Wood report
The Public Client and the Construction Industries: the report of the Building and Civil Engineering Economic Development Committees Joint Working Party Studying Public Sector Purchasing (the Wood Report) was published in 1975.
It was the output of a working party formed in 1971, a collaboration between the government, trade unions and industry that was chaired from 1973 by Sir Kenneth Wood (following the resignation of David Morrell).
It came at the end of the post-war construction boom and the beginning of cuts in public spending, at a time when construction costs were rising sharply and the three-day week was introduced.
The Wood Report suggested:
- Lowest price tendering was damaging to the performance of the industry. This was consistent with the previous Banwell report which had found competitive tendering had a negative impact on efficiency - a finding that was largely ignored.
- There should be a rolling programme of public sector projects to stabilise demand for construction.
- Insufficient time was spent during the design and preparation stages and this led to delays, variations and additional costs during construction.
- There should be greater use of pre-approved lists of suppliers, two-stage tendering and design and build.
The report did not have a significant impact on government policy, partly due to worsening economic conditions, and partly due to the Poulson scandal which exposed local authority corruption associated with some of the forms of procurement proposed in the report.
[edit] Related articles on Designing Buildings Wiki
Featured articles and news
Electrotechnical excellence, now open for entries.
Net zero electricity grids BSRIA guide NZG 5/2024
Outlining the changes needed to transition to net zero.
CIOB Global Student Challenge 2024
Universitas Indonesia wins for second year running.
New project and cultural district described in detail.
The nature of EPCs, crticism and inaccuracies.
History, issues and redesign.
From waste recycling to energy performance the hierchy.
An introduction to WERCS and WEEE responsibilities
Dealing with 2 million tonnes of waste equipment a year.
Global BACS Market: analytics and optimisation
A BSRIA glance at building automation and control systems.
What it is and how to use it.
Types of insulating plaster by binder and insulant.
Investors in People: CIOB achieves gold
Reflecting a commitment to employees and members.
Scratching beneath the surface; a guide to selection.
ECA 2024 Apprentice of the Year Award
Entries open for submission until May 31.
UK gov apprenticeship funding from April 2024
Brief summary the policy paper updated in March.
For the World Autism Awareness Month of April.