In recent months there have been several notable instances of specialist facades contractors...
The construction industry is a huge part of the global and domestic economy. It accounts for billions each year and hires millions of people both directly and indirectly.
And yet the industry also loses billions each year - £21 billion to be precise – to obvious and preventable causes. To put that in perspective, that’s the same as the UK’s annual budget for transport. The root causes for these errors are well-known issues that have existed within the industry for years. Issues that affect main and sub-contractors equally, regardless of size and status.
Let’s break this down. Of a total 100% spent...
5% is attributed directly to error
7% is indirect error
6% is due to unrecorded waste
3% is latent defects
= 21% of cost in waste & error
Efforts have been made within construction to categorise the most frequent causes. What they found is facades/cladding together with roofing rank in the top 10 on most lists. They’re also both ranked just outside the top 10 for financial impact when errors occur.
This really highlights the need to improve, as external envelopes are a critical aspect of building and safety, so it’s pretty shameful they rank so poorly.
So, what exactly are the issues & why haven’t they been tackled effectively?
The first issue in the spotlight is inadequate planning. A domino effect occurs when planning has to cover several trades. As soon as one area begins lagging or encounters delays a spiral begins, resulting in knock-on delays and scheduling issues. This can, in part, be attributed to the lack of supervision and management resources on-site as well as insufficient briefing in regard to the plan in place. The reason for this can often be traced all the way to the top, with a poorly aligned or conceptualised scope for the work being done. Sub-contractors are often under pressure when one trade is late in hand-over to another, which can strain relations and lead to hostility. Overall, this can have a huge impact on the time taken to complete a project as well as have a large financial impact due to poor planning at any - and every - level.
Communication
Communication between individuals and teams is a key factor in any business, as large projects often have to be handled by groups of specifically skilled professionals.
For example, if there’s a breakdown in communication between the design department and the site team, errors can be made that lead to work needing to be redone - and time wasted. This can also occur when individuals lower down the hierarchy aren’t willing or able to express concerns to their higher-ups, either due to culture or the personalities of those involved. This might look like a skilled installer spotting something not quite right, but feeling as though they can’t raise the issue to the relevant parties.
On the flip side, communication can go too far - with specifications having too much detail, potentially not relevant or important to those using it, which can make finding the necessary information more difficult than it needs to be.
Changes
Changes, especially those late in the process, can cause huge issues for everybody. These can come about in almost every group involved in the building process. Design changes may arise at any size, from small details to whole sections, that may need to be scrapped and rebuilt if found unsuitable. A buyer may purchase alternative materials that require different systems and specialities to apply correctly.
Materials
Materials in themselves should be raised as a cause for error and cost creation. As mentioned above, different materials may not be suitable as replacements for others for a variety of reasons. Geography can also make certain materials unsuitable - locations closer to the sea may need to use materials resistant to the elements. Issues can even arise at the fabrication stage through defects and mistakes. This itself already increases costs for everyone involved and can also create delays as the supply lines are impacted when no materials arrive for scheduled works. With regulations and trends constantly changing, the use of certain materials may also become illegal or taboo, sometimes part way through a build, this leads to further delays when progress made requires stripping back and replacing.
Culture
Culture in relation to quality is also an area where costs can arise. By nature, construction is an industry of putting out fires instead of preparing for them.
Many problems are fixed on an ad-hoc basis. Time is always limited, so taking the time to do something 100% is a luxury you can’t always afford, especially when deadlines are missed before you even have a chance to start.
In many cases, there’s a lack of proper support in place, which also leads to errors. Let’s say for instance a quantity surveyor quits mid-build, leaving the assistant quantity surveyor in charge going forward – or, at least until the QS has been replaced. Without adequate support and with a suddenly increased workload, mistakes are almost inevitable. On occasions where someone is perceived to be handling the pressure of extra work, there can sometimes be no effort made to replace the lost team member. This is often the result of a cultural divide between those in senior management positions and those in other departments, who lack a general awareness of the mood and culture of the workplace.
There are several steps, at almost every level, that can and should be taken to take back control of the financial leakage. They may not all be realistic or easy to implement in the short term, as issues with culture in regard to quality and communication take years to rehabilitate - but a start can always be made.
Consider young talent
Bring in more young talent to the industry. This has been highlighted as a problem independent of the cost issues, but is well worth mentioning. Introducing young talent reduces pressure for everyone involved, as it puts more boots on the ground. At trainee level, these people can be placed in supervisory or management positions and pick up a lot of slack. This will lead to young talent being trained to the exact requirements of the sub-sector and even contractors to better fill the quality requirements involved.
This can be achieved through advertising the opportunities and perks of working in construction that many young people aren’t aware of. This can also help attract more women into construction, which indirectly impacts the culture of communication.
Hire with purpose
Another area that would require thought and potential restructuring is the recruitment process. Many of the issues that cause losses can be tackled before they’re given the chance to rear their heads by bringing in the right people at the right time. Communication skills are often thrown into a CV or mentioned on a job description as important yet when the time comes to put it into practice people fail to deliver. Practices that encourage more in-depth personal meetings and interviews can mean that simple skills such as communication can be properly verified.
This extends to other areas of experience. Designers should be adequately quizzed about their understanding of their chosen sector, project managers should have methods of displaying their management experience and knowledge, and the same applies to every other role.
…But keep an open mind
While we’re on recruitment - and arguably counter to the above point, but hear me out - more opportunities for interviews should be afforded to those who may not 100% fit what you’re looking for.
This can take many forms. If someone is asking for £5k more than your upper limit for salary, or somebody would like an extra day or two of remote working than you normally offer, they’re still worth talking to.
This can be considered when it comes to experience itself. Would you rather someone with one or two years of fantastic experience, or someone with 5 years working on adequate projects? If you narrow your search just to candidates with 5 years’ experience, you might miss out on the best person for the job.
Someone who might not strictly fit into your requirements can display passion unlike the other options, showcase a variety of soft skills that make culture and quality improve, or have an understanding of the systems used beyond what their experience may indicate.
And don’t forget…
Think long-term. When it comes to recruitment, there’s a final hack worth noting that can lower losses for the industry as well as contractors – this hack is feedback. Whether good or not-so-good, providing detailed feedback after an interview can go a long way to improve relations. Showing a degree of care, empathy and direction to an unsuccessful candidate might lead them back to your company in the future, once they’ve gained the exact skills and experience you need.
Communicate
Once you’ve got the right people, efforts need to be made to improve communication within and between teams. This can be achieved through simple practices such as creating opportunity for working with those in other departments and removing silo mentality.
On top of this, training for effective communication should be on offer. Taking away pressure when speaking up about threats and accidents when liaising with senior managers can also play a huge part in making sure mistakes are prevented. To further the point of communication, there must be a drive for more in-depth briefings before and during a project, beyond just the site supervisor or manager.
There’s a proven, highly successful method for how you can do this.
Have you ever heard the term Gemba walk? Developed by Taiichi Ohno – executive at Toyota – the Gemba walk is a Japanese concept which translates to ‘go and see’. It’s helped countless companies achieve consistent improvements. All a project manager must do is physically go to the place where the work is done - and observe with a view to improve. This isn’t about evaluating employee performance; it’s about gathering intelligence, assessing processes and speaking to teams and individuals.
Pointers for a successful Gemba walk:
- Make sure employees know you’re there to improve process, not critique them.
- Speak to people at all levels, ask them how it’s going and connect.
- Don’t implement any changes during the walk, the walk is about issue discovery. Speak and observe, step away, and think about the improvements that’ll benefit the people & the project
- Gemba walk regularly, right from the start
Observing first hand improves camaraderie, unlocks opportunities for change and displays commitment from leadership for efficiency, quality and employee satisfaction.
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Understanding these things take time, buildings don’t spring up overnight. Starting a project already behind, or having deadlines that require 100% efficient output throughout the entirety of the working day with no room for mistakes is a recipe for disappointment. Allowing wiggle room for delays or simply allowing time to make sure things are done right the first time around can help lower overall time, costs and financial impact. Workers shouldn’t get burned out from plying their trade.
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This is an extremely dense topic, with several ways of interpreting the data and dozens of sources of information, each one shining a light on new information. Yet it’s clear there are issues, as shown by the huge amount of loss created in the industry, that can and should be tackled.
All the information above is just one angle to approach the issue by recruiting in a more intelligent and strategic manner, and making sure you keep the right people once you’ve got them. Drives to improve overall skills, change culture, and reduce the financial and personal stress of projects would have huge effects on the scope and scale of the industry and its financial impact globally and nationally.
Initiatives such as GiRi (Get it right initiative) are instrumental to this cause, with many contractors, small and large, signing up to steer the change. If, as an industry, we can agree to standards and initiatives such as these, then the changes we desire can come about much sooner.
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*Statistics gathered by international research conducted by the GiRi initiative
