RISK MANAGEMENT ON MASS HOUSING ESTATE A CASE STUDY IN THE UPPER WEST REGION.

ABSTRACT Mass housing industry is highly risk prone, with complex and dynamic projects environment which create an atmosphere of uncertainty and risk. The industry is vulnerable to various technical, managerial, socio- political among other risks. The track record to cope with these risks has not been good in the industry. As a result, the people working there bear various failures such as;inadequate specifications, errors in designs etc. with the overall consequence of poor management of risk. The aim of the study was to examine risk management practice of mass estate housing projects and to develop a framework of recommendations towards effective risk management of such housing units. The research employed the use of the non-experimental descriptive cross sectional survey research design where three districts of the Upper West Region were considered; Wa Municipal, Jirapa and Nandom districts. Purposive sampling technique was employed in administering the questionnaires to 100 contractors.The research findings showed that about 98 percent of contractors do identify the risk associated with contracts they are about to execute while 96 percent of them do assess the impact level of the various forms of risk identified. Majority of the contractors also do analyze the risk before the execution of the project as well as 88 percent does risk monitoring and control. The respondents attest to the fact that risk factors exist in their operating environments and that they are quite aware of their potential role in lowering productivity. The following were identified as the prevailing risk factors; financial risk, management risk, environmental risk, technical risk, socio-political risk and others. The financial risk was however seen as the most nagging factor in the mass housing construction industry. The study recommends that before handing over the site all parties to the contract should brainstorm the possible challenges expected in the project and a regular in-house workshop with stakeholders to help them understand effective risk management processes in the life of the project.