The Characteristics of the Construction Industry

Quoted from Willis, C.J., Ashworth, A. & Willis, J.A (1994). Practice and Procedure for the Quantity Surveyor (10th ed.). United Kingdom: Blackwell Science. pp. 2.

The physical nature of the product.

The product is normally manufactured on the client's premises, (that is, the construction site).

Many of its projects are one-off designs in the absence of a prototype model.

The traditional arrangement separates design from manufacture.

It is subject to wider swings of activity than most other industries.

Its activities are affected by the vagaries of the weather.

Its processes include a complex mixture of different materials, skills and trades.

Typically, throughout the world, it includes a small number of relatively large construction firms and a very large number of small firms.

The smaller firms tend to concentrate on repair and maintenance.

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