A Risk Management Approach for Complex Projects in Construction

LO1 To understand the role of risk management and complexity of projects in construction.

LO2 To be able to identify risks of projects in different stages of construction and to use method statements and appropriate software to manage projects effectively.

LO3 To be able to analyse risks of projects through qualitative and quantitative approaches

LO4 To be able to increase opportunities and mitigate threats of construction activities 

LO5 To be able to implement and practise the risk management processes according to projects’ characteristics and comply with professional and ethical principles X

LO6 To understand the contributions of risk management in BIM

The project involves the construction of a new stadium with facilities for an aquatic centre as well as rugby, netball, squash, badminton, among a range of other games.

In any project of such complexity there will be a range of potential risks such technical risks, as well as risks and challenges associated with the delivery of the programme within time and cost limits. The Strategic Risk Management Unit, has set the following objectives to:

• Reduce the likelihood of events that would have a negative impact on the project and to reduce the negative consequences of such events;
• Provide assurance to internal and external stakeholders that the team understands its significant risks and is actively managing them;
• Improve decision making, planning and prioritisation by improving understanding of uncertainty and risk.

As shown in the learning outcomes, the aim of this assignment is to develop your skills in understanding the characteristics of the project and the way you can professionally plan to identify and deal with potential risks in different stages of a complex project.  Each part of the assignment 1 (A1a and A1b) will develop your skills as a project manager to analyse the project, the client organisation and the external context among others to come up with a risk mitigation plan.

This part of assignment has two parts: 1) Oral presentation; 2) Online test.

Oral presentation:

You are required to provide a critical analysis of the key characteristics of the Commonwealth Games project which may have affected its exposure to risks and subsequent success of the project.  Your 10-minute oral presentation should provide a critical review of the project characteristics and types of risks to consider in project of this scale.  

Your presentation should focus on the recommendations by BIS 2010 and offer a review of the inherent complexities of the project.  BIS (2010) report and Wood and Ashton among other recommend that the project team must understand the complexities of the project and also have a clear understanding of the needs of project.

Definitions of project characteristics and risks (literature review) (e.g. the client type and experience, size/scale of the project, duration, planning and development issues, technical complexities, project finance, H&S etc.)

Analysis of the key characteristics of the Commonwealth Games project in Birmingham (case study)

Using the Commonwealth Games 2020 in Birmingham as the case in question provide:

• A critical review of different types of risks facing this project at different stages of its life cycle
• An evaluation of two identified types of risk and discussion of mitigation strategies that can be recommended to your client.
• A worked example of a Heat Diagram with risk likelihood and impact for your selected risks.
• A method statement for an identified Health and Safety risk during construction

An evaluation of two identified types of risks and discussion of mitigation strategies that can be recommended to your client. 30

A worked example of a Heat Diagram with risk likelihood and impact for the selected risks. 20

A method statement for an identified Health and Safety risk during construction 10

This assignment is expected to be a professionally written report of 3000 (+/- 10%) words.  The marking scheme indicates how different learning outcomes will be assessed.  Your report must aim to directly respond to the brief provided in this document using logical reasoning and evidence. The data that you use in your report must be derived from reliable sources, be factual and up-to-date.

This report is also perceived as an academic report and therefore the use of proper referencing and adequate citation of sources in Harvard style is compulsory.

The report must be checked for English grammar and spelling before final submission on Blackboard as a Microsoft Word file.  When submitting your file please follow the saving instructions below:

NOTE: Some of the relevant literature are listed here but your presentation and report must not be exclusive to these.

• The reasons for the project
• Desired benefits and who will realise them
• Scope - what in and what's out
• Objectives - achievable and measurable (SMART)
• Background - why does this project need to be done and why now?
• Constraints that must be taken into consideration during the project
• Assumptions
• Any known risks
• Dependencies on other projects/activities/decisions
• Stakeholders (internal and external)
• Deliverables/outcomes
• Estimated timescale
• Estimates for resources required
• Lessons learned from similar projects and/or from people who done similar projects

Guidelines for Managing Projects (BIS 2010) refer to the following factors which Project Managers must consider when assessing projects:

• Criticality to the work of the organisation and/or its delivery partners
• Value of benefits expected from the project
• Degree of risk
• Likely duration
• Amount of effort required to deliver
• Complexity
• Likely spend
• Multi-disciplinary requirements
• Source of funding
• Degree of impact on different parts of the organisation and beyond
• Requirement to involve external suppliers and partner organisation the project

Wood and Ashton  identified 27 factors from studying a range of published literature which were they reduced to six main factors that contributed to the project complexity namely:

1. Inherent complexity
2. Uncertainty
3. Number of technologies
4. Rigidity of sequence
5. Overlap of phases or concurrency
6. Organisational inherent complexity

As a project manager you know that the success of the project should be your key priority.  BIS (2010) report links the success of the project to the management of risks.