A Farmer's opinion on construction

There has been a lot of “shock” coming out of the recently released Farmer Review but in truth for once a “review” has done just that, turned the stones, poked the fat and actually highlighted actions and low and behold people seem to agree with it. It simply is described as a “dire state” of the industry. But on the brighter side, the solutions come thick and fast and one day people will look back and see the Farmer’s Review as a key turning point in dragging the industry into the 21^st Century.

Now I’m young(ish) in the grand scheme of things but it’s safe to say this Review is not the first, but hopefully the last for a while. Reviews have come and gone but actually the striking part of this one is given in the title “Modernise or Die”. I always remember reading the Construction 2025 Review which went on to praise the industry, and don’t get me wrong – yes we should, it has shown great resilience and produces high quality product but this latest Review is bold and courageous. The industry has talked about diversity, talked about modern construction techniques and many many more things but the move towards any is far from quick.

So what’s it all about. Well the Review was jointly commissioned and was always going to be a challenge of how can you create something tangible to be followed, particularly given the many challenges being thrown at the industry now and in the future. Now then, root cause:

·        Low productivity – flatlined versus 50% increase in manufacturing;
·        Poor predictability – only 1/3 of high-rise buildings are completed on time; and
·        A split industry in terms of margins, financial fragility, innovation investments and public image – everyone’s made a construction joke about the builder.

So what are the key themes:

Skills crisis

The overall report concludes, unsurprisingly, that there could be a decline of 20-25% in available labour force within a decade as older workers retire with no replacements due to significant under investment in skills. The challenges Brexit creates are unknown, however given the pressure to control the borders, there is a sensible question of will we be able to bring in large volumes of workers from Eastern Europe (say) like we did in the 2000s? It is critical we find a replacement for these skills from homegrown talent to ensure this is not an issue.

Off-site construction

How technical is construction – leading on from the skills crisis is the question of should the skills be adapting as the industry embraces innovation and technology. Should we now build off-site in a factory? The industry simply has not embraced the future like other industries and it is holding the sector back and losing growth potential due to rising “traditional” costs. It’s not a one size fits all but with Legal and General investing in modular house facility in Sherburn and Citu commencing construction on their manufacturing site (plus many more) it is clearly viable and broadens the skill base away from the “traditional” construction person to bring in people with manufacturing skills.

And all this leads to the recommendations which are summarised by Building here http://ow.ly/W55r305zpZO but the ones that catch my attention are ones previously mentioned in my blogs:

-        Bring innovation into residential sector and fund this
-        Publish a pipeline of housing developments
-        Re-engineer education sector to produce the right skills

Above all for this you have to change the governing bodies and completely refresh the sector to allow for wholesale changes to be made. You need to push and further become innovative, individually or colletively – think about centres of excellence, a great example is a Northern business that has a CoE in Northern Ireland but uses them on English projects in that area – excellence improves efficiency! Above we discuss manufacturing, well why not pre-requisite this for Government schemes or even the use of apprenticeships – really take simple ideas but don’t give people the options any more.

The options are available to those who want to change. The idea of a levy imposed on construction for those who don’t modernise feels harsh and certainly something that would be challenged but is it not the old metaphor of “carrot & stick”. The stick being the levy. BIM was imposed in a “use it” or miss out way and that seems to have worked. I’m not for more cost on businesses as I feel it sometimes hinders those you need to support but if carefully constructed and monitored then this could be a real way to change an industry effectively living in the past.

I conclude simply with a concept which to me demonstrates a change in mind set that Farmer is seeking. The concept of a Low Impact Development has been created, incorporating city farms, on-site power generation, green roofs and developed on brownfield sites. The houses are affordable, managed by Community Land Trusts, and set up in areas of higher infrastructure – near public transport and walking & cycling routes to key areas of the city. By developing low carbon and instilling a recyling mentality can create something special. None of this is revolutionary but certainly different. By developing LIDs in cities will really create something special, a community for people to be proud of. If you are in doubt of what we are talking about, simply visit Lillac in Leeds.