The impact of procurement options on risk management in Swedish construction projects

In order to be able to carry out a construction project with the expected final result, professional risk management as well as conscious risk sharing among the actors in the project are required. A question of a particular interest for the actors in the Swedish construction industry is the way in which project risk management needs to be further developed, based more on openness, trust and collaboration rather than on sharp contract formulations. The objective of the study is to investigate the impact of the chosen form of contract and collaboration on risk management in construction projects. We analyse three major forms currently used in Sweden: design-bid-build contracts, design-build contracts and collaboration through partnering. A questionnaire survey and a series of interviews with clients, contractors and consultants involved in nine construction projects were conducted. The major finding of the study is that there is a clear connection between the form of contract and collaboration and risk management in the construction projects. The forms that support early involvement of the actors in the whole project life cycle and create opportunities for open dialogue and collaboration result in a more effective risk management processGodkänd; 2008; 20090514 (andbra