Project Disruptions Impacting Construction Industry

FMI, a provider of management consulting and investment banking to the engineering and construction industry, released its annual CURT Owners Survey. The report is based on surveying 45 member of the Construction Users Roundtable (CURT). CURT provides a national and international forum for the exchange of information, views, practices and policies of construction users from an array of industries and represents nearly $200 billion in capital and maintenance spending power.

The 2012 survey reports that project disruptions, in the form of delays, cancellations and funding challenges, are having a significant impact on owners’ capital programs with 83 percent reporting project delays, 41 percent reporting project cancelations and 93 percent reporting the need to use self-funding for projects.

How capital program owners respond to both the current and future environment will significantly influence their ability to effectively plan, design, procure and manage capital projects. Based on survey responses, many capital-program owners have already begun the process of identifying future challenges and mitigating the impact. However, more than half are not confident in their responses to date.

The survey addresses:

Identifying future issues that may impact capital programs and the degree of preparedness to address those issues
The level of staffing changes during the past four years and anticipated staffing trends going forward
The degree of project disruptions affecting capital programs
The continued evolution of project delivery systems and procurement methods

Traditional design/bid/build re??mains the most commonly selected delivery method. However, as project size increases, the use of other project delivery methods increases significantly.

To download a copy of the full report, click here. For reprint permission or to schedule an interview with the author, please contact Sarah Vizard Avallone at 919.785.9221.