ABSTRACT
The evolution of alternative delivery methods has led to the development and adaptation of new ways to allocate, manage, and achieve equitable sharing/transfer of risks between Owners and Contractors, such as risk registers and the Geotechnical Baseline Report (GBR).
For many years, the GBR and the Differing Site Condition (DSC) clause have been part of construction contract documents to improve risk allocation and facilitate the resolution of claims and disputes. The GBR has been instrumental so far in allocating geotechnical risks. However, it is not intended as a contractual tool to identify, allocate and manage non-geotechnical project risks.
Effective risk management in major subsurface projects involves mitigating adverse impacts to final design and construction approaches due to changed subsurface conditions. An Early Contractor Involvement (ECI) collaborated with Observational Method (OM) is an effective contractual tool to address risk developed due to encountering differing site conditions. OM can further be supported with artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, featuring automated data-driven decision-making in risk mitigation and implementation of proper design and construction approaches.
Based on experience gained from underground projects, this paper presents case histories and recommendations for an innovative and collaborative risk baselining approach using a Risk Baseline Report with contingency sharing and applications of OM and AI. This approach should advance the overall goals of equitable risk sharing and compensation.
