There is not a lot to say about the OFT investigation into bid rigging at the moment. Even in its own statement the OFT has not claimed that any of the named firms have been proved guilty as yet, even though 40 or so have admitted to being complicit in bid rigging.

As a news story it lasted about 12 hours. Perhaps this was because what was claimed – construction firms ripping off the taxpayer – is not seen as a surprise to the Great British public who have been fed a constant diet of this sort of stuff week in week out. Contrast that with the fuss involving BA’s price fixing.

The points of interest came from the reaction within the industry. These reactions varied from ‘(I) hope those caught get hit where it hurts’ to ‘We need to ensure that OUR industry is not damaged by the politicians and civil servants, who have never put on a pair of boots and trod a construction site’.

Even more interesting has been the response from some of the industry’s leaders. The description of cover pricing as a technical offence is frankly laughable. The suggestion, too, that too severe fines may have an impact on the construction industry’s ability to deliver, is also a bit rich. I am sure that a thinning of the competition would be welcomed by many contractors not involved in this sort of behaviour.

As I write I am preparing to go to a Construction Skills open forum and one of the old chestnuts to be discussed is how we recruit people into the industry. It seems a bit obvious – we need to stop scoring own goals which put into question the ethical and moral basis of the industry. The maxim of one bad apple and all that really can have a very negative impact.

At another industry event I recently attended, there was a lot of talk about doing more to get ex-offenders into the industry. I am not sure whether it is part of a wider social engineering exercise or an admission that we really do have an industry-wide skills shortage.

My spirits have been lifted by the tale of a hard-done-by builder biting back. A south coast builder had the unfortunate experience of the ‘rogue client’. He had built a porch and conservatory onto a council house for the tenant. She failed to pay, using a number of excuses, including her husband’s death, and wrote a series of dud cheques.

The exasperated builder, with the council’s backing, demolished what he had built. Unfortunately the builder is left with a conservatory he is trying to resell and the council tenant must now pay to restore her council property to its original condition. I don’t know whether this counts as a good construction story or not, but it appealed to me!

Source

Construction Manager

Postscript

Chris Blythe is chief executive of the CIOB