compiled through the literature review and the pilot study were classified into four groups (client related, contractor related, consultant related and external factors). Answers were collected from 134 participants representing the three parties involved in the construction of the projects. Analysis was carried out to find the amount of delay suffered by the projects, as well as the indices related to frequency of occurrence, severity and importance of the four groups. In addition, ranking of the 65 factors was carried out to identify the most crucial causes of delay. It was concluded that the most effective delay factors affecting the time overrun in the public projects in Iraq are: security measures, government change of regulations and bureaucracy, official and non-official holidays, low performance of lowest bidder contractors in the government tendering system, design and changes by owner, design changes by consultants, delay in progress payments by the owner, problems with local community, owner's lack of experience in construction and economic local and global conditions.