Blog

Construction-related spending accounts for: An estimated 13% of the world’s economic output, ~$10 trillion spent annually on the production of construction-related goods and services, and employs 7% of the world’s labour pool However, the industry is reported to be perhaps the least productive sector in the global economy, with meager labour-productivity growth of ~ 1% per year measured over the past two decades, compared with 2.8% for the world economy. The causes of such low productivity growth are systemic, persistent and well recognized – having been the subject of several studies and moreover, are experienced daily by those working in the industry, both in the office and out in the field. At the macro-economic level, causes include: extensive regulation, increasing complexity and geographic dispersion of construction sites, grey market and corruption distortions as well as demand that is highly cyclical and dependent on the public-sector investment. At the industry-level, causes…

Whenever I talk about collaborative contracting publicly at a conference, or privately in a business meeting, I am often asked the question: What exactly is Collaborative Contracting? I am asked this question often enough, that I resolved to address it with this blog. So, Enjoy! The reality is that there is no one, single definition of collaborative contracting in use by those who are familiar with the term. Venerus has researched, studied and discussed several definitions in both public and private contexts. We found two basic groups of definitions. One group that we feel is perhaps too narrowly conceived, focuses on the collaborative contract document as an artifact. The other group of definitions (which we really prefer) is more broadly conceived and describes collaborative contracting as a method or process – treating the collaborative contract document as an important outcome of that process. In the wide variety of definitions, there…