The awareness and practice of value management by South African consulting engineers: Preliminary research survey findings

The awareness of value management (VM) and the nature and extent of its practice by professional civil, electrical and mechanical engineers in the South African construction industry are investigated using a web-based, online questionnaire survey as the first part of a more extensive investigation. A primary objective of the early study is to test the UK-based assertion of Kelly et al. [Kelly, J., Male, S., Graham, D., 2004. Value Management of Construction Projects. Blackwell, Oxford] that VM is an established service with commonly understood tools, techniques and styles. The survey findings suggest that, while awareness of VM is reasonably prevalent among South African engineers, its practice is considerably less extensive. Where VM is undertaken, almost no attempt is made to benchmark VM activities against international standards nor does its use appear to conform to any standard methodology. Engineers prefer other ways of delivering value to projects, and do not generally employ VM to facilitate the client briefing process. The findings are important given the increasing globalization of construction services, especially given the international ties between designers, project managers and other professionals. Professional engineering associations in South Africa should adopt a proactive role in promoting the use of VM by engineers, possibly through continuing professional development programmes.