Value management in design and construction

By John Kelly, Steven Male

Value management in design and construction looks at the transfer and further development of value management procedures, as practiced in North America, in a United Kingdom and Commonwealth construction industry context.

Value management is a service which maximizes the functional value of a project by managing its evolution and development from concept to completion, through the comparison and audit of all decisions against a value system determined by the client or customer.

Value management is an emerging service in Europe and Value management in design and construction represents the authors’ current thinking on what is a continually evolving topic.

The term ‘value management’ is chosen for use here rather than the more popular North American term ‘value engineering’, differentiating between a broad management approach to value rather than a narrower focus on technical performance.

The latter is viewed by the authors as only one component of the management of value. Other components in the ‘value equation’ are the interactions between time, cost and quality in the context of the client’s strategic management process and subsequent value system.

Value management has also now become an accepted term within Europe, and particularly at European Community Directorate level has been shown in Value management in design and construction.