Finding Technology Payback Potential

Owners’ demand can create the necessary market forces for contractors to utilize value-adding technology. To foster such market forces owners should first increase knowledge of the benefits of new technologies and the opportunity costs of not using them. This will encourage changing the procurement paradigm, by using technological capabilities as criterion for contractors’ selection. (RR46-12, p. ii)

Owners need to require the use of new technologies and consider designers’ and contractor’s technological capabilities as criteria for selection. This requires change from the current procurement paradigm of using low price as the only significant criterion for selecting contractors. Adding technical capability as another serious criterion will create strong market forces for technological advancement. (RR46-12, p. 32)

Sharing the risks and costs of new technologies will directly remove disincentives from designers and contractors who may reject a new technology because of uncertain benefits and costs. Owners must establish strong cooperation between all parties. (RR46-12, p. 32)