Re-interpreting the Building Industry Communications Research Project

The archives of the Building Industry Communications Research Project (BICRP) 1963-66 are reviewed. Established by important construction interests, this project explored problems of co-ordination in UK construction. The research was undertaken by the Tavistock Institute of Human Relations. The archives record both an evolving appreciation of construction and the conflicts within the Communications Research Committee, which oversaw the research and represented construction and its dominant client, the public sector. The changing outer context and shifting interpretation of the researchers destabilized the BICRP. It became caught up in the turbulence of its environment, de-stabilizing the consensus which had led to the project. Schon's concept of the Situation, and systems ideas of under-boundedness and under-organization, underpin the re-interpretation and establish the current relevance of the BICRP. This exemplifies the recurring, institutional difficulties of UK construction. A suggestion for further inquiry is made including cross-cultural comparisons around themes of uncertainty and information.