Ductwork organisations unite in concern about ‘information overload’
HVCA’s Ductwork Group (DWG) has thrown its support behind an initiative to tackle wasteful ‘information overload’ in the tendering process. The campaign was begun by the Association of Ductwork Contractors & Allied Services (ADCAS). Speaking at a ductwork industry conference ‘Working together’ organised by the two organisations, ADCAS president Malcolm Moss reasserted, ‘The practice of dumping information has been around for a while, but is now escalating out of all proportion.
‘This is unfair, unprofessional and — worst of all — extremely wasteful.’
Robert Higgs, chief executive of HVCA acknowledged that his association fully shared the concerns of ADCAS, but pointed out that the issue was endemic to the entire procurement chain. He said, ‘We cannot solve this problem on our own. But, working with Government and other parties to the construction process — including, importantly, the professional team — I do believe that DWG and ADCAS can begin to move towards the development of practical solutions.’
Dr Judy Payne of Hemdean Consulting and David Churcher of Hitherwood Consulting expressed the view that the trend towards dumping all the project data and drawings on to a single CD and circulating it to everyone involved was more than just a nuisance. Dr Payne said, ‘Specialist sub-contractors face the very real risk of making costly errors as they struggle to conquer mountains of documentation.
‘It is an elephant in the room. A big smelly elephant that everyone can see, but no-one likes to mention — but which, according to an industry-wide survey, affects all disciplines, including main contractors.’
