Risk Reduction on Infrastructure Projects in the Zambian Construction Industry through Integrated Risk Management (IRM) Approach

Abstract

Construction projects are risk prone and as a consequence projects may have quality shortfalls, disputes, time and cost overruns. Realizing that huge sums are spent by the government in providing infrastructure, the research focused on assessing the feasibility of reducing risks on infrastructure projects through IRM. To achieve this, secondary data was obtained from an extensive literature review while primary data was through the use of a questionnaire survey to consultants and contractors. This revealed that the management of risks in the Zambian Construction Industry (ZCI) on projects is hugely hampered by the over-reliance on the traditional method of procurement in which teams are segregated resulting in adversarial relations. Hence, the reduction of risks on projects cannot be effectively achieved traditionally due to fragmentation of the parties involved. There is needed to change the traditional procurement path as it does not encourage integration of project parties in order to reduce poor performance of infrastructure projects. It is for this reason that IRM, which encourages team work, from inception project to completion, should be adopted to enhance management of risks. An integrated approach enhances communication, and builds relationships that aid collaboration resulting in reduced project risks.

Exploratory Analysis of Securities and Contractors’ All Risk Insurance Implementation in the Construction Industry of Zambia

“…To secure their projects and consequently their businesses, contractors have no choice but to obtain securities and CAR insurance. These findings show a relationship with the study by Chipozya et al (2013) but not to the same extent. They indicated that sharing of risks in the Zambian construction industry is often done, and it was acknowledged as one of the best ways of mitigating risks.…”