As major urban areas strain to adequately support rapidly growing populations, the need for infrastructure is at an all-time high, a development so pivotal that it is pressuring the engineering and construction industry to step up as never before to meet the challenge, and putting their efficiency and risk management processes to the test, according to KPMG International’s Global Construction Survey 2012.

“With increased scale comes complexity as global industry players navigate a tough political, commercial, regulatory and governance environment which will test their risk management ability to the maximum extent,” said Geno Armstrong, KPMG’s International Sector Leader, Engineering and Construction and a partner in the US firm.

Just over 40 percent of respondents globally anticipate that the energy sector offers the greatest opportunity for revenue in the next 12 months. Second behind energy were roads/bridges tied with residential at 24 percent, followed by rail and mining.

Nearly 60 percent of respondents from the Americas believe the energy sector will have the biggest impact on revenues, followed by retail projects.

Respondents from Asia Pacific and Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) also see energy as their biggest revenue producers.  In Asia, respondents see the second biggest revenue opportunity in the industrial sector, while in EMEA, roads/bridges ranked second.

“The demand for firms and individuals with sector-specific engineering and construction skills will rise as [power] projects proliferate around the globe,” said Peter Kiss, KPMG’s Global Head of Power and Utilities and a partner in the Hungarian firm. “This should prove to be a major source of income for the industry as a whole.”

While 49 percent of respondents expect their backlogs will grow from 5 percent to over 15 percent in the next year, 71 percent of respondents cite economic uncertainty as their biggest ongoing concern followed by a skills shortage (31 percent) and thirdly, government deficits (30 percent). Sixty-two percent said that they expect margins on current bids to remain unchanged from their current backlog.

Fifty-seven percent said their revenues in 2011 increased from 2010, with the Asia Pacific region seeing the greatest  growth (72 percent) followed by EMEA (53 percent) and then, the Americas (41 percent).