Evaluation of risk factors affecting the implementation time for residential complex projects in Iraq

Abstract

Abstract Residential complex projects represent one of the most important infrastructure project types in Iraq, as these plays a significant role in housing provision. In recent years, various types of risks that may occur during the implementation stage of residential complex projects have been identified. To accomplish these projects successfully, it is thus very important to manage these risks where they may affect project objectives in terms of cost, time, and quality, and risks often cause delays or cost overruns. The concept of risk management is to develop a systematic process that includes planning, identification, response planning, analysis, and assessment of both qualitative and quantitative variables, monitoring and mitigation of risks. This research thus aims to identify, assess and analyse the factors related to risks that may affect the implementation time for residential complexes projects by means of conducting statistical analysis using IBM SPSS v22 and Microsoft Excel to determine the severity risk for such project risks based on a relative importance index. This data for this was gathered by means of a questionnaire, field survey, and personal interviews. The questionnaire consisted of three parts, with the first part including general information about the sample; the second part included 17 queries about applications of risk management systems as a methodology; and the third part discussed the probability of occurrence and impact of risks, with 57 factors considered. The results of the statistical analysis showed that only four out of the 17 items in section 2 were applied; further, by analysing responses to the 57 factors, only 25 factors were found to have high impacts on risk occurrence in residential complex projects in Iraq. This suggests that only 44% of time overruns in residential complex projects may occur due to risk factors. The most important factors in terms of high impact are executing works that do not conform to specifications, which leads to rejecting and returning works, inaccuracy of schedule, and delayed payment of advances in accordance with the contract.