Abstract: A majority of construction projects never get completed on time. Delays and cost overruns are the major problems that construction industry around the world face. Construction delays have big implications on the society and its economy which disturbs the process of development. Australia has not been prone to this problem either. This paper aims to identify critical risk factors responsible for project delays and cost overrun and, explore the possibility of mitigation of risk by Early Involvement of Contractor. A literature review is done to identify common factors of project delays and cost overruns. Based on the common findings of the literature 15 factors were identified and a questionnaire set was designed around these factors.