Welsh construction is doing well, but not well enough and it must resist the urge to choose lowest tender pricing. The route to success is thinking long term as explained in the CEW Annual Report

Friday is the biggest night of the Welsh construction calendar – our CEW Awards. It is a big celebration for everyone in the supply chain. And why not – after all Welsh construction consistently performs above expectations.

But that does not mean our mission at CEW is over. As we have stressed before and reiterated in the 2014 CEW Annual Report we are not a task and finish organisation. In fact, we need to redouble our efforts. Whilst we celebrate how well we are doing, the reality is that things are not as good as they should be. If you look at the titles of various industry reports published in the past few years – Never Waste a Good Crisis, No Turning Back, for example – you can see a trend emerging.

Construction is at a tipping point as financial constraints become increasingly tighter and the temptation to favour short-term financial gain over long-term value is ever present. Indeed, despite CEW’s great success over the past 12 years, we still have to remind key decision makers on the client and supply side that a collaborative approach to construction delivers the best results.
Two challenges stand out. The first is the desire for a lowest tender process and adversarial culture that still exists within the public sector – the biggest client in Wales. That is why CEW focuses so much time and effort on working with Government, influencing opinion formers and decision makers within local authorities and Welsh Health Estates. It is why we work closely with CLAW and continue to showcase the great results from CEW Award winning projects such as Blaenau Ffestiniog, Ebbw Fawr and the general approach taken by councils such as Torfaen CBC.

The second worry is how this atmosphere is affecting the attitudes and expectations of our future leaders. Our CEW Awards highlight the achievements of young people in our industry. But what lessons are these young leaders learning from the behaviour of procurement decision makers? We must engage with the emerging contract managers, architects, surveyors and civil engineers and make sure they understand that their future, not just the construction industry, relies on a collaborative approach. We are doing this via G4C Wales, and it will be a major theme in the coming year.

Click below to view Annual Report - Welsh version