Value Management of Construction Projects, 2nd Edition

Part 1Introduction and Evolution of Value Management

The value methodology as a structured management service has been recognised for almost 70 years. It began in the manufacturing industry of the United States in 1947 as an in-house service to reduce the cost in the production of existing products without compromising product quality. This activity, called value analysis, was carried out by a structured examination of the function of the product using an in-house team of designers, production engineers and purchasing agents. By the 1960s the term value engineering was being used to describe a service where the focus shifted to the function analysis of the design and estimated cost of proposed products rather than products already in production. It was during the early to mid-1960s that value engineering transferred from the analysis of manufacturing design to the analysis of construction design initially through the activity of US Navy Bureau of Yards and Docks.

The 1980s saw an increasing international interest in the use of value engineering in design and construction and included an embryonic discussion of value management. In the United Kingdom, value management in construction evolved in the late 1980s. The first UK textbook (Kelly and Male, 1993), Value Management in Design and Construction, by the authors was published in 1993. Since that time value management in construction has evolved to become an established service with commonly understood tools, techniques and ...