Doom and gloom followed the latest Construction Trade Survey鈥檚 reports. But this forecast of a bleak future should be seen as an opportunity to learn from past mistakes and challenge the way the industry works

More and more asset owners are looking to procure at a fixed price, often based on the lowest bid. Contractors are therefore suffering from low margins and need to concentrate on maintaining their cash flow, which hurts subcontractors. The inevitable outcome is that all parties look for opportunities to make additional margin through variations.

Some of those changes will be important, but others will be completely unnecessary. Improving project control is therefore critical to better change management by ensuring requests are prioritised and seen through from start to finish. Yet time and time again, we see out-of-control projects generating waste, risk and inefficiency. None of this helps the industry as a whole to recover from the recession.

It鈥檚 regain control to ensure projects are completed on time, to budget and with minimal dispute.

Colin Smith, chief executive officer, BIW Technologies

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