Profile, perceptions and partnering

When educated people are asked to name two architects, most will nominate Norman Foster and Richard Rogers. When asked to name two engineers, more often than not, the reply will be Telford and Brunel. Does this matter? The Association of Consulting Engineers (ACE) believes that it does.

The product of engineers' work is central to all our lives yet the industry's profile and the value that many clients and public place on it is not commensurate with its importance. Perception is often reality. The fees charged by the industry do not compare with those charged by other professions and, as a consequence, the rewards are also, in general, not comparable.

At present many young engineers, after years of training, earn less than probationary police officers. It is no surprise that the industry is suffering a severe skills shortage. Inadequate fees also mean that companies are unable to train and retain good staff. Research and innovation suffer and the result is a poorer service to clients and a rise in claims.

With the hardening of the insurance market and the resulting across-the-board rise in professional indemnity premiums, consultants will be looking to increase fees. Despite a buoyant economy, margins have been squeezed. Good clients recognise that quality comes at a price. Others fail to recognise that if they spent less time trying to save fractions of the consultant's fee, the consultant could save them far more on the construction and whole-life costs of the project.

To do this, it is essential that the engineer and the rest of the supply chain are brought together as an integrated team with the client at the conception of the project. As both Latham and Egan have pointed out, this requires the industry to engender a new climate of trust between the project partners, turning away from the adversarial practices which have bedevilled construction and whose only winners have been the lawyers.

The ACE is working to develop project insurance to underpin supply team partnerships and create teams with a shared stake in the success of a project. Such increased trust is not a pie in the sky aim, it is absolute necessity if the industry and those who work in it are to prosper in the years ahead.



Nicholas Bennett Chief executive, Association of Consulting Engineers