Although sophisticated analytics can, no doubt, be used to calculate the risk of any given construction and engineering project to fractions of percentage points, most projects could just as easily be put into one of two categories - business as usual or bet the ranch. While a project may be business as usual for all (or parts) of the supply chain, the same project might be bet the ranch for the end user. The global financial crisis has changed the face of construction procurement, probably forever. There are few differences between what most end users from the public, private or third sectors want - it will usually be more from a project for less investment. The supply chain has responded well to that and continues to innovate to deliver improvements. While there remains uncertainty about overall global economic conditions, it is clear that there is not enough capacity in the construction industry to meet current demand - after years of competitive (some might say cut-throat) tendering, the supply chain is increasingly looking to do business on its terms. By way of example, many end users in the UK are having to tender work on a two-stage basis just to ensure they will have enough bidders. The problem is by no means unique to the UK market - similar challenges exist in many other countries.
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