The challenges of the ICMS Standards to the Italian Construction sector
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- Written by Domenico Carlo Cottone
Finally, here we are.
It started in July 2020 the AICE and RICS Italia collaboration for an ambitious and apparently simple project, namely the translation into Italian of the International Construction Measurement Standards to propose them to the national market. First it was establishment of a Technical Commission and subsequently a Scientific one, both Italian.
There are many challenges in this journey.
First, a linguistic and not a literal translation: it was immediately clear that in order to make the Standards speak Italian, not only lexical knowledges were required, but as well a study and analysis of the principles underlying them. The Anglo-Saxon languages, indeed, expose concepts in a different way from us, through a simplified linguistic structure, entrusting words to the transmission of a vision, often highlighted by a capital initial of the main words and composing them. Without this study, an effective translation and proposal would have not been possible.
There were heated debates within the Commissions and to understand better the thoughts also comparisons with other translations and interpretations were made. A curiosity above all, we have also compared the original text with the Spanish version "Coordinación global en la presentación de costes de construcción y otros costes del ciclo de vida", translation of the same Standards by the Consejo General de la Arquitectura Técnica de España.
The acquired conviction was that the most effective way to deal with the translation was to comment through footnotes that could guide the reader in the interpretation and bring him back to meanings of known-terms, highlighting and then mending the differences and distances between international standards and the reality of the Italian market.
Another challenge taken up by the Standards is the applicability to the "Construction" world, understood in a broad way. They are not just costs of buildings, but a multitude of buildings, ranging from public works of various nature to the plant sector.
The next challenge?
Offer to the Construction sector a valid tool that allows transparent comparisons and in-depth analysis of the costs for Construction Projects, considering this as a fundamental means to rediscover and promote competitiveness in the Italian world, allowing it to conform to international markets.
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