Establishing Integrated Management Systems (IMS) within Principal Contracting Organisations: Fid-Bau Portal

Establishing Integrated Management Systems (IMS) within Principal Contracting Organisations

Griffith, Alan / Bhutto, Khalid

The Integrated Management System, or IMS, is seen increasingly as an effective way of handling the plethora of management functions and procedures that are conducted throughout construction projects. Quality, safety and environmental management are at the forefront of management systems innovation where the integration of these traditionally independent systems is expected to deliver a range of benefits through efficiency gains at both project and corporate organisational levels. Contracting organisations are implementing integration in different ways which makes potential benefits difficult to identify and share across the industry. This paper reports on a survey and detailed case studies conducted as part of the UK government-funded research project completed in 2004 which examined IMS developments. Involving 30 UK contracting organisations and collaboration with five companies at the leading-edge of management systems integration, the research provided evaluation of contractors’ experiences of management systems, perceptions of IMS, and suggestions for developing an IMS framework based on current best practices. IMS has the potential to create real benefits through delivering greater organisational and operational efficiency, effectiveness and improved performance. However, this paper also identifies that difficulties with implementation are not uncommon. The challenge is to overcome apparent difficulties and establish a generic IMS framework around which contractors can develop their approach. The findings presented in this paper can help principal contractors to become more aware of IMS generally and, specifically assist them with system development and implementation.