A comparative study of construction cost & commercial management systems in the UK and China

![CDATA[Cost and commercial management processes and practices in different parts of the world vary significantly. In the UK and the British Commonwealth these practices are mainly market oriented and matured over several centuries. The effects of globalisation and impact of foregoing recession have led most UK based cost consultancies to expand overseas. In contrast, China, the modern world’s economic powerhouse is still transforming its construction industry from a communist quota based system to a market based system. UK-China cooperation agreements foster greater professional mobility and make understanding systems and processes in both countries vital for greater economic cooperation. There is a significant level of lack of common understanding of construction cost and commercial management systems of these two countries. Therefore, this paper presents a core part of a large research project that aims at mapping the UK Cost and Commercial Management systems to Chinese Engineering Cost Systems. It follows through comprehensive literature review that leads to the development of conceptual models of the two systems. These were verified and improved through two Delphi based expert forums comprising three experts in the respective countries. Finally, a comparison is developed from the findings, mapping cost and commercial management systems in both the UK and China. This comparison will provide vital information for market penetration and greater professional mobility.]]