The Impact of the Recent Economic Recession on the NEC Contract in Northern Ireland: A Preliminary Study

In comparison to the rest of the United Kingdom (UK) the Northern Irish Construction Industry was disproportionately affected by the recent economic recession. During this period, use of the New Engineering Contract (NEC) has proliferated in the public sector, however no study has been undertaken to examine the impact of the recession on this contract in Northern Ireland. The aim of this paper is to explore NEC contract implementation in Northern Ireland and the impact of the recession on its operation. A qualitative methodology is adopted using a literature review and semi structured interviews with six construction professionals. A qualitative analysis identifies themes and issues arising exploring connections and links between them using thematic coding. The initial findings are that the introduction of the NEC contract in Northern Ireland makes demands of contractors and consultants in terms of additional resources and training. Some consultants show a clear lack of understanding of the contract and its provisions. Whilst there is general agreement that the contract does help to stimulate good project management, the interviewees find the contract time consuming and complicated to administer, describing it as “unforgiving for the architect and unforgiving to the contractor.” Due to the impact of the recession, both contractors and consultants are still reporting a drop in income from pre-recession levels. Project resourcing levels have dropped significantly since the onset of the recession. Adversarial and opportunistic behaviour has increased. Many consultants and contractors are struggling to adequately administer the NEC contract at current income levels. The introduction of the NEC contract and the economic recession have exerted opposing forces on the implementation of the contract, hindering its execution. As the pressures exerted by the economic recession abate and a greater understanding of the contract develops, these opposing forces will ease leading to a more consistent implementation of the contract.

Employers, trade unions and concession bargaining in the Irish recession

The issue of concession bargaining between employers and unions during the Great Recession has received little attention in the research literature. This article presents a systematic analysis of the conduct of concession bargaining during the recession in Ireland in the context of three forms of concession bargaining identified in the international literature: integrative concession bargaining, distributive concession bargaining and ultra concession bargaining – each with different but overlapping sets of institutional foundations and implications for employers and trade unions. Drawing on focus groups of managers and union officials and a representative survey of employers, the article shows that distributive concession bargaining has been the predominant form in the Irish recession. This form of concession bargaining is likely to have few lasting direct effects on employer or union roles in collective bargaining but nevertheless appears to have significant indirect implications for the silent marginalization of unions in workplaces.

Reforming civil engineering studies in recession times

The recent global economic and financial crisis has led the economies of many countries into recession, in particular at the periphery of the European Union. These countries currently face a significant contraction of both public investment in infrastructure and private investment in buildings and, as a result, the unemployment is particularly noticeable in the civil engineering and building sectors. Consequently, in all countries in recession the professional development of fresh civil engineering graduates is disproportionate to their high study effort and qualifications, since they rarely have the opportunity to gain experience in practice and their knowledge gradually becomes obsolete. Under these circumstances, it is imperative for the technical universities in countries in recession to plan and implement a substantial reform of the civil engineering studies syllabus. The objective should be to enable graduates to broaden the scope of their professional activity and increase their employability. In this paper, the widening of civil engineering studies curricula is proposed, in particular in the light of the development of the graduates’ potential on project, programme and portfolio management. In this direction, after a thorough literature review, including ASCE's Body of Knowledge for the 21st century and IPMA's Competence Baseline, it is recommended among others: to increase significantly the offered modules on project management and add new modules on strategy management, leadership behavior, delivery management, organization and environment etc; to provide adequate professional training during the university studies five year period; and to promote fresh graduates’ certification by professional bodies. The proposals are exemplified by presenting a reformed syllabus for the civil engineering studies offered currently by the National Technical University of Athens.

The Impact of the Recent Economic Recession on the operation of the NEC Contract in Northern Ireland

In May 2006, the NEC contract was introduced as the preferred contract for Northern Ireland public sector works. This was subsequently followed by the 2007 economic crash and ensuing recession, which continues to affect the Northern Ireland Construction Industry, to a greater extent than the remainder of the United Kingdom (UK). However, use of the NEC contract has increased during this period, particularly in the public sector. There has been debate in the literature regarding the impact of the NEC contract on adversarial behaviour, but little consideration of the impact of external economic factors on the use of the NEC contract. Using a sequential mixed method approach, the study aims to fill this gap in knowledge, through examination of the impact the economic downturn has had on the operation of the NEC contract in Northern Ireland. Qualitative and quantitative findings show that the demands placed by the NEC contract, and the effects of the economic recession, have exerted opposing forces contract implementation, thus hindering its execution. The findings can lead to a deeper understanding, in the context of both industry and academia, of situations where a lack of resources may negatively impact the operation of the NEC contract.

Rate of recession of Niagara Falls /

Includes bibliographical references.

Recession-induced societal changes- Challanges and Opportunities

The greatest damage inflicted by the recent recession has not necessarily been financial but emotional and psychological. There are a lot of direct and indirect societal challenges ,changes and oppurtunuties that were brought by recession everywhere including in India. In this paper an attempt is made to analyse such societal changes challenges and oppurtunities.

Household Debt in Europe’s Periphery: The dangers of a prolonged recession. ECRI Commentary No. 12, 22 November 2012

The second-dip recession in Europe’s periphery has created a poisonous mix, which risks threatening further the financial system and the economy. Against this background, this ECRI Commentary argues that time matters in the household deleveraging cycle and that a swift recovery is one of its most vital parts. The paper also assesses the extent to which self-feeding phenomena related to household debt have already materialised and evaluates the risks for countries that have so far been spared their full effects. It also offers a theoretical policy response towards a more sustainable household credit sector and overall economic recovery.

How to avoid a double-dip recession in the eurozone. CEPS Commentary, 15 November 2012

This CEPS Commentary argues that the way in which the burden of adjustment to the imbalances in the eurozone is borne almost exclusively by the deficit countries in the periphery produces a deflationary bias in the region as a whole. Against the threat of double-dip recession, Paul De Grauwe asserts that the adjustment could be done differently and calls for implementation of a more symmetric macroeconomic policy that reduces the deflationary bias.

A glacier inventory for the Buordakh Massif, Cherskiy Range, northeast Siberia, and evidence for recent glacier recession

The Buordakh Massif, in the Cherskiy Range of northeast Siberia, contains mountains over 3000 in and, despite its and climate, numerous glaciers. This paper presents a glacier inventory for the region and documents some 80 glaciers, which range in size from 0.1 to 10.4 km(2) (total glacierized area is ca. 70 km(2)). The inventory is based on mapping derived from Landsat 7 ETM+ satellite imagery from August 2001, augmented with data from field investigations obtained at that time. The glaciers in this region are of the 'firn-less,' cold, continental type, and their mass balance relies heavily on the formation of superimposed ice. The most recent glacier maximum extents have also been delineated, and these are believed to date from the Little Ice Age (ca. A.D. 1550-1850). Glacier areal extent has reduced by some 14.8 km(2) (ca. 17%) since this most. recent maximum. Of the 80 glaciers catalogued, 49 have undergone a measurable retreat from their most recent maximum extent.

Resilience planning, economic change and the politics of post-recession development in London and Hong Kong

For much of the 1990s and 2000s, the emphasis of urban policy in many global cities was on managing and mitigating the social and environmental effects of rapid economic growth. The credit crunch of 2008 and the subsequent recession have undermined some of the core assumptions on which such policies were based. It is in this context that the concept of resilience planning has taken on a new significance. Drawing on contemporary research in London and Hong Kong, the paper shows how resilience and recovery planning has become a key area of political debate. It examines what is meant by conservative and radical interpretations of resilience and how conservative views have come to dominate ‘recovery’ thinking, with élite groups unwilling to accept the limits to the neo-liberal orthodoxies that helped to precipitate the economic crisis. The paper explores the implications of such thinking for the politics of urban development.