Risk Engineering Survey

Insurers and asset owners need the same three answers: what could go wrong here, how likely is it, and what would it cost. Risk engineering produces those answers through structured survey and analysis rather than judgement, which is what allows a risk to be priced, controlled or declined on evidence.

What the survey covers

• Construction and occupancyBuilding construction, fire compartmentation, separation between occupancies, and the processes and materials actually present rather than those declared.
• Fire protectionDetection and alarm, sprinkler and suppression systems and their design basis, water supply adequacy and duration, hydrants, extinguishers, and the maintenance and testing record behind all of it.
• Process safetyHazardous materials and quantities, containment, pressure systems, ignition source control, emergency shutdown arrangements and management of change.
• Natural hazard exposureFlood, windstorm, seismic and other perils relevant to the location, and whether the site's design and arrangements reflect them.
• Security and exposureSite security, external exposures from neighbouring occupancies, and accumulation where several insured assets sit close together.
• Business interruptionCritical equipment and single points of failure, replacement lead times, redundancy, interdependency between locations, and realistic recovery timescales.
• Utilities and servicesPower supply and backup generation, water supply for both process and firefighting, compressed air and steam, and the consequence of losing any of them — frequently a larger exposure than the physical asset itself.
• Management controlsMaintenance regimes, hot work permits, housekeeping, impairment procedures and emergency response — the human factors that determine whether physical protection performs as designed.

Loss estimation

The survey quantifies exposure using the loss estimates underwriters work with — typically estimated maximum loss, probable maximum loss and maximum foreseeable loss, depending on the convention the insurer applies. Each rests on a stated set of assumptions about which protection operates and which fails, and those assumptions are set out explicitly rather than buried, because a loss figure without its basis cannot be interrogated or compared.

Business interruption is estimated alongside property damage. On most industrial sites the interruption exposure exceeds the physical damage, and it is the one most often underestimated — usually because equipment lead times were assumed rather than checked.

Risk improvement recommendations

Recommendations are prioritised and costed in terms of the exposure each addresses, so that spending can be directed at what materially changes the risk rather than at what is easiest to implement. Each is graded by significance, with an indication of the reduction in exposure it would deliver — which is what allows an owner to make a capital case and an underwriter to price the improved position.

Who commissions this

• Insurers and reinsurers assessing a risk before binding or at renewal
• Brokers preparing a submission and needing the risk presented accurately
• Asset owners seeking better terms by demonstrating controlled exposure
• Owners planning capital expenditure on protection and needing to prioritise it
• Organisations reviewing exposure across a portfolio of sites
• Lenders and investors assessing physical risk in a transaction

Where surveys are carried out

• Manufacturing and process plant
• Warehousing, logistics and cold storage
• Oil, gas and petrochemical facilities
• Power generation and utilities
• Commercial and mixed-use property
• Hospitality and retail

Surveys are conducted across the UAE and on mobilisation across the wider GCC, with reporting in the format the instructing insurer or broker uses.

Independence

ITMAD is an accredited inspection body and holds no interest in the placement of the risk. We do not broker insurance, sell protection systems or carry out the improvements we recommend. The assessment reports the risk as found, which is the only basis on which either party can rely on it.

Related services

Risk engineering is frequently commissioned alongside damage assessment where a loss has already occurred, and alongside technical due diligence where physical risk forms part of a wider asset assessment.