Risk and risk management in construction projects: concepts, terms and risk categories re-defined

Edwards, P J and Bowen, P A (1999) Risk and risk management in construction projects: concepts, terms and risk categories re-defined. Journal of Construction Procurement, 5(1), pp. 47-57. ISSN 1358-9180

Abstract

Understanding of risk and risk management in the construction industry is erratic. An attempt is made to redress this situation by reviewing the concepts of risk and uncertainty and by re-defining the terminology. The preferred definition of risk is that it is the probability that an adverse event occurs during a stated period if time. The main context for construction risk management is found to lie in the decision-making aspects of building procurement. A source-based approach to categorizing construction and project risks is proposed, with natural and human systems as the two primary source, categories. Human risks comprise events or actions originating in humanly devised systems are further categorized as social, political, economic, financial, legal, health, managerial, technical, or cultural sources of risk.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: procurement, project management, risk, risk analysis, risk management, uncertainty
Index terms: building procurement, risk analysis, decision-making, construction project, project management, construction industry, risk management
Subjects: risk assessment, decision analysis, industry analysis, project management theory and practice, contractual arrangements, environmental hazards, production management
Topics: Research Practice, Risk Management, Procurement, Sustainability, Project Management
Descriptive scope: 3 PCT

N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here