Cost drivers of major infrastructure projects in the UK - Methodology and technical annex

The objective of the benchmarking was to understand whether there are systematic differences in the ‘outturn’ cost of building infrastructure in the UK relative to other similar countries (outturn cost refers to the final cost of a project, calculated once it is complete). [...] Work for the ICG drew on prior reports and the judgement of industry experts in estimating the possible level of outturn cost reductions for generic infrastructure enhancement projects.3 Arup’s ‘Greener, Faster, Cheaper’ framework and analysis, which was developed as part of the 2024 Rail and Urban Transport Review, is based on an assessment of the cost performance of a range of rail, road and uti. [...] The 1994 Latham Report, Constructing the Team, examined the UK construction industry and its contractual practices and made recommendations to improve these, emphasising that any change begins with the clients.16 The 1998 Egan Report built on the Latham Report and concluded that the UK construction industry invests too little in capital and skills.17 In 2016 the Construction Leadership Council pub. [...] The system boundaries were defined based on the Commission’s remit and the drivers of infrastructure costs within that remit.22 The project’s scope is concerned with outturn costs (the final cost of a project, calculated once it is complete), and the temporal scope was restricted to the point of completion of asset build. [...] 26 National Infrastructure Commission Cost drivers of major infrastructure projects: Methodology and technical annex The diagram showcases the interconnected nature of the causal drivers of cost, and the broad impact of drivers that eventually lead to increased costs.