Design Risk Management In Ethiopian Federal Road Projects

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Date

2009-07

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Publisher

Addis Ababa University

Abstract

Project risks have significant impact on construction project’s performance in terms of cost, time and quality. Thus, managing the risks has been recognized as a very important management process in order to achieve the project objectives. The objective of this research is to examine whether design risks are contributory to cost and time overruns, and poor quality of works, and make recommendation based on the findings. The research, thus, reviewed 10 Road construction projects performed during the last 14 years, and conducted interviews with professionals of the Ethiopian Roads Authority (ERA) who are involved in procurement, design review, and monitoring implementation of Road construction projects at Federal level. The findings of this research revealed that design risks were contributory to cost and time overrun and poor quality of works. The underlying cause of the risks is that designers lack construction experience and fail to fully address constructability problems that surface during construction. And it was found that the breeding ground for design risks is the Design-Bid-Build project delivery method currently in place. This project delivery system is characterized by separation of phases which does not make use of construction experience in the development of design. Design-build Project delivery method allows collaborative efforts of Designers and Contractors in early phases and, therefore, lays the ground to minimize or manage the design risks by optimizing the design and construction personnel. Constructability problems which have an impact on time, cost, and quality are, therefore, better addressed with Design-Build project delivery method. Keywords: Risk management, Design Risk, Constructability, Quality management, Project delivery method

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Keywords

Risk Management; Design Risk; Constructability; Quality Management; Project Delivery Method

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