*Article* **Risk Level Evaluation on Construction Project Lifecycle Using Fuzzy Comprehensive Evaluation and TOPSIS**

#### **Tsegay Gebrehiwet \* and Hanbin Luo**

Institute of Construction Management, School of Civil Engineering and Mechanics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 1037, China; luohbcem@hust.edu.cn

**\*** Correspondence: tseggt77@hust.edu.cn; Tel.: +86-131-250-96204

Received: 17 November 2018; Accepted: 17 December 2018; Published: 24 December 2018

**Abstract:** A risk is a predominant problem in the developing countries construction projects. Although numerous studies have been concerned on risk, there is a limited study on a mechanism to identify the typical risks and effects level. This paper presents an approach for evaluating the risks in case of schedule delays at the various lifecycles of construction projects. The methodology applied is an integrated model of the technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) and fuzzy comprehensive evaluation (FCE). In this study, common criteria, sub-criteria, and attributes are constructed to make a decision concerning the influence level of risk of delay at the construction project lifecycle. The results showed that the construction stage (44%) is highly influenced, the second highly influenced stage is post construction (37%), and the least risked stage is pre-construction (35%). The construction projects in Ethiopia have faced an average delay risk of 38% at a high and very high-risk level. This work is expected to serve as a tool to assist managers in the managemen<sup>t</sup> and control of schedule delays to mitigate their risks.

**Keywords:** FCE; Construction project; Evaluation of schedule delay risk; TOPSIS
