The RICS’s latest Contract in Use survey has revealed that clients on larger projects are shunning Construction Management in favour of contracts such as NEC where collaborative working is the focus.

Of the contracts surveyed in 2004, only 19, or 1%, used Construction Management, marginally higher than the previous survey in 2001 (0.9%).

The report shows that of those 19, only three had a value greater than £2m, while eight were in the region of £1m-£2m with another eight in the £100,000-£250,000 bracket.

Peter Fordham of Davis Langdon, who was involved in the survey’s preparation, commented: “The previous survey saw typical contract values of £5-£10m. There’s definitely been a move away from CM on large contracts.”

Of the growth in popularity of NEC, he said: “Clients want risk aversion, so contracts that offer the chance to work together in the spirit of partnering on large schemes are more popular.”

Peter Gracia, business development director of Knowles, agreed: “[Clients] have been scared off CM by media coverage of Holyrood and are keen to listen to the government whose National Procurement Strategy says all public bodies should adopt partnering routes. The private sector is receiving strong encouragement too.”

But he warned that partnering-style contracts are anything but a safe option for clients. Contractors are abusing naive clients, he said, by taking liberties in the name of partnering while not giving their customers the same leeway.

Source

Construction Manager

Postscript

n Is Gracia right? Are contractors abusing the partnering process? Send us your views to construction_manager@cmpi.biz