Low margins are impacting on the ground engineering market right across Europe, but the sector's leaders are calling for partnering and innovation to help it deliver value engineering. According to Roger Bullivant director John Patch, too many companies scrabbling for too few jobs is making the ground engineering market challenging. But the problem extends beyond the UK. Outgoing European Federation of Foundations Contractors (EFFC) president Maurice Bottiau told the federation's AGM in Italy at the end of September that "times are difficult and prices are low". There is also the challenge of meeting higher requirements in terms of safety and quality and the need to deliver on sustainability for tomorrow. Bottiau and new EFFC president, Trevi's Stefano Trevisani, urged the industry to take a partnering approach to overcome the issues. "New forms of contract are needed to allow more partnering and alliance. This will not only help in the current market but also improve delivery on complex geotechnical projects," said Trevisani. Patch added: "The only way to enhance margins in these conditions is to offer value engineering. But this need for innovation means that in real terms things are improving. We also need to be careful not to talk the industry down, although there needs to be a balance between realism and optimism."
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