Foundations of Risk Management
Structural engineers have the highest claims-to-revenue ratio among practitioners in the Architectural-Engineering (A/E) field. Structural engineers do not necessarily have more claims made against them. Rather, these claims tend to be higher per claim than claims for other types of engineers or architects.
The Council of American Structural Engineers (CASE) wants to change that reality with a view toward lowering insurance premiums and improving the reputation of structural engineers. In order to achieve these goals, a special committee of CASE, the Risk Management Program, has been formed to help structural engineering firms reduce the number and amount of claims made against them. The first effort of this committee was an exciting convocation held in Reston, VA in November 2004. Subsequently, convocations have been held in Dallas (November 2005), San Francisco (October 2006), and Maui (September 2007), which was held for the first time in conjunction with the ACEC Fall Conference. The Atlanta convocation will take place in November 2007. The committee is hard at work planning its next convocation, which will be held for the first time in conjunction with the SEI Structures Congress in April 2008 in Vancouver, BC. The committee is also dedicated to delivering content throughout the year that will help firms mitigate the risks they now confront.
The Foundations for Risk Management presented herein will be the basis for the tools and other content that the Risk Management Program will deliver at upcoming convocations and as tools provided free of charge to CASE members. These Foundations were developed by engineers in private practice to help engineering firms focus their practice on avoiding and minimizing risk.
The first five Foundations deal with the process of the engineering business and the last five deal with project management.
The Ten Foundations for Risk Managment:
Culture
Prevention and Proactivity
Planning
Communication
Education
Scope
Compensation
Contracts
Contract Documents
Construction Phase
Conclusion
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