With an increasing focus on public sector expenditure, construction contractors working for public authorities may ultimately be asked to disclose their costs relating to equipment such as light tower installations.

A light tower can be an important element on a building site, allowing work to continue during the hours of darkness and ultimately reducing the number of days for which a project lasts.

But the Construction Sector Transparency Initiative (CoST) is working towards accountability for expenditure such as the purchase of lighting towers and the electricity used to power them.

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors explains that the public are presently poorly informed about construction procurement, with little information typically disclosed to them by the industry.

In order to combat the risk of mismanagement, accountability is being mooted; however, there is disagreement over where figures and reports should be published.

Among the public, 37 per cent would like the details distributed on the client's website and 19 per cent on a website dedicated to the construction project itself.

Within the construction industry, this reverses, with 21 per cent preferring publication on the client site and 35 per cent arguing in favour of a dedicated project site.

Posted by Charlie Parkin