Building risks Past informs future
Back in 1996, there was an article published by the Royal Academy of Engineering, which was entitled Where is the Henry Ford of Future Housing Systems? This is a question that some of us in the industry are still asking today. Although the market has been slow to change – partially because that is the nature of the industry – offsite manufacture seems to be heading in the right direction.
Expanding this thinking into all construction
market sectors could happen, but measures need to be taken to ensure that quality control over the manufacture of components develops ahead of the game, so that clients and specifiers can have peace of mind about what they are buying. Let’s face it, we’ve got a lot of catching up to do. The lowest cost should not be the first
consideration for construction. While cost effectiveness is important – it’s a business after all – it should not take precedence over building safety, quality or performance. Research and due diligence are essential to helping the industry improve its standards, and refusing to work with sub quality contractors and manufacturers is one simple step on the journey to change. After 40 years of working in the construction industry, I believe I can clearly
see where things have, and more importantly, have not moved forwards. However, it’s primarily when I think about this as a family man that it really starts to hit home. Would I let my children drive a car that had not been properly safety tested, and regularly serviced? No. Would I want to fly in a plane where cost down had been the primary focus when it was built? Absolutely not – noone would. So why do we accept anything less than properly constructed and safe buildings in which to live and work? We know what needs to be done, so it’s
now about making those changes happen. Drawing inspiration from modern methods and from similar industries – particularly where manufacturing and installation is present – we will be able to translate the same high standards and ways of working to enable us to move away from being driven by cost to being driven instead by quality and safety.
Doing nothing because making change
is hard has never been, and will never be, a good enough excuse. No worthy builder goes to work to try and build a second rate building, so let’s go back to basics and change the foundations – literally – of how we work
Glyn Coates is director of Zeroignition. For more information, view page 5
FOCUS
www.frmjournal.com JUNE 2019
27
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