The CIOB members in this month’s Vox Pop (see opposite) are describing the realities of working in a market returning to life after a five-year slumber: increases in agency labour rates, poaching of site managers, poorly trained apprentices, lead times for key materials extending.
While the industry thought it was innovatively managing its way through the work famine and finding ways to deliver more for less for clients, it turns out that actually it was just cutting capacity and storing up the familiar problems now set to make a return.
The CIOB survey on corruption also shows that many unappealing aspects of the industry have survived and flourished in the recession, despite the perception that we are living in more transparent and accountable times. A combination of relatively high value contracts and long supply chains creates an environment where invoices can be massaged, goods can go astray or tax evaded.
The survey measures perceptions of corruption rather than corruption itself, but the results nevertheless make it clear that members and industry decision makers are deeply concerned about unmanaged risks that undermine the integrity of the industry.
The CIOB hopes that the survey results will draw attention to a hidden issue, and prompt representative bodies and government to a) measure the scale of the problem and b) take belated action to help create a culture of awareness and oversight where corruption has no place.
But while the CIOB is to be congratulated for taking up the challenge, it’s also true that the survey risks being viewed as another blow to the industry’s struggling reputation, currently taking more blows over the blacklisting fallout.
All these worrying trends, however, stand in marked contrast to other stories this month. There’s the exciting potential of 3D printing, already realised by Skanska on a live London site. There’s innovation in housing design and delivery from Rational Homes, and a long-awaited sighting of energy performance contracting being discussed at Aecom.
At CM, we constantly straddle this schism between what’s going wrong in the industry with what’s going right. And rightly so: life is full of contradictions, and in encompassing both positive and negative construction is no different from any other sector or industry.
The problem, however, lies in the perceptions held by the outside world, and in government. As a complex and fragmented industry, we struggle to communicate a narrative about what the industry delivers, or what it needs. Unfortunately, we cannot simply wish the negative away. But what we can do is concentrate far more on communicating the multiple ways we get it right.
Elaine Knutt, editor
