By John Chaney, co-founder, Dexter + Chaney

Once collaboration becomes reality, construction productivity will significantly improve, as project information will be easily available to all participants.

Two things can be said of economic downturns in the construction industry. First, a recovery that follows has roughly the same duration as the downturn itself, and brings the industry close to the level of growth it experienced prior to the downturn.

Second, the pressures of more competition for less business change how contractors do business. Previously, contractors that embraced new technologies and ways of getting work done emerged stronger from recessions.

For example, during the recession and recovery of the early 1980s, new approaches emerged in preconstruction (e.g., value engineering) and live construction (e.g., slip forming).

What these and other process and productivity improvements have in common is that they were caused in large part by the pressures of difficult environments.

So, how is construction productivity changing in response to the recent recession, and what new processes and technologies are the agents of change?

The FMI/CMAA 11th Annual Owners Survey was conducted in an atmosphere of considerable disagreement over whether the national economy is recovering and if so, how quickly. A major federal infusion of stimulus funding in 2009-2010 was meant to soften the impact of the recession, as well as accelerate the recovery through investment in infrastructure and other resources.