EU red tape forcing up costs, says construction boss
EUROPEAN Union red tape is making public sector construction projects more expensive than they need to be, according to the new president of the Institution of Structural Engineers.
John Nolan, chairmen of Birmingham-based structural and civil engineering consultancy Nolan Associates, said he was “appalled” at the waste going on.
Taxpayers, he cautioned, were not getting value for money.
Nolan, whose duties as president will see him touring the world visiting ISE branches, noted that state sector projects in the UK are required to be procured by way of the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU).
He said: “I may be biased on this subject because we rarely win work this way but it is my opinion that this pre-qualification route has little to do with whether or not the practice has the appropriate skills and experience and much more to do with how skilled it is at filling in pre-qualification forms.
“I have never seen one yet that mentions cost effective design, or value for money, but when you interrogate the bid scoring you will almost invariably see the highest amount of points awarded to the ‘competitiveness’ of the fee.
“As a UK taxpayer I am appalled at the waste that this bureaucratic nonsense is generating.”
