A review of quantitative analysis techniques for construction project risk management

Construction industry is at the forefront of risk: it involves situations where uncertainty is a norm. Based on the volatility built into the very nature of this industry, risk management has been an integral part of construction management. The variety of risks faced in construction industry is enormous and there are correspondingly various techniques available to respond to the critical situations. Quantitative analysis techniques, based on their sophisticated mathematical, statistical and scientific background, promise a detailed and thorough quantification and measurement of risk, which is very important for designing the response. A construction project manager may not be able to plan the response effectively without an exhaustive knowledge of the volume of risk. This paper presents a review of various quantitative risk analysis techniques. It tries to build an overall understanding of various existing quantitative techniques for construction project risk analysis. It initially uses results of a survey to find out the trends of construction industry, globally, in terms of utilization of quantitative risk analysis and relevant techniques. Further, it looks into the details of the techniques from the published material. Finally, it reports some critical findings from the survey and literature review, and their logical and scientific deduction by stressing both, researchers and practitioners, towards the need for simplifying the existing quantitative techniques. It also tries to identify some research gaps. In conclusion, it proposes areas of future research in quantitative techniques for construction project risk management by improving existing techniques or making new ones