Appraisal of Risk Factors which Influence the Construction of the School Buildings in Northern Iraq

Abstract

Construction projects have a unique nature which takes the high risk due to many interrelated parameters. This study aims to investigate and assess the influence of the risk factors that occurred during the lifecycle of a school project which comprises the design phases, implementation and operation and maintenance. In addition to examining the effects of the internal and external risk factors that contributed by the school's construction, in order to avoid the risk occurrence during the lifecycle of the projects. A questionnaire was prepared and distributed to a number of engineers in the Governmental Sectors (School buildings sector, Kirkuk Governorate sector, and Municipal sector in Kirkuk Government and Buildings sector in Erbil Governorate) in northern Iraq. The collected data which were analyzed using the relative importance index (RII) and matrix analysis to prioritize the project risks. The analysis results were revealed that the most significant risk factors in the school’s project lifecycle and construction were providing a proper water supply and storage system to maintain a continuous good quality of water, incompetent contractors and sub-contractors for completing school buildings, using proper construction materials to avoid cracks in the building, lack of safety in project site, keep the toilets clean to avoid diseases, and providing an emergency exits were considered the most significant risk factors in construction of school buildings.