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Tony Wells is chief executive of Merit The construction industry’s declining productivity means projects are becoming expensive and unaffordable. Productivity for building, specialist installations, and architectural and engineering (AE) firms in particular, are significantly below the UK average. Industry fragmentation is the fundamental problem that is preventing the implementation of…

Andy Beard is global head of cost and commercial management at Mace Without a deep and diverse supply chain, the construction industry and its ecosystem falls apart. The supply chain’s centrality to success makes the recent collapses of industry stalwarts so worrying. Stories about contractors failing to pay and adopting…

Devan Mistry is associate director (strategic BIM lead) at McBains The construction sector has been awaiting clear direction from the government on the implementation of the Building Safety Act 2023’s golden thread for some time, so it was no surprise that the response by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and…

Adam Mathewson is a solicitor and Karen Morean is a partner at Devonshires Statutory adjudication has been a fixture of the construction industry for 25 years. Its success and acceptance within the industry is perhaps best demonstrated by how few adjudication decisions are challenged in the Technology and Construction Court…

Gary McIndoe is managing partner at Latitude Law Since the UK left the EU, restrictions on employing overseas workers have been lifted in an effort to allow businesses to access the skilled staff they need. A cap on numbers was lifted, and the requirement for resident labour market testing was…

Andrew Woolsey is an associate and Sophie Ashcroft is a partner in the commercial dispute resolution team at law firm Browne Jacobson Construction companies are using artificial intelligence tools to increase productivity and add new proficiencies in areas such as contract management and project-management processes. However, AI usage may also…

Helena Rivers is net-zero lead for buildings and places at consultancy Aecom The National Infrastructure Commission’s (NIC) recent assessment of how infrastructure could support economic growth and tackle climate change made a bold statement. In essence, it recommended that the government should no longer pursue the rollout of hydrogen heating…

Phil Caton is a construction law partner at Aaron & Partners The cancellation last month of HS2’s northern leg rocked the construction industry, leaving many subcontractors grappling with uncertainty. In these challenging times, businesses must take action quickly to protect their best interests, which should include careful consideration of contractual…

Mat Ilic is co-founder and chief executive of climate ed-tech firm Greenworkx, and a former special adviser at No 10 Downing Street The question of how to deliver a fair and equitable transition to net zero has been under the microscope in recent weeks following the UK government’s climate-policy U-turns.…

Ron Lang is regional director at AtkinsRéalis The construction industry is underpinned by a predominantly ‘engineer-to-order’ (ETO) approach to delivery – no wonder given the scale, complexity and context-driven nature of the outputs it delivers. Unfortunately, this approach encourages a constant reinvention of the products we deliver and the production…