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So, the Olympics is upon us. No, not Beijing鈥檚: London鈥檚. Four years of work is under way 鈥� 50 projects worth 拢6bn. Want some? Nervous? Let me tell you this: my confidence in the people running this show is actually increasing. I even think they may know what they are doing.

Look, whether we build in Deptford or Dar es Salaam, you and I know full well that programmes run late and budgets run over. They are late by miles; overbudget by miles. What are the people running the Olympic going to do about that? Well, they intend to finish one year ahead of time, so that鈥檚 three years to spend 拢6bn. That鈥檚 拢40m a week. The secret to building at that pace is to throw money at the problem. Come on, you know that鈥檚 the trick.

My test for the Olympic bosses is to ask how much of the 拢6bn is the build cost 鈥� bricks, scaffold, men, diggers, QSs 鈥� and how much is contingency to be kept up their sleeve? The Olympic 拢6bn includes 拢500m 鈥渢o cope with early financial pressures鈥�, plus 拢238m for 鈥渨ider security costs鈥�. So it鈥檚 拢5.4bn for the build costs.

But digging some more shows these Olympians have wisdom. Lurking there is 鈥渢he project contingency鈥� of another 拢973m. Then, further up the sleeve is another 拢1bn to meet 鈥渞esidual risks鈥�. And this is where I gain confidence. These folk have had the heavenly wisdom, the courage, to have a build cost of 拢5.4bn and a contingency fund of another 拢2.5bn. That tells me this team knows the ropes at the top end of construction. And if they hadn鈥檛 figured out the need for that size contingency, I wouldn鈥檛 have touched this outfit with the longest pole vaulter鈥檚 pole in the competition. But no. Come on. Embrace this thing. Let鈥檚 get involved.

If they hadn鈥檛 figured out the need for that size contingency, i wouldn鈥檛 have touched this outfit with the longest pole vaulter鈥檚 pole in the competition

And there is more. I even reckon they have realised that buildings are actually built by a whole bunch of tiddler-sized subcontractors. Realised, too, that if this end of the business is not treated with a fair payment regime then the game is up. They are putting in very special measures to support the 鈥渞eal鈥� end of the business. Let me come back to that.

Meanwhile, let鈥檚 look at the scale of the thing. There are nine projects tackling the enabling works. They began 18 months ago and will finish in September 2009. There are 16 projects for the venues, including: The main stadium, being built by Sir Robert McAlpine for 拢500m, to be completed by April 2011. That has been on site one month.

Then there is the aquatics centre, being built by Balfour Beatty for 拢300m, starting September 2008 and ending August 2011.

Then there is the velopark, indoor sports arena and broadcast centre, all to be done by April 2011. On top of that is the Olympic village 拢1bn, a massive road network and more besides.

It is not always satisfactory to pass 鈥榙esign dilemmas鈥�
down to someone trying to beat the hell out of a tight price

It鈥檚 true that Sir Robert McAlpine and Balfour Beatty were not overwhelmed by a list of competitors. There was, how shall we put it, a low level of interest that stemmed from the perceived risk of taking on a

high-profile contract in the UK public sector, especially when there was considerable uncertainty about the required design 鈥� So, the Olympics folk are keen to focus on a system where the subcontract folk seek to detect savings.

But be careful please: it is not always satisfactory to pass 鈥渄esign dilemmas鈥� down to someone who is trying to beat the hell out of a tight price. To be even more blunt, you will not know if the subcontractor is a qualified engineer or architect or even knows one. So by all means let鈥檚 have the subcontractor building 拢5bn worth of work but not designing it, eh?

Now I have a plea to make. It is to the Olympic Delivery Authority and their partners Hill, Laing O鈥橰ourke and Mace. Not one of you has consulted the specialist contractor world 鈥� at least not yet. All of the subcontractor trades are represented by trade associations and institutes; it鈥檚 time to call them together. High time, and begin with the National Specialist Contractors Council. Go to all the other associations. Arrange a symposium. Let鈥檚 have a look at what鈥檚 to be done to win a huge pat on the back for building鈥� and not use one penny of what鈥檚 up your sleeve.

Oh, and invite me to come too.