Construction firms call for framework cull

Construction firms are apparently unhappy with the multitude of framework agreements proliferating in the country. In their view it adds costs to the contractors businesses and suggest a ‘clearing house’ to avoid ‘unfair and overlapping’ frameworks.

It is interesting to consider the implications of this suggestion. It is true that more frameworks increase the costs an the difficulty for firms to be present in all of them, that is pretty much obvious, but let’s look at the flip side. If the number of frameworks was drastically reduced and if the remaining lasted for the usual 3/4 years without any sort of overlaps what would that do to the market?

Well, whomever got into any given framework would have 3/4 years to milk the clients and the market would be foreclosed for that period. Plus, it would make life incredibly easy for any companies wanting to set up (or maintain) a cartel. And in four years there would be no competitors left to challenge for the next framework anyway.

Perfect for the purposes stated in the final paragraph: “Now is the time to revisit this work to secure better outcomes for customers and a more sustainable industry.”

At least they’re honest.