Reach for the summit

The main recommendations of the report called for a 20% improvement in predictability, 20% reduction in accidents and defects, 10% reduction in the time taken on projects, a 10% reduction in costs as well as a 10% improvement in productivity.

It is no use contractors burying their heads in the sand and saying such demands are not achievable and, given the chronic profit margins on offer from current working practices, why not change?

The HVCA is tackling the practicalities of making a culture change happen at its Summit 99 conference at Birmingham's International Convention Centre from 11-12 March. A dozen workshops, including the thorny issue of how to improve productivity, will set building services contractors on the path to better building.

Contractor-manufacturer

Greater productivity can be achieved in a number of ways. One of these is off-site prefabrication, which will be of particular interest to building services contractors. A BSRIA survey showed that average site productivity, using traditional methods, is running at only 37% of the best international levels.

Gary Connolly, operations manager at Crown House, believes that prefabrication is the answer, citing improved efficiency, better quality, standardisation, faster construction and improved safety as just some of the benefits. He will be speaking on this subject at 'The Contractor as Manufacturer' workshop at Summit 99.

"We already prefabricate most m&e services on many different types of building: airports, hospitals, hotels, and retail outlets," explained Connolly. "The modular items we produce vary from fan coil units complete with all wiring, pipework, and three-way valves to prefabricated plantrooms."

Traditionally, all of this work has been undertaken on-site. Connolly believes that by taking it all into a factory environment far better efficiencies can be achieved. "Constructing in a factory is much easier than on a building site," he explained. "As a result, our factory efficiencies have averaged 98%, rather than the 37% which the BSRIA measured on-site."

Connolly also cites a skills shortage as a reason for prefabrication. "There has been a 50% reduction in the skills base in construction over the last ten years, resulting in a skills shortage across the industry. To address this we have to bring in a factory ethos, where multi-skills exist."

We have a collective responsibility to improve our record on productivity if any real return is to be achieved

Chris Sneath

Connolly's vision for the future is for there to be proprietary items available in building services. He sees a time when a catalogue will be used to select equipment for a project, whether it is an airport, retail outlet, or hotel.

"At the moment we're making custom-built modules for different projects that we're involved with," said Connolly. "But in the future we could be making them for any railway station, airport or any other contract, then installers can buy them off the shelf and put the services in. That is the way I think things will go, where you produce a module suitable for different market sectors." So how will this impact on the m&e contractor? "It's going to make the electrical installation easier," he said. "We're prefabricating in a manufacturing environment, then equipment is delivered to site and installed as large modules, but you've always got to wire them together.

"You can't wire everything and test it and deliver it to site," he continued. "There's always going to be a role for electrical contractors to play but prefabrication is going to take some of the hard work out of the installation process." Those contractors attending the session at Summit 99 will be able to quiz Connolly further.

Another advantage of prefabrication and the modular approach is the standardisation which it brings with it. "We like to get involved on contracts at an early stage and talk to designers about how the services should be integrated. The standardisation of a modular approach will aid the design process enormously.

"If you look in a ceiling space in a traditional contract you'll probably see pipes, ducts, trays, trunking, conduits etc, all spread out. We integrate everything into one module, saving a lot of space."

Connolly also feels that this process should give added value for money for clients through better identification of their needs, and project delivery times should shorten due to enhanced preconstruction techniques and processes.

Other knock-on effects will be reduced labour on site, less storage needed for plant, tools and materials, reduced installation times and an overall reduction in complexity. These will give an increase in quality, flexibility, efficiency and reliability.

In summary, Connolly feels that there is an urgent need to initiate a movement for change within the construction industry, for radical improvement in the process of construction and for the industry to invest more in manufacturing as a part of the process.

Improving productivity

Constructing in a factory is much easier than on a building site. As a result, our factory efficiencies have averaged 98%, rather than the 37% which the BSRIA measured on-site

Gary Connolly, Crown House

Chris Sneath, a director with both A G Manly and C J Bartley, and Glenn Hawkins of the BSRIA will be elaborating on the topic of productivity at the Summit 99.

Like Connolly, Sneath also argues that the whole industry, contractors included, must play their part in improving its 'tarnished image' and that the Egan Taskforce offers the opportunity to do so.

"We have a collective responsibility to improve our record on productivity if any real return is to be achieved," he said. According to Sneath, Egan provides an opportunity to: "be positive and constructive, and ensure that the industry does something for itself by self-improvement".

He also sees the need to "persuade individuals to think for themselves and, when they find answers to a problem, share it with others". This last point boils down to communication, another point which Sneath feels should be addressed. "Communication and the transmission of information to middle managers, project engineers, contractors, foremen, and operatives all need to be improved," he said. The results of the research programme will be disseminated as they occur.

In 1997, before the Egan report was even published, the BSRIA produced its own report – TN14/97 – on improving site productivity for m&e services. This concluded that there was scope for a 60% saving in man hours on UK construction sites. As a result, BSRIA has launched a three-year, £520 000 programme aimed at lifting the productivity of the m&e services sector.

Entitled 'The Uptake of Productivity Improvement', the programme aims to establish a series of demonstration sites to test the recommendations of TN14/97. Government has shown its support by pledging half of the cost of the project.

Sneath's role has been to identify four clients that will allow their building projects to be used as test beds. Having achieved this, he now has the task of persuading each member of the construction team, be it architect, consulting engineer, project manager, main contractor, subcontractors, sub-sub-contractors and suppliers, to participate.

As Sneath points out, it is vital that all parties take part in the exercise, since no single member will be able to implement the recommendations alone. One of the central points made in TN14/97 is the improvement of site housekeeping, and this alone demands a commitment from everyone involved.

Sneath's workshop, entitled 'The Productive Site' looks in detail at the four study projects. Stanhope plc/Bovis has given a commitment for its job at Christchurch Court, London while the British Airports Authority has designated one of its 1999 framework contracts, a non-office type project. Vodaphone is allowing its project at Newbury involving the construction of seven new buildings to be studied, subject to planning permission, and SmithKline Beecham has put forward a contract for project manager Mace. Meanwhile, the BSRIA will be supporting the research, advising and monitoring progress. A final report is expected in 2001 and an interim update is expected to be given on the second day of the conference during the feedback session.