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Despite the plethora of guidance on the subject, the underlying message
is profoundly based on common sense.
We believe the key issues are:-
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Working together as a team – construction clearly involves
many different participants and, if they work together as a team,
they are likely to be far more effective than if they work only as
self-interested individuals.
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Early involvement of key members of the likely team –
the Egan Report points out the dangers of separating the design and
construction processes and therefore encourages the early involvement
of those who will be involved in the construction during the design
process when they are able to influence that design to make it more
efficient (both in terms of time and cost) to build.
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Proper preparation prevents poor performance – given
the levels of recorded site efficiency, this is a major area where
the industry needs to concentrate on pre-planning how it will build
before starting on site.
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Identification and management of risks – the results
of an earlier BRE survey show a disappointing level of risk identification
and management under both traditional and partnering arrangements.
It is axiomatic that anyone can be part of a successful project where
nothing unexpected happens. The key is how project participants work
together to identify and manage potential risks and how they deal
with the adverse effects of events, both foreseen and unforeseen.
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Clear identification of who does what and what is expected
– in the first place, all parties need to have defined roles
including defined responsibilities for co-ordinating aspects of the
design and construction processes. It is also important that there
is a clear statement of the expectation that project participants
will actually work together and share information rather than acting
as individual silos of uncommunicated information.
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Measurement of performance – although it is not easy
to do for the first time, it is important that performance is regularly
monitored (and this applies to both demand and supply sides of the
industry). Otherwise relationships can become cosy and performance
can suffer. It is also important that measurement of performance takes
place during, not simply the end of, a contract so that warnings of
poor performance can be addressed before they affect the delivery
of a project.
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Selection based on value, not lowest price – this should
be self-evident but is sadly not always followed.
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