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It seems to me that all I read in the building press is how the construction industry has to change. A lot of store is being put on the government’s Construction Strategy and, in particular, how BIM is going to change the world of construction.

BIM is a new fashion accessory required by those who have to serve public contracts and need to look the part. If it is to truly work then it has to have a financial benefit to all parties.

In itself the concept of BIM is not new and we should have evolved to this very soon after the CAD era in the eighties (which was also going to change the world) and not have been forced into it by government.

BIM is a new fashion accessory required by those who have to serve public contracts and need to look the part. If it is to truly work then it has to have a financial benefit to all parties, Mackenzie-Grieve

All these initiatives are bandwagons, used by successive governments and civil servants eager to please and to show how they are going to change the industry. The industry in its turn plays to the gallery to show how it will embrace these changes.

Unless we get back to basics by really understanding costs at a detailed level, (bottom up cost planning, not top down guesswork) and get real about good detail planning, resource management and continuous improvement cultures then I am afraid the industry will not improve.

More than 80% of a project’s costs are tied up in people resources, so focus on the efficiency of this to really reduce cost.

Another key factor in all this is the public sector focus on spending budgets as opposed to saving money. If the government is really serious then change the budget culture, get back to basics and only then bring in innovation.

Chris Mackenzie-Grieve, independent consultant