Intra-team boundaries as inhibitors of performance improvement in UK design and build projects: a call for change

The success of the design and build (D&B) procurement route could be undermined by issues arising from the rigid professional cultures of individual participants within project workgroups. These have the potential to inhibit the achievement of a key espoused benefit of D&B procurement, i.e. that it promotes the integration of the design and construction processes for improved project performance. Cultural non-interoperability is identified as a significant potential barrier to effective change management, and to the achievement of innovation within the design and construction processes. This note argues that project responsibilities, which currently are delineated along professional identity lines, produce design and construction solutions that fail to fulfil the potential of D&B procurement. It is suggested that addressing cultural interoperability will require a fundamental and long term reshaping of the industry's structure, beginning with the professional bodies and the higher education system that underpins their future membership.