Purpose - Construction projects within Malaysia are plagued by time overruns that can transform what should have been successful projects, into those incurring additional costs, disagreements, litigation and in some cases abandonment. To help better understand this problem, the purpose of this paper is to investigate Malaysian project characteristics in relation to time overruns. Design/methodology/approach - In total, 150 Malaysian quantity-surveying organisations provided data relating to recent projects they have worked on. Project characteristics considered in analysis are new build and refurbishment, public and private sectors, procurement methods used, nature of projects and tendering methods. Findings - Public sector projects were found more prone to overruns than those in the private sector; refurbishment projects experienced better time performance than new build; construction management demonstrated better time performance than design-build or traditional procurement; and infrastructure projects/negotiated tendering, performed better than selective/open tendering, respectively. The study also developed a linear model to predict project duration, based on contract period. Research limitations/implications - The study adds a geographically specific detailed analysis to the extant literature of project performance generally and to that of time overruns more specifically. Practical implications - Findings provide stakeholders with information that may help mitigate the frequency of project delays among construction projects, especially in Malaysia. Originality/value - The analysis and modelling of time overrun in relation to Malaysian project characteristics in this way is novel.