Building Doctors on keys to fight downturn

A Building Doctors product story

Edited by the Buildingtalk editorial team Dec 16, 2008

Diversification into domestic self-build and home improvement projects is key to safeguarding jobs, according to consultancy firm, Building Doctors.

The warning came as RICS released news last week estimating that construction employment could fall by around 14%, equating to around 300,000 jobs.

"This news has come as a blow to architects and surveyors already feeling the impact of a prolonged industry downturn," comments Alex Thompson, Director and Architect at Building Doctors, "However, the domestic market has shown steady growth and companies that are still focusing only on commercial work will miss a huge opportunity if they don't start looking at the domestic side as a viable revenue stream".

Building Doctors, a reputable multi-disciplinary practice, have built a strong profile in the domestic market by offering construction consultancy in easy to comprehend and fixed priced project kits.

This approach has helped make self build and home improvement projects much more accessible and straightforward, enabling people to cherry pick as many of the services they require as part of an overall project, and is therefore a very appealing service offering to the consumer market.

"Surveying or architectural practices trying to tap into this market should think about partnering with smaller firms that already have sound domestic project experience," Alex continues.

"At Building Doctors we often work in partnership with larger architectural practices who can concentrate on the larger commercial projects while we handle the smaller, home improvement type projects that they don't have enough experience with to be able to take on".

"We have also partnered with surveying practices looking to expand their range of services to incorporate design".

"As the industry shows no immediate signs of recovery, the domestic market and the Building Doctor approach could be the only way forward for financial health, enabling architects and surveyors to explore the self-build and home improvement growth sectors by being able to offer services in a cost effective and convenient way.