1 cross river rail and 2 free new hospitals every year.
The Chair’s of both Lean Construction ANZ, and BuildingSmart Australasia have today sent a joint letter to the Premier, and the leader of the opposition in Queensland. In the letter they state that Australia’s construction industry is not in good health. It has not substantially improved its productivity in decades and can waste up to 23 per cent of its efforts. Construction has largely continued to rely on traditional methods for many projects. Lean Construction Australia and New Zealand, jointly with BuildingSmart Australasia have written to both the government and opposition of Queensland today.
Construction productivity has barely improved in 20 years and, given the size of the construction industry, small improvements can result in significant savings, which can then be reinvested in new projects. In Queensland alone, there is the potential to save the equivalent cost of one Cross River Rail project and two hospitals ever year. We are therefore calling on both main political parties to commit, if they form the next government, to establish a taskforce to combat waste in the industry through greater use of lean construction methodologies coupled with digital engineering.
Australia’s construction industry is not in good health. It has not substantially improved its productivity in decades and can waste up to 23 per cent of its efforts. Construction has largely continued to rely on traditional methods for many projects. Lean Construction Australia and New Zealand, jointly with BuildingSmart Australasia have written to both the government and opposition of Queensland today.
In the letter we have encouraged both parties to commit to establishing a construction productivity taskforce following the election
- Ensure that all infrastructure delivery agencies adopt more collaborative procurement / delivery frameworks across the entire supply chain,
- Develop policies and procedures that drive Operational Excellence utilising Building Information Modelling and Lean Construction, including Integrated Project Delivery
- Assess value through the project delivery process, eliminating steps that don’t add value and refining those that do,
- Develop training programs to support collaborative procurement and improved project delivery,
- Implement a contractor BIM/Lean maturity assessment framework to be used in tender evaluations, and
- Develop agency productivity targets and track progress (as has occurred in the United Kingdom under Highways England
Whilst Building Information Modelling or Digital Engineering has been around for decades, its potential for driving efficiencies across the lifecycle of a project have yet to be realised. As major clients, Governments need to do more to encourage the widespread adoption of digital engineering by setting clear standards and developing policies and procedures around its use. This is why we are calling on both main parties to commit, if elected, to setting up a taskforce to finalise realise these efficiencies.
Given that Digital Engineering and Lean Construction are both collaborative processes, it is no surprise that they have struggled to take hold in a market that favours contractual frameworks that drive adversarial behaviours. ACA is advocating for Clients to adopt more collaborative commercial frameworks that will improve industry culture, increase industry capability, capacity and skills and also provide a solid foundation for increased adoption of Digital Engineering and Lean Construction.
