Assessing the Level of Occurrence and Impact of Exogenous and Endogenous Risk Factors in the delivery of Educational Building Projects

Abstract

Construction projects are greatly affected by endogenous and exogenous risk factors. The purpose of this study is to investigate risk factors with high levels of occurrence and their impacts on project goals. These will help in finding the most appropriate mitigating strategy used by contractors on educational building projects with a view to enhance performance and reduce cost. A convenience sampling method was used to select 3 professionals each from 44 contracting firms working in the Educational building construction projects in Ekiti State, Nigeria. Forty-eight risk factors were identified through a review of literature. Data was collected through a structured survey and the data was analysed using Mann-Whitney U-test, Mean item score and frequencies.  The results showed that inadequate funding by the client, the financial instability of contractors and suppliers, fluctuations in market price and inflation (all finance related) are the most critical risk factors in terms of the level of occurrence and impact. These factors had a great effect on project success. The study highlights risk factors that are capable of causing negative effects on the success of educational building projects. It also helps to solve the problems associated with the handling of risk by contracting firms. The study will be of value to stakeholders in providing the information needed to devise response strategies to minimise the impact of a risk on projects.