Following a Budget where chancellor George Osborne highlighted the fact that the UK economy’s failure to gear up on productivity had eaten into growth forecasts, the CIOB is embarking on a key piece of research on productivity in the construction sector.
To garner an understanding of the built environment and productivity, it is seeking views for a short survey that should take approximately 5-10 minutes to complete.
To take the survey, please click here.
According to the BBC, in the more optimistic days of November 2015, the Office for Budget Responsibility had taken healthy signs of productivity growth from the middle two quarters of last year, and projected them forward.
However, productivity dropped by 1.2%in the fourth quarter, eliminating the progress made in the previous six months. The OBR has now turned more pessimistic, and reckons productivity will continue to drag.
In the construction sector, evidence suggests that productivity did in fact improve in the post-downturn years, as companies managed to deliver projects with fewer staff. But with overall economic growth prospects looking unimpressive, can the industry’s productivity gains be sustained to meet the needs of the wider economy?
The CIOB is working on a piece of research on this key issue, due to be published in May, which will be supported by polling of policy makers and industry across the entire built environment.
The aim is to help broaden understanding of construction productivity among decision makers and policy makers within industry and government.
Additionally, it will deliver a common base of knowledge for the industry, dispel myths, and provide a reference point for those interested in productivity.
The report will also address the government’s Fixing the Foundations report launched in the summer of 2015 which contained a 15-point plan to improve the UK’s productivity – including the controversial decision to abandon the zero carbon homes standard in the name of building more homes.
The report will explore how, for each point, construction acts as an agent of change, an object of change, provides opportunities and will also set out the challenges associated with each section in a construction context.
The survey is also being supported and distributed by Barbour ABI, the RICS, RIBA, the Construction Industry Council, Plantworx, and the Construction Products Association.
