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What needs to change—and fast
Let’s be clear: the system isn’t just inefficient. It’s broken. Despite decades of warnings, construction still runs on outdated assumptions, misaligned incentives and a chronic lack of resilience in the face of known uncertainty.
It’s not enough to describe the problem. We need to change it. We are calling for a serious, industry-wide reckoning, with actions, not platitudes. And that starts with the stakeholders who hold the power to make or break progress.
Governments: Set the tone, shape the system
As the largest procurers of built assets globally, governments don’t just influence the system, they define it. With the right policy, procurement, and planning frameworks in place, governments can reduce uncertainty at scale and help the industry perform with greater confidence.
Yet too often, bureaucracy, indecision, and over-regulation create the very uncertainty we’re trying to solve. In some jurisdictions, securing planning consent takes twice as long as it did a decade ago, driving up costs and causing significant delays.⁷ That’s not governance, it’s gridlock.
To realise economic growth, climate resilience, and infrastructure modernisation, governments must act with intent:
— Cut the red tape. From planning to procurement, processes must be leaner, faster, and better aligned. Governments must be prepared to overhaul their approach to construction.
— Provide real pipeline visibility. Without clear demand, the supply chain won’t invest in the people or tools needed to manage uncertainty.
— Get serious about modern methods of construction (MMC). Remove the friction and incentivise innovation and adoption of modular and offsite approaches, particularly in publicly funded projects.
— Move away from bespoke designs. Repeatable, high-performance systems can often deliver greater value and certainty than one-off solutions.
— Procure for outcomes, not optics. Set up procurement structures that choose value over lowest price and collaboration over confrontation. A cohesive project delivery team that fairly shares risk and reward will lead to more certain results.
In short, governments must shift from passive commissioner to active enabler. Not by intervening in every detail, but by shaping a smarter, more predictable and more productive environment.
Developers and asset owners: Lead with clarity, act with purpose
Clients, whether public or private, play a critical role in driving certainty. Too often, projects begin without a clearly defined baseline for scope, budget, and outcomes. This creates a shaky foundation on which even the best teams will struggle to deliver.
Clients have a choice. Set clear expectations, build the right teams, and lead with purpose, or continue to preside over programmes plagued by overruns, scope creep, and conflict.
Clients should:
— Define success early and holistically. Not just in terms of budget and schedule, but across the full lifecycle: operational performance, social value, sustainability, and flexibility for future use. Align the full project team around measurable outcomes that matter.
— Engage the right expertise early. Procurement is critical. Involve cost managers, project managers, and contractors in design decisions, not as validators at the end, but as collaborators at the start.
— Prioritise continuity and long-term thinking. Don’t trade trust for short-term savings. Passing on risk without control breaks relationships. Continuity and capability are worth more than a cheaper fee.
— Treat the supply chain as a partner, not a commodity. Stability and shared outcomes drive better value than constant churn.
Clarity from the client is the single most powerful driver of project success. By investing more time and thought at the start of a programme, clients can reduce ambiguity and increase delivery confidence at every stage.
Industry: Innovate responsibly, collaborate relentlessly
Designers, consultants, contractors, and suppliers must also take responsibility for how projects are delivered. We’ve spent too long adapting to dysfunction instead of confronting it. The problems are clear. The response isn’t. We keep repeating what doesn’t work: siloed teams, short-term pricing, and outdated ways of working.
To break this cycle, the industry should:
— Collaborate or die. Adopt integrated delivery models that encourage collaboration across disciplines and stages, aligning teams around shared outcomes. Stop clinging to protective scopes and start focusing on shared goals.
— Invest in capability, not just capacity. Look beyond dashboards to the expertise that turns data into decisions. Aggressively upskill teams in digital tools, collaborative planning, and full lifecycle thinking.
— Use data with purpose. Not just to report what’s happened, but to model what could. Whether it’s benchmarking costs, assessing carbon, or anticipating delays, insight drives agility.
— Embrace MMC and digital methods. Modular, offsite, and standardised construction are tools for certainty, not threats to tradition. The key is not innovation for innovation’s sake, but evidence-led improvement and open collaboration.
Finally, the sector must lead the cultural shift. This means rejecting the ‘race to the bottom’ and instead valuing trust, quality, and long-term thinking. It means being brave enough to ask better questions and deliver more honest answers. And not waiting for someone else to fix our problems.