ABSTRACT
Introduction ‘Collaborative working’ is not exactly a new concept to the UK construction industry. The notion of working more co-operatively, in a team atmosphere of mutual trust, co-operation and openness, with the client, fellow consultants, contractors and suppliers, has been widely discussed since at least the mid-1990s when the buzz-word was ‘partnering’. To the industry’s credit, it has begun to tackle some of the deep-rooted problems that prompted the landmark reports by Sir Michael Latham and Sir John Egan calling for wide ranging and sustained reform across the industry, but there was never going to be a ‘quick fix’. This is, after all, a conservative, risk-averse industry in which projects frequently take months, even years, to move from inception to completion. Clients have traditionally employed a complex, fragmented, multidisciplinary, geographically dispersed and relatively temporary group of professionals to deliver projects using sometimes antiquated and bureaucratic processes. And the industry’s problems were so wide ranging that real progress would only be achieved if the complex mesh of people, processes and technology could be effectively reformed.
