A Comparative Study of Construction Cost and Commercial Management Services in the UK and China

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 economic cooperation and professional mobility. This requires better understanding of systems and processes in both countries. There is a significant level of lack of common understanding of construction cost and commercial management systems of these two countries. Therefore, this research aims at mapping the UK Cost and Commercial Management systems to Chinese Engineering Cost Systems. The research also helps UK and China to increase their global competitiveness and business proves. It will be a catalyst for sustainable development and effective cost management innovation in both UK and China construction industries.