Dealing with uncertainty in construction projects with particular reference to Egypt

Risk management has had limited application in the industry despite large schedule delays and significant experienced by clients and contractors on recent major projects. Some developments are essential to improve the credibility of the risk analysis techniques within the industry. This research is an attempt to further establish the concept of risk management for construction contracts.The study is primarily concerned with dealing with uncertainty in construction projects. A particular reference is given to the construction industry in Egypt. The main objectives of the research are: 1) to analyse and discuss the theoretical aspects of construction risk management and to introduce developments wherever possible, 2) to investigate, through application of risk management to tender preparation for a major construction project, how uncertainty changes during the life of the project and the interrelationship between cost and time, 3) to propose roles of the participants of the construction industry; the client, designer, local authority, government, and contractor, to mitigate construction risks, and 4) to make use of the experience gained during the research to suggest a set of recommendations for greater stability of the construction industry in Egypt.The approach of construction risk and uncertainty management consists of three main steps: risk identification, risk analysis and risk response. The present state-of-the-art of each research aspect is introduced and the author suggests necessary modifications. An earth dam with a constrained construction programme is chosen as the model to investigate how uncertainty changes during the life of a project. Roles of the different parties in construction risk management are proposed by consideration of ten different real-life projects. The projects are chosen in such a way that they can be representatives of a wide range of project types. Suggestions are given to improve contractual performance in Egypt taken into consideration the special situation of the industry.