Coventry University report into subcontractors' attitudes finds the Construction Act is being ignored
"Arrogant" quantity surveyors employed by main contractors and poor payment records are slammed by subcontractors in a report by Coventry University.

Construction Supply Chain Skills Project aimed to identify the barriers that prevented main contractors identifying partnering arrangements with subcontractors. It was produced by the School of the Built Environment at Coventry University, with funding from the European Social Fund.

Subcontractors said quantity surveyors did not involve them early enough in schemes and only looked for lowest price tenders. They blamed main contractors for employing young QSs with a superior attitude to subcontractors.

"Subcontractors had low opinions of QSs," according to the report's summary. QSs "needed training in people skills. In particular, young QSs tend to be arrogant and speak inappropriately to the subcontractor."

The findings were the result of interviews with two Midlands-based main contractors with a turnover of more than 拢100m a year, plus a total of 20 subcontractors nominated by each firm.

The report also found that late payment continues to be a key issue for subcontractors and had not been resolved by the Construction Act.

Both the subcontractors and main contractors surveyed said the Construction Act had been ignored by the industry.

QSs lack people skills; they tend to be arrogant and speak inappropriately

Construction Supply chain skills project

The school's senior lecturer Geoff Briscoe said: "Everybody mentioned payment. Subcontractors tend to be smaller organisations so their natural concern is financial."

He added that the subcontractors had identified the need to be involved in a project as early as possible to get the maximum benefit.

"Many of the subcontractors we interviewed were unaware of the Egan report, and the fact they were making the same point is significant," he said.

Other issues identified in the Coventry report included contracts that favoured the main contractor, withholding retention money and the practice of appointing a subcontractor on the basis of lowest price.

Rudi Klein, chief executive of the Specialist Engineering Contractors Group, urged specialist subcontractors to make more use the Construction Act following late payment.

He said: "This type of contracting is still alive and kicking and gives the worst of all worlds to everybody."