The construction industry does not have a tradition of evaluating either the construction process or the impact of the finished building on users, and therefore we do not learn enough from our experiences. But we should change this to create more value-creating and sustainable construction.

Our Market Manager and Head of Client Advisory in Aarhus, Trine Vermund, along with the ‘Evaluation Network’ of the Danish Association of Construction Clients, has shared valuable insights on the barriers to evaluation and the strategic advantages of evaluating construction processes and their impact on users.

Evaluation can make us wiser about how we use materials, how many square meters we construct, and whether users thrive in them. Thus, evaluation can be a crucial factor in ensuring both environmental and social sustainability. But why don’t we evaluate construction?

Learn more about five barriers that the construction industry should overcome to start gathering learning and knowledge in the field:

1. Evaluation is criticism (and we are afraid of getting a bad score) Summative evaluation, which is an assessment of a finished product, originally comes from the education system, and it is implicit in the word that one risks getting a bad grade. But criticism does not go away because it is not illuminated; on the contrary, it tends to repeat itself. Moreover, many overlook the possibility of using formative evaluation, which is a learning evaluation form where the parties gather insights and become wiser during the process. To start, it can simply be a fixed agenda item in a series of meetings among the construction parties and users, where they learn together.
2. Evaluation is extensive and time-consuming Yes – and no. It depends on the level of ambition. A good and time-saving method is to conduct a 360-degree review throughout the organization and look at all the structures and learning opportunities that undoubtedly already exist. A new construction of a certain size often goes through a pre-design phase. Data from this can be included in or perhaps actually constitute a baseline study before the construction begins. Moreover, meeting series and communication channels are established in almost all construction cases, where ongoing learning and collection can naturally be incorporated.
3. Execution and then on to the next project The culture in the industry is characterized by a tight project triangle (time, economy, and quality). Particularly, the quality of collaboration processes, choices and rejections, and conflict management are too often under-prioritized. But we should all take a moment to breathe and gather what we learned along the way – and one day our knowledge will be large enough that we have a common understanding of what we know works and can prevent pitfalls during projects. This is somewhat in line with Bent Flyvbjerg and Dan Gardner’s bestseller, ‘How Big Things Get Done,’ with many examples from the construction industry. The main point of the book is: Think slow, act fast.
4. It is not possible to correct the criticism points anyway It can be a dilemma to evaluate – for what do we do with the result of an evaluation concerning the building that already stands, and where there may not be the economy to change what has proven to be inappropriate. We must, among other things, focus on how we can handle this. But there will always be learning for the next project. The important point here is that the goal is to create organizational rather than (only) individual learning. It is fine for the individual to implement new practices, but if the client, advisor, or contractor really wants to move forward, the results of the evaluation must create new workflows and methods at the organizational level.
5. The industry does not understand the big why Some of the good arguments should be evident from this text. But it is a long-term exercise to clarify ‘what’s in it for me’ at all levels. It is about prioritization and communication, and it is about habits. It is about ensuring managerial focus, and it is about clarifying how we collect knowledge in the organization. And it is about creating a culture where sharing one’s experiences – including the negative ones – is just as valuable as sharing everything that went well.

There is still much to focus on and practice regarding evaluation. In the Danish Association of Construction Clients’ evaluation network, all the dilemmas that evaluation brings are debated. But we all agree that it is better to do a little than to do nothing to ensure knowledge in the construction process and knowledge about whether users thrive in our buildings.

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