Purpose – Construction renovation projects have been noted to suffer from uncertainties. While recent efforts have studied uncertainties affecting the duration of other types of projects, these efforts have overlooked construction renovation projects. Therefore, this study evaluated the uncertainty factors affecting the duration of construction renovation projects. Design/methodology/approach – 226 responses from construction professionals were collected via questionnaire survey on the impact of uncertainty factors on the duration of construction renovation projects. The subjective responses of experts from the industry were categorised using principal component analysis (PCA) before being exposed to objective analysis, assessment, and modelling using a soft computing technique called fuzzy synthetic evaluation (FSE). Findings – 25 uncertainty factors as critical factors and were modelled. The PCA of the 25 CUFs produced an 8-factor solution that grouped the uncertainty factors into eight categories. The FSE modelling indicated that all 8 groups are critical, but with varying levels of criticality on the duration of construction renovation projects. Research limitations/implications – The study provides a basis for a cost-effective uncertainty management guideline to avoid time overruns in construction projects. It also offers a platform for choosing among renovation projects to decide whether or not a project will overrun its time or not. Originality/value – The study identified and established critical uncertainties affecting the duration of construction renovation projects, thus providing the first empirical multi-attribute objective uncertainty evaluation for the duration of construction renovation projects. |