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This paper presents results of a research towards risks in design and building processes with respect to structural safety in contemporary building projects. 15 almost or just finished building projects with different functionalities and different clients were subject of the research. Different ways of cooperation (traditional, design & construct, building team, turn key) were represented. After document reviews, interviews and site visit with visual inspection, for each project a report with the main facts of the organization of the process, the structural design, costs and fees and interventions related to structural safety was written and verified by the client's project manager. A risk table was developed in which for each stage of the project risks are distinguished that could lead to the top risk: lack of structural safety. The individual building projects were evaluated. In 12 of the 15 projects interventions related to structural safety occurred. These led to modifications or strengthening of already executed structures. Assessment of the risks and the way these risks were controlled result in an appraisal of the proof of structural safety and the level of risk control. It is concluded that parties in an individual building project do not always have the same view of structural safety, that in most projects no specific decisions are made about the level of structural safety and that the type of contract seems to have no relation with the level of risk control.