Identification and Assessment of Major Risks in Syrian Construction Projects: Lattakia-Syria Case

The Syrian construction industry is plagued with risks that can be challenging to the overall success of any construction project. To minimize a project’s damage in terms of cost, time and quality, an authentic data-driven and expert-approved risk plan must be developed. This paper proposes a methodology to identify and assess major risks based on the personal evaluation of experienced civil engineers as a step in a comprehensive risk-management process. By combining a ranked risk magnitude index and an assigned risk zone, fifteen major risks were identified and assessed. Companies are advised to use the list to develop a resourceful general risk plan. Combining the two methods together makes the risk plan more representative and thus more reliable, as the two proposed methods can result in different rankings. The top fifteen risks in the Syrian construction industry were mainly management, financial and design risks. Locating in the zone of maximum risk came “an unprecedented increase in raw-material prices” and “the loss due to an increase in fuel prices” as number one and number two, respectively”. “Unavailability of resources” was next in the zone of high risk. “Improper cost estimation” and “losing critical work forces at a critical time” scored high in the final ranking. KEYWORDS: Risk identification, Risk assessment, Syria, Construction industry.