John Connaughton

How long should housing last? Some implications of the age and probable life of housing in England

The housing stock in England is ageing. Furthermore, the long-term trend in house building indicates that the existing stock of housing is not being replaced within its design life. New houses are required largely to satisfy new demand in the form of increasing household formation. A key conclusion is that existing-and new-houses will have to last for many hundreds of years. The ownership of housing in England has changed significantly in recent years. The responsibility for maintaining and replacing the housing stock is increasingly in the hands of individual owner-occupiers who have little incentive or opportunity to replace it. The paper discusses some of the implications of these trends for those who design and construct new housing and for public policy makers. The paper concludes that further research is needed to explore the implications for construction, in particular, of the need to maintain and build housing which must last far longer than is usually envisaged.

How market standards affect building design: The case of low energy design in commercial offices

This paper develops existing work on building design through a focus on one important yet understudied form of regulation: market standards. Market standards are agreed upon definitions of ‘necessary’ provision in buildings and are fundamental in ‘formatting’ markets and determining the value of a building in the market. The paper presents a case study of the design of 10 commercial offices in London, UK, the effects of market standards on the designs and on the potential for the development of lower energy buildings. Theoretically, the paper integrates literatures on standards, institutions and markets to argue that market standards do important ‘work’ in design processes that require closer scrutiny. In particular, we show that market standards are an important form of normative and cultural regulation in the field of commercial office design; format and act as calculative devices in property markets and result in forms of knowledge diminution that break the relationship between building design and occupiers’ practices. Together, these effects result in particular designs being legitimised and valued, and lower energy designs being delegitimised, devalued and pushed to the periphery of the attention of commercial office designers.

Uncertainty Assessment of Comparative Design Stage Embodied Carbon Assessments

The embodied carbon of a material cannot be known deterministically. It is perhaps more accurate to speak of estimating, rather than calculating, embodied carbon. Uncertainty can be thought of as a consequence of this imperfect knowledge. The complexity and variability of supply chains and production processes, variations in the scope and boundaries applied, and the source, age and quality of data used all introduce uncertainty to an embodied carbon estimate. This applies both at the product and the building levels and makes it difficult to compare studies. At the design stage, uncertainty introduces the risk that a particular design choice, intended to reduce emissions, may not achieve the desired level of carbon abatement. To date, these uncertainties have either been dealt with only very superficially or, in many cases, simply ignored.

Mobilizing BIM in a collaborative project environment

This paper reports on the application of BIM methods an innovative project in the UK that is pioneering a new form of project insurance (Integrated Project Insurance) that joins project partners together as a virtual company. The paper examines the processes put in place to optimize BIM usage whilst reviewing the problems and issues encountered; the observations of a researcher being combined with the reflections of the BIM Information Manager. It is noted that mobilizing a comprehensive BIM-centric system is a complex and difficult undertaking, with new roles and responsibilities needing to be created, that put extra pressures on project partners. The positive results of using BIM in a collaborative environment are noted as the findings suggest inclusive contractual arrangements facilitate enhanced BIM use. The insights inform understanding of mobilizing BIM in a collaborative project environment as it is argued that only a fully collaborative project environment can realise the full benefits of BIM.

Mergers, acquisitions and the evolution of construction professional services firms

Whilst mergers and acquisitions are a favoured means of strategic renewal and expansion for firms, scant academic attention has been given to the growth patterns of construction professional services firms (CPSFs). The role of mergers and acquisitions in the evolution of CPSFs is examined. The findings are based on an analysis of the growth patterns of the top 25 CPSFs in the United Kingdom between 1988 and 2013. Since the 1990s, the increase in merger and acquisition activity has shaped the size, international presence, and multidisciplinary reach of the major CPSFs. However, CPSFs differ with respect to the intensity with which mergers and acquisitions are pursued. Whilst large, public limited companies are active acquirers, smaller and/or privately owned firms succeed in growing with a more selective acquisitive strategy, as they tend to rely more on organic growth. The findings call construction economists to attend to how acquisitions are radically changing the construction landscape and its main players. As the competitive advantage of firms is increasingly human capital-based, the example of the privately owned CPSFs that rely on organic modes of growth prompts a critical rethink of the role of mergers and acquisitions in firm growth.

Who Needs Migrant Workers? Labour Shortages, Immigration, and Public Policy

While each case is different, it is difficult to accept that one case of each type is sufficient to draw conclusions about that type of change. Further, while the cases may be representative, they do not seem representative of changes that would have benefited from knowledge management. The results and cross-case analysis chapters make a compelling and interesting case. The book benefits from innovative cognitive maps illustrating the various situations and strategies provided by the literature. For those interested in detailed observations of knowledge theory applied to cases of reactive change in construction, this does not disappoint. The chapter develops models of such issues as knowledge properties during change, knowledge identification, intra-project knowledge creation and inter-project knowledge transfer. The book concludes with a summary of the research propositions and models of knowledge flows during reactive project change, enablers and barriers in knowledge-based reactive change process and draws the theory together in some really cool diagrams illustrating the prevalent reactive change process and a knowledge-based reactive change process. Overall I think the work has considerable merit and is a sound use of theory and research method to develop powerful models for knowledge-based reactive change management. However, it fails to convince in the sample size and in the range of change contexts analysed. Further, issues of logic in relation to defining and exploring change and reactive change, of explaining the difference between error-driven change and client-driven change, cast doubt on the analysis which exacerbates concern over sampling. The book ultimately lacks substance and would have benefited from both further cases and, for the sake of a broader audience, more context and discussion. Without this, it seems a bit disconnected from the reality of construction projects generally.