ABSTRACT
Qualitative Risk Analysis at its simplest involves only a description of the obvious project risks; in some circumstances risk identification may be all the risk analysis that is required, in other cases more in-depth analysis will be warranted. Risk analysis is qualitative and comprises qualifying and prioritizing the risks that have been identified in terms of likelihood and impact on the construction project undertaking. Each risk must be allocated to an owner who has an understanding of the risk, an interest in its resolution and the ability to lead the analysis and all further activities on managing it. For very large projects this may require the appointment of a full-time risk manager who is able to devote all or most of their time to ensuring that a strategy exists for all project risks and that it is regularly reviewed. Qualitative risk analysis is one process of assessing the impact and likelihood on the identified risks. This process prioritizes the risks according to their potential effect on the project objectives and is one way to determine the importance of addressing specific risks and guiding appropriate risk responses. The time criticality of risk-related actions may also magnify the importance of a risk and how this is addressed. An evaluation of the available information on a regular basis can also help to modify the assessment of the risk.
