With partnering increasing throughout the design and construction chain, we thought it appropriate to look in much greater depth at the contractors and consultants that architects favour most. For the first time, we have used a weighted survey - which has revealed some clear international favourites.

This is most obvious in the structural engineering sector, where Arup received three times as many votes as the runner-up. Arup also came top of the building services engineering category.

Turner Construction, acquired in the 1990s by German group Hochtief, heads the list of contractors, marginally in front of Bovis Lend Lease, which was formed by Australian property group Lend Lease's acquisition of UK construction manager Bovis, notable among other things for building Richard Rogers Partnership's Lloyds's Building in London. The number one and two are reversed in the
project management category. Davis Langdon & Seah, the world's largest quantity surveyor, is the favourite cost consultant.