The complexity and comprehensiveness of construction projects affects the variable level of risk, as a disturbing factor of their correct course. However, the key issue is to properly identify the risk for a given contract, deciding to take or reject the investment. There are many risk factors but not all of them are important in a specific project. The authors of the paper, based on the analysis of data from the 30 completed (on the north-western area of Poland) construction projects (including: office buildings, production halls, teaching buildings, demolition work of buildings, etc.) not only identified the key variables, but also attempted to determine their significance due to the occurrence frequency of risk factors. For comparison, the authors summarized the planned risk, estimated at the stage before the tender, with the real risk in the financial terms, which occurred during the construction work execution (as a percentage of the contract value).
Keywords: risk management, financial risk, construction contracts.