Construction risks and need for insurance highlighted

With heightened infrastructure activity in Saudi Arabia and an ever-increasing emphasis on managing risk, Marsh Saudi Arabia and Marsh’s Construction Practice organized a seminar on Wednesday in Jeddah to discuss the key risks in construction projects on issues related to construction policies and how businesses can minimize their exposure to such risks.
The event highlighted several solutions to the construction sector’s challenges in the Kingdom and conducted presentations on core topics such as project insurance programs, claims management, environmental impairment risk management, trade credit and political risk, as well as health and safety management.
Andrew Foad, senior vice president of March Construction Practice, said: “The construction insurance industry needs to be developed in the Kingdom, as construction projects face environmental challenges and risks.” Foad presented the “All risks insurance coverage”, which is designed for construction projects and shared industry insights on how to maximize cover for buyers.
The transition from the construction to the operational phase is regarded as the period with the highest risks, according to Gaurav Bhatnagar, managing director of the March Middle East Construction Practice, who shared his insight on the best insurance strategies. He also cautioned Saudi private companies to take advantage of the extensive knowledge of contract conditions, contract interpretation and insurance policy wordings within their projects.
Martin Stubbs, senior vice president of Marsh UK, showed the damage and non-damage elements of defective designs and how insurance companies can respond to these, explaining the structuring and placement of construction professional indemnity insurance in the global market.
The seminar was organized for various stakeholders in a construction and infrastructure landscape, such as government and private construction companies, architects firms, developers of projects, banks and lenders. The event provided a forum for the exchange of ideas on optimizing risk management to enhance the booming construction sector in the Kingdom.
With over 100 professionals, Marsh Saudi Arabia provides global risk management, insurance and reinsurance broking and consultancy services to over 400 businesses in the Kingdom.