A Framework Methodology for Selection of Risk Analysis Techniques in Construction Projects

Project Risk Management has been gaining acceptance amongst the practitioners due to an untiring stress on its importance, and the availability of a number of risk analysis techniques for facilitating this task in construction project management. In this arena, the selection of a suitable risk analysis technique is critical to the entire project risk management process and thus critical to the success of a construction project. However, the availability of an appropriate selection methodology, which may help the project managers choose a suitable methodology for their projects, seems missing. In this paper a selection framework methodology is presented, which looks at the realization of a practical tool that may help project managers and construction practitioners in choosing a suitable risk analysis technique that satisfies select project drivers. Also, the presented work extends the traditional time, cost and quality drivers of a project by enhancing the focus to the level of complexity and maturity of the organization. The project drivers are further classified into four scales each, to assist in formulating a well-structured chart. The dimension of project risk analysis technique is classified into qualitative, semi-quantitative, quantitative, and simulation scales, rendering a balanced diagram. Plotting the project drivers on the chart result in acquisition of the category of risk analysis technique, which is appropriate under given variables. The paper further proposes individual classification of existing techniques into the four categories of project risk analysis dimension, which may help practitioners to obtain a specific technique for their construction project by conveniently putting in the variables into the proposed chart. Applicability of the framework methodology is finally presented followed by conclusions and future research directions.