DENVER — The Associated General Contractors of Colorado (AGC/C) will host an event on July 19 at the Denver Marriott Tech Center, at which Steve Jones, Senior Director of Industry Insights Research for Dodge Data & Analytics will present findings from Dodge’s SmartMarket Report, Managing Risk in the Construction Industry, to an audience of more than 400 construction industry professionals. The report’s findings incorporate three different perspectives in risk evaluation – that of the owner, general contractor and trade contractor.
Construction starts were up 3 percent nationwide from the twelve months ending May 2016 to the twelve months ending May 2017, at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $651.2 billion, according to the latest Dodge Data & Analytics monthly starts data. In Denver alone, $2.1 billion of projects are currently under construction, according to the Downtown Denver Partnership’s 2017 Development Map. In what can be described as a thriving construction market, insights into how participants across the construction supply chain can better understand and manage risk are becoming increasingly important.
“At this juncture, when construction is at the top of capacity, managing risk becomes more crucial,” said Jones. “As more projects break ground, project teams are facing compressed schedules, greater scrutiny on performance, all the while managing a workforce labor shortage.”
The Managing Risk report finds that the number one way to evaluate risk is to improve collaboration across project teams by hosting formal brainstorming sessions with all team members to openly discuss and identify risks in advance. Collaboration is not a new concept in construction, but the report brings to light how structured collaboration focused on risk can lower overall construction cost, reduce project duration and improve overall performance reliability.
There are several methods available from the design and build phase to integrated project delivery, which can be beneficial for collaboration. Jones notes, however, that effective risk mitigation is more about changing overall mindsets in construction than simply changing contractual methods. For Jones, the challenge lies in achieving these behavioral outcomes without contractual obligations. “We too often see contracts focused on avoiding and transferring risk rather than identifying and managing it collaboratively,” he adds. “Formal brainstorming sessions allow the design and construction team, including key trades, to engage early in the process to identify the issues of highest concern. By identifying these topics early and documenting them in a mitigation plan, project risks can be planned for and tracked in a structured manner.”
To attend the presentation by Steve Jones at Dodge Data & Analytics, register at agccolorado.org for the Breakfast with the Board and GC Showcase event on Wednesday, July 19, 2017. Copies of the report will be distributed to all attendees.
Image courtesy of Dodge Data & Analytics.
