Research by Ernst & Young’s real estate, hospitality and construction group reveals that the top 75 UK construction companies take risk management seriously - indeed 57% of companies had declined to work on a project they had been recently awarded, citing the high risk involved with fulfilling the contract. However, only 62% of the directors surveyed had a risk management policy currently in place and 21% did not have a designated board director with responsibility for risk.
Malcolm Bairstow, leader of Ernst & Young’s construction team, commented: “Construction companies are reliant on their people for risk management. A high quality team is clearly an important part of the strategy, but this in itself will produce inconsistent risk management, since performance will inevitably vary, both between individuals, and between good days and better days. Robust risk management requires comprehensive processes and consistent application.
The Construction Risk Points of View paper is available in hard copy from stuart.ives@uk.ey.com
