NBS Construction Contracts and Law Survey 2012

Following the National BIM Survey 2011, the National Specification Survey 2011 and National BIM Survey 2012, today the National Construction Contracts and Law Survey 2012 was published. The report is completely free to download from the URL below:
- http://www.thenbs.com/topics/ContractsLaw/articles/nbsNationalConstructionContractsLawSurvey2012.asp

NBS Construction Contracts and Law Survey 2012

A number of organisations helped NBS by circulating the survey to their members. This helped us get over 1,000 respondents which helps give real substance to the findings.

Organisations that supported the research

Some of the headline findings as reported by the NBS Research and Analysis Manager Adrian Malleson are as follows:

• “Our findings suggest that the time when ‘pen gets put to paper’ [with respect to signing the contract] is a real cause for concern… Most alarmingly yet, 4 per cent either never sign a contract or only do so after completion. This can’t be best practice.”
• "Of the two most popular contracts, as we would expect, the JCT suite is more commonly used for lower value projects, whilst the NEC suite is more commonly used for higher value ones."
• "In some responses, we can see a real desire for construction to be a collaborative, team-based enterprise where extra value is generated through co-operation. But for others, Latham’s words still ring true, and the industry is still far from the team-based ideal.”

In addition to Adrian's analysis and an introduction from RIBA Enterprises Chief Executive Richard Waterhouse there are also a number of articles from construction industry experts:

• Nick Deeming, Partner, Faulkner Browns Architects asks "Why is collaboration so hard?"
• Ann O'Connell, Partner, bto solicitors asks for "A bit of common sense"
• Matthew Molloy and Jonathan Cope, Directors, MCMS look at current trends and practical tips for UK construction adjudication
• Koko Udom and Roland Finch, Contracts and Law team, NBS go "Back to the basics"

Koko pictured recently, Roland pictured circa 1982 :)

As with all of the surveys, it is our intention to repeat them each year so that trends can be analysed.

On a related subject, check out our new Contracts and Law blog at:

- http://www.thenbs.com/blogs/contracts-and-law/

This follows on from our recently published Sustainability blog:
- http://www.thenbs.com/blogs/sustainability/