Imperfect and Late Information: The Greatest Risks for Construction Contractors
摘要
Perfect information delivered before it is needed is a rare construction input but is invaluable to the construction contractor. Efficacious planning is dependent on it. Decisions made once, earlier than scheduled, and not modified have many benefits. This paper theorises that 80% of required project information is available in the tendering instructions, plans, specifications, and client contract. The last 20% has to be furnished by external parties such as the client, governing authority, or vendors—risking lateness and incompleteness. This “last mile” can be costly to contractors—main and sub—since their average net profit before tax is single digits. Furthermore, these determinations are made after final design and tendering instructions are issued, affecting the bid phase forward and resulting in novel decisions such as logistics, plan, schedule, or payment, which affect planning, communication, and execution. This paper suggests that this is missing from quality and productivity models.