The construction industry is notoriously inexact, and any project is filled with uncertainty. What mysterious ruins will be found digging for the foundations? What critical components will not be delivered on time? Who’s even going to turn up on site today? As a casual viewer of
Grand Designs will tell you, budgets and schedules are hopelessly inexact, and the inability to make construction more efficient and reliable has held the industry back for a long time. But when Meg Hillier, chair of the public accounts committee, recently suggested to
Building that the cost of refurbishing the Houses of Parliament would be ‘at least’ £12 billion, three times the official estimate of £4 billion, even the most cynical ears should have pricked up. What on earth could possibly justify a cost of that magnitude?