Abstract:
Construction has existed since time beyond trace. As one of man's basic needs,
protection from inclement weather and enemies necessitated the construction
of shelter. Construction materials and skills developed very slowly and some
of the earlier methods of construction using interwoven tree branches, stems,
reeds, rushes and mud have survived for over 6000 years.
The history of Sri Lankan construction goes back to several thousand years.
Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, Sigiriya and Kandy are significant as some of the
greatest cities of ancient time and repositories of some of Sri Lanka's greatest
engineering works, unrivalled even today for their magnificence. Ancient
temples, Sigiriya, Yoda Ela and irrigation tanks in these areas are some
examples.
After independence, local construction firms were started in Sri Lanka, but
most of the construction had been done by the Government Institutions such as
Public Works Department, Irrigation Department etc. After the introduction of
the open economy to the country, private construction firms got more
opportunities to enter the construction industry. Construction risk is one of the
great challenges for them.
In the construction industry it is recognized that all categories of hazards exist
producing the possibility of loss of life, personal injury, material damage,
financial loss or loss of time. Terrible combinations of these five effects may
result in the more hazardous construction areas.
At one end of the scale hazards may result in a large number of deaths and
huge financial losses. At the other end of the scale negligible hazards can
produce minor cracking of a cosmetic nature, which can be disregarded.
Chapter 1: Introduction
Risks are born as soon as a decision is taken to proceed with a project. They
multiply and increase as the project advances from the feasibility stage to the
design and, later construction stages.
Risks in construction occur as a result of the existence of dormant sets of
conditions (hazards) which possess the potential for initiating adverse events
(accidents). They are usually in a dormant state but all that is required is an
activating agent to trigger the change from a dormant to an active state. To
name and identify the hazards and risks in a project is therefore the first step in
the process of managing it to success.
