The Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) wants to hear from decision makers, infrastructure professionals, civil engineers, civil society groups and other industry stakeholders on why major infrastructure projects cost so much and take so long, and what can be done to improve matters.
Through the consultation, the ICE is keen to explore how best practice guidance could be better applied to improve major project delivery in the UK.
Among other questions, the institution wants to know how integrated the use of resources like the Construction Playbook are, how lessons learned might be better applied to future projects, how the use of digital tools is progressing, and whether the UK’s governance and assurance structures are fit for purpose.
The ICE is particularly interested in global examples of how comparable resources and practices have improved major project delivery.
Infrastructure is key to society’s success – but delivery is tough to get right
While the UK’s infrastructure delivery challenges and spiralling project costs have been well documented in media, projects being more expensive and taking longer than expected is a global challenge.
- Research from Saïd Business School found that of 3,022 projects examined, only 27% were on or under budget or better, of those 2.8% were on budget and on time, and only 0.2% were on budget, on time, and delivered the benefits promised to the public at the outset of the project
- Similarly, a McKinsey and Co. study of 500 global projects found that only 5% were completed within their original budget and schedule.
Put simply, regardless of location, major projects are likely to be significantly more expensive than expected, be completed later than expected, and deliver fewer benefits than expected.
In the UK, the National Infrastructure Commission (now merged with the Infrastructure Project Authority to form the National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority – NISTA), suggested that on average, if best practice delivery approaches were adopted on major infrastructure projects, cost overruns could be reduced by 10 to 25%.
The UK government wants to encourage private investment and economic growth. To do so, it must boost investor confidence by improving public sector major project delivery.
The establishment of NISTA is an important step in the right direction.
Sam Gould, director of policy and external affairs at the ICE said:
“Infrastructure projects are a key element in the government’s plans to spark economic growth, but value for money and efficient delivery will be important markers of success.
“There are lots of skills and knowledge within the sector that can undoubtedly be applied to addressing some of the common challenges with cost and schedule overruns.
“We look forward to hearing people’s insights about how these challenges have been addressed globally and being able to shed some light on how we can improve project delivery in the UK.”
The consultation green paper can be read here.
The consultation runs until Friday 11 July.
Responses should be submitted to policy@ice.org.uk
