001-48_126_RENEW_SEPT-OCT26_PT - Flipbook - Page 34
RISK MANGAGEMENT
PLAYING CATCH UP
Defence construction is accelerating: The risk playbook hasn’t caught up
Thomas Strong, SVP
Construction and
Infrastructure, Innovation
and Technology, NFP
(Toronto)
Daniel Ball, Vice President
Construction and
Infrastructure Broking, NFP
(Edmonton)
Guy Jolicoeur, Managing
Director Technical Risks
and Specialty Lines, NFP
(Sudbury)
ANADA’S DEFENCE infrastructure program has entered
a new phase. Through Defence Construction Canada (DCC), annual construction spending is expected to exceed roughly $2 billion per year starting
with a focus on expanding military housing and a
growing pipeline of airbase, logistics and northern
defence projects.
The scale of the opportunity is clear. What is less understood is how quickly it is exposing a gap in how risk is
managed across the construction industry.
Projects are moving forward under compressed timelines in unfamiliar geographies and within procurement
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frameworks that do not align cleanly with traditional
commercial practices. Yet many contractors are still
approaching these jobs using a conventional model:
price the work, sign the contract and buy insurance. This
sequence is starting to break down.
The issue is not that risk is increasing. It is that risk
is changing shape. Labour constraints, remote logistics,
modular construction and operational restrictions tied to
active military environments are introducing exposures
that are di昀케cult to transfer after the fact. In many cases,
these exposures are not fully understood until projects
are already underway.
RENEWCANADA.NET
GETTY IMAGES
by Thomas Strong, Daniel Ball and Guy Jolicoeur
