Risk Management in Construction of Megahousing Projects in Egypt

Egypt's population is to exceed 120 million by 2050. To cater to that increase, the government started to build megahousing projects (MHP) in 2016. The Egyptian strategy 2030 prioritized the delivery of MHP. However, the construction of MHP poses significant risks, as they are large, complex, and include high construction costs. The literature showed that the construction of housing projects faced many challenges due to poor management of risks that negatively influenced construction duration and completion cost. The literature also shows that contractors in Egypt failed to deliver the construction phase of projects within schedule and budget. This research focuses on Egypt, one of the country’s that started moving towards the construction of megaprojects, where MHP is crucial to most of the Egyptian population. Given the conditions existing in Egypt, appropriate risk management practice for the construction of MHP is important. The research aims to develop a computerised risk management framework (CRMF) to update risk management knowledge and improve contractors' risk management practice for the successful construction delivery of MHP in Egypt. This study is to review extant literature in housing, risk management, MHP and development of a CRMF.

A mixed approach was applied in this research to achieve the aim of the study. The data collection method adopted for this study was qualitative and quantitative. To acquire in-depth risk management information, 20 semi-structured interviews were conducted. Ninety questionnaires were used to collect quantitative risk data for use in risk management processes such as qualitative risk analysis, quantitative risk analysis, and risk response. Contractors were guided to better decision-making and quantitative risk assessments using Monte Carlo analysis. This research included the development of a conceptual risk framework (RMF), and a computerised risk management framework (CRMF). The CRMF is supported with generic risk management framework (GRMF), prerequisites, and challenges to improve the efficiency of its application during the construction of MHP. Nine interviews were used to test the validation of the developed CRMF.

Results show that the number of studies related to quantitative risk analysis and risk response is considered limited. Risk management studies highlighted that contractors in Egypt are not using a standardized structure for risk management in construction projects and require risk management training. There is no CRMF that can update risk management knowledge and improve contractors' risk management practice for successful construction delivery of MHP in Egypt. The riskiest areas in the construction of MHP in Egypt are delays in payments, delays in submitting design drawings, client change orders, and safety issues. It was agreed that improvement was required in the following area: communication between the project manager and the project team. Lack of database for previous risk data and no tool is used to store risk management information (Khorshed, 2017; El-Megharbel, 2015; Othman and Ahmed, 2013;Khodeir and Mohamed, 2015; Asal, 2014).

This research contributes to theory and practice by implementing recommendations for developing effective project risk management practices in the construction of MHP. The researcher concludes that the development of a RMF and a CRMF targeted improvement in risk management practices and construction delivery of MHP in Egypt. The research was limited to the development and validity testing but was not practiced during the construction of MHP. That was due to the research project period and introductory of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Contractors can further use the CRMF to test it on a complete construction time frame of an MHP and measure the improvement made in delivery by the end of MHP construction. Researchers can further examine the government's commitment to supporting organizations in practicing risk management.