Clients must change working practices to improve performance, warns Egan

Clients will only improve performance if they use standardised components and address cost issues, Strategic Forum chairman Sir John Egan has warned.

Speaking at the Building Research Establishment's conference on Leading Supply Chain Improvements yesterday (Thursday), Egan said: "As long as you are prepared to put the money up front to pre-plan the project, say on a computer system, you can't fail.

"Clients don't know enough about costs. The government is a perfect example. Yes it is doing some pretty things in construction terms, but it is not doing enough to bring down costs."

Egan added that although the targets of Rethinking Construction such as reducing capital costs and construction time by 10% could be "justifiably reached", the government will never reach the targets if it continues to push through a host of major projects to an already overworked industry.

"The risk is that unless we reach the levels of productivity and pay the people enough for the work, the process will become inflationary," he warned.

Meanwhile, it has been suggested that Egan is  "extremely disappointed" over the rate of take up of the Rethinking ethos across the industry.

One industry source confirmed: "I know that he is shocked that the few contractors with an integrated supply chain are still not approaching one-off clients through 'one-stop shops' to give advice."