An exploration of approaches to risk management applications within UK construction projects

Wood, GD; Ellis, R

Abstract

Risk Management (RM) is now widely accepted as an important tool in the management of projects. Through a series of semi-structured interviews with RM facilitators the trends and approaches to the practical application of RM are explored. The findings provide a number of soft benchmarks. The use of RM workshops for project teams is prevalent, though some prefer interviews with individual team members. The production of risk registers is routine. There is a reluctance to over-complicate the classification of risks. The use of Monte Carlo simulation through specialist software is widespread as a means of obtaining a greater degree of confidence in project budgets and associated contingency funds. Decision trees, spider diagrams and other more complex techniques are rarely, if ever, used. The use of historical data is limited. The rich data which emerges from the interview process offers a valuable insight into cost consultants' experiences of RM applications. There is a tendency to take an intuitive approach to risk attitudes. There is a degree of scepticism regarding the usefulness of complex risk analysis techniques and a predisposition to rely on judgement based on experience. These findings provide the foundation for further case-study based research.

Citation

Wood, G., & Ellis, R. An exploration of approaches to risk management applications within UK construction projects. In A. Akintoye (Ed.), 17th Annual ARCOM Conference, 5-7 September 2001 (805-814). Salford, UK: Association of Researchers in Construction Management

• Start Date: Sep 1, 2001
• Deposit Date: Jan 4, 2016
• Publicly Available Date: Apr 5, 2016
• Pages: 805-814
• Book Title: 17th Annual ARCOM Conference, 5-7 September 2001
• ISBN: 095341616X
• Publisher URL: http://www.arcom.ac.uk/-docs/proceedings/ar2001-805-814_Wood_and_Ellis.pdf
• Related Public URLs: http://www.arcom.ac.uk/
• Additional Information: Event Type : Conference; Funders : Funder not known