A report published this week has claimed construction companies are ill-prepared to cope with a disaster such as a bomb explosion

The report, published by the Chartered Management Institute, said although construction firms had identified threats they had done little to prepare for them. The report describes them as “sitting ducks”.

The study is based on the findings of the CMI’s Business Continuity Management Survey, which covers thousands of companies across UK industry.

It reported 43% of firms in the construction sector had a business continuity plan in place, compared with 68% in the public sector and 76% in the banking sector.

Almost three-quarters of managers in the survey suggested that the loss of IT capability was their top concern, and 56% identified the loss of skills and people as major threats to their business.

The report found that most businesses planned for a disaster only when an external agency placed them under pressure

Mary Chapman, chief executive of the Chartered Management Institute, said the results were worrying. She added that improving awareness of corporate governance “should ensure that managers focus on the impact and cost that the loss of staff and services can have”.

The report found that most businesses planned for a disaster only when an external agency placed them under pressure. It noted that 34% of firms only changed when asked to implement good corporate governance, 25% did so because their insurers asked them, 22% because central government asked them and 2% because their auditors raised the issue.

In 27% of the organisations covered in the survey the board of the company led the planning of strategy over business continuity, in 9% control was delegated to risk managers and in 5% of cases to IT directors.