Creating an opportunity to innovate during disaster recovery

Innovating in construction can be a complex task. Innovating in construction whilst recovering from a disaster adds an extra level of complexity. This paper examines a unique innovation process adopted by an alliancing organisation (SCIRT) during the Canterbury earthquake recovery. The innovation process developed for capturing and measuring innovations was novel as it came from a desire to recover well from the earthquake and to seek opportunities to construct better and more efficiently. Over 600 innovations were reported and analysed for this research, giving a rich picture of where innovations originate, what types of innovations occur more frequently, and where in a construction life cycle different innovation types can best be developed. The paper shows that, despite innovations being created in a time of change and uncertainty, the innovations created can have lasting long term benefits for the wider construction indystry.