Our lead letter this month (left) shows that despite all the talk about best value and other laudable initiatives, lowest price still rules the roost on most projects.

Robert Owen refers to an article we ran in last month’s magazine in which we surveyed the factors determining a main contractor’s selection of a m&e specialist. Far be it from me to suggest that some of those surveyed were economical with the truth, but clearly there are many, many firms out there for whom it is still all about price.

If main contractors want to select on price alone then they must expect that when things start to go adrift, subcontractors dig their heels in and stick to contract.

A seminar by the Specialist Engineering Contractors’ Group highlighted that there is another way. Defence Estates’ Andover North project for the MoD embraced a true culture of collaboration, with ring-fenced margins for all team players and shared risks and rewards. A project bank account ensured timely payment of the supply chain.

Unfortunately, such examples are few and far between. There is much lobbying work still to be done by the industry if it is to crack the problems of trust and money highlighted by Sir Michael Latham all those years ago.

Source

Electrical and Mechanical Contractor