Barriers for Innovation in Road Construction – a Technical Consultant's Perspective

Technical consultants develop visions into buildable designs. Despite having a large impact on a construction project, there is a lack of research into the consultant's potential contribution to innovations. The main measure to stimulate innovation in the construction sector is providing contractor with degrees of freedom through design-build contracting. This contracting form is not new, but there are still problems with the sector productivity. Consultants enter construction projects in the planning stage and set the framework for what the contactors, in the following phase, can build. This paper aims at identifying the consultants' incentives for innovations in road construction. Four barriers for consultants to preserve degrees of freedom in the planning process have been identified: the legislation, strive for concretion, fixed prices payment schemes and monetary bonuses on finishing the road plan obstruct innovation. Removing such barriers can both improve productivity and contribute to a more sustainable construction market.