Risk assessment for causes of variation orders for residential projects

Abstract

This study aims to assess risks caused by variation orders in construction projects in Egypt, through studying the most important causes of the variation orders in construction projects. A structured questionnaire was developed which contained 39 collected causes of change and categorized depending on the origin of the variation, owner related, consultant related, contractor related, project management related or other related variations. The survey was carried out among client representatives, consultants, contractors and project managers involved in delivering projects. A total of 153 received questionnaire sets out of 250 questionnaires distributed. The collected questionnaires were analyzed with Statistical Package for the Social Science "SPSS". The risk of each factor was analyzed by four different methods. The results of the study show that the most five risky causes of variation orders are "Change in economic conditions", "Lack of coordination between the parties", "Bad sub-contractor or supplier by the contractor", "Impediment to prompt decision-making process by the owner of the project" and "Contractor's financial difficulties".