This paper presents a review of the most significant contributions on the topic of project complexity. It sets this review within the context of the development of project management as a topic receiving increased attention from both academe and practitioners. Following this review, a proposed framework of project complexity is presented alongside a more granular componentry of project complexity derived from work published by the UK's National Audit Office. The proposed framework is then tested via application to a live case study that is proffered as being a case of project complexity. The purpose of the paper is to present a coherent argument for what can be understood to make a project complex with the paper being the first phase in a research project that seeks to understand what expert project practitioners see as making projects complex and how these experts approach the management of such projects
