ABSTRACT
Administration in the construction industry depends upon a highly professionalized manual labor force. This chapter suggests that the professionalization of the labor force in the construction industry serves the same functions as bureaucractic administration in mass production industries and is more rational than bureaucratic administration in the face of economic and technical constraints on construction projects. It demonstrates that professionalization of manual labor is more efficient in construction because bureaucratic administration is dependent on stability of work flow-and income, and the construction industry is economically unstable. Craft administration differs from bureaucratic administration by substituting professional training of manual workers for detailed centralized planning of work. Bureaucratization of administration depends on the long-term stability of the administration. The variability of the construction industry, its intimate dependence on variations in local markets, makes the development of bureaucracy uneconomical. The central innovation of operative building is in the field of marketing and finance rather than in the administration of production.
