Making Sense Of Construction Improvement

Making Sense of Construction Improvement provides a critical evaluation of the construction improvement debate from the end of the Second World War through to the modern era. The book offers unique insights into the way the UK construction sector is continuously shaped and re-shaped in accordance with changes in the prevailing political economy. This second edition brings the book up to date by including coverage of key trends from 2010–2023. The book has been substantially revised and reworked to include new material relating to the ‘age of austerity’ and the subsequent period of political uncertainty initiated by the Brexit referendum. Changes in the political economy are positioned alongside the rise of the sustainability agenda and the advent of ‘zero carbon’. Particular attention is paid to the ongoing skills crisis and the over-hyped advocacy of modern methods of construction (MMC) as the latest supposed panacea of industry improvement. Coverage includes the Farmer (2016) report Modernise or Die and the Construction Playbook (HM Government, 2020). However, perhaps the most important addition is a focus on the Grenfell Disaster (2017) and the subsequent revelations from the public enquiry. Further intermediate milestones include Building a Safer Future (Hackitt, 2018) and the Construction Sector Deal (HM Government, 2018). The emerging consensus points towards a systemic failure involving not only the construction sector but also the entire system of regulation and compliance. Tracing the failings back over time and scrutinising the role played by previous generations of policymakers, Stuart Green ultimately argues that Grenfell was a disaster entirely foretold. The insightful and critical analysis of the industry contained within these pages is essential and timely reading for anyone who wants to understand how the construction sector arrived at where it is today, and with that knowledge, give further thought to where it might go next.

The book sets out deliberately to challenge the current construction improvement debate and the way in which it is conducted. It confronts the supposedly neutral nature of construction 'best practice' and demonstrates that that the advocated recipes seldom stand up to critical scrutiny. It further argues that commonly accepted components of best practice such as lean construction, partnering and collaborative working rarely live up to the claims made on their behalf. Such recipes invariably suffer from definitional vagueness, and are constantly reinterpreted to suit the needs the different audiences. Making Sense of Construction Improvement argues that construction sector improvement techniques cannot be understood in terms of their substantive content, and are best understood in terms of the rhetoric within which they are presented. The author also contends that the persuasiveness of such recipes depends upon the extent to which practitioners can adopt them for the purposes of making sense of the changes they observe happening around them. To be accepted as 'best practice' construction improvement techniques must also resonate with broader agendas of socio-technological change. The author charts how the best practice debate has developed from the aftermath of the Second World War through to the election of David Cameron's coalition government in 2010. Attention is given to the way in which the improvement debate throughout the 1960s and 70s was shaped by the broader aspirations of the post-war social consensus and the associated desire for a centrally planned economy. Attention thereafter is given to the way the construction sector was radically re-shaped by the advent of the enterprise culture. The privatisation of the sector's client base, coupled with the withdrawal of the state as a provider of mass housing, caused a significant and long-lasting shift in the construction landscape. Private sector clients similarly experienced extensive downsizing while outsourcing their procurement capabilities. Such strategies were frequently justified by mobilising the rhetoric of business process re-engineering (BPR). Contracting firms simultaneously faced unpredictable workloads and increasing market competition. In response, the sector at large chose to base their competitive advantage on leanness and agility. Hence the emergence of the hollowed-out firm as the dominant form of organising. These structural trends combined to provide the backcloth to the industry improvement agenda throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Making Sense of Construction Improvement argues that the popularity of improvement recipes such as partnering, collaborative working and integrated teams can be understood as strategies for overcoming the loss of control associated with downsizing and outsourcing. In contrast to other textbooks, Making Sense of Construction Improvement does not offer advice on how to manage construction projects more effectively; the aim is rather to understand the forces which have shaped the construction sector improvement agenda over time.

This book offers a new understanding of innovation in the built environment. The ways meaning of innovation is constructed has important implications for policymakers, project managers, academics and students. Through a longitudinal research study into innovation in firms and projects, the book addresses some key themes, challenges and concerns that practitioners face when managing innovation in the built environment. It examines the key drivers for innovation in the construction, engineering and infrastructure firms and projects. In particular, the questions of how and why innovation becomes recognised and sustained over time are explored. Different theoretical perspectives are considered to explain different aspects of innovation. This includes sensemaking, organisational and individual identity, storytelling and narration. The book has practical implications for how organisational activities become labelled as ‘innovation’ and for what purpose. It shares some lived stories of innovation as mobilised by practising managers. The connectivity between the formal narratives of innovation at the policy level and the lived narratives of innovation articulated by practitioners is explored. Combining the theory with practice, this book presents an insightful view on the implications of innovation in the business world today.

Risk Pricing Strategies for Public-Private Partnership Projects Innovation in the Built Environment The complexity of public–private partnership (PPP) project procurement requires an effective process for pricing, managing and appropriate allocation of risks. The level at which risk is priced and the magnitude of risks transferred to the private sector will have a significant impact on the cost of the PPP deals as well as on the value for money analysis and on the selection of the optimum investment options. The construction industry tends to concentrate on the effectiveness of risk management strategies and to some extent ignores the price of risk and its impact on whole life cost of building assets. There is a pressing need for a universal framework for the determination of fair value of risks throughout the PPP procurement processes. Risk Pricing Strategies for Public–Private Partnership Projects addresses the issues of risk pricing and demonstrates the use of a coherent strategy to arrive at a fair risk price. The focus of the book is on providing risk pricing strategies to maximise return on risk retention and allocation in the procurement of PPP projects. With its up-to-date coverage of the latest developments in risk pricing, and comprehensive treatment of the methodologies involved in designing and building risk pricing strategies, the book offers a simple model for pricing risks. The book follows a thematic structure: PPP processes map; risk, uncertainty and bias; risk pricing management strategies; risk pricing measurement and modelling; risk pricing at each of the project life-cycle stages – and deals with all the important risk pricing issues, using relevant real-world situations through case study examples. It explains how the theory and strategies of risk pricing can be successfully applied to real PPP projects and reflects the broad understanding required by today’s project risk analysts, in their new and important role in PPP contract management. Also in the IBE series Managing Change in Construction Projects Senaratne & Sexton 978 14443 3515 6 Innovation in Small Professional Practices in the Built Environment Lu & Sexton 978 14051 9140 1 Other books of interest Urban Infrastructure: Finance and Management Wellman & Spiller 978 0 470 65635 8 Project Finance for Construction and Infrastructure Pretorius, Chung-Hsu, McInnes, Lejot & Arner Construction Supply Chain Management Pryke 978 14051 5844 2 Policy, Finance & Management for Public-Private Partnerships Edited by Akintoye & Beck 978 14051 7791 7 Strategic Issues in Public-Private Partnerships, 2nd Edition Dewulf, Blanken & Bult-Spiering 978 0 470 65635 8

Brings together leading thinking on issues of new professional practice and on the future of a sustainable built environment This book focuses on both construction and development issues, and examines how we can transition to a sustainable future by the year 2050—bringing together leading research and practice at building, neighbourhood, and city levels. It deftly analyses how emerging socio-economic, technological, and environmental trends will influence the built environment of the future. The book covers a broad spectrum of interests across the scales of buildings, communities and cities, including how professional practice will need to adapt to these trends. The broader context is provided by an analysis of emergent business models and the changing requirements for expert advice from clients. Sustainable Futures in the Built Environment to 2050: A Foresight Approach to Construction and Development features chapters covering: data and trends, including historical data and UK and international case studies; policies and practice related to the field; current state of scientific understanding; key challenges; key technological advances (including disruptive and systemic technological innovations); change issues and critical uncertainties; and future visions. It provides: A strong conceptual framework based on a ‘Foresight' approach Discussion of the key data and trends that underpin each chapter Coverage of both construction and property development Specially commissioned chapters by academics and practitioners A synthesis of the main findings in the book and key insights for the future to 2050 Sustainable Futures in the Built Environment to 2050: A Foresight Approach to Construction and Development is an important book for postgraduate students and researchers, construction, real estate and property development specialists, engineers, planners, architects, foresight and futures studies specialists, and anyone involved in sustainable buildings.

Why Architects Matter examines the key role of research- led, ethical architects in promoting wellbeing, sustainability and innovation. It argues that the profession needs to be clear about what it knows and the value of what it knows if it is to work successfully with others. Without this clarity, the marginalization of architects from the production of the built environment will continue, preventing clients, businesses and society from getting the buildings that they need. The book offers a strategy for the development of a twenty-first-century knowledge-led built environment, including tools to help evidence, develop and communicate that value to those outside the field. Knowing how to demonstrate the impact and value of their work will strengthen practitioners’ ability to pitch for work and access new funding streams. This is particularly important at a time of global economic downturn, with ever greater competition for contracts and funds driving down fees and making it imperative to prove value at every level. Why Architects Matter straddles the spheres of ‘Practice Management and Law’, ‘History and Theory’, ‘Design’, ‘Housing’, ‘Sustainability’, ‘Health’, ‘Marketing’ and ‘Advice for Clients’, bringing them into an accessible whole. The book will therefore be of interest to professional architects, architecture students and anyone with an interest in our built environment and the role of professionals within it.

This book presents the proceedings of CRIOCM_2016, 21st International Conference on Advancement of Construction Management and Real Estate, sharing the latest developments in real estate and construction management around the globe. The conference was organized by the Chinese Research Institute of Construction Management (CRIOCM) working in close collaboration with the University of Hong Kong. Written by international academics and professionals, the proceedings discuss the latest achievements, research findings and advances in frontier disciplines in the field of construction management and real estate. Covering a wide range of topics, including building information modelling, big data, geographic information systems, housing policies, management of infrastructure projects, occupational health and safety, real estate finance and economics, urban planning, and sustainability, the discussions provide valuable insights into the implementation of advanced construction project management and the real estate market in China and abroad. The book is an outstanding reference resource for academics and professionals alike.

Construction Project Organising Discover foundational and cutting-edge ideas in the organisation of construction projects In Construction Project Organising, an authoritative team of construction researchers delivers a comprehensive exploration of the many organisational processes and forms that can be found in construction project organising and the many dimensions that can influence these forms. The authors examine these dimensions, detailing their importance to projects and enabling managers to respond to calls by industry professionals for more collaborative forms of organising that focus on value creation. The book investigates the relationship between structure and action, and how patterns of action are created, recreated and maintained by scrutinising the myriad of organisational arrangements between clients, financiers, design teams, contractors, stakeholders and supply chains. It also discusses different concepts in the development and management of construction project organisations, including formation and maintenance issues. Construction Project Organising highlights some of the key issues that remain underdeveloped in the modern literature. It also includes: A thorough description of the rapidly changing socio-economic, technological, digital and data-driven context in which construction projects are designed and delivered A comprehensive examination of different concepts in the development and management of construction project organisations A practical investigation of the relationship between structure and action and how action patterns are created, recreated and maintained Grounded advice to help readers respond to calls by industry for more collaborative forms of project organisation focused on value creation Perfect for researchers, academics and advanced students of construction and similar disciplines, Construction Project Organising is also a must-read resource for construction professionals and the consultants who serve them.