Spec Finish

ROUNDTABLE www.thefis.org 21 improvement throughout construction was going to be key. AngelaMansell praised her teamand the adaptability they have shown. She also reflected on how important strong relationships with distribution partners had been in helping to quickly adapt to changes required, enabling them to work around some of thematerial shortages. Another positive was less of a ‘themand us’ divide between those working in offices and those working on site, which hadmade operations smoother - lockdown had demonstrated that there wasn’t always a need to be on site. “The collaboration that technology affords everybody has brought huge rewards in terms of delivery on site,” said Angela. Can a crisis really change a sector? HelenTapper questioned whether a crisis can drive positive change. Whilst there are some real positives and examples of great collaboration and communication, her feeling was that previous recessions had not somuch revolutionised the industry but created a new race to the bottom. Angela reflected on a lack of control specialist contractors “at the bottomof the food chain” feel - at times in recent weeks with uncertainty in payment and pipeline this felt worse than ever. Productivity and spending can just be codified discussions that mean “rates will drop and everybody wants more for less” she said, adding that there is a worry that any tightening in the market will lead to suicidal bidding again. Core concerns existed in the supply chain as we entered the lockdown period and some of the ingrained bad practice (eg over contractualisation, pushing risk down the supply chain and withholding payments and retentions) have not disappeared. In some cases they had been exacerbated and these need to be left behind before we can look ahead with confidence. Brian Hendry reflected all but essential work had stopped in Scotland and is only now starting to open up again. He said a positive had been better communication and closer working with some companies, but fears that at the lower levels nothing is changing. Whilst not all had changed, there are positive examples felt RichardWaterhouse. Drawing a comparison to the 1973 oil crisis that had kick-started designing for energy efficiency, the 1990s which saw a global move towards CAD, and the previous decade being the pre-curser to BIM. Parts of the industry were already changing, the infrastructure sector particularly has started to see the benefit of whole life value procurement, looking beyond capital-led “buy it cheap, stack it high and see what happens, that we are all familiar with” said Ann Bentley. There is a recognition now that the government will have limited resources, whichmeans spending focus can’t just be on the capital cost. Public investment must ensure the cost of maintaining the asset is good value for the exchequer and delivers long-term return on investment. Ann felt that this thinking is increasingly beingmirrored in top-flight developers who are “very conscious of value – they care about rentability” and customers are gettingmore discerning when it comes to quality and whole life costs. Her hope is that this thinking,, as more evidence becomes available ,will percolate out to the wider market. Rob Frank agreed. “I shudder when I hear people say ‘value’ because it just means they are going to go for the lowest price,” he said, adding that we need to reclaim this term away from “cheapest price” and ensure it reflects consideration for quality, added value, experience and personality to deliver better projects. “We remain defect free and that will be what we will stick to,” he said. A challenge for the industry is howwe present this more effectively to clients “the lowest-priced options, more often than not, end up costingmore in the long run,” said Nigel Ostime. “In reality, because of all the rework required, it ends up being an additional cost.” Change has to start with better collaboration To adapt andmove forward, better collaboration is essential “long before work starts on any site” according to Helen. We really need to completely rethink timeframes, calling in a specialist a week before is “a non-starter now”. With the requirements for efficient and safe working standards we need to be engagedmonths before work starts and at this point we can actually add value to the whole process. Helen cautioned that collaboration had worsened and relationships becomemore strained during past recessions and wemust not allow this to happen again. Things had been steadily improving within the industry prior to the COVID-19 outbreak and we need to accelerate this, not lose ground again. Brian responded that some of the early signs were not too positive – he had already experienced new contracts not flexing and the risks associated with COVID costs being pushed down the supply chain. Rob recognised this concern and said his company had tried to keep sites open because BWhas contractual obligations and clients have pushed these. It has paid off in some ways, but they have not been givenmuch leeway or understanding in terms of price or expectations and the contractor is being expected to take the risk. But we need to be proactive as we look forward. “You can’t blame everything on the client. You just have to find ways around things,” he said. Supply chain adaptability Looking at things from the supply chain perspective, Philip Johns fromSIG said distribution had been able to flex pretty effectively with the huge fluctuation in demand. Setting aside some of the challenges in getting plaster, it has been relatively seamless. “I don’t think there has been any point during which we have not been able to meet the demands of our customers,” he said. Different practices were needed to keep the supply chain going and there had been no resistance towards the requirement to adapt. Hours have changed and working practices, but he had been impressed at the flexibility and resilience of people. “You have to balance the two issues of keeping people in a safe “Offices will survive but will look very different and that is going to be very exciting for us as an industry.” Rob Frank Customer Experience Director BWWorkplace Experts