Contrary to some people's belief, the Task Force does not contemplate that our cities of the future will comprise uniformly constructed buildings. People will not look up and say "oooh, isn't that a rather nice type 2 building" or "not sure that I like this new type 6 building".
Whilst the report does stress what can be learned from the car industry, the parallel is not between the construction process and manufacturing cars on the production line; rather, the parallel is at the design and planning stage in the production of a new car model. A key factor is the use of standardised components and processes.
Designers, suppliers and sub-contractors should all be fully involved in the design process. Greater use should be made of standardised components. There should be more certainty as to who is to do what, how and when. All of this seems eminently sensible. The Task Force emphasises that standardised processes and components does not mean poor aesthetics or monotonous buildings. The scope for creative architecture remains but architects should not design in abstract.
In the construction industry profitability is low, expenditure on research and development has decreased, training is under funded and construction companies' investment in capital is poor.
So, argues the Task Force, to make improvements, the industry needs a radical change in approach rather than any attempt to improve upon the current system. The Task Force wants an integrated project process. The Latham Report previously identified disharmony as one of the main problems within the construction industry. It stressed that relationships need to improve if the industry is to move forward.
Concepts such as partnering and framework agreements could assist in the process. The Task Force takes matters much further. Not only is it important to develop long term working relationships, those relationships must be established as part of a concept which focuses on what the client needs, i. In other words, construction should not be an industry which, through a staged process and chronology converts an empty piece of land into a building; rather, construction should be an industry which looks first at the required product and decides how to make that product a reality using knowledge, equipment and skills which are readily available; i.
To do this, the industry needs to have a blueprint for a number of generic construction products e. The blueprint is translated into a specific project, on a particular site for a particular.
The blueprints themselves are continually refined and developed as indeed is the design and engineering of the components and processes. In this new society, there will be no room for traditional types of procurement contracts or consultancy appointments.
Indeed, the Task Force suggests that formalised contractual relationships could become a thing of the past and contract terms and conditions unnecessary.
There is little doubt that "Rethinking Construction", if implemented, would mean moving away from construction contracts as we know them. However, different types of agreement could, and should, be put in place if not only to allocate risk in a defined way so that everyone involved in the process knows what is expected of them. Then again, lawyers would say this wouldn't they! The Task Force acknowledges that this is one of its more radical proposals but, of course, it is consistent with the desired concept of establishing long term relationships.
From a client's perspective, fears of not obtaining value for money, if competitive tendering goes, are to be allayed by the quantitative performance data which will be available by pricing transparency and reliance on relationships established throughout the supply chain. The Task Force invites the Government, through the Treasury and DETR, to put appropriate mechanisms in place so that competitive tendering can be a thing of the past.
Of course, as we all know, economically Britain is no longer an island and in terms of our relationship with Brussels, the Task Force has set the Government an interesting problem given the EC Procurement Rules for public sector work. This is neither the time nor the place to examine how the Task Force's vision for the future fits within EC Regulations but clearly "Rethinking Construction" cannot be implemented fully without considering Britain's commitment to its European partners.
Whilst the Task Force report is client driven, it does not seek to place the blame for all the ills of the industry at the feet of contractors and consultants. Clients are customers and, as such, entitled to value for money. They pay and, hence, have a right to receive buildings on time and within budget, provided, of course, that they do not move the goalposts too often during the construction process!
Nevertheless, the Task Force recognises that clients should focus on value, rather than on the lowest price; clients should not take all the benefits of cost savings but should share these with "all the players in the team".
Construction companies should operate in an environment which enables them to make "reasonable" profits and much better returns than are made at present; and clients must be persuaded of the need for increased resources and hence increased costs up front, before any physical work starts on site.
Contractors and consultants should be cheered by these notions. However, it is fair to say that these are by no means the focal points of the report. The UK construction industry at its best is excellent. Its capability to deliver the most difficult and innovative projects matches that of any other construction industry in the world.
Nonetheless, there is deep concern that the industry as a whole is under-achieving. It has low profitability and invests too little in capital, research and development and training.
Too many of the industry's clients are dissatisfied with its overall performance. The Task Force's ambition for construction is informed by our experience of radical change and improvement in other industries, and by our experience of delivering improvements in quality and efficiency within our own construction programmes.
We are convinced that these improvements can be spread throughout the construction industry and made availab le to all its clients. Department of Trade and Industry The Department of Trade and Industry published information to support business of all industry sectors. Find out more. Free to use BIM project management tool provides step-by-step help to define, manage and validate responsibility for information development and delivery at each stage of the asset life cycle in level 2 BIM projects.
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