Top 3 Strategies of Risk Management in Construction Projects

Published: 20/01/2020

Country: United States

Do you know your construction project may be riskier than you think? A study conducted by a Construction Industry Institute stated that there are about 107 construction risks that need to be considered by an AEC professional for a perfect project execution. However, before panicking about the risks, let's take a step back. A long and comprehensive risk is not quite actionable as it contains several things that one can't control like the acts of God so need to be planned.

Risk management strategies are extensively adopted by most organizations across the globe. As per industry research, it is found that 27% of the companies always use risk management, while 35% use make use of it occasionally. 3% of the surveyed organizations only stated that they never make use of the risk management process.

Even Though it is difficult to control risk, construction management software application can be a pertinent solution for managing multiple risks of a construction project. Using the right technology like Building Information Modeling (BIM) and the right construction management resources, project managers can formulate a risk-based operational excellence program to manage an end-to-end project lifecycle.

Here are the 3 project risk management strategies for the construction industry that can help to prioritize your risk assessment, by identifying the risks and controlling them.

1. Addressing Labor Shortage & Productivity

As per a recent survey of contractors conducted by Autodesk in association with the Associated General Contractors (AGC) of America, 80% struggle to hire adept workers due to labor shortage. Even if the industry wants to address the issue of the labor shortage with a commitment to improving recruitment and training, the strategies won’t solve. At this juncture, technologies like BIM and mobile construction software can help fill the gap and attract high-skilled employees. Implementing a mobile construction software solution helps to attract younger employees who are digital nomads, providing them a platform to get the job.

Another impactful workforce issue is productivity. As per a study, it is revealed that the productivity of two groups of workers undertaking similar jobs on the same site and at the same time can differ to 50% by adoption of technology. Right software, can calculate the productivity of workforce and measure the time for improving your hiring decisions, reducing the risk in project execution.

2. Removing Negative Impact from Unsafe Working Conditions

Unsafe work conditions on construction sites are another concern. With diverse workforce , language barriers and other miscommunications, one can harm safety. Owing to language problems, Hispanic workers face a greater risk of injury on construction sites. Implementing construction productivity software programs having dual Spanish and English support making the job site safer by allowing language localization and real-time mass communications. As per Construction Dive, a new machine learning device, BIM 360 Construction IQ can analyze the data of a large project for rating safety and quality issues by risk level.

BIM also helps to plan and model tasks sequentially, removing common pain points that are mostly unpredictable without software assistance. It also enables a visual representation of the building. Using 4D BIM models, construction managers can easily pinpoint potential hazards before they become problematic onsite. Building Information Modeling also brings visual risk analysis and safety evaluations to produce detailed reports of site conditions for workers. BIM is capable of providing granular detail about task-specific assignments, which construction managers can use to avoid hazards before the beginning of the building process.

3. Difficulties in Coordination

Sometimes, there could be issues relating to misalignment on design documents, negligence in visualizing work changes at the right time and several other situations where communication can hold back schedules and jeopardize the project's success. For instance, if you get a work order for the plumbing and it is not communicated at the right time, a drywall subcontractor may go to the next work on that section as mentioned in the originally scheduled plans. This simple mistake leads to demolition, rework, concurrent schedule delays and potential cost overruns. Hence, poor communication is a major obstacle to risk-management, causing material wastage, the high turnaround time for Request for Information (RFIs), and expensive rework, if all project stakeholders are not on the same page.

Using BIM software applications like 'A360 Drive' and 'Revit', you can alleviate construction risks due to miscommunication by bringing everyone in alignment on the same platform. While mark-ups, plans, and RFIs, are found in one cloud-based system, you can push updates easily to your entire staff in real-time. Consequently, your team can work with the right data for making informed decisions, mitigating the risk of exceeding your budget and disrupting your project timeline.

Do you want to make your construction project completely risk free? Risk Management is realism with Tejjy Inc. – a leading risk management service provider for construction projects in Washington DC, Baltimore, MD, and VA. Save time and money for your construction projects in the USA with the expert risk management professionals of Tejjy Inc. Call at 202-465-4830 or email at [email protected] to discuss your construction project requirement.

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