From drawing board to building site : working conditions, quality, economic performance

The construction industry, and building particularly, is experiencing far-reaching changes - in technology, in the market, in organization and in structure.

This book, first published in French in 1989, comes from the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions, and is drawn from six national studies carried out in the UK, France, The Netherlands, Belgium, Italy and Germany.

It illustrates, through examples, the close relationship between the conditions under which work is done on the construction site, and performance, i.e. the quality of the finished product (its conformity with the customer's requirement) and the control of costs, including the time involved.

At a time when the completion of the Single European Market makes the strengthening of economic and social union necessary, this study demonstrates that the improvement of working and safety conditions should be seen as a resource to be exploited for productivity and enhanced performance.