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Decluttering doesn鈥檛 sound very construction, we know. The industry talks about 鈥榣ean thinking鈥�, 鈥榖est practice鈥� or 鈥榗ontinuous improvement鈥�. But, after 10 years of the Egan gospel, all the jargon sounds a little jaded.

鈥楲ean means mean 鈥� cutting costs and getting rid of people. Or it sounds threatening, so people put up barriers. But we tell companies they can call it whatever they like,鈥� says Claire Corfe of BRE鈥檚 Construction Lean Improvement Programme (CLIP). So that鈥檚 sorted then 鈥� we鈥檙e calling it decluttering.

But whatever name you use, there鈥檚 little doubt that the relevance of squeezing excess costs and wasted time out of construction projects has never been greater. When every tender is ruthlessly competitive, clients can dictate pricing and needless costs could compromise contractors鈥� very future, it鈥檚 the companies that have decluttered their way to peak efficiency that will win out in the long term.

A group of early adopters have been flying the flag for lean construction for the best part of a decade 鈥� these include Shepherd Construction (The Shepherd Way), Laing O鈥橰ourke, Mace, Midlands-based Thomas Vale and London fit-out business 8build. For these companies, lean construction is an embedded philosophy that starts from the client interface, permeates the organisation itself and then flows down through every consultant, manufacturer and supplier relationship.

But now there鈥檚 another wave of companies that have decided the recession is the right time to declutter their sites and businesses 鈥� consultants such as Corfe are reporting that their services are in demand like never before. 鈥楤ecause the market鈥檚 getting more desperate, contractors are taking it more seriously. At the moment it鈥檚 good times for us,鈥� says Neil Jarrett, who runs the Collaborative Working Centre. 鈥榃e鈥檝e seen a growth in enquiries across the board 鈥� apart from housing,鈥� says Alan Mossman, of the Lean Construction Institute.

For companies that balk at a management consultant鈥檚 fees in these tough trading times, the decluttering consultants and contractors agree that there are still opportunities for efficiency savings by adopting 鈥榪uick wins鈥� (see panels opposite and overleaf). 鈥楺uick wins build people鈥檚 confidence. Start with quick wins, get things moving, and most people will start going along with it,鈥� says the BRE鈥檚 Corfe.

The degree to which lean thinking and continuous improvement has taken root in the industry is something of a moot point. Certainly, the high priest of lean, Sir John Egan, said last year that he would only award the industry four out of 10 for its efforts. A recent survey by the West Midlands Centre for Constructing Excellence found that although 89% of respondents said they implemented best practice techniques, 36% said they only 鈥榩artly鈥� understood what the term meant in the context of the industry.

Control has been taken away from us, so the aim of doing this is to bring control back

Claire Corfe, BRE CLIP

Nigel Bellamy, one of eight founding directors of London-based 8build, believes that his company is 鈥榦ne of the few鈥�. 鈥榊es, we read about it on the major infrastructure projects such as Terminal 5, or the Olympics. But in the general business environment, it鈥檚 quite rare. You might find companies talking about 鈥減erfect delivery鈥� or some other marketing tool, but then you鈥檒l find the subcontractors are unhappy and the architect鈥檚 feeling bruised and battered.鈥�

Any construction company under pressure to deliver a keen price and a tight programme can do so if it has to: call in a few favours from suppliers, put some pressure on subcontractors, and squeeze margins to the bone.

Paradoxically, it can also be easier to deliver projects in a recession, when lead times are shortening and labour is in plentiful supply.

So why bother with lean construction now?

The experts鈥� answer is that only the businesses that streamline their processes will be able to deliver on the lower costs they promised in the tender without exposing themselves to over-runs, claims and penalties. 鈥楤y applying these techniques, it gives contractors more confidence in the costings and programmes they鈥檙e submitting,鈥� says Richard O鈥機onnor, a non-executive director at contractor Thomas Vale, who also runs 6ix Consulting.

Other arguments for adopting a decluttering mindset are beginning to add up. Above all, today鈥檚 clients are certainly showing a keener interest in the war on waste. Now that it鈥檚 more difficult to raise PFI and/or other bank finance, public and private sector organisations need more support from contractors and suppliers to make the cost and programme savings that will help their projects stack up.

鈥榃e鈥檙e going for more public sector projects, and we鈥檙e definitely seeing more questions on lean in the pre-qualification documents and right through to tender interviews,鈥� says Nicola Morrey, process improvement manager at Shepherd Construction. 鈥業鈥檓 now hearing clients say they want more for the same, the same for less, or even more for less,鈥� adds O鈥機onnor.

Even if you only think of costs saved on site cabins and security that鈥檚 pure profit

Richard O鈥機onnor, Thomas Vale

8build鈥檚 Bellamy points out that the firm holds additional cards in the bidding game.

鈥榃e can manage risk better between the parties. It means we鈥檙e not relying on crutches such as performance bonds and parent company guarantees. If the client鈥檚 QS is demanding contractors take out a bond for 10% of the contract value, that will cost them a five-figure sum.鈥�

And there鈥檚 little doubt the techniques deliver results. Contractor Morgan Ashurst first consulted the BRE鈥檚 CLIP consultancy in 2005, using its advice to help bring a severely delayed student residence project back on programme. 鈥楾hese projects run at very high penalties 鈥� plus there was the potential embarrassment of 280 students with nowhere to live!鈥� recalls Paul Phillips, director of national frameworks at Morgan Ashurst.

The firm is running six other projects using CLIP to see whether the results justify adopting it across its workload of 200 contracts a year. But it already knows that the effects are felt after construction as well as before and during. 鈥楽ome of the benefits come in the predictability, and defects liability 鈥� our 12-month defect rates are getting much less,鈥� says Phillips.

And by squeezing wasted weeks out of the programme and getting each project done slightly faster, contractors can start the next project sooner 鈥� Thomas Vale鈥檚 O鈥機onnor has seen cases of 30% reductions in programme lengths. 鈥楨ven if you only think of the costs saved on the site cabins and security, that鈥檚 pure profit,鈥� he says.

Finally, the advantages of thinking lean could also be psychological: in a recession, where the ground rules of winning work and delivering projects have changed so suddenly, a decluttering campaign could be an effective way for managers and directors to put themselves back in the driving seat. As the BRE鈥檚 Corfe says: 鈥業n busier times, you can pick and choose the work. Now, control has been taken away from us, so the aim of doing this is to bring control back.鈥�

Lean techniques and continuous improvement are certainly nothing new: a minority of construction firms have been applying them consistently and a large number haphazardly. But in a recession, when survival is about offering maximum value for money, another look at the whole concept could be timely.

By throwing out dusty old procedures and established practices, contractors might just find ways of cutting costs and staying one step ahead of the competition. cm