For the construction industry to survive the current turbulence in the economic atmosphere, it has the option of integrating new initiatives to march the uncertainties. Programme management is seen as an efficient vehicle to successfully deliver the improvements and changes. However, the implementation of any new system or change initiatives has always been a challenging task; some of these challenges can be faced during the implementation or at practice stage. Programme management is not exempt from such challenges, in order to successfully implement and practice programme management, the knowledge of the major challenges associated to effective implementation and practice should not be left to serendipity or sagacity. Due to the lack of clarity surrounding programme management in the construction industry, the understanding of these major challenges remains vague. To provide a deeper insight into the major challenges to implementation and practice of construction programme management, this paper conducts both a pragmatic and theoretical study by triangulating literature, industrial questionnaire survey and semi-structured interviews. The research was conducted in the UK construction industry and other programme management sectors to analyse and exploit the knowledge of these challenges for effective implementation and practice of construction programmes. A total of 119 usable questionnaires were received and 17 semi-structured interviews were conducted, analysed and synthesised to provide a broader view on the major challenges and how to effectively implement and practice construction programmes