Why the EHAB platform?

Introduction #

Weather has always been a problem on construction projects, with 45% suffering from delays due to weather. This pushes schedules out on average by 21%, so roughly 9.5% of the money spent in construction pays for weather downtime and the impacts of adverse conditions.  In addition to this about 16% of construction disputes involve weather as a primary or secondary cause.

These are big numbers and they are only likely to rise due to our changing climate. There has been a sharp rise in extreme weather events in the last 2 decades and this is showing no signs of slowing.

The EHAB platform aims to be the planning tool, the independent adjudicator, source of truth, and insurance policy against increasingly extreme weather. To achieve this there must be a model that accurately depicts the state of weather impact in the future, in the present and in the past.

How we model weather risk #

Our approach to understanding weather impact in construction projects integrates both historical and predictive analyses. Initially, we harness the ECMWF dataset, renowned for its comprehensive global historical data. This dataset amalgamates readings from satellites and local stations, employing sophisticated techniques and enhancements to refine and calibrate the data, thus providing a robust understanding of past and present weather patterns at specific locations.

Predicting future weather impact, however, presents a more complex challenge. To address this, we’ve developed an advanced model that employs a blend of big data, statistical methods, and machine learning. This model diverges from traditional weather forecasting, which typically becomes unreliable beyond a 15-day horizon. Instead, our focus is on forecasting weather-related impacts. We generate a 40-year dataset for each location and conduct a climate trend analysis, emphasizing recent years to account for evolving weather patterns. This process yields a ‘standard year’ representative of each location’s typical weather conditions.

In the next phase, project plans from major scheduling software are integrated and categorized within our system. Each project activity is assigned specific weather sensitivity thresholds, guided by EHAB’s default risk matrix, which is grounded in industry research and expert insights. Users can match project plans to the risk matrix either manually or through predefined activity codes or UDF fields, utilizing EHAB’s intuitive interface.

Upon completion of this matching process, our model conducts 1,000 simulations for each project. These simulations meticulously consider the duration of tasks, corresponding weather data, and weather variability factors, including the time of year and location-specific thresholds. Additionally, the simulations account for the interdependencies within the project plan, which influence the risk and rescheduling of subsequent activities.

After running these simulations, the model outputs a probabilistic assessment of weather-related risks and potential delays for the project. This output, encompassing a range of outcomes from the 1,000 simulations, offers probabilities of impact and delay. To facilitate actionable insights, the EHAB platform presents various dashboards. These dashboards enable users to deeply analyze and leverage this information throughout the construction project lifecycle, enhancing decision-making and risk management.

 

Bid: #

Leveraging weather data at the bid phase allows you to understand the weather risk you are likely to encounter and allows you to justify the correct amount of Time Risk Allowance to your client. This is fundamental to improving margins and avoiding profit being eroded by more extreme weather.

Detailed Planning: #

Using the EHAB platform at this stage of planning helps you and your client to address the challenge of mitigations and where best to spend resources to meet key dates. You can also dig deeper into the programme and understand if there are ways you can optimise.

Construction: #

The EHAB platform throughout construction can help you avoid cancellation fees, provide better early warnings, help you re-price compensation events and also monitor and track the changing risk baseline of the project. This enables you to more proactively manage the risk and avoid costly delays.

QSRA: #

Utilising our QSRA feature allows you to gain a larger contingency pot and ensure a more reasonble end date if there is that level of flexibility in your project.

See Acumen Risk; Guide, Case Study

See Safran Risk; Guide, Case Study

See Oracle PRA (on premises); Guide, Case Study

See Oracle Cloud (Risk); Guide, Case Study

See Nodes & Links; Guide, Case Study

Insurance: #
  • Coming soon – using the model you will be able to buy an automatic insurance policy that pays out in the event of extreme weather.

 

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