ABSTRACT
The author provides collective summary recommendations for the successful completion of a project. The authors' nearly 100 years of experience in the construction industry, having been closely involved in cost planning of projects large and small, and now many of them are termed complex and mega! Over these years we have gained some knowledge and a little wisdom about what actions and decisions contribute to successful projects and what activities and decisions are to lead to failure. Failure in one of these suggestions will lead to a less than optimal project. The project is likely to succeed where costs and benefits are allocated fairly and the project is properly balanced between organisational, user, occupier and customer needs. One of the biggest factors contributing to failure is a failure to define the project properly and allow enough time for the client, the design team, the authorities and the stakeholders to work out the content and scope of the project.
