The paper details the role of the Strategic Forum for Construction (SFfC). It covers the membership of the forum and its priorities for the industry. Its priorities centre on the launch of the construction commitments and a series of targets for the industry up until 2012. The commitments and the targets focus on: integration and procurement; commitment to people; client leadership; sustainability; design quality; and health and safety.
The UK Strategic Forum for Construction has a clear agenda which has the support of government. It is growing in influence and is determined to see the whole industry buy-in to its agenda as it will benefit both the client and supply side of the industry.
The forum’s new chairman is the Rt. Hon. Nick Raynsford MP, former president of the Construction Industry Council. He succeeded Mike Davies as chairman from July 2008 when the Construction Industry Council took over the secretariat of the forum from the Construction Products Association. The deputy chairman is James Wates, chairman of the Construction Confederation and deputy chairman of Wates.
The forum’s key objectives in the last year have been to ensure that the 2012 ‘construction commitments’ (see Appendix) were developed into an industry standard, to report on the targets set in response to the Egan report,1 and to set new targets for the industry to deliver over the next few years.
The forum comprises six members: the Construction Industry Council, Construction Clients Group, Construction Confederation, the Construction Products Association, the National Specialist Contractors Council/Specialist Engineering Contractors Group and the Trades Union Congress.
The forum meets quarterly and is supported by an executive group and task groups supporting the health and safety, integration and sustainability agendas.
The six key themes in the forum’s work are improving health and safety, promoting sustainable construction, and encouraging a more integrated approach to construction procurement along with client leadership, commitment to people and design quality. The forum announced new targets for the industry in June 2008 and will co-ordinate the delivery of these targets to 2012 (Table 1).
The forum has set targets it believes the industry can meet and the intention is to see that it does. Most of the targets already have clear mechanisms for measuring their achievement – design quality indicators (DQI), new recruits into the industry, and so on. For some of them, however, the forum still has to finalise the way they will be measured including, for example, the targets to reduce waste, cut carbon emissions, and so on. The intention is to work with bodies such as the Waste and Resources Action Programme (Wrap) and Carbon Trust to set up these measurement arrangements.
The construction commitments define the framework which the forum would like to see adopted for all construction programmes and projects. They set down the forum’s agenda in a way that all those working in construction should be able to understand and apply within that part of the industry in which they operate.
There is still much to do to achieve the level of acceptance that the forum would like to see. The forum is working with Constructing Excellence in the Built Environment and in partnership with key government departments to hold another series of regional roadshows aimed at taking the message around the country and focusing particularly on small to medium-sized enterprises. The forum is keen to see the trade associations and professional institutions in the industry spread the word to all their members. The forum also wants to see the industry clients insist that all their contracts are conducted in accordance with the principles of the construction commitments and to check that this actually happens on their projects.
KEY POINTS
The forum has made a significant step forward in the last 12 months with the partnership it has established with government to develop the strategy for sustainable construction and the development of the construction commitments and supporting targets.
All the government departments have signed up to the construction commitments and credit is due to the competitiveness minister, Shiriti Vadera, for securing this.
The forum has increasing credibility in government with the minister now attending the forum meetings on a regular basis.
There is buy-in at the top of the industry to what the forum is trying to achieve and it will now focus on driving this down through the sector bodies and through the regions to all companies in the industry.
The forum treats the new targets that it has set for the industry very seriously and will be working closely with all parts of the industry to do everything it can to see that they are achieved.
The forum is not trying to take this agenda forward on its own – far from it. It is developing close relationships with bodies such as Constructing Excellence, UK Green Building Council, Construction Skills, and so on, which are key in achieving the new targets.
APPENDIX: CONSTRUCTION COMMITMENTS
A.1. Procurement and integration
A successful procurement policy requires ethical sourcing, enables best value to be achieved and encourages the early involvement of the supply chain. An integrated project team works together to achieve the best possible solution in terms of design, buildability, environmental performance and sustainable development.
Procurement decisions will be transparent, made on best value rather than lower cost, use evaluation criteria and, where appropriate, specialist advisors, while encouraging the contribution of smaller organisations.
All members of the construction team will be identified and involved at an early stage, particularly during the design process, and encouraged to work collaboratively.
Supply-chain partners will be required to demonstrate their competency, their commitment to integrated working, innovation, sustainability and to a culture of trust and transparency.
To ensure effective and equitable cash flow for all those involved, all contracts will incorporate fair payment practices, such as payment periods of 30 days, no unfair withholding of retentions, project bank accounts, where practicable and cost effective, and will include mechanisms to encourage defect-free construction.
The duties of each project team member will be identified and shared at the outset of the project and appropriate insurance policies, such as project insurance, put in place.
Risks will be clearly identified, financially quantified and allocated in line with each party’s ownership and ability to manage the risk.
All contracts will have an informal and non-confrontational mechanism to manage out disputes.
The employment practices of all organisations, including sub-contractors and the self-employed, will be scrutinised by the client and the supply chain to avoid abuses.
A.2. Commitment to people
Valuing people leads to a more productive and engaged workforce, facilitates recruitment and retention of staff and engages local communities positively in construction projects.
Local employment projects and local training initiatives will be utilised in order to create sustainable communities.
Local communities will be fully involved and engaged from the outset of all projects.
Training and development will be offered to all staff, including the client, to meet individual, project and company needs.
Opportunities for apprenticeships and work experience will be offered.
A policy of equal opportunities will be adopted to encourage a diverse workforce.
Project-specific agreements will be established between unions and employers to encourage better employment practices, including training as well as health and safety.
Construction sites will be clean, tidy and provide good quality facilities, including catering, appropriate to the diverse needs of the workforce.
Sites will be run considerately without causing nuisance to local communities.
A.3. Client leadership
Client leadership is vital to the success of any project and enables the construction industry to perform at its best.
The client structure and responsibilities will be clearly identified and adequately resourced to ensure continuity in leadership for the duration of the project.
There will be client commitment to best practice guidelines and engendering co-operation with all organisations involved in the project.
A clearly expressed and well researched vision and business case for the construction project will be developed by the client.
A detailed brief with clear financial objectives, programme and definition of what is meant by success will be developed by the client before the design stage for all projects and this will be shared at the outset with all those involved.
The client will champion best practice in design, team-working, innovation, health and safety, and sustainability, and demand an appropriately trained and qualified workforce.
A clear, collaborative and flexible procurement policy will be developed by the client, together with a clearly expressed industrial relations framework.
The client will work within the project team from the outset of the project to identify and manage project risks.
Projects will be properly commissioned before handover.
A.4. Sustainability
Sustainability lies at the heart of design and construction. A sustainable approach will bring full and lasting environmental, social and economic benefits through regeneration (see A.2. above).
An overarching sustainable development strategy will be developed with relevant stakeholders using a ‘one planet’ approach.
Each project will develop a specific sustainability action plan, which will address environmental, social and economic aspects, and aim to exceed the highest levels within relevant standards and include all aspects of the supply chain.
Targets, including the business case, will be set within all contracts, and performance will be monitored and appraised regularly.
Projects will incorporate best practice approaches to resource use, waste minimisation, low-carbon performance, employment, training and community engagement.
Development plans will seek to enhance, create and protect the local natural environment.
Projects will actively aim to enhance the vitality and viability of local communities from the construction period.
A.5. Design quality
The design should be creative, imaginative, sustainable and capable of meeting delivery objectives. Quality in design and construction utilising the best of modern methods will ensure that the project meets the civic needs of all stakeholders, both functionally and architecturally.
The client will produce a clear brief before design commences.
Designers will be selected according to ability and quality, together with other criteria appropriate to the scale and complexity of the project.
Every opportunity will be taken to encourage visionary designs, including art and sculpture, and to provide opportunities for emerging designers and artists.
The design must suit the practical, functional and operational requirements of the building and meet both the client’s and users’ needs, to ensure that whole-life value is delivered by addressing buildability, maintainability and usability, while driving health and safety throughout.
Project briefs will specify performance criteria to encourage innovation in order to deliver cost-effective solutions, taking advantage of opportunities for standardisation, prefabrication, off-site manufacture and adopting modern logistics principles.
The design will be tested using third-party design reviews and other tools for assessing design quality.
Information technology (IT)-based collaborative tools and communication technologies will be exploited.
A.6. Health and safety
Health and safety is integral to the success of any project, from design and construction to subsequent operation and maintenance.
All designs will address health and safety issues and all projects will have a risk register.
Construction projects will aspire to be injury- and incident-free.
Every project will have a strategy to deal with occupational health and provide full-time qualified medical staff on site.
All health and safety risks, including those relating to occupational health, will be assessed, managed, action taken and communicated from inception to design.
Companies will sign up to and implement the strategic forum health and safety code
All professional and site staff will hold construction skills certification scheme (CSCS) cards or equivalent.
