Construction Leadership Council
CLC Productivity Model
The construction sector is fundamental to the UK economy. However, productivity in this sector has long lagged behind the wider economy, limiting growth, investment and overall performance. Recognising this opportunity, the CLC commissioned a comprehensive analysis to identify productivity drivers and develop a practical improvement roadmap.
Hannah Vickers, Managing Director of Built Confidence, served as Lead Author of the CLC Productivity Report. The report brought together a wide range of industry leaders, government stakeholders and subject matter experts to produce a robust productivity model for the UK construction sector. It established a quantitative model for productivity, looking at the relationships between confidence, investment, skills, innovation and growth and set out a number of evidence-based recommendations for both the industry and government.
Under Hannah's leadership, the work looked at the productivity opportunities across the four major sub-sectors of the industry and identified ten key drivers of productivity improvement. The resulting model demonstrated that productivity gains depend not only on better construction delivery but also on creating a productive environment through improved planning, earlier team integration, effective programme delivery, and better business conditions, all supported by better measurement and data.
The report took a complex set of industry challenges and distilled them into a clear strategic narrative which would enable policy makers and industry leaders to identify where interventions would have the greatest impact. It advocated for investment, reform and long-term collaboration in the sector by linking productivity gains to tangible economic outcomes.
The report concluded that collectively these interventions could help close the productivity gap between construction and the wider economy, generating up to £45 billion of additional value annually for the UK economy.
Outcomes → From Analysis to Action
The productivity model indicates that closing the gap between construction productivity and the wider economy could create an additional £45bn annually, approximately 2% of UK GDP. It offers a comprehensive framework for political engagement and industry action, with practical recommendations across planning, skills, innovation, quality, commercial practice and productivity measurement. Its key themes for productivity are better preparation, better building and better business:
Better Preparation: creating a productive environment
Leadership and Planning
One of the largest opportunities to improve productivity comes from strengthening leadership, planning systems and decision-making processes. Better planning, greater pipeline certainty and more effective leadership could deliver an estimated £11.3 billion per year in productivity gains.
Early Integrated Teams
Bringing clients, designers, contractors and suppliers together earlier in the project lifecycle can reduce risk, minimise costly changes and improve collaboration. This approach could deliver a productivity benefit of £8.1 billion per year.
Programmatic Delivery
Long-term programmes and commercial relationships create the stability needed for innovation, investment and supply chain development. Expanding programmatic delivery models could unlock approximately £7.3 billion per year in productivity improvements.
Design for Usability and Operations
Designing assets with their long-term operation and maintenance in mind can improve whole-life performance and reduce operating costs. This productivity opportunity is valued at around £3.4 billion per year.
Better Building: Delivering Construction Productively
Onsite Efficiency
Increasing onsite efficiency through industrialisation, modern methods of construction (MMC), logistics optimisation and manufacturing-led delivery can improve project outcomes and generate around £2.8 billion per year in productivity gains.
Reshaping the Workforce
Investment in skills development, retraining, workforce planning and multiskilling can help the industry meet future demands more effectively. The estimated productivity opportunity from workforce transformation is £5.4 billion per year.
Enhanced Quality and Assurance
Improving quality standards and strengthening assurance processes can reduce defects, rework and costly errors. This area offers a potential productivity benefit of £4.5 billion per year.
Better Business: Supporting Industry Efficiently
Making Business Easier for SMEs
Reducing administrative burdens and encouraging greater digital adoption can help small and medium-sized enterprises operate more efficiently. The productivity opportunity associated with this area is approximately £2.2 billion per year.
Capital Utilisation
Making better use of plant, machinery, factories and other equipment can increase efficiency and reduce waste. Improved capital utilisation is estimated to contribute £0.6 billion per year in productivity gains.
Enhanced Capability and Productivity Data
Developing consistent productivity measurement, benchmarking and capability-building across the sector can support improvement at every level. While this enabler has not been separately quantified, it provides a critical foundation for achieving productivity gains across all other themes.
Relevance to Today’s Clients
Many challenges identified by the CLC productivity programme remain relevant today. Organisations still face pressure to improve delivery performance, increase investment value, and build confidence in future pipelines. With today’s publication of PAS 4010:2026, it’s more crucial than ever to understand how to implement productivity business standards in your organisation.
Built Confidence uses the same evidence-based, systems-thinking approach to help clients identify performance drivers, quantify improvement opportunities, and develop credible delivery strategies.
By combining strategic analysis with practical implementation planning, we help organisations create the right conditions for sustained productivity growth and long-term value creation. Contact us today to see how we could help you to generate productivity savings in your organisation.