With advancements in technology, the demand for world-class construction techniques has increased over the past decades – be it for the construction of skyscrapers, bridges, metro lines, residential apartments, or the like. Along with the increasing demand for labor, construction risks are also increasing.
As the numbers have started to climb up, both the government and employers in the construction industry have ensured that all workers (regardless of the posts) must have risk management certifications.
This will help you implement appropriate measures to identify and mitigate on-site construction risks and develop prevention strategies. Several construction schools and universities have also included different types of risk management certifications in their course programs like online construction management degrees.
What Are The Types Of Construction Risks?
Several construction risks can cause fatality, accidents, financial loss, legal issues, and even death in extreme cases. Knowing about them beforehand will help a candidate understand the gravity of the situation. This way, they can focus more on the certifications and excel in the examinations, if any.
Some of the top construction risks include the following:
- Safety hazards due to an unorganized workplace and improper storage of materials
- No implementation of preventive strategies while using trucks and cranes
- Not managing the construction projects as per the company objectives
- Lack of communication and coordination between the subcontractors and vendors
- Not being aware of the construction site and its conditions
- Incomplete architectural plan and lack of information about the models
- Shortage of construction labor.
Risk Management Certifications for Construction Professionals
Risk management certifications are specifically designed to understand the financial, legal and project management risks associated with the building and construction.
Financial Planning and Budget Management
Lack of funding, improper budget forecast, and financial management can impact the construction project badly. This is why having a certificate in financial planning, and budget management will prove to be helpful for employers and other construction joint ventures.
This is a 12-week online course where the candidates will be taught about analyzing financial statements concerned with construction projects. You can learn more about different funding sources, financial management, debt management, etc.
Construction Risk and Insurance Specialist (CRIS)
This certification is suitable for insurance brokers, agents, in-house insurance risk managers, and the like so that they can quickly issue insurance policies for different construction projects.
The course will teach you about the types of risks a construction project can encounter, the claims one can raise, and so on. It will also allow the insurance workers to collaborate more with the construction companies and cater policy plans as per their requirements.
Construction Estimating
The Construction Estimating certification is acknowledged by the Canadian Institute of Quantity Surveyors, which is why completing this course will give you an entry into the most prestigious development companies in the country.
As a construction estimator, you’ll need to have an in-depth knowledge of the construction/ building development process, technologies, business analysis, and relationships within the industry.
Your job duties will involve preparing and pricing tender packages to secure construction contracts for the organization or independent developer to support business growth and generate profits.
Certificate in Risk Management
This certification will give you more knowledge about the various types of risks in the construction industry. It is usually a six-month-long course.
You can also learn about the techniques and strategies to minimize the risks and make the workplace safer for construction workers.
Construction Project Risk Management
Construction project risk management certification will empower you to estimate budgets for the construction projects, develop a business continuity program, track and analyze the cash flows, minimize risk management and production costs, etc. With this certification, you will become compliant with BS 31100, ISO 31000, and ISO 14001. These codes define various internationally accepted standards for risk management.
Construction Credit Risk Management
Lasting for 12 weeks, this construction risk management certification will help you analyze customer-based information to ensure that the risk evaluation can be conducted in the best possible manner.
Apart from this, you will learn about various tools required to assess the construction risks and mitigate them. You can become adept in dealing with the liens and take appropriate actions with the same.
Transportation Risk and Insurance Professional (TRIP)
As transportation of construction materials and other such elements are full of risks, most employers require insurance coverage to reduce the associated financial risks.
This is why most insurance professionals opt for the Transportation Risk and Insurance Professional, where they can learn about the transportation risks, the processes of mitigating them, investing in the root cause of any accident, verifying the terms of insurance claims, etc.
Chartered Enterprise Risk Analyst® (CERA)
This construction risk management certification is a full-time course and will continue for four years. The Society of Actuaries supervises this certification. Any CERA professional can work in high-risk environments, managing the workload and offering a holistic approach to ensure that productivity and deliverability aren’t hampered.
You will be learning more about quantitative and qualitative aptitude, practical and theoretical ERM, and general risk management.
Energy Risk and Insurance Specialist (ERIS)
The Energy Risk and Insurance Specialist (ERIS®) training course was conceptualized by IRMI to empower insurance agents, brokers, in-house risk managers, CSRs, underwriters, and even insurance buyers with credible expertise in energy insurance and power risk management.
Completing the ERIS certification ensures that you have a clear understanding of the complexities in the energy industry and how to deal with them.
Management Liability Insurance Specialist (MLIS)
With this certification, you will learn how to manage various executive and industrial liabilities for faster construction project delivery while keeping high quality and performance.
Conclusion
Construction projects are becoming more demanding over time. This is why workers have to keep themselves updated with different technologies and strategies that can be implemented to ensure that they can fulfill their roles efficiently.
However, apart from learning about the advancements, it is crucial for all professionals working in the construction industry to complete the risk management certifications.
This will help them to tackle different risk situations and mitigate the expenses. Different risk management certifications will make a professional more proficient in handling projects efficiently.
