New technologies and ways of working push boundaries, but they must be safe.

Without innovation we cannot progress but with so much legislation surrounding the industry engineers are wary of the consequences of moving into unchartered territory. And when we innovate we are pushing the boundaries, so we can never be absolutely sure of the outcome.

It would be fair to say that we cannot now expect to make the huge steps that our predecessors made. In Medieval Times for example, they were experimenting with shape and size – building what had never been built before, almost by trial and error.

"We cannot now expect to make the steps that our predecessors made"In doing so they experienced catastrophic failures that would be unthinkable and totally unacceptable in today’s industry.

Beauvais’ St Pierre Cathedral in France for example is in some respects the most daring achievement of Gothic architecture but it experienced a number of disasters during its long development. In fact the masons temporarily lost their nerve following the collapse of the choir vaulting. And later, work stopped again following the fall of a too ambitious central tower.

Fear of failure

Today we draw on experiences of the past and combined with our modern technology we now bring greater sophistication and surety to construction. We expect our projects to be safe and to work; we’ve tested them in the virtual world already.

Innovation is all about improving things that we have already and adapting them to meet today’s commercial pressures of safety, risk, quality and budget, as well as the increasing desire to create sustainable infrastructure.

At Heathrow Terminal 5 for example BAA devised a new approach to address these commercial pressures.

Recognising that the risk associated with such a huge and complex infrastructure project required a fresh approach to construction management, BAA developed a bespoke commercial partnering agreement, The T5 agreement, with contractors and suppliers.

Open risk

A contract based on relations and behaviours, it was designed to expose risk rather than transfer it to other parties and was one of the most significant factors in the delivery of the construction on time and on budget.

Responding to sustainability poses different challenges particularly in the built environment where the call for sustainable buildings is set against the need for commercial success.

Much of what is being done at the moment is about energy efficiency measures, introducing new materials and design elements to make the most of the natural environment. These can be expensive at the outset but the owner occupier will see the benefits down the line. By being innovative we’re trying to improve what is already out there.

So if quality is a project that works, is safe and answer the clients brief then innovation is just another element of that and we cannot sacrifice our drive for progress because we’re scared of the outcome.

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The article first appeared in Construction News on 8 May 2008