Benefit trading - a practical guide for construction (C526)

You always expect a good deal from construction whether, as a customer, you buy from the industry or, as a supplier, you trade your services and products within it. Sadly you don’t get always get what you expect. However, several recent initiatives have sought to improve the performance and reliability of construction, resulting in a radically improved method of business called 'benefit trading'. In this method, each of the key construction participants trade the benefits they can offer for fair reward. This publication outlines the simple and exciting essentials of benefit trading, and offers clear best practice guidance to all individuals or organisations which use or provide construction services. C526 is a best practice guide and toolkit, which demonstrates how to obtain value by negotiation and the application of benefit trading to the construction supply chain. It explains the fundamental principles of benefit trading, identifies the key steps, and shows how the process can be best used and then reviewed to ensure that valuable lessons are learned for future business.

Key words: project management, procurement, organisational innovation, supply chain management.

ISBN: 978-0-86017-526-1

Author: M Potter and J Connaughton

Number of pages: 78 (paperback)

Publisher: CIRIA

Date of Publication: March 2000