Platforms and rule books: modernisation needs both

Every few years construction reaches a turning point. Latham called for collaboration, Egan set lean benchmarks and Farmer told the industry to modernise or die. Each of these moments reset the conversation, yet the industry has tended to swing between new products and new processes without bringing the two together.

Today the debate centres on platforms and rule books. Platforms promise efficiency and repeatability at product level. Rule books, such as the CIH Product Platform Rulebook and PAS 8700, give the guidance, standards and governance that platforms need to succeed at scale.

Why one without the other fails

Invest in platforms without rule books and adoption stalls. Write rule books without platforms and they gather dust. Either way, money is wasted and opportunities are missed.

Those who learn to work at both levels at once will define the next decade of building.

Working at both levels

We think the industry is at a crossroads of modernisation, and that bringing platforms and rule books together is essential to progress. Combined, they give innovation a framework to work in: projects guided by clear standards that still take up new solutions.

Acknowledging that change is needed is not enough. The industry has to pursue it actively, and those who adapt will do well as construction changes.

The paper

Our paper, The crossroads of modernisation, goes further into how platforms and rule books can be brought together, with strategies for handling this point in the industry’s development. Download the paper (PDF).