Risk Factors in Construction Projects during Unrest Period in Yemen

Article Sidebar

PDF
Published: Sep 8, 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.21315/jcdc2018.23.2.4
Keywords:
Factor analysis, Revolution, Relative importance index (RII), Risk allocation, Risk identification, Risk response

Main Article Content

Ali Mohammed Alashwal
Department of Quantity Surveying, Faculty of the Built Environment, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, MALAYSIA
Mohammed Hatim Al-Sabahi
Department of Architecture, Faculty of Engineering, Sana'a University, Sana'a, YEMEN

Abstract

Construction projects are inherently exposed to various risk and uncertainties. Numerous studies have identified risk factors in construction projects in developed and developing countries. Yemen has witnessed revolutions and wars during the past six years, which affected the construction sector among other sectors. The purpose of this paper is to determine risk factors during the unrest period in Yemen. A list of 72 risk variables was developed based on the literature review followed by a questionnaire survey to determine relevant variables and factors. The results of this study explored new components of risk variables, namely environmental, resource-related, technical, conflict, design-related, profit-related, liquidity and revolution, and change. In addition, the results indicated critical risks affecting construction projects and main strategies to respond to them. The results of this paper provide an essential step for managing risks, so project managers and other professionals can ensure good project performance. However, further study is required to investigate the effectiveness of risk response strategies proposed in this paper.

Article Details

How to Cite
Ali Mohammed Alashwal, and Mohammed Hatim Al-Sabahi. 2026. “Risk Factors in Construction Projects During Unrest Period in Yemen”. Journal of Construction in Developing Countries 23 (2): 43–62. https://doi.org/10.21315/jcdc2018.23.2.4.
Issue
Vol. 23 No. 2 (2018)
Section
Articles
Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

References

Abednego, M.P. and Ogunlana, S.O. (2006). Good project governance for proper risk allocation in public-private partnerships in Indonesia. International Journal of Project Management, 24(7): 622–634. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijproman.2006.07.010.

Ahadzie, D., Proverbs, D. and Olomolaiye, P. (2008). Critical success criteria for mass house building projects in developing countries. International Journal of Project Management, 26(6): 675–687. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijproman.2007.09.006.

Aibinu, A. and Jagboro, G. (2002). The effects of construction delays on project delivery in Nigerian construction industry. International Journal of Project Management, 20(8): 593–599. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0263-7863(02)00028-5.

Akintoye, A.S. and MacLeod, M.J. (1997). Risk analysis and management in construction. International Journal of Project Management, 15(1): 31–38. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0263-7863(96)00035-X.

Al-Sabahi, M.H., Al-Hamidi, A.A., Ramly, A. and Rejab, K.M. (2014). Exploring criteria and critical factors for governmental projects implementation in Yemen: A case study. Journal of Surveying, Construction and Property, 5(2): 1–17. https://doi.org/10.22452/jscp.vol5no2.2.

Al-Tmeemy, S.M.H., Rahman, H.A. and Harun, Z. (2012). Contractors' perception of the use of costs of quality system in Malaysian building construction projects. International Journal of Project Management, 30(7): 827–838. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijproman.2011.12.001.

Alaghbari, W., Salim, A., Dola, K. and Ali, A.A.A. (2011). Developing affordable housing design for low income in Sana'a, Yemen. International Journal of Housing Markets and Analysis, 4(1): 84–98. https://doi.org/10.1108/17538271111111857.

Baltes, B.B., Parker, C.P., Young, L.M., Huff, J.W. and Altmann, R. (2004). The practical utility of importance measures in assessing the relative importance of workrelated perceptions and organizational characteristics on work-related outcomes. Organizational Research Methods, 7(3): 326–340. https://doi.org/10.1177/1094428104266014.

Bing, L., Akintoye, A., Edwards, J. and Hardcastle, C. (2005). The allocation of risk in PPP/PFI construction projects in the UK. International Journal of Project Management, 23(1): 25–35. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijproman.2004.04.006.

Bing, L., Tiong, R.L.K., Fan, W.W. and Chew, D.A.S. (1999). Risk management in international construction joint ventures. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 125(4): 277–284. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)0733-9364(1999)125:4(277).

Boykin, R.F., Freeman, R.A. and Levary, R.R. (1984). Risk assessment in a chemical storage facility. Management Science, 30(4): 512–517. https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.30.4.512.

Chan, D. and Kumaraswamy, M. (2002). Compressing construction durations: Lessons learned from Hong Kong building projects. International Journal of Project Management, 20(1): 23–35. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0263-7863(00)00032-6.

Chapman, C. and Cooper, D.F. (1983). Risk analysis: Testing some prejudices. European Journal of Operational Research, 14(3): 238–247. https://doi.org/10.1016/0377-2217(83)90260-6.

Chapman, C. and Ward, S.C. (1994). The efficient allocation of risk in contracts. Omega, 22(6): 537–552. https://doi.org/10.1016/0305-0483(94)90046-9.

de Lemos, T., Eaton, D., Betts, M. and de Almeida, L.T. (2004). Risk management in the Lusoponte concession: A case study of the two bridges in Lisbon, Portugal. International Journal of Project Management, 22(1): 63–73. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0263-7863(03)00013-9.

Edwards, P. and Bowen, P. (1998). Risk and risk management in construction: A review and future directions for research. Engineering Construction and Architectural Management, 5(4): 339–349. https://doi.org/10.1108/eb021087.

El-Sayegh, S.M. (2008). Risk assessment and allocation in the UAE construction industry. International Journal of Project Management, 26(4): 431–438. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijproman.2007.07.004.

El-Sayegh, S.M. and Mansour, M.H. (2015). Risk assessment and allocation in highway construction projects in the UAE. Journal of Management in Engineering, 31(6): 04015004. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)ME.1943-5479.0000365.

Fang, C., Marle, F., Xie, M. and Zio, E. (2013). An integrated framework for risk response planning under resource constraints in large engineering projects. IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, 60(3): 627–639. https://doi.org/10.1109/TEM.2013.2242078.

Hair, J.F., Black, W.C., Babin, B.J. anderson, R.E. and Tatham, R.L. (2006). Multivariate Data Analysis. 6th Ed. London: Pearson Education International.

Hwang, B.-G., Zhao, X. and Yu, G.S. (2016). Risk identification and allocation in underground rail construction joint ventures: Contractors' perspective. Journal of Civil Engineering and Management, 22(6): 758–767. https://doi.org/10.3846/13923730.2014.914095.

Jannadi, O.A. and Almishari, S. (2003). Risk assessment in construction. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 129(5): 492–500. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)0733-9364(2003)129:5(492).

Jung, J.H., Kim, D.Y. and Lee, H.K. (2016). The computer-based contingency estimation through analysis cost overrun risk of public construction project. KSCE Journal of Civil Engineering, 20(4): 1119–1130. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12205-015-0184-8.

Kindinger, J.P. and Darby, J.L. (2000). Risk factor analysis: A new qualitative risk management tool. Paper presented at the Proceedings of the Project Management Institute Annual Seminars and Symposium. Houston, Texas, USA, 7–16 September.

Kumaraswamy, M.M. and Chan, D.W.M. (1998). Contributors to construction delays. Construction Management and Economics, 16(1): 17–29. https://doi.org/10.1080/014461998372556.

Li, Y., Wang, X. and Wang, Y. (2016). Using bargaining game theory for risk allocation of public-private partnership projects: Insights from different alternating offer sequences of participants. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 143(3): 04016102. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)CO.1943-7862.0001249.

Mills, A. (2001). A systematic approach to risk management for construction. Structural Survey, 19(5): 245–252. https://doi.org/10.1108/02630800110412615.

Odusami, K. (2002). Perceptions of construction professionals concerning important skills of effective project leaders. Journal of Management in Engineering, 18(2): 61–67. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)0742-597X(2002)18:2(61).

Park, S.H. (2009). Whole life performance assessment: Critical success factors. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 135(11): 1146–1161. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)CO.1943-7862.0000090.

Perez, D., Gray, J. and Skitmore, M. (2016). Perceptions of risk allocation methods and equitable risk distribution: A study of medium to large Southeast Queensland commercial construction projects. International Journal of Construction Management, 17(2): 132–141. https://doi.org/10.1080/15623599.2016.1233087.

Project Management Institute (PMI) (2013). A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide). 5th Ed. Pennsylvania: PMI Inc.

Sambasivan, M. and Soon, Y.W. (2007). Causes and effects of delays in Malaysian construction industry. International Journal of Project Management, 25(5): 517–526. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijproman.2006.11.007.

Sekaran, U. and Bougie, R.J. (2016). Research Methods for Business: A Skill Building Approach. 7th Ed. Chichester, West Sussex: John Wiley and Sons.

Smith, N.J., Merna, T. and Jobling, P. (2009). Managing Risk: In Construction Projects. New Jersey: John Wiley and Sons.

______ (2006). Managing Risk in Construction Projects. 2nd Ed. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.

Soofi, E.S., Retzer, J.J. and Yasai-Ardekani, M. (2000). A framework for measuring the importance of variables with applications to management research and decision models. Decision Sciences, 31(3): 595–625. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-5915.2000.tb00936.x.

Sultan, B. (2005). The construction industry in Yemen: Towards economic sustainability. PhD diss. Queensland University of Technology.

Sultan, B. and Kajewski, S. (2004). Local problems in the construction industry of Yemen. Proceedings: International Symposium on Globalisation and Construction. Bangkok: School of Civil Engineering, Asian Institute of Technology and The International Council on Innovation and Research in Building and Construction (CIB).

Tabachnick, B.G. and Fidell, L.S. (2012). Using Multivariate Statistics. 6th Ed. Boston: Pearson.

Tad, M.S. and Janardhanan, K. (2016). A whole community approach to disaster management: Preparedness, involvement and empowerment for action. Journal of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, 9(4): 2006–2008.

Tam, V.W.Y. (2008). On the effectiveness in implementing a waste-managementplan method in construction. Waste Management, 28(6): 1072–1080.

Toor, S. and Ogunlana, S.O. (2010). Beyond the "iron triangle": Stakeholder perception of key performance indicators (KPIs) for large-scale public sector development projects. International Journal of Project Management, 28(3): 228–236. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijproman.2009.05.005.

Trangkanont, S. and Charoenngam, C. (2014). Private partner's risk response in PPP low-cost housing projects. Property Management, 32(1): 67–94. https://doi.org/10.1108/PM-02-2013-0008.

von Branconi, C. and Loch, C.H. (2004). Contracting for major projects: Eight business levers for top management. International Journal of Project Management, 22(2): 119–130. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0263-7863(03)00014-0.

Yuan, J., Zeng, A.Y., Skibniewski, M.J. and Li, Q. (2009). Selection of performance objectives and key performance indicators in public-private partnership projects to achieve value for money. Construction Management and Economics, 27(3): 253–270. https://doi.org/10.1080/01446190902748705.

Zayed, T., Amer, M. and Pan, J. (2008). Assessing risk and uncertainty inherent in Chinese highway projects using AHP. International Journal of Project Management, 26(4): 408–419. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijproman.2007.05.012.

Zhang, S., Zhang, S., Gao, Y. and Ding, X. (2016). Contractual governance: Effects of risk allocation on contractors' cooperative behavior in construction projects. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 142(6): 04016005. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)CO.1943-7862.0001111.

Zhang, Y. (2016). Selecting risk response strategies considering project risk interdependence. International Journal of Project Management, 34(5): 819– 830. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijproman.2016.03.001.

Zhang, Y. and Fan, Z.-P. (2014). An optimization method for selecting project risk response strategies. International Journal of Project Management, 32(3): 412– 422. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijproman.2013.06.006.