AbstractThis paper describes an approach to project risk analysis based on the assessment of risk associated with a prototype activity, which may typify a set of actual project activities in a variety of ways. Risk associated with the actual activities is assessed by treating these activities as variations on the prototype activity. In appropriate circumstances, this approach offers savings in the time and effort spent on risk analysis, possibly at the expense of some detail. The approach was conceived to deal with a commercially sensitive industrial project; in this paper it is illustrated by means of three hypothetical examples, which demonstrate a wide range of potential applications.