The Seven Pillars Of Partnering

This report describes current best practice in partnering in the construction industry and identifies what needs to be done to meet the new demands arising from a rapidly changing market and from new technologies. The report discusses why the industry must set itself tough new targets to improve its performance and meets the increasing demands of clients. It measures the scale of benefits that are already being achieved, but more importantly it identifies the next steps needed for partnering to totally alter the construction industry's performance.

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.

This book describes current best practice in managing construction. It is based on case studies of leading practice responding to demands from customers that construction match the value and quality that international competition is forcing on their own businesses. The case studies show that major customers now partner with construction firms to find more efficient ways of working. The resulting best practice adds to these cooperative approaches a drive for efficiency and innovation based on benchmarks of world class performance that empower teams to set themselves competitive targets. So the new approach balances cooperation and competition. This is why Professor John Bennett's book is called ''Construction: The Third Way.'' The third way in modern politics balances the extremes of cooperation and competition in the interests of the whole community. At its best it encourages sustainable economic growth within a fair society. These aims are echoed in leading practice where teams able to balance cooperation and competition deliver better value for their customers and yet earn sustainably higher profits for construction. The new approach requires managers to rethink construction using ideas from fundamental science that see human organizations as self-organizing networks of relationships. This throws new light on the strengths and weaknesses of both competition and cooperation, and provides the basis for a new paradigm to guide key construction decisions. The book describes this background and provides advice about organization structures that are responsive to changing markets and technologies, and construction processes that enable the industry to earch fair profits by providing customers with the levels of value and quality they now demand.

Partnering and Collaborative Working: Legal and Industry Practice brings together leading construction industry and legal experts to discuss key elements of the partnering process and how they can be implemented.

Profitable Partnering in Construction Procurement is a compilation of papers presented at the CIB W92 Symposium held in Chaing Mai, Thailand in January 1999. This volume, drawing on contributions from leading experts in construction contract procurement from 22 countries, addresses the issues of culture within organisations and national cultures and their impact on procurement, performance and profitability. Substantial coverage is given to private finance projects, privatised infrastructure projects, contractor selection and prequalification, decision support systems for procurement, management of design, contracts and contract documents, sustainable construction and the performance of procurement systems. Profitable Partnering in Construction Procurement is a reference for construction professionals and researchers, contract administrators and lawyers wishing to gain an understanding of the complex issues of harmony and profit in construction procurement.

This invaluable book covers all aspects of procurement, from drafting and using contracts to procurement strategies for privately financed projects. It is written from a construction perspective, and uses examples from other industries where appropriate. This essential book offer presents guidance, explanations and case studies to help the reader comprehend the strengths and weaknesses and realistic meanings and outcomes of the stages in the development of an effective procurement strategy. Bringing together the theory and practice that relates to procurement, the book offers guidance on show the process should be undertaken. It begins by outlining the role of procurement in the construction industry, including the problems it faces and some of the steps that can be taken to overcome these problems. It then goes on to consider contractor selection and raises issues relating to the allocation of risk in contracts and factors to consider when awarding a contract. A brief summary of the relevant legal aspects is also provided. The book also examines contract strategy, major organisational arrangements and payment types and prvides a summary of the key features of the most common standard forms of contract. The relationship between benchmarking, key performance indicators and incentives is explained and a framework for developing incentive mechanisms is provided.

This report discusses how construction firms will in the future need to add value to their products and services in order to build and then maintain long-term and robust customer loyalty.