The core principles of Constructing Excellence and Rethinking Construction are stated in the Egan Report (1998):
- committed leadership: this is about management believing in and being totally committed to driving forward an agenda for improvement and communicating the required cultural and operational changes throughout the whole of the organisation.
- a focus on the customer: in the best companies, the customer drives everything. These companies provide precisely what the end customer needs, when the customer needs it and at a price that reflects the products value to the customer. Activities which do not add value from the customer’s viewpoint are classified as waste and eliminated.
- integrate the process and the team around the product: the most successful enterprises do not fragment their operations – they work back from the customer’s needs and focus on the product and the value it delivers to the customer. The process and the production team are then integrated to deliver value to the customer efficiently and eliminate waste in all its forms.
- a quality driven agenda: Quality means not only zero defects but right first time, delivery on time and to budget, innovating for the benefit of the client and stripping out waste, whether it be in design, materials or construction on site. It also means after-sales care and reduced cost in use. Quality means the total package – exceeding customer expectations and providing real service.
- commitment to people: this means not only decent site conditions, fair wages and care for the health and safety of the work force. It means a commitment to training and development of committed and highly capable managers and supervisors. It also means respect for all participants in the process, involving everyone in sustained improvement and learning, and a no-blame culture based on mutual interdependence and trust.
Building on these principles, the Constructing Excellence vision for the industry over the next decade can be found on pages 4-5 of our annual review.