Industry Implementation of The Business Roundtable's CICE Project

This study represents the third and final phase of a comprehensive research study undertaken by the Construction Industry Institute (CII) to measure the impact of The Business Roundtable’s Construction Industry Cost Effectiveness (CICE) Project. The study, directed by CII’s CICE Impact Evaluation Task Force, attempts to determine the extent to which the industry has implemented CICE-supported ideas and the perceived benefits that have resulted.

Implementation Programs

A sample of 36 documented CICE implementation programs were evaluated for this study. Implementation programs were received from 15 owners, 18 contractors, and 5 associations. The industry’s largest owners and contractors provided the majority of programs, with a few programs coming from small companies.

Wide variations existed in the documentation of implementation programs. Some programs detailed the company’s existing policies and future plans to implement recommendations from each of the 23 CICE reports, whereas other programs provided a cursory review of possible company action. Programs were evaluated on the basis of action being taken, or to be taken, in implementing the 223 CICE recommendations.

Safety recommendations were the most frequently used, with 55% of all possible safety recommendations being used in the programs. Other significant areas included: labor motivation, supervisory training, contracts, construction technology, overtime, and union subjourneymen. Owner programs emphasized contractual arrangements by using 30% more contract recommendations than contractor programs. Programs by contractors emphasized areas of supervisory training, construction technology, and union subjourneymen by using 20 to 30% more recommendations in these areas than owner programs.

Of the ten most applied recommendations, safety accounted for the top six recommendations in contractor programs and four recommendations in owner programs. Other high priority recommendations were in the areas of: productivity measurement and motivation, supervisory training, and modern management systems.

Project Benefits

Fifteen construction projects were evaluated to determine possible cost savings of programs that embodied CICE ideas and recommendations. Projects came from various industry sectors with seven industrial, six commercial, and two power projects evaluated. The various projects ranged in cost from several million to almost one billion dollars.

Programs implemented on these projects were limited to a relatively few specific CICE recommendation areas. Thirteen out of the 15 projects used programs dealing with productivity improvement, constructability, or safety. Industrial process plants primarily used programs emphasizing labor productivity improvement, whereas commercial projects utilized programs dealing with constructability.

Cost savings realized by implementing CICE recommendations on most of the projects was over 10% of total project cost. Benefit-to-cost ratios for the programs were usually greater than 10 to 1. In many cases, not only was there a cost savings of several million dollars, but also an avoidance of several additional months from the project’s schedule.

Conclusions

Based on the findings of this study, the conclusions are:

1. Companies are in the beginning stages of developing successful implementation programs.
2. Large owners and contractors are leading the way in program development. Successful programs are supported by top management who commit needed resources to ensure program implementation.
3. Current implementation programs are usually narrowly focused on a few recommendation areas, such as: safety, productivity improvement or constructability.
4. Programs yielded cost savings of approximately 10% of total project cost with benefit-to-cost ratios of greater than 10 to 1.
5. Companies with successful programs need to communicate implementation methodologies and benefits to the industry through publications and conferences.