Business Risk

More than two feet of rain drenching Fort Lauderdale in a day, baseball-sized hail chunks falling on Minneapolis and the deadliest wildfire in more than a century destroying more than 2,100 acres of Maui—2023 was a stark reminder that Mother Nature is a force to be reckoned with....

WASHINGTON, Aug. 13—Associated Builders and Contractors reported today that its Construction Backlog Indicator held steady at 8.4 months in July, according to an ABC member survey conducted July 22 to Aug. 6. The reading is down 0.9 months from July 2023. View ABC’s Construction...

Managing expenses can be a challenge for any field-service company, and construction companies can be particularly susceptible to inefficiencies and waste. Variable costs for materials, management of labor and subcontractors, managing cash flow and adhering to budgets over long p...

It's no secret that fluctuating labor shortages and supply-chain delays can present business challenges for contractors. Construction company leaders must think proactively about future operational interruptions. Speeding into the second half of 2024, labor shortages, the supply ...

The day before Construction Executive’s interview with Colby Whitfield, AT&T preemptively proved his point. We were scheduled to talk to Whitfield, assistant vice president of risk control at Travelers, on Feb. 23 about the importance of planning for business continuity—maintaini...

In my 20-year FBI career, I faced off against gang members, drug traffickers, international terrorists, cybercriminals and corrupt politicians. It was fulfilling work, even though I knew there would always be more criminals and my job would never be done. I enjoyed taking small s...

While the punch list to complete a construction project may seem long, the truth of the matter is that the punch list for protecting that project from fraud may be much longer and more complex. According to the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners’ “Occupational Fraud 2022: A...

Fraud is an ongoing concern in the construction industry. It's a harsh reality where opportunities and motivations often converge, creating problems in a field that's already fraught with challenges. Contractors face a more frequent occurrence of substantial financial losses comp...

Rising rates and today’s economic climate are fueling record increases in the rental and leasing markets in construction equipment. The North American construction equipment rental business was valued at $42.64 billion in 2022 and is expected to reach $58.49 billion by 2029, repr...

Fire and explosions remain the No. 1 cause of construction and engineering insurance claims, accounting for 27% of the value of insurance claims over the last five years, according to industry claims data analysis conducted by global commercial insurer AGCS. Natural catastrophes...