110 March 2023
Coursework
Clinic
Prof Atula Abeysekera
Professor of Practice (Risk Management)
a.abeysekera@imperial.ac.uk
CIVE5001 Business & Project Management (BPM)
2BPM Lecture Programme - Overview
01
PART B – PROF ATULA ABEYSEKERA
WEEK LECTURE ASSIGNMENT
17-Feb
14.00-16.00
L6: Introduction to the Risk Management Process
• Risk register
• Black swans
24-Feb
14:00-16.00
L7: Performing a Risk Assessment for a Construction Project
• Risk Framework
• Risk appetite
• Risk assessment
Case Study
27-Feb
09.00-11.00
L8: Funding Projects
• Stakeholder Management
• Investment submission
• Risk versus trade-off
• Funding sources
Case Study
10-March
14.00-16.00 L9: Coursework Clinic
Coursework due
date:
28-April
3Lecture 9 – Agenda
01 Coursework Clinic: Technical Challenge – Part A
02 Coursework Clinic: Technical Challenge – Part B
02 Coursework Clinic: Essay Challenge
01
4Coursework 2 – Part A
01
Risk management involves identifying risks,
assessing their potential impact, developing risk-
mitigation plans, and implementing these plans. The
objective of this task is to set out a risk management
framework and governance structures and perform a
high-level risk assessment to manage project risk
and uncertainty. In 1,500 words or less answer all
parts of the below questions.
A. What were the key parts of
the risk framework used for a
major civil engineering project
and explain how they were
managed and controlled? Citing
your reasons, explain how effective they
were.
B. Assume the role of the
principal civil engineering
contractor before the
construction stage & produce a
Risk Assessment Table of the
top 10 risks. Explain your
rationale for identifying these
risks and determining
the impact and probability
scores. Set out how you would mitigate
the risks using the 4Ts.
Submission
• Due date: 28 April
• TOTAL Word limit PART A and
B: 1500 words
Reading
• Use material from Lectures
• Minimum reading- denoted by **
5Coursework: Part A – Step by Step Guide
01
• Step 1: Identify a major civil engineering project which
used a risk framework. Explain which project you
selected in the introduction.
• Step 2: Read ISO 31000 (minimum reading) to get clear
the definitions
• Step 3: How would you describe the key parts of the
framework for the project you selected.
• Step 4: Explain how the project managed and controlled
risks
• Step 5: Explain how its effectiveness – your opinion
backed up with evidence
6London Olympics: Governance
01
A multi-party
partnering
agreement (or
arrangement) to
share risks and
incentivise to
achieve project
objectives
Client
Olympic Delivery
Authority (ODA)
Tier 1 Contractors
Sir Robert Alpine,
Balfour Beatty
Delivery Partner
CLM
Consortium
London Olympics – Corporate Governance Structure
Governance Framework
‘How the project sponsor and stakeholders organised to support delivery of objectives’
7Governance Framework (Example 2)
01
Client
Danish Government
Femern Link Contractors (FLC)
VINCI
Aarleff
Soletanche Bachy
Femern A/S
Governance Framework
• “How the project sponsor and stakeholders are organised to support
delivery of objectives”
Femern A/S– Corporate Governance Structure
Femern Belt Contractors (FBC)
Boskalis
Van Oord
8Risk Framework: Definitions
International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) 31000
definition:
A risk management framework is a set of components that
support and sustain risk management throughout the project.
There are two types of components; foundations and
organisational arrangements.
1. Foundations include your risk management policy,
objectives, mandate, and commitment - ‘documenting
how to manage risks?’ (see Crossrail Risk Policy)
2. Organisation arrangements include the plans,
relationships, accountabilities, resources, processes
and activities you use to manage your organisation’s
risk – ‘documenting who is accountable’
01
9London Olympics Risk Framework – Three Lines of
Defence
London Olympics Three Lines of Defence Model
1ST LINE OF
DEFENCE
2ND LINE OF
DEFENCE
EXTERNAL
STAKEHOLDERS
3RD LINE OF
DEFENCE
C
or
po
ra
te
Pr
og
ra
m
m
e
Pr
oj
ec
t
DCMS
External
Stakeholders
(GLA, LDA, IOC,
Treasury, etc.)
Project
Teams
ODA Front
Line Teams
Audit
Committee
Risk & Audit
Programme
Board
Programme
Assurance
Delivery
Partner
3rd Party
Project
Teams
Audit reviews
01
ST I

ND I



RD I

C
or
po
ra
te
Pr
og
ra
m
m
e
Pr
oj
ec
t
xternal
takeholders
(GLA, LDA, IOC,
Treasury, etc.)
r j ct
s
r t
i s
it
itt
isk it
r r
r
r r
ss r c
liv ry
rt r
Project
Teams
it r vi s
10
Organisation arrangements – Lecturing at Imperial – Three
Lines of Defence
The Three Lines of Defence
1st Line of Defence
2nd Line of Defence
3rd Line of Defence
LECTURER
DUG / DRS
JBM R
IS
K
F
R
A
M
E
W
O
R
K
Head of Department,
Civil Engineering;
Dean, Faculty of
Engineering, Imperial
College
01
11
Crossrail: Three Lines of Defence Model
Crossrail Three Lines of Defence Model
3rd Line: Independent Assurance
Independent challenge and assurance
Internal Audit, External Audit, Sponsors Representative
CIAG (Crossrail Integrated Assurance Group)
2nd Line: Oversight Functions
Set policy and procedure and provide functional oversight
Quality, Finance Controls, Technical, Risk Management
1st Line: Delivery Teams
Embedded risk management and controls C
ro
ss
ra
il
Li
m
ite
d
B
oa
rd
, E
xC
om

an
d
A
ud
it
C
om
m
itt
ee
01
12
Risk Framework for Managing Risks
STEP 1
Mandate and Commitment by the
Project Board of Directors
STEP 2
Design the Framework: Risk Policies and
Organisation (governance, three lines of defence)
STEP 3
Implement the risk framework
STEP 4
Monitor, review and continuously improve the
risk framework
01
13
Coursework 2 – Part A - Risk Framework: Commons
Failings in Coursework
01
Answers did not make it clear….
û Why was there a need for a Risk Framework for this project?
û Why was it effective?
û What is the evidence that it was effective?(Provide data to endorse
your argument)
û How does risk framework fit in with the governance framework?
û Refer to previous case studies – what worked well?
14
Lecture 9 – Agenda
01 Coursework Clinic: Technical Challenge – Part A
02 Coursework Clinic: Technical Challenge – Part B
03 Coursework Clinic: Essay Challenge
02
15
Coursework 2 – Part B
02
B. Assume the role of
the principal civil
engineering contractor
before the construction
stage & produce a Risk
Assessment Table of the
top 10 risks. Set out how you
would mitigate the risks using the 4Ts.
Submission
• Due date: 28 April
• TOTAL Word limit for A and B:
1500 words
Reading
• Use material from Lectures
• Minimum reading- denoted by **
16
Recap on Olympics Timeline
2007 2008 2012 +2012
Major Projects & Events
PLANNING
DEMOLISH
& DESIGN
BIG BUILD
UP
TEST
EVENTS
OLYMPIC
GAMES
LASTING
LEGACY
2012
Pre-Summer
2012
June
2012
July
FINANCIAL
CRISIS
CHANGE OF
GOVERNMENT
Coursework Risk
Assessment
02
17
Coursework 1 (Part B) – Step by Step Guide
02
Step 1 Identify a major civil engineering project which you will use for the Risk
Assessment. This may not be the same project you used for Part A. If not,
describe the project briefly
Step 2 Get into the mind set of the Tier 1 Contractor – what are my top risks?
Step 3 Determine your risk appetite – Red, Amber, Green
Step 4 Assess how risks are inter-related and grouped for evaluation
Step 5 Estimate the likelihood (probability) of the occurrences for each risk.
Estimate the impacts. These can be financial, reputational, safety and
regulatory
Step 6 Develop a risk response for each risk – 4Ts (Tolerate, Terminate, Transfer
and Treat)
Step 7 Draw inherent and residual risk Red, Amber, Green diagram showing the
how your top 10 risks
18
Risk Appetite Comparisons
There is a
high-risk
appetite of project’s
failure
There is a
low-risk
appetite of project’s
failure
There is medium
appetite of project’s
failure
LI
KE
LI
HO
O
D
5
4
3
2
1
1 2 3 4 5
IMPACT
LI
KE
LI
HO
O
D
5
4
3
2
1
1 2 3 4 5
IMPACT
LI
KE
LI
HO
O
D
5
4
3
2
1
1 2 3 4 5
IMPACT
02
Burj Khalifa
19
Top 10 Inherent Risks – Construction Project
1. x ( a brief statement of risk – one liners
are sufficient – remember it is a risk so
negative in tone)
2. x ( a brief statement of risk)
3. x ( a brief statement of risk)
4. x ( a brief statement of risk)
5. etc
6. etc
7. xx
8. xx
9. xx
10. xx
Inherent Risks are risks before mitigation actions (risks you see before
risk response).
5
4
3
2
1
1 2 3 4 5
Li
ke
lih
oo
d
Impact
5
2
1
0
3
4
1
8
6 9
7
02
20
Crossrail Risk & Assurance
Inherent
Risk
4Ts Residual
Risk
Initial Risk
Plans to
reduce Risk
Final Risk
Actions: Tolerate, Transfer, Terminate, Treat
RISK MANAGEMENT
02
21
What are the 4Ts? - Tolerate
02
Tolerate
(Crossrail)
Terminate
(Wembley)
Transfer
(Terminal 5)
Treat
(All)
22
Top 10 Residual Risks – Construction Project
02
1. x ( a brief statement of risk – one liners
are sufficient – remember it is a risk so
negative in tone)
2. x ( a brief statement of risk)
3. x ( a brief statement of risk)
4. x ( a brief statement of risk)
5. etc
6. etc
7. xx
8. xx
9. xx
10. xx
Residual Risks are the Risks after mitigation (risks after response).
2, 3,7 and 10 are design constraints with the project. What is 5?
PS: Can you take more risks?
5
4
3
2
1
1 2 3 4 5
Li
ke
lih
oo
d
Impact
5
2
1
0
3
4 1869
7
23
Risk Assessment – common failings in Coursework
answers from previous years
û Supplying risks without data to support
û Inability to explain the risk scoring
û Top 10 risks related to the principal contractor. Few statistics
and case studies to backup Top 10 and mitigation strategies
û Not enough explanation on why they were Top 10 risks along
with why some risks were discounted
û Each risk did not have a clear 4T
û No enough explanation on why risks was specific to the your
project. Lack of cross-reference of failures of other mega projects
and their relationship to your project.
02
24
Lecture 9 – Agenda
01 Coursework Clinic: Technical Challenge – Part A
02 Coursework Clinic: Technical Challenge – Part B
03 Coursework Clinic: Essay Challenge
03
25
Coursework Challenge – independent research,
critical thinking, glossary
03
26
Coursework Tips: What am I looking for?
ü Technical – demonstrates excellent, well-integrated
knowledge of basic literature and present convincing
application of the topics
ü Understanding & relevance – presents an excellent
grasp of concepts and makes interesting and compelling
connections between them.
ü Reasoning & argument – presents rigorous structured
work and provides coherent arguments that are
substantiated.
ü Research – makes use of well chosen research and
convinces reader of high quality of the coursework
03
27
The Standard
R Professional presentation
R Harvard style referencing
R Distinction between introduction, middle and
conclusion
R Clarify assumptions
R Clear use of figures
R Correct spelling, grammar and syntax
R Good writing style (briefing note to senior manager)
R Tables, graphs and references do not count towards
1500 words limit
R Two separate reports
03
28
What is an exceptional standard?
03
R Attention to detail – appropriate fonts, accurate figures
R A clear road map – showing referencing at the beginning guiding
the rest of the essay
R A logical flow – guide the marker and explain your roadmap.
29
How to write clear, concise and compelling business
coursework
03
Clear Essay
• Break down the essay to sub sections
Concise Essay
• Read your essay several times
• Chop out unnecessary words (e.g. very, extremely)
• Allow time to edit – this takes a long time (1500 word
restriction)
• Search for shorter words
• Remember to spell check before you submit
Compelling Essay
• Don’t be afraid to express your opinion
30
FAQ - General
03
Are there two reports (750 words each) or one report (1500 words)?
There is one report of 1500. Diagrams, charts, references do not count towards the word count.
Is there a book where I can read up to remind me what was covered in Year 1?
Yes, Chapters 3 and 4 of the ‘Civil Engineering Procedure’ by the Institution of Civil Engineers (7th
Edition, 2015). Full book available as e-book from link below:
http://www.icevirtuallibrary.com/doi/book/10.1680/cep.60692
How do you include project management in the coursework if the two main sections are Risk
Framework and Risk Assessment?
In order to deliver a project, there will be multiple project managers working on different parts and their
activities need to be coordinated and prioritised. Risk management will be a key part of their
role. These project managers will work within the risk framework to manage the risks that they have
identified, assessed and prioritised.
In this coursework, there are many ways we are asking you to imagine yourself to be a project manager
working in your chosen major civil engineering project. The first question is do you understand the risk
framework and the rationale behind it, i.e. what was the process of managing risks and why was it
designed like that; and the second question (project manager working or Tier 1 contractor) asks you to
identify and assess the risks, i.e. can you apply this key part of the process.
31
FAQ – Coursework Structure
03
I find it difficult to keep to the word count and as a result spend time editing the report. Can you
provide some guidance?
Writing a concise report is a key learning experience in this module. There are several ways to write a
concise report:
• Start by jotting down bullet points and expand each bullet from there
• Structure your answer around three clear sections: 1) Introduction 2) Body of the report 3)
Conclusions
• Support your answer with figures and tables to help to keep your word count low
Do I need to create a contents page?
No. Submit them as one report but divided into Part A and Part B.
Framework for Part A and another project for Part B?
Yes, you can. Please include mega projects (>$1bn) if possible.
For Part B, I would like to use the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg or Millau Viaduct Project as the risk
assessment project. Both projects are less than 1 billion. Is it still valid for the report?
Yes, This is fine.
32
FAQ – Coursework 1A Risk Framework
03
The first line of defence covers the Front-line Project and Functional Teams who are in charge of
managing project level risks. For the London Olympics project, the ODA Board, EMB, Programme
Board and Delivery Partners are all included within the 1st line of defence. Is this correct?
All front-line functions of a project are in the 1st line of defence including those functions who manage the
project, e.g. CLM, ODA etc. Within the first line, there are three further sub divisions: corporate teams
(EMB etc); Programme teams (CLM etc) and Project teams.
Some major projects do not publicly disclose their risk framework (e.g. Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau
bridge project). Is there a reason why?
There may be several reasons. They may be deemed to confidential to the project and as such not
available to the public, or they simply didn’t have such a written risk framework. It is better to select a
project which has good information on risk framework. The does not stop you from using Hong Kong-
Zhuhai-Macau bridge project for Part (b) – risk assessment.
The Three Lines of Defence model is about defining accountability. However how does it identify
who is accountable if a problem arises?
If there is a major failure of the project, the 1st line of defence is always responsible. However, questions
will be asked from the second line defence about what controls they had to detect this failure. If the
‘second line of defence’ knew about this and they did not challenge the first line, they will also responsible
for this failure. Similarly, if the third line knew about knew about this risk and did not challenge first and
second lines, all three will be equally responsible.
33
FAQ – Coursework 1A Risk Framework (Cont.)
03
Based on my research, the risk framework can be divided into six components (risk
identifications, risk measurement, risk mitigation, risk monitoring and risk governance). Should I
conclude them as six main components of risk framework in this way in my essay?
Your starting point should be ISO 31000 (2018). The framework should be divided into 1) Foundations –
document who manages the risk? 2) organisation arrangement – document who is accountable?
What are the implications are, for example, for the Olympic to put “Risk Management” in the third
line of defence instead of the second line of defence (like Crossrail). Does it imply that one of them
took Risk Management more seriously than the other?
No both projects took risk management seriously. The modern risk management thinking is that the risk
management function should be close as possible to the 1st line of defence function. As such, Crossrail
made the function in the 2nd line of defence. The advantage is that risk function is not detached like the
Audit function (3rd line); risk function effectively becomes more like a partner of the 1st line of defence
helping them to deliver the project on time and on budget.
In the ISO 31000, the risk framework is sub-defined into 2 parts: the foundations and the
organisational arrangements. Are the 3 lines of defence part of the organisational arrangements?
Yes, three lines of defence is part of organisation arrangements. Foundations include risk policies, risk
register, risk appetite etc
34
FAQ – Coursework Part B - Risk Assessment
03
Is the top 10 risks for coursework 1 based rankings of residual risks or inherent risks?
Start with top 10 inherent risks and perform 4Ts and come up with corresponding residual risk for each
inherent risk.
I’m still quite unsure of what a regulatory impact means. One of the online definitions given was
"risk of having the 'license to operate' withdrawn by a regulator or having conditions applied
(retrospectively or prospectively) that adversely impact the economic value of an enterprise". Is
this risk relevant to my risk assessment?
Regulatory risk is an important component in financing major infrastructure projects. Some industries
are driven primarily by regulatory factors (e.g. Water industry, Energy industry, Nuclear etc). So, if there
are major projects in these industries, the relevant Regulator can demand the Tier1 contractors to
adhere to strict constraints at the outset. If they don’t comply, they have the power to stop the project
and impose their powers. At worst, they could withdraw license to operate.
I want to use High Speed Rail project in Korea to check 'new technology’ risks and ‘political
interference risks’ can be within Top 10 risks. Are these risks relevant to my risk assessment?
Yes, they can be strategic risks. But please make sure that there is a good balance of strategic,
project and operating risks.
I found it difficult to summarise risks to Top 10. Any thoughts?
I find the videos of the project management team really useful starting point. They should be freely
available. But please make sure that there is a good balance of strategic, project and operating risks.
35
FAQ – Coursework Part B - Risk Assessment (cont.)
03
Can we only use data/examples from pre-2012, as we're meant to be writing it as if it's before
the project starts? Or can we also include examples post 2014?
If you include the London Olympics project for part (b), use the risks before the construction started in
2012. Reference to other similar projects may be useful.
I'm struggling a bit with the inherent and residual risks. I understand that we identify our top 10
inherent risks, and describe mitigation using the 4T's. However, are the residual risks supposed
to directly related to the inherent risks and how we treat them? For example, if we choose to
tolerate a risk, would the residual risk be the same as the inherent risk? In the same sense, if
the inherent risk is terminated, would there be no residual risk from that?
If we terminate, the risk should drop off. If we tolerate risk should be at the same inherent (original)
point. If we treat however, it always goes down (diagonally downwards).
I have chosen to look at the Channel Tunnel for Part B of the coursework. I was just wondering
if this is a suitable project, or if it should be more recent.
Yes, it is suitable
36
FAQ – Coursework Part B - Risk Assessment (cont.)
03
I was wondering if I included a table for the impact and likelihood scoring for which I then use to plot
the inherent risk diagram, does that mean its part of the word count ?
We allow tables to illustrate your answer. But if you summarise the answer in a table and effectively repeat
in the body of the essay, sorry, it is counted towards 1500. My suggestion is enter a brief table and cross
reference the table to the body.
Regarding the Business and Project Management - Part B, when we are discussing our top 10 risks,
can we include the actual solution that was adopted to mitigate this risk or do we have to come up
with our own solutions (4Ts)?
Please use actual solutions used to mitigate
And, can we include risks that were mitigated before the start of the construction?
Please use risks before the construction phase
Will marks be deducted if I do Part (B) in landscape format?
No, but…it is not professional
I would like to ask if it is possible to add an appendix at the end of the report (not including it in
the 1500 words) to give more information on our risks (the report will contain everything, the
appendix will only give more details if needed).
No need for an Appendix and it will not marked.