Mitigating Threats of Counterfeit Materials in the Capital Projects Industry

The scope of RT 307 includes research and documentation of effective and reliable mitigation strategies, practices, and methods for prevention of counterfeiting. In addition, this study explored the potential for collaborative industry actions and initiatives, as well as the potential for initiation of inter-industry collaboration at the national or global level. One of the outcomes of this research includes a risk analysis framework to identify mitigation strategies for addressing the counterfeit, fraudulent, and suspect items (CFSI) within the construction industry.

The previous CII research on this subject, Product Integrity Concerns in Low-cost Sourcing Countries, documented the variety, scope, threats, and impact of counterfeiting on the capital projects industry but offered few recommendations for mitigating the threat of CFSI to capital project supply chains (CII 2010). Since then, the scope, variety, and significance of the threat has only increased. RT 307 was charged to address some of these concerns.

This report is presented in five chapters including the introductory chapter that delineates the research, its scope and objective, as well as the expected products of the research. The literature review chapter documents the existing body of knowledge on counterfeiting in construction and other industries. The subsequent chapters include discussion on data collection, data analysis and the findings of the research. Finally the report concludes with recommendations for future research and actions on this topic.