Value Management of Construction Projects, 2nd Edition

1Introduction

1.1 The Aims and Objectives of the Book

The 1980s saw an increasing international interest in the use of value engineering in design and construction and an embryonic discussion of value management (VM). The climate in UK construction of the 1990s was right for the further development of innovative systems including VM.

The authors' research activity into the topic, which began in 1986 and was funded by the Education Trust of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), was boosted in the 1990s by further funding from the RICS and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). The latter funded a major study into the international benchmarking of value management practice that resulted in the completion in 1998 of ‘The Value Management Benchmark’ published by Thomas Telford (Male et al., 1998). The benchmark was the springboard for detailed work into three areas. First, to make clear different study styles and their application at particular stages of projects, and, relate each study style with their most commonly associated method, tools and techniques. Second, to investigate the concept of quality and value to understand their interrelationship and their application within supply chain thinking. Third, to extend the use of VM into other organisational settings and investigate other more generic study styles.

This research work was carried out by the authors, or under their supervision, using a variety of research methods. Significant ...