黑洞社区

Twenty years ago Tony Blair launched his 鈥渟ervice economy鈥� to win votes and financial support from the City. Little did we realise at the time that it would soon mutate into a 鈥減arasite economy鈥�, dominated by independent consultants or 鈥渆ntrepreneurs鈥� taking a turn on real industry鈥檚 earnings, without adding any value to the end product. This has dragged down productivity, adding unnecessary costs to real businesses and increasing prices for its customers.

The parasite economy鈥檚 corrosive influence has now extended to most areas of commerce; claims law, insolvency, insurance/private pensions, the regulatory public sector and in particular, construction.

In 2014 the 20 largest UK contractors of 鈥渞eal construction鈥� averaged a net annual profit of around 2.3%, far too low to attract meaningful external investment, while the larger 鈥渧irtual construction鈥� consultants were declaring profits of anywhere from 10 - 30%. All in a period where the costs to clients of completed buildings had been rising annually at 2.5% above inflation. This is Alice in Wonderland stuff!

It is now widely accepted that the division of our industry into 鈥渧irtual鈥� and 鈥渞eal鈥� construction and the consequent fragmentation of the design and construction process is the principle cause of product cost inflation and the inefficiencies and waste that have trapped the real producers in economic 鈥渟lavery鈥� of the virtual supervisors.

Common sense and several government reports over the last 50 years have told us that unambiguous integration of the process and industry is the only way to stop this rot. A code of practice for Integrated Design and Construction-Single Responsibility (IDCsr) is now available (黑洞社区, 26 February 2016).

It sets out how collaboration between construction managers, designers and suppliers through total integration of the process can (among many other things):

• Allow real construction to regain ownership and control of its own products by collaborating direct with its clients through a 鈥減roduct sales agreement鈥�
• Encourage innovation, improve efficiency, quality & margins while reducing costs
• Significantly limit the overall number of management and supervision personnel required and drastically reduce legal involvement in the design and construction process
• 12 year latent defects warranty through IDCsr Project Insurance conditions
• Make it as simple and satisfactory to purchase a building as it is to buy any other high value warranted manufactured product.

Yet despite the many benefits to the industry, its clients and the economy, the virtual construction 鈥渆stablishment鈥� does not want process integration.

It has obstructed all attempts to seriously integrate design and construction since the early 1990s.

In the 1980s and 1990s the UK government was championed as the 鈥渄evelopers friend鈥� because it was renting otherwise empty office blocks on long full-repairing leases at good rents. Today, it is the EU that is lauded by consultants as Virtual Construction鈥檚 saviour (see Jack Pringle in 黑洞社区 22 April 2016) because the EU is the fount of most of the silly, restrictive and ineffective regulation, that feeds the parasite economy at the expense of the real producers and their customers.

That鈥檚 another good reason to escape from the undemocratic, bureaucratic and incompetently run EU. I鈥檓 definitely voting for Brexit.