Communicating Construction

Insight, Experience and Best Practice

Liz Male, Penny Norton, Liz Male, Penny Norton

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2021
• ISBN:
  9781000342703
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Architecture
• Subtopic: Professional Practice in Architecture

This book is a wide-ranging exploration of PR and communication in the construction industry, with a strong emphasis on communications theory, strategy and technique.

The editors begin with an introduction to the UK construction industry and its supply chains, as well as various elements of PR in relation to the construction process. Subsequent chapters provide a strategic overview, practical examples, success stories, case studies and personal perspectives on PR for different parts of the built environment and reputational issues in construction. Chapters include expert advice on communications for architecture, planning, building consultancy, building products and manufacturers, general and specialist contractors, construction technology, infrastructure and communicating sustainability in the built environment. The conclusion looks at the current and upcoming reputational priorities for communicators in construction, as well as the top ten priorities for implementing PR as a strategic management discipline in the industry.

This book is essential reading for all construction PR teams, students studying both for built environment and PR/marketing degrees and CPD courses, and anyone working in the built environment sector who needs to consider PR and marketing as part of their role.

1 Introduction

Liz Male and Penny Norton

Why construction matters

The construction industry is responsible for delivering a huge range of structures that make up the built environment, from Dubai’s Burj Khalifa tower, the world’s tallest building, to tiny homes and sacred buildings. Anything can make the headlines, be it a huge, award-winning airport terminal to a humble footbridge, from major hospital contracts to self-build projects and domestic repair and maintenance work on our homes.

For each of these areas of construction, there are teams using an array of products and materials and requiring multiple areas of expertise in planning, design, specification, construction, fit-out, management and even demolition.

The word ‘construction’, therefore, covers a vast array of new build, repair and refurbishment services for infrastructure and buildings, plus the spaces in between, and includes a myriad of specialist activities, consultancies, trades and technologies.

Its range and scale of activity makes this one of the largest sectors in the global economy, with around US$10 trillion being spent on construction-related goods and services annually.¹

In the UK, the sector contributed £117 billion to the UK economy in 2018, which was 6% of the total economy. In the same year, construction accounted for 6.6% of all UK jobs, with some 2.4 million workers in all, and for 13% of UK businesses, with more than 340,000 registered businesses alone. In addition to these registered firms, the industry has a host of unregistered businesses, which are typically self-employed contractors.²

According to the Construction Leadership Council, the industry is six times larger than the automotive industry.

The building cycle is complex, as shown in Figure 1.1 and in a useful video on YouTube from project information provider Glenigan.³

Figure 1.1 An illustration of a typical ‘two stage’ building contract (Glenigan, 2011). There are multiple other forms of procurement contract in construction. Changes to the building cycle are also being introduced in 2021 as a result of new building safety legislation.

Construction projects may be commissioned by clients from the public sector, private sector or partnerships of both. Some clients will commission projects frequently and have in-house expertise and knowledge to bring to a project. Others may be less experienced, only commissioning a single project over decades and so may rely on independent advisors.

To deliver a project using a traditional contract approach, clients generally draw on the expertise of a team of consultants, advising on such areas as planning, procurement, cost management and design, as well as a main contractor and an extensive line-up of subcontractors to carry out the construction works. The ‘Tier 1’ main contractor manages the ‘Tier 2’ subcontractors, who provide specialist expertise in areas such as foundations, structural steelwork, cladding, glazing, building services, roofing, fit-out packages and so on. These professions and skills form their own ‘tribes’ within construction, having clearly defined areas of responsibility in the project team hierarchy and on site.

An example of the construction process for a new building or structure, and some of the different professions and contracting skills that can be involved, is shown in Figure 1.1.

However, this is by no means definitive, as new buildings and structures can be constructed using a variety of contractual routes, methods and technologies, and their architecture can be highly specific to its context, even when designed using standard components. Existing buildings also present their own challenges in their individual heritage, constraints and client requirements.

The construction industry is, therefore, far from homogeneous in the ways in which it works, its outputs and its workforce. In view of this, it is important for communications professionals to gain an understanding of areas of construction beyond their immediate working field.

This book also begins with chapters on planning and architecture, the two factors that determine and shape construction and take a project from design brief to architectural realisation. There are chapters covering the activities of construction’s overarching groups: the main contractors, specialist contractors and consultants. The highly specialised demands of communications for transport and infrastructure projects are considered, while two chapters also focus on areas of major significance for the industry’s future and its communications: technology and sustainability.

Facing up to the challenges

The UK construction industry demonstrates its capability and expertise every day in its delivery of extraordinary projects. Some of the most notable achievements of recent years include the London 2012 Olympic Park, Scotland’s Queensferry Crossing, the regeneration of Manchester’s Victoria station and London’s ‘super sewer’, the Thames Tideway Tunnel.

These high profile examples, and the many less well-known projects, are vitally important to the UK economy and to the successful functioning of its cities and communities.

But the construction industry itself has long had a history of poor productivity. Management consultant McKinsey points out that, when viewed from a global perspective, construction’s productivity has trailed other industries for decades.⁴ Globally, construction sector labour productivity growth has averaged just 1% over the last two decades. By contrast, manufacturing labour productivity growth has averaged 3.6% over the same period.

In the UK, numerous government-initiated reports have found the industry to be inefficient, slow to modernise and struggling to recruit and retain its workers.

For example, the 2016 report of the Farmer Review of the UK Construction Labour Model,⁵ which examined labour force and skills issues, highlighted a string of concerns, including a shortage of skilled workers, a widening gap between skills available and those needed, a poor reputation, inadequate training and a lack of policy and industry oversight.

The industry’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) were summarised in the Government’s ‘Construction 2025’ industrial strategy, published in 2013.⁶ See Table 1.1.

Table 1.1 A summary of the SWOT analysis in ‘Construction 2025’ (published by the Government in 2013)

Strengths

Weaknesses

Construction is a key sector to the UK economy, both in terms of value add and employment. It also has wider economic significance, enabling businesses to flourish and underpinning other parts of our society’s infrastructure including schools, hospitals and homes. Construction has a large supply chain, and most of its spend tends to stay within the UK. We enjoy world class design skills, particularly in architectural design, civil engineering and sustainable construction. Construction has a low entry cost and low capital requirements, allowing small firms to access the market and promoting competition in the sector.

Vertical integration in the supply chain is low and there is high reliance on sub-contracting. Lack of integration often leads to fracture between design and construction management and a fracture between the management of construction and its execution, leading to lost opportunities to innovate. Investment in R&D, innovation and new processes is low, particularly among sub-contractors, due to uncertain demand for new goods and limited collaboration. There is a lack of collaboration and limited knowledge or technology sharing, with learning points from projects often lost when the team breaks up and a project end...