Risk Identification

Discuss About The WSI Blue Mountains Tafe Risk Management.

Kerzner & Kerzner (2017) noted that risk management plan is a portfolio which aims at ensuring that there is a proper channel for driving decisions regarding project management and its business capability. Hence, this risk management plan will serve as a paramount guide for the project stakeholders more so the team members and ensure that level risk, and the broader project managed adequately. Moreover, the risk management plan also serves a critical role of ensuring  that there is an effective mechanism of addressing all the potential barriers which are likely to affect the project work and scale the strategies for mitigating all the related norms.

This section explores all the risks related issues which the WSI Blue Mountains TAFE Company is likely to encounter during the construction process.  Although WSI Blue Mountains TAFE Company has won the tender for constructing the building, the company capacity is small and therefore, there is the likelihood that the company might face some imminent risks in the line of duty. Some of the risks which this company will meet in the work delivery and discharge include, technical, contractual, logistical as well as the construction issues and these might affect the overall work quality if not properly managed. Additional, financial related matters such as capital and budget also form part and parcel of the risks WSI Blue Mountains TAFE Company may depict concerning the construction and the building process. These aspects mainly discussed as follows

This is the first and foremost analysis step in the evaluation of the risk management. According to Taylan et al. (2014), risk identification gives an in-depth analysis of the uncertainty factors, the clarifications as well as the competitiveness description of all the associated risks in the building process. In this case, risk identification process has three main subgroups and this include external, internal as well as the project and have different intensities in the construction process. Thus, the risk identified in this construction mainly discussed as follows

Burtonshaw-Gunn (2017), noted that technical risk involves all the possible available changes which are likely to occur when the proposed system, project or even the techniques anticipated in the process fails to work as per the implementation requirement. Technical risks are preferably vital as they influence the outcome performance, increases maintenance time, leads to system failure, hastens security breaches as well as increasing the technical debts for the company. Some of the various risks which WSI Blue Mountains TAFE Company is likely to face in the technical aspect and process include default designs, designing errors, management errors, inadequate qualified labor as well as unmatched material specifications.

Technical Risks

It is a vital aspect of the construction and this element mainly appraised by the prime contractor. The contractor often evaluates the viability of the subcontractors to deliver the required materials on time and also their capacity to provide quality work they are assigned any task. Although this aspect is critical, it should only be considered by the company in the likely event that the subcontractors fail to adhere to the clients’ specification and the architectural aspects. Additionally, it also involves the supplier risk which mainly arises when the supplier defaults and fails to meet the required obligations in terms of supply (Kelly, Male, & Graham, 2014).

It refers to all the legal processes and procedures which are used in the construction exercise. Mostly, the critical aspect considered in this case is the documentation and the approval letters for the construction. Fraudulent and omission of essential issues in the legal documents is another key and critical risk which is an event in the construction process (Schaufelberger, & Holm, 2017). 

It occurs at the construction site when the contractor fails to assess all the inherent and accident exposures in the workplace in line with the building process as well as taking the required safety advisory to control them. Some of the associated risks include fire outbreaks, electrocutions, air pollution, and falling rocks (Loosemore et al., 2012). 

According to Kuo & Lu (2013), risks associated with finance and budgeting is another crucial aspect which must be considered and identified. This mainly comes with the delayed payment of the construction materials and wages for the labors. It not only delays the construction process but can also lead to conflict between workers and the management in the construction.

The analysis of the likely risks to be recorded during the construction process mainly examined using the probability matrix decisively and summarized as shown in the table below

Also, the analysis for ranging the risks evaluated and examined as shown in the table below.

Table showing the probability matrix ranking of risks posed (Aminbakhsh, Gunduz, & Sonmez, 2013)

Thus, from the analysis above the following vital aspects are evident and documented

1. Failure to design a proper channel for the project scope may lead to the overall creeping of this project implementation
2. Fallout may arise as the construction commences based on the customers demand the outlined set standards of the materials to be used

• Integrating new technology in the process may also affect and interfere with some operations in the process

1. Defective units may also emerge as the new units are being installed in the building
2. Lack of proper logistical aspects and procedures may result in confrontation between the workers and the management
3. Conflict may be evident between the subcontractors and the prime contractor      

• Lack of adequate communication at the various levels may lead to safety threats
• The supply chain also may be a vital risk based on the element parts and cost of supplying the materials

1. Competition may also arise
2. EPA requirements may also be a pre-requisite element Mitigation Measures for Risk Management for Building

The mitigation measures for the technical risks may involve assessing the risk in further details, and this is done to ensure that the particular project is constructed in respect to the functioning, government requirements and design specification (Newman et al.2011). The other mitigation measures are to employ an internally experienced owner’s engineer to assist in carrying out the design review, supervision of the construction, support the procurement and test-run support to help in controlling the construction quality and design as indicated in the project.

Contractual Risks

For the financial risk, the mitigation measures may involve consulting a top-notch financial expert or consultant to help in the conduction of the financial projection. Also, the financial consultant may be asked to aid in verifying of the financial report of the project before it is carried out to help in the identification of the significant business risks that may be associated with the project (de Kok, & Grossmann, 2010).

In the contractual risks, the mitigation measures involve the employment of appropriately skilled and experienced legal advisor who has basic knowledge on the construction and building industry in order to help with the drafting of the contract. The other mitigation measures constitute a comparison of the contract at hand with the other similar contracts which are considered to have the best concession (de Kok, & Grossmann, 2010).

The mitigation measures for the logistical risks may involve selecting the right of a variety of items required for the construction and building project and thus such a supplier must be competent and financially stable to avail all the elements needed. In the event that a particular supplier is unable to avail the items, another supplier has to be chosen to avoid delays for the completion of the project (Urciuoli, 2010). The other measure is to check for a variety of indicators in the supply chain such as financial health, capacity and performance of the supplier and such factors has to be assessed periodically to help in reducing the logistic risks in the supply chain.

The mitigation measures for the construction risks may involve, ensuring that the report on the construction progress is made in the excellent design and thereafter scrutinized by the owner of the construction site and a consultant before the beginning of the project at hand (Newman et al. 2011)

The risk monitoring is an essential part of a construction risk management plan. It is expected that all the risks associated with construction are time-consuming and costly and hence they have to be monitored and controlled during the project life cycle. The risk monitoring consultants have basic knowledge on the identification and review of a variety of risks during construction thus they help in the mitigation of disputes and claims. The risk monitoring and control are done to keep track of the identified risks, ensure that the risk plans are executed expertly and also to update the owner of the project on the progress of the construction project (Morsy, 2014).

Logistical Risks

 The principal purpose of the risk monitoring is to ascertain if risk response techniques have been executed as planned in the risk management plan. Also, it is conducted to determine if specific new risks that had not been identified previously could have occurred. Lastly, monitoring and control are done to ascertain if project assumptions are valid at the end of the project.  

The steering committee has an overall responsibility of ensuring that the risk management plan is implemented to the maximum and hence they should be involved during the risk identification and assessment process. It is expected that risk register and risk management plan provides the steering committee with information on the risk management strategies including the projected risks to help them in the management and review of the ongoing plans(Schwalbe, 2015). Apart from the above mentioned statements to be provided to the steering committee, it is necessary to also provide an updated risk register to the steering committee to help them identifying any additional emerging threats that would impact greatly the previously identified risks resulting to a variety of changes during the implementation of the risk management plan. However, such roles and responsibilities of the steering committee include;

• Provide support to aid in the implementation of the mitigation process
• Help in risk mitigation process which are controversial and in cross organization in order to ascertain the type of organizational resources and senior management team to be involved in the implementation process of the risk management plan.
• Agree with the mitigation of certain risks which are considered as of high severity levels.

The project manager also has certain roles and responsibilities during the implementation of the risk management plan and such may include the following;

They are tasked with the provision of regular reports on the status of the risk management plan to the steering committee(Winch, 2010). The report involves the specification of changes that may occur in the identified risks in the course of every phase of the project. Also, the report stipulates the variety of strategies that have been applied during the management of the risk plan. The other role involves ensuring that the all the risks that have been identified previously are monitored and reviewed closely with the intent of managing them and eventually bring them down. Another responsibility of the project manager during the implementation of the risk management plan is evaluation of the risks identified and establishing strategies to aid in the management of such risks in all the phases of the project that have been identified.Further,the project manager has a responsibility to develop and implement the risk management plan fully. The project manager also has a responsibility of leading the other members of the project team during the implementation of the risks management plan with the intent of achieving the specific objectives set in the plan for mitigating the various risks.

Construction Risks

As a member of a project team to be completed, several roles and responsibilities are often availed to them and such include, continuous monitoring of the whole project until completion that is up to the project life cycle ends. The other responsibility involves the identification of risks that may emerge during the process of completion of the project. Also, the project team has a responsibility of evaluating and assessing the variety of risks that will be identified in the course of the project at hand and hence ensuring that the right mitigation procedures are involved during risk management (Meredith, & Mantel, 2011). The other key role and responsibility of the project team is the proper communication with the project manager on the progress of the risk management plan implementation and this is to help in avoiding any delays during the mitigation of the risks identified.

References

Aminbakhsh, S., Gunduz, M., & Sonmez, R. (2013). Safety risk assessment using analytic hierarchy process (AHP) during planning and budgeting of construction projects. Journal of safety research, 46, 99-105.

Burtonshaw-Gunn, S. A. (2017). Risk and financial management in construction. Routledge.

de Kok, J. L., & Grossmann, M. (2010). Large-scale assessment of flood risk and the effects of mitigation measures along the Elbe River. Natural hazards, 52(1), 143-166.

Giannakis, M., & Louis, M. (2011). A multi-agent based framework for supply chain risk management. Journal of Purchasing and Supply Management, 17(1), 23-31.

Kelly, J., Male, S., & Graham, D. (2014). Value management of construction projects. John Wiley & Sons.

Kerzner, H., & Kerzner, H. R. (2017). Project management: a systems approach to planning, scheduling, and controlling. John Wiley & Sons.

Kuo, Y. C., & Lu, S. T. (2013). Using fuzzy multiple criteria decision making approach to enhance risk assessment for metropolitan construction projects. International Journal of Project Management, 31(4), 602-614.

Loosemore, M., Raftery, J., Reilly, C., & Higgon, D. (2012). Risk management in projects. Routledge.

Meredith, J. R., & Mantel Jr, S. J. (2011). Project management: a managerial approach. John Wiley & Sons.

Morsy, H. M. Cost Control Techniques & Factors Leading to Cost Overruns in Construction Projects (Doctoral dissertation, Faculty of Engineering at Cairo University In the Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of DIPLOMA in Civil Engineering (Structural) Under the Supervision of Prof. Dr. Ahmed Eldkhmosy Faculty of Engineering, Cairo University Giza, Egypt 2014).

Newman, D. E., Carreras, B. A., Lynch, V. E., & Dobson, I. (2011). Exploring complex systems aspects of blackout risk and mitigation. IEEE Transactions on Reliability, 60(1), 134-143.

Schaufelberger, J. E., & Holm, L. (2017). Management of construction projects: A constructor’s perspective. Taylor & Francis.

Schwalbe, K. (2015). Information technology project management. Cengage Learning.

Taylan, O., Bafail, A. O., Abdulaal, R. M., & Kabli, M. R. (2014). Construction projects selection and risk assessment by fuzzy AHP and fuzzy TOPSIS methodologies. Applied Soft Computing, 17, 105-116.

Urciuoli, L. (2010). Supply chain security—mitigation measures and a logistics multi-layered framework. Journal of Transportation Security, 3(1), 1-28.

Winch, G. M. (2010). Managing construction projects. John Wiley & Sons.