Take a Chance on Me? Construction Client's Perspectives on Risk Management

Abstract

Having been overwhelmed with a strikingly large list of things that can go wrong, public clients have consistently found themselves subjected to many risks associated with construction projects. As the scale of projects increases, the severity of risks intensifies. This study sets out to highlight a particular set of risks associated with strategic decision making in public construction projects. Of particular importance stands the client organizations’ capacity to properly manage risks rooted in poor decision making that leads to many types of project failure. To curb the negative effects of poor decision making, varying organisational configurations have been adopted by clients. This paper investigates the six Swedish public client organizations’ risk management procedures, the risk types and the frequency by which they reference risk management in their internal documents. The purpose is to explore how organisational measures influence a client's ability to undertake major construction projects in a manner that is conducive to effective project delivery. The present study is part of an ongoing research project concerning the capabilities of public clients in managing large scale construction projects.