A Preliminary Method of Classifying Collaborative Contractual Behaviour in Higher Education Construction Projects

The Browne review combined with the current economic conditions has provided a catalyst for change in the funding arrangement, for the higher education sector in the United Kingdom (UK). Consequently, Institutions will place a greater focus on their supply chain to offer services that best fit their requirements, during the construction and refurbishment of their physical assets. The construction industry will need to offer innovation, value for money and other benefits associated with the collaborative procurement movement, which has been gathering pace since the 1990s. This has resulted in the insertion of a multitude of collaborative features into construction contracts. Literature explored in the paper relates to collaboration and its associated contractual procedures. Reflective practice in the higher education estates and property sector relates the literature to real life experience of primary supplier side stakeholders. The research uses a postmodern philosophical paradigm that expands the existing knowledge base using an inductive approach; and a case study strategy with its foundations in an ethnographic study of lived experiences over a cross sectional time horizon. The data source comprises of three interviews with senior management that have independent viewpoints of the same socially constructed artefact. The data's narrative identifies mixed perceptions when it comes to contractual mechanisms achieving their desired benefits. The deliverable of the research is a preliminary method to classify and select contractual mechanisms based on three-dimensional reasoning in relation to risk, motivation and implementation. The value of the research is in the method it provides, which will facilitate further research into the perceived appropriateness of contractual procedures.