The current construction market may not be the pause that refreshes for contractors and design firms, but it definitely has many private sector owners reassessing their processes and searching for new ways to make their capital programs more cost effective. And, as they assess their construction processes, many are not entirely happy with their contractor and designer partners' progress on such issues as productivity and technology.
Construction executives at major corporations are facing increasing pressure from the boardroom to keep shareholders happy and are becoming more hard-nosed about business practices. "We are accountable to our internal customers and are not just building projects for the sake of building projects," says William J. Tibbitt, executive director of worldwide engineering services for Johnson & Johnson. "Owners are beginning to apply good business practices to construction that we had not thought of before. We are beginning to speak a different language," he says. Although contractors and designers must identify with the business mission of the owner, "I sense a disconnect at times," Tibbitt says.