Who do you think you are?

As Tom Knowles unpacks his rucksack, there’s a rush to inspect the leather-bound books he’s laying on the table. Archivist John Keenan, construction historian David Yeomans and writer Caroline Collier – the other three members of CM’s history discussion panel – pick up the volumes with reverent fascination. Knowles has brought day books and ledgers from the archives of his Oxford-based family contractor, Knowles & Son, dating from 1815 to the 1890s – from the Napoleonic Wars to the height of the British empire.

In faded ink and looping handwriting, they detail the contracts, clients and costings of a bygone age. ‘Jesus College, rip off slates, one pound, 16 shillings and sixpence,’ reads one entry, crossed with diagonal lines to indicate payment has been made. ‘So if we find one with no cross, it means they never got paid?’ asks Yeomans. ‘In fact, there is a recorded debt,’ Knowles says. ‘We did some work on Blenheim Palace in the 18th century and there is still money outstanding!” As the panel agrees, it’s an extreme case of late payment – but having the Churchill family in your debt must soften the blow.

The history of construction is in one sense all around us, in every public building and private home. But it’s also laid bare in the day-to-day documents such as those brought by Knowles: in the articles and adverts of journals such as The Builder, the correspondence of senior directors, or faded Bills of Quantities or indenture papers. CM invited the foursome to delve into these archives and photo albums, pulling out information and insights that resonate with construction today.

Collier is a writer who has recently become a history specialist. She has compiled a book profiling 20 eminent members of the CIOB, their biographies spanning the 175 years from its inception as the Builders’ Society to the present day. Spending long hours in the company of Cubitts, Mowlems and Laings, Collier has gained a new-found respect for our ancestors. ‘We have this perception of builders as adversarial and hard-bitten. But the really outstanding leaders throughout almost every period were very forward thinking, very professional, and often very enlightened on welfare matters,’ she says.

Keenan is a retired site manager who is now the custodian of the Construction Industry Resource Centre Archive archive in Stroud, Gloucestershire. Its archive includes material from organisations such as the Property Services Agency and Brick Development Association, and companies such as Atkins and Arup. Keenan has brought a selection of material, including the first builders’ textbooks from the mid-nineteenth century – ‘because you were no longer relying on a labourforce taught from father to son’; the papers of former Wimpey chairman Sir Godfrey Mitchell; and a quirky 1930s concrete advert that manages to lampoon Stalin, Hitler and Chamberlain.

Former architecture lecturer Yeomans, an expert in timber and concrete construction, claims limited knowledge of contracting. Nevertheless, his expertise on technical innovations highlight how they are intertwined with structural changes in the industry. ‘Following the First World War, you see a lot of prefabricated construction, because the building industry is incapable of producing what’s required,’ he says. ‘And after the Second World War, there’s a shortage of materials so we get onto new systems – such as steel housing and pre-cast concrete housing.’

Tom Knowles represents the eighth generation to run Knowles & Sons, one of a group of Oxford contractors enjoying exceptional longevity – the family line goes back to 1796, but the company’s history is several decades longer. Partly, it’s thanks to the steady patronage of the Oxford colleges, partly thanks to a paternalism that passes on the company culture. ‘We still take on six apprentices a year. Even if we lose some to other firms, it pays – that’s the way you get the best-quality people,’ says Knowles. Today, that includes two divisional directors who joined the firm as apprentices aged 16.

Just how conscientious was the industry in training apprentices?

David Yeomans

As the panelists leaf through the books and documents, the topics of conversation begin to sound rather familiar. Yeomans sketches in the early 19th century shift away from architect-constructors towards architect-artists. ‘So you have an increased number of drawings, increasing detail in the specification, and new forms of construction coming in which the workmen will not know about.’ From these beginnings, the contracting industry – and the Builders’ Society – was born.

But its infant years were characterised by a very modern concern over the information gap between between site-based contractors and office-based architects, a topic covered by CM in May 2008. ‘Nicholson’s Dictionary of Architecture (1852) talks about the architect who doesn’t know what he’s doing, and who has to defer to the clerk of works who’s employed under him!’ says Yeomans.

‘The problem with the over-theorisation of architecture has been going on for a long time,’ agrees Collier. ‘There was an interesting paper, given at the Institute of Builders in the 1880s, that said that the problem is the amount of practical experience an architect gets is less and less, and that with the rising generation, the author feared that architects with more than 20 years’ experience will become extinct!’

Next, the panel alights on a copy of indenture documents for one John Wadey, apprenticed in 1872 to London-based contractor JW Falkner & Sons and written in careful copperplate. But Yeomans isn’t wearing nostalgia-tinted spectacles. ‘Just how conscientious was the industry in training apprentices?’ he asks ‘Following the First World War, the received wisdom on the skills shortages was “oh, all the building workers were killed in the trenches”. But others have said “no, the problem goes back to before the war, the industry simply wasn’t training enough apprentices”.’ The question is left hanging without an answer.

Discussing how The Builder used to publish contractors’ tender prices (see page 19 for an example), the panel agrees that reviving the practice today could have advantages, but would fall foul of legal confidentiality clauses. Collier is reminded of a dangerously low bid by 19th century contractor Dove Brothers, profiled in her forthcoming book, that recalls the desperate tactics some contractors are using today.

‘For the Royal Courts of Justice, they put in a bid of £36,000 for the foundations when the highest was £68,000.’ But there’s a happy ending – Dove’s loss leader resulted in an actual loss of just £1,300, and the firm had moved itself into the league occupied by larger players.

Not surprisingly, the panel soon notes historical patterns of boom and bust, recession and recovery. Taking a longer historical view than most of us can manage, Knowles is philosophical. ‘As a business, we’ve been through 22 recessions. At the end of the day, people are always going to need things maintained and built. Construction cannot easily be exported to China and people always need a good plumber!’

The 1847 recession was caused by railway mania. It’s compared to the dotcom boom

Caroline Collier

‘The Victorians had some awfully dramatic panics,’ Collier reminds us. ‘The recession of 1847 was actually caused by railway mania, which has been compared to the dotcom boom – at the time, it was the groovy new technology that was going to do everything. Speculation in the railways was one reason they created limited liability companies in the 1850s. And then everything kicked off again...’

Keenan’s archive yields plenty of material with contemporary resonance. Documents from the Brick Development Association on ‘Homes for Heros’ following the First World War describe an integrated economic policy that could be the answer to today’s housing crisis. ‘There was a grant for every new house, then the government bought in advance two years supply from the brickworks – it kept them working, so you didn’t have to stop and start the kilns. Then the builders would sell houses to building societies, so you could buy a house for so many shillings a week – it was all very efficient.’

Again, according to Keenan, the ‘credit crunch’ after the Second World War was crucial in shaping the post-war construction industry. In the inter-war period, a culture of trust meant that contractors and suppliers worked to 90-day payment periods ‘or until someone shouted’, as he puts it. But a letter written by Wimpey’s Mitchell foresaw how a tighter financial climate would mean that housebuilders would need to pay suppliers every 30 days, and would need a higher capital base to develop sites.

Keenan also shows a letter written by Mitchell in 1944 that foreshadows the post-war development of management contracting, specialisation and sub-contracting. ‘It used to be you let each building team go through 100 houses on your site one by one. But Mitchell is talking about having someone to manage the trades, do a bit of estimating, balance the labour force, so you get more of a production line. It’s another step towards management contracting, which started with Bovis in the 1930s.’

Then the panel moves back in time to discuss why previous generations delivered projects so much faster. ‘In May 1850, they displayed the entries for the Crystal Palace competition, in September Paxton’s design is on site, and in May 1851 it’s finished!’ Keenan says. ‘Or compare the old Wembley and the new,’ adds Yeomans.

As the panel agree, we live in different times – above all, the technical complexity of today’s projects require the compartmentalisation of skills into different specialisms. But there is still nostalgia for the old ways. ‘People used to think of it as a team. Now, the M&E contractors will be arguing with the main contractor, who’ll be arguing with the architect. It’s a confrontational relationship from the start, so it’s never going to end well,’ says Knowles.

But if there’s one thing the discussion shows, it’s that there is no Golden Age of contracting we can return to. The Builders’ Society was established to address the increasing complexity of construction, a situation that soon led to division and frustration. ‘It was grumpy old man syndrome, even in the 1880s,’ Yeomans says. Skills and materials shortages led to technological advances, two world wars re-shaped the industry, recessions came and went. And as each wave of change buffeted construction, the industry learned to adapt and survive. cm