Introduction

2–001 Construction is a risky business. Research carried out in 2002 by the then Department of Trade and Industry1 showed that 58% of all construction projects were late in completion and 50% were over budget. In 2005, it was reported that time predictability had worsened over the previous 12 months, with the proportion of government agency projects delivered on time, or better falling from 49% to 44%.2 In 2007, it was conservatively estimated that, since the first wave of PFI schemes began in 1994, £100m had been lost to overruns on 40 major PFI hospital projects alone.3 Research, carried out