There is always an element of risk when a construction project is undertaken, be it the risk of cost overruns, project lags, building performance, sustainability, and more

1. Ways to Mitigate Construction Risks using BIM Workflow
Management
There is always an element of risk when a construction project is undertaken,
be it the risk of cost overruns, project lags, building performance,
sustainability, and more. Along these lines, adopting Building Information
Modeling (BIM) can de-risk multiple areas in a project life-cycle, these
challenges are observed at the design phase, construction phase, and the
operational phase. Failure to adopt risk-management can lead to problems in
project objectives as it influences spatial design, land-use planning, and future
urban planning. Using BIM and Risk Management steps, project stakeholders
can leverage the tools to generate crucial data and perform high-impact risk-
analysis.
For any construction project, risks are an inevitable phenomenon. To mitigate
the chance of risks or adverse impact on every project lifecycle, risk
management is adopted for construction project management. Risk
Management can be integrated with various processes or technologies like
Building Information Modeling (BIM), Automation, IT, etc. As BIM is complex
in itself, it is imperative to create a robust framework to identify risk
identification, response, and monitoring.
Introduction

2. ▪ Risk Management or RM can be put in words as a definitive systematic
and cyclic mechanism to identify, analyze, and respond to risks. The risk
management process consists of various objectives, risk identification,
risk assessment, risk response, and risk monitoring
▪ With BIM model creation, it clearly shows error detection leading to
managing and mitigating risks at a design level. Owners and
stakeholders need to identify risk factors whilst implementing a BIM
process especially for cost estimation, scheduling, & infrastructure
▪ BIM can enhance time and cost across the complex project lifecycle, yet
a lack of understanding of its processes, tools, and technology, and the
use of diverse systems may render the full potential of BIM remain
unexploited
Types of Risks in the Construction Sector
Project Management Risks –
▪ Identify the requirements of your project, and allocate responsibilities
correctly, whilst setting a fixed time frame
Financial Risks –
▪ Planning your budget for a specific project based on the type, size, and
location of the project is important. Fiscal risks can be defined using this
risk management system
Financial risks can be based on 3 factors viz.
• Country Inflation
• Tax System
• Currency Conversion Rates
Legal Risks –
▪ Define the rights and responsibilities of each project party with an
explicit solution in the contract documents. Adding a legal team to the
scenario reduces the chance of legal risks
Safety Risks –

3. ▪ The project management team needs to understand the repercussion of
an on-site accident, and measures need to be taken to make it a safe
place for on-site construction personnel to install or deploy deliverables
BIM brings in concrete RM improvements
▪ Through the course of new ISO standards being introduced in the
system, it has changed the way information is organized in the form of
a matrix. This can add to the complexity, but project heads need to
identify this process and system-based technology to improve risk
management standards
▪ With the adoption of model building in a virtual environment, through
high-quality digital descriptions of every building aspect, from design to
handover, it is data visibility that creates greater insights for
construction sequencing, cost delays, and more
▪ This reduces a lengthy paper trail, which causes reduced data visibility,
based on multiple documents and drawing versions. Risk Management
also plays an important role in 7D, wherein greater data and information
transparency for the simplest element or object like a door, window, or
light bulb can be accessed in a matter of seconds or minutes
▪ With new ISO’s in the picture like BS EN ISO-19650-1 and BS EN ISO –
19650 -2, it is pretty clear for project managers and building
stakeholders to understand data usage transparency and various
scenarios to leverage their understanding of new rules and regulations,
and adopt the BIM process efficiently
▪ For a Risk Management process to succeed and produce required
deliverables, managers need to understand technology, and its
capabilities to deliver the intended result. For example, understanding
priorities to optimize construction sequencing, enhance safety
management, or identify cost risks?
▪ To make sure all the models are built accurate and decisive on time or
4D basis, it is important to make sure every piece of project data is put
forth or coded accurately and linked to required workflows at the
designing stage

4. Challenges in Traditional Risk Management
Traditional Risk Management includes the following challenges based on
theory, expertise, and project experience
▪ Traditional Risk Management without BIM is a tedious process that
includes various paper trails which makes it time-consuming, prone to
error, and completely inefficient
▪ Owners or project stakeholders working on 2D platforms, processes, or
tools like drawings and documents make it difficult to combine processes
like on-site information, 2D drawings, and paper trails for identification
and consideration of risk management
▪ Traditional or legacy Risk Management is fragmented, making it difficult
to move from one project to another
▪ Another significant challenge lies in the management of humans, and a
human information “database", wherein data needs to be extrapolated
and used flexibly
▪ Traditional Risk Management systems use a disparate model, wherein
common risks that are identified and treated in silos are forgotten or
misplaced
▪ A traditional Risk Management system does not hold the capability of
recording and communication correctly or efficiently, making it more of
a risk factor, than risk management. This can be explained whilst data
is transferred from one project stakeholder to another viz. designer to
a contractor, and the contractor to the client
▪ In summary, a traditional Risk Management system does not allow
knowledge gaining and sharing across various participants’ viz.
architects, clients, engineers, etc.
Risk Identification –

5. ▪ Develop a crucial Risk checklist associated at various levels of the
BIM process or trades, viz. Architecture, Structure, Mechanical,
Electrical, Plumbing (MEP), and Fire Protection (FP)
▪ The idea of a risk check would include content analysis and the
probability of data or risks being repeated in terms of frequency
or activity
▪ Every risk is categorized, marked, and assembled based on
similarity
Dynamic Risk Analysis –
▪ Determination of the consequences of a certain or group of risk
factors
▪ Cause and effect of relationships between various risks
▪ Develop a narrative of the cases to understand and describe key
events and impact on the process
▪ Classify data into various constructs to create a thematic map of
constituent implementation
▪ Establish dependencies between various constructs to establish a
relation between adoption and project success
Dynamic Risk Response –
▪ Simulate response scenarios
▪ Network various risk paths
▪ Represent interaction amongst risks
▪ Develop strategic options to mitigate the risk
▪ Determine the right set of actions
▪ Enhance project opportunities whilst reducing project threats
Advanced Risk Response Strategies – (For threats)
Avoid – Avoid the cause of risk by removing the cause.
Transfer – Find another source or party who is willing to take responsibility
for risks
Mitigate – Take early action to mitigate the risk. This reduces risk probability
by large numbers
Advanced Risk Response Strategies – (For opportunities)

6. Exploit – Realize an opportunity and exploit it, known for delivering positive
results for high impact opportunities
Share or Collaborate – Allocate a risk or an opportunity to another person
or party, who can best identify its occurrence, and has the potential to convert
risks to opportunities
Enhance – Modify the size of the positive risk, opportunities can be enhanced
by enhancing its probability
In Summary
Successful of BIM adopted Risk Management or Workflow requires a
comprehensive understanding of the entire building process viz. general
processes, risks, techniques, and the difference between old and new
methods.
Moving from a paper trail risk management system, BIM can help owners and
project stakeholders identify and mitigate risks at an early stage of the
building process. As a core data generator, and a systematic risk management
tool, BIM can integrate with other processes, tools, and technology for other
tools to carry out the risk analysis process.
There is no doubt that risks are evident at various stages of a construction
project, and the kind of risk management adopted has a direct consequence
on the output of the project itself.
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