Partnering issues: the evaluation of local authority adoption of partnering in Scotland.

Bjeirmi, Bassam; Begg, Paul; Scott, Jonathan

Abstract

This paper focuses on the practical implementation of partnering arrangements within local authorities. The construction industry is the subject of ongoing criticism for poor performance on all types of construction throughout the construction process. Analysis of the construction industry highlights that historically there has been significant fragmentation and a poor record in terms of quality, waste, financial claims, safety and efficiency. Arguably, this is caused by the lack of communication throughout the construction process. This has resulted in calls for changes to the procurement methods and for the adoption of new processes that aim to improve construction performance through communication. Partnering is one such procurement method that claims to aid discourse, increase productivity, lower costs and provide stability and open accountability for each stage of the construction process. It offers an alternative to the widely used traditional procurement process. This paper investigates the issues associated with the implementation of partnering agreements within local authorities in Scotland. After discussing the reasons behind the development of partnering arrangements and the expected benefits, it presents a number of issues identified as a result of a research project into several partnering projects. These issues are prevalent during all the stages of the construction process with one of the main issues being the process of setting up the partnering arrangement including the criteria used for the selection of partners. Other issues include the role and the attributes of the partnering facilitator, the effect on project design, social training required and the role of the client and his/her quantity surveyor within the partnering arrangement. These issues have affected the success of the partnering arrangement.

Citation

BJEIRMI, B., BEGG, P. and SCOTT, J. 2008. Partnering issues: the evaluation of local authority adoption of partnering in Scotland. In Hughes, W. (ed.) Proceedings of the 25th Construction management and economics conference (CME25): past, present and future, 16-18 July 2007, Reading, UK. Reading: University of Reading [online], pages 1203-1213. Available from: https://centaur.reading.ac.uk/31329/

• Presentation Conference Type: Conference Paper (published)
• Conference Name: 25th Construction management and economics conference (CME25): past, present and future
• Start Date: Jul 16, 2007
• End Date: Jul 18, 2007
• Acceptance Date: Jul 16, 2007
• Online Publication Date: Mar 5, 2013
• Publication Date: Dec 31, 2008
• Deposit Date: Jul 2, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: Sep 20, 2024
• Publisher: University of Reading
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Pages: 1203-1213
• ISBN: 9780415460590
• Keywords: Construction projects; Partnerships; Local authorities; Scotland
• Public URL: https://rgu-repository.worktribe.com/output/2055539
• Publisher URL: https://centaur.reading.ac.uk/31329/
• Other Repo URL: https://centaur.reading.ac.uk/31329/