Civil Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
The perceptive reader may question the idea that only registered construction
firms are involved in the construction stage, as closer links are evolving between
clients and contractors. These links will be discussed later in this chapter, under the
heading of partnering. But first we need to describe the traditional arrangement of
client and contractor(s) as two separate parties involved in the construction of one
project.
CLIENTS
At the core of any construction process are the clients. Some are well informed
and know precisely what they want and how it can be technically achieved, but
the majority seem to know nothing. Within the discipline of economics, a whole
literature has begun to emerge that discusses transactions in which some of the
parties involved know more than others. (This area of study is referred to as the
when we discuss market failure.) It has been suggested that independent advisers
may be required to help clients. With a similar role to financial advisers, they
would assist inexperienced clients to decide what is specified and how it can be
best achieved. The case for client support has become stronger in recent years. As
suggested in
Chapter 2
, the government can no longer act as a monolithic client,
as changes in public sector funding, management and accountability have added a
new layer of complexity to the client base. For example, the National Health Service
is far from being a single organisation as it comprises a network of GP practices,
laboratories, hospitals, trusts and care homes. So the Department of Health, the
government body with overall responsibility for the NHS, oversees a diverse range
of funders managing a broad estate of buildings. The department has no means of
ensuring that all managers that might commission building work on behalf of the
NHS are aware of current best practice and changes in the construction industry.
To address these problems the Construction Task Force led by Sir John Egan
made comparisons with other industries that have increased efficiency as market
forces expanded. The task force recognised that, in the best companies, the customer
drives everything - the customer is 'king'. It is clear that the modern client in
markets such as cars, steel and engineering products expects value for money,
products that are free from defect, goods delivered on time, worthwhile guarantees
and reasonable running costs. Unfortunately, the picture painted of construction
in the late twentieth century was of an industry that 'tends not to think about the
customer (either the client or the consumer), but more about the next employer in
the contractual chain' (Egan 1998: 16).
CONTRACTORS
One of the most striking features of the construction industry across the world is
the large number of firms. In the United Kingdom alone, there are approximately
220,000 private construction contractors recorded in the official government
statistics and 90 per cent of them employ fewer than eight people. Across the
