An investigation to identify the role of pre-construction site investigative information used by small medium sized enterprises (SME)

Risk and uncertainty are an inherent part of any construction project and may be a major factor contributing to the success of the project. Whilst Site Investigation (SI) information is considered a pre-requisite of any construction project, questions remain regarding the effective use of such data and how this affects the project complexity at the pre-construction stage by SME’s on Design-and-Build (D&B) projects (Ashton 2003). This research programme is part of a global research project aimed at establishing the consequences and link between pre-construction information and project complexity. This paper provides the initial findings from a pilot survey aimed at establishing the current use and role of site investigative data having been awarded a standard D&B JCT 1998 contract. Previous research (Ashton 2003) established that inadequate and subjective methods were used to determine the extent and appropriateness of investigative work and that a significant problem resulted from a lack of understanding regarding complexity, risk and uncertainty associated with pre-construction planning. It also considers those factors that SME’s considered critical to the efficient use and comprehension of the pre-construction SI information and suggests ways in which the role of this information could be used to enhance D&B projects. This work has provided a series of recommendations and identified the need for a standardized recording mechanism to capture and present SI information to SME’s, in order that this data can be used more effectively.