DFI forms new risk and contracts technical committee

The Deep Foundations Institute (DFI) formed its 26^th technical committee—the DFI Risk and Contracts Committee.

The goal of the committee is to raise awareness of risk management through programs and promotion. Key objectives for the committee are to:

• Establish the fundamental requirements for geotechnical risk management for all entities involved in the geotechnical project’s life cycle.

• Cooperate with all DFI technical committees in establishing risk management standards and providing suggested guidance for all types of geotechnical products and techniques.
• Harmonize the risk management knowledge of DFI with the knowledge of other deep foundation organizations.

The committee’s first project is to research and produce The Book of Risks for Geotechnical Projects. The book is being organized to reflect the four major categories of risks of geotechnical projects: internal risks, legal risks, external risks and geotechnical-exploration risks. Risk identification will cover all geotechnical products of interest to DFI members, all types of project delivery (e.g., design-bid-build, design-build, PPP, etc.) and all types of owners (private or public).

The chair of the new DFI risk committee is Alexander Filotti, M.B.A., P.E., risk controller of underpinning and foundation at Skanska Inc. Filotti has 19 years of experience with engineering work and technical development related to deep foundation projects as well as development of computer 3D modeling applications for deep foundation projects. His current activity focuses on risk management and ethics. He teaches the Design of Foundations course at Hofstra University School of Engineering and Applied Science, and starting spring semester of 2020, he is going to teach the Risk Management course for the Engineering Management Master program. He is the chair of the PDCA Contracts and Risk Committee and serves as a member on the Geo-Industry Risk Working Group comprised of members from ADSC, DFI, Geo-Institute, Geoprofessional Business Association and PDCA. He is a frequent presenter of risk topics at DFI and PDCA conferences and seminars. He holds a degree in mechanical engineering from the Polytechnic University of Bucharest (Diplomat Engineer) and an Executive M.B.A. from Hofstra University.

The vice chair of the committee is Richard D. Kalson, Esq., a partner in the Construction Law Group of Benesch. Kalson is well versed in deep foundation construction projects and contracts as risk management tools. He provides counsel to subcontractors, suppliers and project owners in litigation and business consultation matters, including many ENR 400 contractors and ENR 600 specialty contractors, on all phases of the construction process on projects throughout the U.S. He is a frequent speaker on risk at industry conferences including participating in DFI’s Invited Panel on Risk: A Rational Discussion in both 2017 and 2018.  He is a member of the ADSC-IAFD Board of Directors and holds a B.A. from the University of Wisconsin and a J.D. from the University of Minnesota.

Industry professionals involved in risk management are encouraged to join the committee. To learn more about the committee, visit
http://www.dfi.org/commhome.asp?DRSK .