The spotlight on construction has been turned up in recent weeks, with the release of a parliamentary report on Carillion’s demise and new developments relating to the Grenfell Tower fire – the release of Dame Judith Hackitt’s review and the beginning of the public hearings in Sir Martin Moore-Bick’s inquiry into the disaster last year.

Commentary in the media reflects the conclusion that most of us had already arrived at: that the construction sector needs to change. Unfortunately, there have been exaggerated (even false) claims: the suggestion, for example, that tier-one contractors are passing all the risk down their supply chain and the claim that the sector is “broken” – if that’s true, how are we delivering so many high-quality projects? 

But there are many truths in the criticisms. There are weaknesses in our sector’s business model, with a high degree of fragmentation that creates knock-on effects. We know we’ve got to improve productivity, and the route to that is clear: more offsite manufacturing; better integration of BIM; and closer collaboration between clients, consultants, designers, builders and users. With any luck, the government will publish its construction sector deal paper soon, and it will assist in accelerating this progress.

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