Contractors' strategic approaches to risk assessment techniques at project planning stage

The construction industry is still plagued by poor quality, poor workmanship, poor safety and health environment, and poor practices. The current main problem in the Malaysian Construction Industry is delayed projects under the Ninth Malaysia Plan. The idea of introducing formal risk assessment among Malaysian contractors during the project planning stage is a proactive approach to achieve project objectives. Therefore, this research intends to achieve the following objectives: (1) to investigate the contractors' approaches of risk assessment techniques at the project planning stage, (2) to investigate the consequences of risk assessment techniques at the project planning stage, and (3) to determine the appropriate risk assessment techniques in dealing with the potential risk factors at the project planning stage. The research methodology applied for this research includes literature reviews and questionnaires. Findings from this research show that the application of risk assessment techniques in the Malaysian Construction Industry is still moderate. Hence, it is suggested that these contractors should try to implement formal risk assessment techniques during the project planning stage in order to achieve the project objectives.