Understanding Risk Management in Construction Projects | Book Review | Evincepub

“Knowledge is the road to power” as it is rightly said. Acquiring knowledge is one of the tasks that consume both time and also requires the help of wise, experienced and learned person to be a guide on the path to learning. In his book “Understanding risk management in construction projects”, Dr. Amit Bijon Dutta makes an in-depth study of the risks involved in the field of construction and their management. He says in the preface,
“In any major to micro infrastructure construction, the occurrence of varied risks can cause substantial delay causing heavy losses in terms of finance and time, in turn causing a delay in the usability of the facility.”

Construction is one of the works that require a lot of manpower and at the same time protecting the manpower from any kind of mishappening becomes a challenge. Also, construction of any structure is also a tough job because making things on paper and making things, in reality, are two different things. This kind of makes the predictability of the risk very uncertain. Risks could be like sudden collapse of a structure due to weak foundation or weak soil or deviation of projection of the building or of any other kind. this is mainly due to poor use of materials or due to slippage of soil or many other factors that the author discusses in the book. To explain all these factors in detail and to suggest the possible things that can be done to take care of them, Dr. Dutta pens “Understanding risk management in construction projects”. He clearly says,

“This book is intended to assist planners and field workers who will benefit from understanding the different types of risk that may occur in a construction project from start to its handing over process.”

The primary purpose of “Understanding risk management in construction projects”  is to provide theoretical knowledge to the students who aspire to go in this field or the professionals who are already working in the field. Since the author himself has been a part of the same field for a long time of his life, he imparts the experience, wisdom and knowledge he has acquired in the book to help the readers. Dr. Dutta divides the book into 16 chapters where he begins with an introduction and goes on to talk about risk management and also talks of the times and places where risks can be. These include accidents, contracts, project schedules, design etc. At the same time he talks about other factors like environmental risks or due to time and quality of management, legal risks etc. He clearly mentions in the preface,

“The major types of risk which have been discussed are risk due to contracts, project schedule, design delay, cost overrun, labour  factors, environmental factors, Psychosocial Risk Factors, time and quality management.”

He basically leaves no area uncovered which may concern risks in some way or the other. 

The important things that make “Understanding risk management in construction projects” an important read for all are that the author covers all aspects from the beginning of a project to the end of it until it is completed. In addition, there are well-detailed explanations to all concepts and diagrammatic representations of things every now and then. He also talks about the various types of insurance available which cover those risks. Apart from this, the language that the author uses which is not only friendly to the understanding of the reader but an average reader who does not have many ideas about the field can also try reading and may end up understanding the things the author explains.