Social perspective of planning in construction: The UK experience

The demand for improvement in the UK construction industry and the dissatisfaction from end users has been a subject of debate over many years. These challenges have been attributed to the industryÕs fragmentation and the use of rational approach in the planning and execution of construction projects. However, in recent times, the need to replace the rational approach in planning of construction projects with a more social approach has been emphasised. The aim of this study is to establish the basis of the current rational or technical approach to planning in construction and to evaluate how it can be improved through social conversations such as the Last Planner System (LPS) of production control and collaborative planning (CP). Based on extensive critical literature review, in addition to demonstration project review, the findings indicate that the current rational approach to planning in the construction industry is based on the Rational Comprehensive Model (RCM); which is responsible for the unimpressive performance of the industry. The study went further to evaluate the potentials of the five elements of the LPS in improving the current approach to planning. This was further supported with the UK experience from the Construction Lean Improvement Programme (CLIP) demonstration project reports. The study reveals varied practices with regard to the use of LPS and collaborative planning in the UK. In view of this, the study recommended that further empirical study should be conducted in order to expose the current practice to enable improvement, such as developing a framework for implementing the LPS and CP in the UK construction industry. The study concludes that the practical application of these social conversations will assist construction organisations in delivering more predictable and reliable projects with improved value for the client.