All for one and one for all?

Let's hear it for partnering, for joined-up construction, teamwork and, of course, the no blame culture. This is what the new look construction industry is supposed to be all about, but there wasn't much evidence of these ideals in action last week, as Foster & Partners sought to distance itself from the debacle over the Millennium Bridge.

Admittedly, this rather fine-looking edifice brings new meaning to the phrase 'swing bridge'. A funfair roller coaster was not quite what was called for in the original design concept.

That minor detail aside, it doesn't make the sight of Fosters swiftly pointing the finger of blame at the bridge's engineer Ove Arup any more edifying. In fact, it is a deeply depressing return to the kind of attitudes the industry claims it is leaving behind.

Foster's stance (since slightly modified) does it little credit, irrespective of whether it is right to blame Arup or not. On the other hand the admission by Ove Arup engineer Tony Fitzpatrick that he was very embarrassed by what has happened seems to have garnered him a certain respect within the industry and, one would imagine, with the general public.

It's an honest response that doesn't try to shrug off blame or point the finger elsewhere. Surely this is what the new-look construction industry is supposed to be all about. Everyone involved was happy enough to grab the praise when it was going (albeit not for long in this instance), so everyone should be ready to shoulder the blame when things go wrong.

If the early involvement of the supply chain at the design stage becomes the norm, then collective responsibility for both successes and failures is going to have to become an essential part of the general culture too.