Editor's comment: What we want for 2007

Welcome back, and a happy new year from everyone at Contract Journal and contractjournal.com.

New year is the traditional time to produce some wishlists for the UK's construction industry.

First and foremost would be more forward thinking and planning by key clients - particularly in the public sector. This would allow contractors to plan their workloads better and so run their businesses more efficiently - and it would also help products and materials manufacturers and suppliers meet demand more effectively.

Let's hope that the outcome of this year's Comprehensive Spending Review allows government departments and local authorities to plan ahead. It will almost certainly have a bruising outcome for many, but with a crumbling UK infrastructure, it would hardly be sensible to make swingeing cuts, which will set things back even further.

More acceptable margins for everyone also has to be on the 2007 wishlist, along with a crackdown on retentions, which are crippling businesses that can least afford it, and a requirement for all contractors to adopt fairer payment terms. Fair apportioning of risk, particularly for subcontractors and SMEs, has to come to the fore too. The 2012 Construction Commitments are a step in the right direction to achieving these three issues - but now they need a concerted campaign to ensure everyone signs up to them, and to ensure they are policed effectively.

On the workforce front, let's hope the new CIS regime is simple and straightforward for everyone, and not the hullabaloo that the industry experts predict. And let's hope that for everyone in the industry, this marks the start of a year where the number of fatalities for the industry is zero. An aspiration maybe, but it would be the one resolution that would make a difference to everyone in construction, and their families and friends.

Emma Penny, editor, Contract Journal [10 January 2007, p 39]