The new book Broken Buildings, Busted Budgets
is taking heat from the construction industry. It attempts to document inefficiency and waste of the "Nations last remaining 'mom and pop' industry" which may be costing us $120 billion annually.Becky Schultz from forconstructionpros.com begs to differ. Schultz argues, "The mom and pop shops ... are the heart of this industry, performing the lion's share of construction activity. And the firms that have proven most capable of achieving and sustaining growth over the years have done so not by overbidding or issuing excessive change orders, ... but by completing projects on time, on budget and to specifications via efficient management and cost control techniques".
Construction may not be broken but we have to admit that things could be done better and we are slow adopters of new technology.
1 comment:
Shultz's defense of "mom and pop shops" is commendable, but the fact remains that the industry as a whole is a loosely knit fabric of these independent entities. The problems of the construction industry go beyond the ability of any one player to accurately bid and deliver on a contract. Without any investment in over-arching systems to improve the coordination of these individual players, the industry will remain behind other US segments in terms of productivity.
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