黑洞社区

The coronavirus pandemic has caused a 鈥渟hift in business鈥� practices with the majority of contractors saying they are being paid more promptly than before the crisis.

That鈥檚 according to a report from the Chartered Institute of 黑洞社区 which highlights the positive legacies of the pandemic in the construction industry, improving long standing issues such as collaboration and communication between contractors and clients and worker wellbeing.

More than half of 1,400 small and medium sized construction companies surveyed by the body say they now receive payments in 40 days or less, with 52% saying they have seen an improvement since the pandemic.

A 2017 Federation of Master Builders survey showed that fewer than a third of SMEs in the industry were paid within 30 days and that almost a quarter had to wait more than four months for payment.

Daisie Rees-Evans, policy and public affairs officer at CIOB, said there had been 鈥渁 shift in business practices鈥� since the pandemic, with 鈥渓arge improvements in supply-chain collaboration, access to hygiene facilities and provision for worker wellbeing鈥�.

The CIOB report cites the construction of Nightingale hospitals as an example of how flexible working, along with improved collaboration and communication on a huge scale, could result in extremely rapid completion.

Despite the improvements in payment times, the CIOB research highlighted that further improving payment terms to less than 30 days was still a priority for the majority of SMEs.

Paul Singh, commercial director at consultancy EEDN, said he had seen 鈥済reater proactivity when it comes to invoicing and payments鈥� but added that 鈥渢here is undoubtedly still a lot of work to be done鈥�.