Holistic appraisal of value engineering in construction in United States

The use of value engineering in the United States of America has grown significantly in the last twenty years. Advocates of the system claim it is effective in reducing cost and improving the value of construction projects. Others however claim that in reality the technique is little more than traditional cost cutting by another name. This paper makes a holistic appraisal of value engineering as used in the United States of America's construction industry by investigating current theory and practice. It evaluates value engineering projects and calculates the savings achieved by them. It goes on to analyze the nature of those savings. It looks at four VE workshops and makes an appraisal of the technique. Finally it draws overall conclusions about the current position of value engineering in the United States of America.