Fuzzy Analytical Hierarchy Process(FAHP) Approach To Risk Assessment In Ethiopian Building Construction Projects

The major objectives of construction projects have high exposure to be affected by various risks throughout the project life cycle.Thus,applying effective risk management enables the managers to meet project objectives in terms of schedule,cost,quality and scope.In this research work,fuzzy analytic hierarchy process(FAHP)risk assessment approach is presented in order to prioritize project risk factors systematically,Risk assessment is the core process of risk management which includes risk identification,analysis and prioritizing project risks.The proposed risk assessment method is applied in Ethiopian building construction projects.Thirty project risk factors are identified and structured into six major risk dimensions.By incorporating experts’judgment on each pairwise comparison stage,the priority level of project risk factors has been obtained.During pairwise comparison process triangular fuzzy numbers are used to capture the vagueness in linguistic variables and the consistency of established matrix has been checked within acceptable range.The application of proposed method in Ethiopian building construction project has shown that insufficient project planning,payment delay and cash flow problem,and lack of top management support are identified as critical project risk factors.Furthermore,regarding to the project risk factors categories;financial,management,and contract and legal related risk factors have dominated the other categories.As a result,building contractors can minimize,avoid,transfer or accept the effect of project risks and maximize the benefit from project outputs.Project managers can apply FAHP risk assessment method by involving experienced project team members,top management staff,other project managers and special risk experts.This allows project managers to manage effectively those identified and underlying project risk factors.