Do corporate social responsibility clauses work? A contractor perspective

The ‘triple bottom line’ of sustainable development, (Dyllick and Hockerts, 2002), amalgamates economic, environmental and social considerations relating to construction. However, literature suggests that the corporate social responsibility (CSR) element has much potential to be improved upon (Eadie et al., 2011). This paper indicates that construction contractors perceive CSR clauses to have only a slightly positive effect to society. Specific clauses may be better suited to achieving the needs of the contract area and the current wording of UK clauses can be interpreted as restricting employment from target areas. There is belief that the contract prequalification process via a questionnaire (PQQ) concentrates it social criteria mainly on health and safety requirements. The perceived extent of internal and external benefits of CSR practices are investigated, with workforce and community issues, respectively, ranking the best. However, the perceived value for money (VFM) from a contractor perspective of such practices is poor and, therefore, is a major obstacle to motivation for improving performance beyond requirements. This paper extends current thinking by providing suggestions as to how to measure the impact of CSR through key performance indicators.