The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) is not an organisation you'd want to tangle with. Much like its sister body, HM Revenue and Customs, its approach to things is pretty much "we say, you do".
Its recent interest in construction through its cover pricing investigation has stirred up something of a hornet's nest. Ask anyone involved in estimating, and they would tell you that putting in a higher bid in order not to win a contract has been a widespread practice for years, at least until recently. But the key motivation behind it wasn't greed - it was to ensure companies remained on lists for future jobs. The bit the OFT doesn't appear to like is the fact that people allegedly talked to one another about their bids.
Of course, it is too early to say what - if any - action the OFT will take as a result of its investigation. What we do know is that the industry is gearing up to respond.
Some might argue that the Construction Confederation is being profligate with its money by already engaging the services of a PR and communications agency - before there is any hint of an outcome. But I believe this is a shrewd move by the industry - which, for once, has got its communications sorted out and can actually respond appropriately, accurately and quickly to whatever the OFT has to say.
Such joined-up thinking doesn't often happen in construction, with contractors and specialist sectors all too often left to fight their own corner in the face of negative publicity. So this, it would seem, is a first.
It is a pity it has taken such a potentially explosive issue to galvanise action. But the very fact that the industry is beginning to think of its approach to this - whatever the outcome - is a sign that it is, at last, starting to think about the messages it is putting out to the world at large.
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