Casualty Risk Trends: Construction industry
New building materials, AI, automated production and major infrastructure investment are changing how the world builds. What do these shifts mean for casualty insurers and how can they respond to the evolving risk landscape?
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The construction industry is changing fast. Demand for infrastructure is growing while new materials, digital technologies and automated production methods reshape how projects are designed and delivered.
For the construction industry, these four trends offer significant opportunities, including improved efficiency, safety and sustainability. But they can also create new liability exposures and change familiar ones.
Our latest Risk Engineering report examines their impact through a casualty lens, highlighting the implication for insurers.
Four trends worth watching
Construction industry trends
Sustainable “green”
construction
Lower-carbon materials and green building methods can reduce environmental impact – but new materials and systems can bring uncertainties around performance, fire, durability and liability.
Tech transformation
in construction
AI, BIM, drones and robotics can improve safety and productivity. However, they can also create new liability exposures, including those arising from systemic data errors and software defects.
Automated mass
production
Moving construction from the jobsite to the factory can improve speed and consistency. But when the same component or design is repeated at scale, a single defect can become a serial loss.
Global infrastructure
boom
Construction investment is accelerating across transport, energy and digital infrastructure. Larger and more complex projects can increase accumulation, supply-chain and contractual exposures.
What does this mean for casualty insurers?
New construction methods don't simply create new risks. They can shift where liability sits, how losses accumulate and what underwriters need to assess.
The report explores the implications for product liability, recall, general liability, D&O and workers' compensation – alongside practical considerations for insurers and insureds.
Talk to our experts What do these construction trends mean for your risks?
