Gruneberg, S and Murdoch, I (2011) Specialist contractors' views: Testing the NSCC State of Trade Quarterly Report results against market conditions. In: Egbu, C and Lou, E C W (eds.) Proceedings of 27th Annual ARCOM Conference, 5-7 September 2011, Bristol, UK.
Abstract
Specialist contractors are employed to carry out the detailed work and the transformation of a building site into a finished building. The process is managed by main contractors. The relationship between main and sub-contractors is frequently characterised as confrontational and litigious. The challenge for main contractors is to complete their projects satisfactorily, on time and within budget. This is often achieved by exerting commercial pressures on their suppliers, including the specialist contractors. It is often said that changes in working practices have been taking place in the construction industry over the last decade. Key performance indicators tend to show improving standards. However, much remains to be done if the opinions of specialist contractors are to be taken into account. The National Specialist Contractors Council State of Trade Quarterly Report conducts a survey of opinions and perceptions held by specialist contractors. Although the survey reports that progress has been limited as far as they are concerned, the survey result relating to interim payments is found to have little statistical significance. Nevertheless the survey is published and used by specialist contractors and does report on the views of specialist contractors in 32 different trade associations.
| Item Type: | Conference Paper (Paper) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | interim payments; partnering; specialist contractors |
| Index terms: | key performance indicator, partnering, main contractor, survey, transformation, market condition, building site, working practice, sub-contractor, specialist contractor, interim payment, construction industry, testing |
| Subjects: | professional practice, project delivery, economic analysis, economic and policy analysis, practitioner, data collection methods, business, industry analysis, partnership management, site and location studies, management |
| Topics: | Research Practice, Geographical Context, Project Management, Engineering Principles, Business Strategy, Stakeholder Management, Roles and Professions, Organizational Design |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCTE |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here