The design and build concept has become a popular contract system. It requires the owner and contractor to identify, analyse and manage risks and search for the best solutions to improve performance. The objective of this paper is to identify the project manager's perception of risk factors associated with the design and build project in Malaysia. A total of 100 usable questionnaires were received and analysed using mean ranking and factor analysis. The results show that three most risky factors are: "client financial capability", "inadequate cash flow by contractor", and "lack of payment (delayed progress payment by owner to the contractor)". Risk can be grouped into 12 categories, namely: (1) lack of management competency; (2) lack of contractor experience; (3) political issues; (4) lack of standardized system; (5) unpredictable issues; (6) lack of client experience; (7) safety issues; (8) lack of teamwork; (9) poor supervision by client; (10) lack of client information; (11) material availability; and (12) design error.