Construction is becoming an increasingly globalized industry with projects sourcing materials from around the world. Foreign sourced material risk in the construction industry is shaped by a combination of economic, geopolitical, regulatory, and logistical factors. While globalization offers cost advantages and access to a wider range of building materials, it also introduces complexities and risks associated with cross-border transactions. Sourcing materials internationally is often driven by a desire to save costs or due to a lack of local availability. However, international outsourcing has been identified as a contributing factor in a number of defaults of subcontractors responsible for procuring materials. Challenges associated with supply chain disruptions, procurement cost overruns, lead times, coordination, communication, quality management limitations, political instability, and payment processing across borders can have a cascading effect on the subcontractor's ability to fulfill their obligations. […]
The urban landscape is changing. As our cities strive to become greener and city dwellers push to see the return of biodiversity, living walls are now a common, exciting, and aesthetically pleasing sight. Also known as vertical gardens or green walls, these installations are constructed from modular panels, each housing vegetation growing on or against a vertical surface. Heralded as a way to not only welcome back nature, the walls are also associated with improved air quality and public wellbeing. […]
For well over a century, ever since Carl Benz produced the first combustion engined vehicle in 1886, car makers have been locked in fierce competition to produce the most efficient and capable engines. Yet growing concerns about the environmental impact of fossil fuels in recent years has prompted a radical rethink, with manufacturers now competing to be front runners in the electric vehicle (EVs) revolution. However, with EV batteries considerably heavier than combustion engines, this sudden and dramatic shift is fundamentally changing the risk profile of vehicles on our roads. […]
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It’s an exciting time to have joined Optio’s specialist nuclear insurance vehicle, Northcourt, as Senior Advisor and I very much hope that I can put my experiences and knowledge of geopolitics, risk management, the nuclear industry and my seven years at Pool Re as Chief Resilience Officer to good use. As with any difficult-to-insure risk, such as nuclear, the insurance industry has a key role to play and at Northcourt, we believe that there is much more that the private sector and the insurance industry can do to remove some of the contingent liability that the Government currently holds on its balance sheet. […]