4 THE RESEARCH UNDERTAKEN
4.1 PHASE ONE – CONCRETE FRAME PROCUREMENT PROCESS
This phase involved reviewing current literature and a focus group with TCC structural frame specialist staff (structural and civil engineers) in order to achieve Objective 1 - Explore the concrete frame procurement process in the design phase – of the research. For this research, the term of ―design‖ is meant to cover the RIBA Plan of Work Stages C (Concept), D (Design Development) and E (Technical Design) (RIBA, 2007). Phase One was aimed at analysing initial observations with regard to the research objectives developed from the literature review and the focus group with TCC‘s staff. The results obtained are summarised in the following sub-sections.
4.1.1 Identifying the activities involved in concrete frame procurement process As part of the preliminary information gathering, a literature review was initially carried out to obtain an insight into procedures and processes implicated during the design phase of the concrete frame procurement process. Therefore, the focus was
looking at the process of project procurement, project procurement frameworks, structural frame selection, structural frame materials, and identifying the procurement routes and contract types already in use. The literature on these topics led to a better understanding of project procurement process in the design phase, and provided the researcher with in-depth understanding and knowledge about development and issues in relation to procurement approaches and structural frame options, particularly concrete frames. A paper was also produced from the literature reviewed which aimed to identify the issues and problems pertaining to this procurement-process-product relationship, examine concrete‘s fitness for the new procurement paths and raise awareness about this subject. This paper was presented in September, 2006 at the Concrete Communication Conference at University College London (UCL) (Haroglu et al., 2006).
Chapter 2 provides details of the literature review undertaken, but the key areas explored are reiterated here.
Research, statistics and anecdotal evidence over the past fifty years in the UK construction industry indicate that it suffers from numerous problems, not least of which is its reputation for not meeting clients‘ needs (NEDO, 1974; NEDO, 1983;
RIBA, 1993). Evidence of this poor performance is shown in a report from the National Audit Office (2005), which concludes that failure to fully implement best practice procurement and project management in central and local government currently costs £2.6bn a year in terms of avoidable capital and operating costs (Rawlinson, 2006b). Furthermore, a study by Bath University revealed that 73% of public contracts in the UK exceeded the tender price, while 70% were delivered late (Brewer, 2006). The increasing complexity of modern structures together with the
incorporation of the elements such as sustainability and whole-life value have encouraged the construction industry to consider new procurement approaches as well as the optimal structural solution (Rawlinson, 2006). Moreover, the problem is exacerbated in the construction industry by the insularity of the professions; the separation of design from construction; the uniqueness of projects and the ephemeral nature of the relationships and project organization (Masterman, 2006).
More recent views from the construction industry suggest that new procurement approaches and structural frame options will inevitably be considered by clients and contractors as offering a way of better meeting project objectives (Sullivan, 2006;
Rawlinson, 2007). Within this context, the structural frame plays a significant role in projects‘ success and accounts for a major portion of project costs, directly and indirectly. Of the options available, concrete offers the structural engineer a wide range of material choices and construction forms to choose from to meet design constraints and performance requirements (TCC, 2006). However, like the construction industry as a whole, concrete construction has been criticized for its poor productivity (e.g. Latham, 1994; Egan, 1998), but research and development has helped to improve various aspects of construction (e.g. Gray, 1995; Nolan, 2005) and is continuing. This all means that concrete can help provide the optimum structural solution to the ever-changing demand for building projects. A report from the BRE (Nolan, 2005), which examined innovation in concrete frame construction over the past 10 years states in the concluding comments that concrete frame construction has the potential and the ability to improve upon its current performance in the future.
4.1.2 Focus group – TCC’s requirements for the research
The purpose of this event was for the participants to openly discuss the issues needed to be considered during the design phase of the concrete frame procurement process indicating where the opportunities and barriers lie for the sponsoring organisation, in order to promote concrete in the UK framed structure market. The focus group was held in April 2006 with a selection of structural frame specialist staff (7 structural and 2 civil engineers, plus 1 cost consultant) of TCC; and it was facilitated by the researcher. The meeting provided an opportunity both to fit the objectives of the research project with the business objectives of TCC and to interact with the members of TCC that each had a different perspective on procurement process.
As previously stated TCC is an organisation which aims to assist all those involved in design and construction to realise the full potential of concrete. Therefore it was decided that the main purpose of the research project should be to help TCC to develop its marketing plan, by identifying:
→ The target audience – who the key decision makers are on a building project in relation to what frame type to use;
→ Key issues – what the most important issues are to clients and other decision makers involved when choosing the structural frame type of a building project.
4.1.3 Phase summary
Phase One involved a literature review and an internal focus group with reference to Objective 1 (see Table 3.3). The literature review provided the researcher with
information about concrete frame procurement process. Secondly, the internal focus group with TCC specialist staff gave a clear understanding of the specific needs of the sponsoring organization which ensured that the research objectives were in line with those of TCC throughout the research. As a result, these activities provided insight to the key areas that should be further investigated in order to help TCC to increase the use of concrete frames in the UK-framed-structures market.