Discussion on Papers 8–12

DR D. J. 0. FERRY, CIRIA. London

First, I was glad that Ms Craig took a positive view

of cost reimbursement (CR). In many quarters these are

regarded as dirty words, and people will not face the

fact that they are entering into CR arrangements (for

example, people try to convince me that management

contracting is not CR).

I would like to emphasize the importance of the procedures and attitudes outlined by Ms Craig, but these are just a necessary on modest projects as on the mega-projects she mentions (though not necessarily involving a firm like KPMG). After all, 10 000 is just as important to the 1 m client as 10 m is to the 1 billion client. However, sometimes the smaller contractors may not perceive the need for client-involved planning and audit as easily as the mega-project contractors, and there may be a need to educate them.