The Schiphol Group recently announced the largest investment in its history: around 6 billion euro by 2030, approximately 1.2 billion euro per year. This news coincides with an unprecedented wave of major contracts from (national) government bodies. The Ministry of Defence requires new buildings, prisons need replacing, and the energy transition demands new infrastructure. Ambitious timber construction projects, sustainability initiatives, and transformations of existing buildings are also on the agenda.
It is a true flood of projects, while the construction market struggles with a labour shortage. The scale of these assignments is so significant that only a handful of contractors can take them on responsibly—with at most, one or two projects at a time. This situation is disruptive and shifts the balance of power: increasingly, large-scale projects see little to no competition, with just a single bidder submitting a proposal.
No longer does the client select a contractor; instead, it is the contractor who chooses the client. This shift undermines market dynamics, putting construction quality and sustainability goals at risk. The pressure resembles the "flood the zone" principle of President Trump: the latest US administration creates a deluge of measures and decrees, so numerous and widespread that opponents and the media are left stunned and disoriented.
How do we prevent a similar destabilising effect from the anticipated surge in large government projects? Breaking down projects into smaller components can provide focus, and this is already being done. Phasing them over time is another option, as is looking abroad for additional capacity or opting for a certain level of standardisation. With the right design approach, this does not need to lead to uniformity. As a nation of water managers, we know that floods can be controlled through containment, channelling, and buffering. But we also know that this requires intensive coordination at all levels of the supply chain, beyond just client and contractor.
This column by Ronald was published in Cobouw
It is a true flood of projects, while the construction market struggles with a labour shortage. The scale of these assignments is so significant that only a handful of contractors can take them on responsibly—with at most, one or two projects at a time. This situation is disruptive and shifts the balance of power: increasingly, large-scale projects see little to no competition, with just a single bidder submitting a proposal.
No longer does the client select a contractor; instead, it is the contractor who chooses the client. This shift undermines market dynamics, putting construction quality and sustainability goals at risk. The pressure resembles the "flood the zone" principle of President Trump: the latest US administration creates a deluge of measures and decrees, so numerous and widespread that opponents and the media are left stunned and disoriented.
How do we prevent a similar destabilising effect from the anticipated surge in large government projects? Breaking down projects into smaller components can provide focus, and this is already being done. Phasing them over time is another option, as is looking abroad for additional capacity or opting for a certain level of standardisation. With the right design approach, this does not need to lead to uniformity. As a nation of water managers, we know that floods can be controlled through containment, channelling, and buffering. But we also know that this requires intensive coordination at all levels of the supply chain, beyond just client and contractor.
This column by Ronald was published in Cobouw
