Construction cost control implications for the planning application process

In recent years a series of Governmental reports, including, Latham (1994), Constructing the Team, Egan (1998), Rethinking Construction and Rogers (2000), The Urban Task Force Report, have focussed on various aspects of optimizing working relationships and controlling costs within the construction sector. Hitherto, the focus had primarily been in the fields of improved communications, value engineering, buildability and waste reduction. In parallel there has been a series of White Papers and revised Planning Policy Guides produced by Government broadly aimed at fostering the concept of 'sustainability'. It is postulated that these strands come together in the planning application process and that public policy frequently finds expression as planning agreements. These translate as costs to the construction sector. Whereas, for example, it can be shown that control of waste is subject to a 'law of diminishing returns' relationship, the costs of planning agreements are both difficult to predict at the outset of a project and are not necessarily proportional to the value of the project. Results of an empirical pilot study, conducted as part of an ongoing research project, have revealed that the majority of the sample of developers surveyed had no strategy for approaching planning agreement negotiations. It is contended that a more significant, but highly variable, return on investment is potentially attainable by developers from the effective management of planning negotiations than may be achievable through waste reduction measures.