Risk management for contractors in marine projects

Risk management is one of the important management strategies that lead the success of major construction projects. Managing risks has become an important part of the management activities in construction industry. In Hong Kong, marine construction forms a major part of the construction business. In fact, it is appeared that marine construction exposes to serious risks in comparing to other types of construction work, which contributes the potential loss to both clients and contractors. There is a need for systematic risk management approaches that can help contractors for reducing and controlling risks thus to effectively improve project management. This paper focuses on contractor parties who work on marine construction work, and aims to identify critical risks and risk response techniques in managing marine projects. Questionnaire survey and structured interviews are conducted. It is found that "underwater conditions are different from tender assumptions" is the most common risk factor encountered in marine projects, "unavailability of materials, plant and labour" is the most impact to the project if risk is encountered. The most effective risk response technique to tickle risks encountered is "refer to previous experience". Recommendations for improving risk management are also discussed.