Construction: Rethinking Operational Stages
Introduction In the last few decades, the quest for continuous improvement and innovation has led to the discovery of new approaches to best practice by different players in the construction industry in the United Kingdom. These efforts have been initiated with the view to increase understanding of the needs of key business areas as well as increase client, users and stakeholders ' value. In this regard experts in the field of construction have proposed "rethinking of construction" (Egan 1998) by strategically rethinking operational stages in order to decrease cost and improve performance. One of these strategic operational stages, called the briefing process has perked the interests of the researcher in the course of producing a report on value management. During a research of a case study on ABC, the researcher has observed that without a clearly defined and articulated brief, the concept of "client value" can alter with each individual 's perception. Such alterations can have a deep impact on the quality and the performance of construction projects.
A brief review of text books and reports reveal that construction excellence has not only become an option but a necessity, if the UK construction industry is to survive economics dynamics and changing social needs. Considering the industry is one of the pillars of the domestic economy making approximately 10 percent of GDP and employing considerable number of workers, it is important to note that construction excellence is critical for the UK economy and its future.
More importantly, the construction industry needs to improve itself in order to increase profitability, quality of deliverables and client needs before it can contribute to the economy. The purpose of this study is to show that, players must understand at the center of construction processes and activities is the client. Delivering value can only be initiated if players understand client needs. This is achievable through articulated briefing
A brief review of text books and reports reveal that construction excellence has not only become an option but a necessity, if the UK construction industry is to survive economics dynamics and changing social needs. Considering the industry is one of the pillars of the domestic economy making approximately 10 percent of GDP and employing considerable number of workers, it is important to note that construction excellence is critical for the UK economy and its future.
More importantly, the construction industry needs to improve itself in order to increase profitability, quality of deliverables and client needs before it can contribute to the economy. The purpose of this study is to show that, players must understand at the center of construction processes and activities is the client. Delivering value can only be initiated if players understand client needs. This is achievable through articulated briefing
References: Atkin, Clarke and Smith 1996, Benchmarking Best Practice Briefing and Design, University of Salford, Construct IT Centre of Excellence. Barrett, P.S., Kaya, S. & Zeisel, J. 2004, Briefing as a Co-Learning Process. Paper presented at the CIB World Congress, Canada, 2004. Egan, J. 1998, Rethinking Construction. Office of the Deputy Prime Minister. Herd, C. 2003, The Client Brief. ISBA and CAF. Kelly J., Morledge R. and Wilkinson S. 2002, Best Value in Construction, p. 5 Latham, M. 1994, Constructing The Team, Final Report of the Government / Industry Review of Procurement and Contractual Arrangements In The UK Construction Industry HMSO, London, 1994, p. 7. Latham, M. 1994, Constructing The Team, Final Report of the Government / Industry Review of Procurement and Contractual Arrangements In The UK Construction Industry HMSO, London, 1994, p. 7. Nutt, B. 1993, ‘The Strategic Brief P’, Facilities Magazine, Vol. 11, No. 9.