So why does UK infrastructure cost so much?
Alasdair Reisner
Chief Executive @ Civil Engineering Contractors Association | Driving Industry Growth
The National Infrastructure Commission might just have the answer to a question that has dogged Government, clients and contractors for many years - namely why is it that building transport and utilities in the UK seems to cost so much more than in other parts of the world.
Today (10 October) it publishes Cost drivers of major infrastructure projects in the UK, a thoroughly and deeply researched review of this exact issue.
The most eye-catching finding of the report is that the NIC estimates that there is between 10 and 25 per cent sitting on the table in terms of outturn costs savings for projects if some of the issues it uncovers in the report can be unpicked.
This is great news for a Government that has big infrastructure ambitions but stiff constraints on its ability to afford its ambitions. Saving a quarter of the cost of its plans might mean it can do more to address the country's huge and essential infrastructure pipeline of vital upgrades and improvements.
There will be few surprises as to where the issues lie. The NIC highlights:
领英推荐
These are all issues that have regularly been cited as undermining our ability to do well, delivering outstanding projects on time and to budget for delighted clients. It is no co-incidence that the projects that we see that do achieve this tend to have addressed the points above.
But the fact that the above points are unsurprising also highlights the next problem. The challenges noted are pretty similar to those flagged up by former Treasury unit Infrastructure UK in its seminal 2010 Infrastructure Cost Review. Getting the issues down on paper is one thing. Driving the change needed to unpick these issues is a whole other kettle of fish.
If the Government is serious about securing better, more affordable infrastructure (and we think it is) it should use the NIC report as a stimulus to establish a new collaboration between Departments, public and private clients and the supply chain to collectively pick off each of the issues noted in the report.
If they do so, maybe there won't need to be another report like this written in 15 years time.
Programme Director working across the UK infrastructure sector. Major Infrastructure Delivery MBA student at UCL.
4 个月Alasdair, a good (and accurate!) summary of the paper. We've definitely seen improvement when delivered locally at project level (your 5th para ie through the adoption of Project 13 and similar approaches) but the reality is the infra projects can't fix the wider systemic issues - the die is set by the time they are delivered. If NISTA has the authority and (political) freedom to plan and deliver a holistic and integrated infrastructure strategy then we may be able to then address points 2, 3 and 4, but until then I fear it'll just be rearranged deckchairs: NIC and IPA under one roof.
Experienced Commercial Director, Chartered Quantity Surveyor, and Innovator - providing customised e-Discovery and data analytics solutions to mitigate risk and improve profit margins in the Construction sector.
4 个月Thanks Alasdair - Excellent, look forward to critiquing this against our 70 years combined experience of major UK infrastructure projects.
Work Winning & Project Delivery Simplifier | Director + Founder @ Miyako Ltd
4 个月An interesting overview Alasdair, thanks for sharing. The chart on page 10 of the NIC's ‘cost drivers report’ is quite telling because the sudden spike in costs appears to coincide with the failure of Carillion. Perhaps a lot can be taken from that or very little at all. For me it’s definitely the former given where we currently are on certain issues.
Alasdair Reisner, Is there data behind this report and the four points highlighted? Which is the biggest problem? The 10%- 25% opportunity for improvement is a wide range. What scientific measurement system was used to arrive at such a quantity? Are these the top four reasons for time and cost overruns? Do they occur on every infrastructure project? I can think of daily causes of time and cost loss on every project that is likely to result in higher time and cost overruns across all infrastructure projects. I worked in the automotive industry for a short while after my postgraduate studies. The rules were that any problem highlighted had to be backed by data regarding exact size and relative quantity to other problems. Why don't we start measuring the project output daily and monitor the time to completion like a sat nav? That way, we can have exact figures of all causes of delay and a much better understanding of the cost overruns since 80% of the project cost is time-related.
Director, Infrastructure and Projects Authority
4 个月Its a good report and your comments on implementation are spot on. The government is planning a 10 year infrastructure strategy, linked to spending reviews and supporting an industrial strategy and new housing. That will help build confidence and set the tone for a step change in delivery. We should not write off the last 15 years. The Infrastructure Client Group was born out of the IUK cost review and some of what the report advocated has stuck...but we all surely need to up the game.