Industry 'brainwashed' by Egan's message

by Graham Ridout



A leading academic has accused client bodies, the Government, and organisations such as the Construction Industry Board and Construction Best Practice Programme, of being brainwashed by the Egan report Rethinking Construction.

Dr Stuart Green of Reading University's department of construction management, said the entire industry was being told: "You have to be a believer in Egan, if not you are accused of being adversarial - a dinosaur. It has become a standard interview question to ask firms: 'Are you Egan-compliant?' It is like the Spanish inquisition. No contractor or consultant can say it is a load of rubbish on a public platform. If they did, they would not get work for the likes of Tesco, Sainsbury and airports operator BAA."

Green, speaking at a Construction Industry Council meeting in London last week, added: "The kind of organisations that line-up behind Egan, such as the Construction Clients Forum, Construction Round Table, the Government Construction Client Panel represent 80% of the client base. The dominant rhetoric is fall in line and conformity wins work."

Green said the report does not encourage diversity. "How can an industry as wide and diverse as construction have a common set of needs?"

He also took issue with the report's statement: "We are impressed by the dramatic success being achieved by leading companies in the automotive industry". Green countered: "I am not impressed. The motor industry must be the least customer-responsive industry, you only have to see reports about restrictive practice and customers being ripped off over car prices. Instead, the motor industry should be looking at construction (as a way of being more customer-oriented)."

He also faulted the emphasis on learning about lean construction techniques from Japan. "Public and Government sentiment in Japan is increasingly critical of the lean system, yet nowhere in the report is there any mention of this."

He further labelled the report as: discredited, because it is grossly one-sided; relying on guru management hype while ignoring counter argument; imposing the Egan agenda; and telling clients to seek increased control over the supply chain without questioning whether this is in the public interest.

Green said the Department of the Environment Transport and the Regions should do research to gauge the efficacy of lean construction by looking at other ways of improving efficiency.

CIB chief executive, Don Ward said while he disagreed with some of Green's statements, he welcomed moves to open up the debate.