The #KIRAriskDD method, developed for the real estate and construction industry, is currently being piloted in practical projects by 11 companies. The projects include low-carbon concrete, low-carbon steel frames, gypsum board partitions and waterproofing elements for wooden structures. The goal of the method is to reduce harmful impacts on people and nature throughout the value chain.
A risk-based and targeted approach allows construction project clients and suppliers to jointly manage supply chain sustainability with a reasonable amount of work. The common process and unified survey utilize a new control point method that brings transparency to the beginning of supply chains.
The #KIRAriskDD method was published in the summer of 2025. It focuses specifically on the sources of raw materials where environmental and human rights risks are most likely to occur. These risks are often far from the Finnish construction site – for example, in the supply chains currently being tested, they extend to Latvia, Bulgaria, Spain, Turkey and South Korea. At the same time, the method is also applied to domestic products, such as ready-mixed concrete and wooden structures.
The control point method developed for the Finnish construction sector is based on the OECD due diligence model
The development of the method began as companies' interest in managing their own value chains has grown in recent years. Many medium-sized and large companies have voluntarily committed to, for example, respecting human rights and preventing nature loss in their sustainability programs. These companies want their suppliers to share the same values, regardless of the fact that the EU is dismantling its mandatory sustainability regulations.
The #KIRAriskDD method has been developed based on the OECD Due Diligence Guidelines published in 2023, but has been adapted to suit Finnish construction. A key part of the method is a checkpoint survey, in which the parties to a construction project jointly ask a company further down the supply chain harmonised questions related to sustainability that are not unreasonable for the respondent. The so-called checkpoint is a company in the supply chain, for example a refinery or sawmill, that has the best knowledge of the origin of the raw materials.
11 companies will pilot the method in the winter of 2025–2026
The building products to be tested in the first test are low-carbon concrete, low-carbon steel frame, plasterboard partition wall and waterproof roof element for wooden structures. It has already been identified earlier when developing the method that risks are particularly associated with metals and minerals needed in the green transition. Now recycled materials have taken on a major role in the pilot, whose supply chains are associated with their own kind of responsibility risks.
The companies participating in the pilot represent different parties in the construction project: clients, main contractors and construction product manufacturers. RT's member companies include Fira Rakennus, Skanska, SRV Rakennus, YIT, Rudus and Saint-Gobain Finland.
The pilot phase will end in February 2026, when the companies participating in the project will be able to utilize the method in their projects.
New direction from the EU: risk-based due diligence is emphasized
Corporate due diligence refers to a continuous process covering the entire business and value chain, in which sustainability risks and adverse impacts are identified, assessed, prevented, mitigated and communicated.
In late November 2025, the EU Commission discussed an amendment that would ease the requirements of the original Corporate Responsibility Directive, which were already considered unreasonable in advance. The simplified directive is currently interpreted to mean the following:
- Companies can now focus on the parts of their value chain where the risk of adverse impacts is highest, and prioritize direct partners where the likelihood of impacts is equally high.
- Instead of a complete mapping of the value chain, companies conduct a general preliminary study using reasonably available information.
The #KIRAriskDD method is a practical tool to address these demands. Managing the sustainability of supply chains is not a one-off project, but requires ongoing dialogue and systematic training of personnel from both customers and suppliers.
The #KIRAriskDD project, which was implemented in spring 2025, was coordinated by KIRAHub and funded by the TT Foundation. The project is also supported by the real estate and construction industry associations Rakennusteollisuus RT and Kiinteistönomistajat ja raknuttajat Rakli.
More information from the leaders of the #KIRAriskDD project:
Petri Suutarinen
Email: petri.suutarinen(@)finreim.fi
Vesa Ilmarinen
Email: vesa.ilmarinen(@)katalysti.fi