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CIC Cascade22 March 2005
1. CIC asks for amendments to EU Directive on Services The Construction Industry Council recently gave evidence to the House of Lords Inquiry into the proposal for an EU Directive on Services in the Internal Market and asked for amendments to be made to the Directive. Interest in the problems that could be caused by the directive is increasing. Whilst welcoming the aims of the Directive, CIC has serious concerns regarding the application of the current proposals to the construction industry, in particular the application of the country of origin principle. Under the country of origin principle, service providers – for example construction consultants – would be subject only to the law of their home country, not the host country, when working in another member state (without being established there). This means that, for example, a Spanish consultant working on a project in England, would be subject to the law of Spain not England. CIC has argued that this will be impracticable in the context of the construction industry, and to some extent this is recognised in the draft Directive. But the proposed derogation from the general principle is not sufficiently clear, and does not go far enough. This refers to ‘requirements with which compliance is indispensable for reasons of public policy or public security or for the protection of public health or the environment’. This is apparently intended to exempt requirements relating to health and safety and planning, but it fails to recognise that design work, advice given and construction on site are part of a seamless process. In addition, the visiting service provider’s liability would be governed by the law of their home member state. A client might be surprised to find that their consultant was not liable to the extent they expected. It would be open for the parties to contract on the basis that the host country’s rules apply – but in practice (knowing how many cases reach the courts where it is not at all clear whether there is a concluded contract and on what terms) CIC questions whether this is a sufficient safeguard for third parties. The CIC argues that, whilst not wanting any amendments to take away from the intention to enable consultants to work freely across borders, the draft Directive must be amended if it is not to cause chaos in the industry. Read the evidence given by CIC Frances Paterson , Chair of CIC ’s Liability Panel is available for further comments. Please contact the Press Office at CIC for details on 020 7399 7407 or email press@cic.org.uk Notes:
2. Construction endorses support for Construction Industry Election Agenda A construction industry election agenda has been agreed by seven of the key bodies representing different sections of the construction industry The agenda sets out the policies that the construction industry would like to see introduced. Whilst recognising that sectors of the industry will have specific issues they would want addressed, it is also important for the industry to highlight the key areas that would make a difference to the construction industry as a whole. The key elements urge the political parties to commit to providing:
Notes: The following organisations within the construction industry have signed up to the agenda:
The Construction Clients Group, the sole organisation dedicated to the public and private sector client, has actively contributed to the development of this agenda, which the vast majority of its members readily support 3. CIC ’s views on the Budget 2005 Key representatives from CIC s member associations and institutions had a chance to discuss their initial thoughts towards the budget at CIC ’s Council meeting last Wednesday. Whilst the budget was generally welcomed, and seen as a safe budget, some members – particularly Colin Clinton (President of the Institution of Civil Engineers) and Rodney Chartres (Chairman of Ground Forum) were disappointed that there appeared to be, once again, no real increase in investment in transport. There was disappointment, particularly from Tom Foulkes (Chief Executive of the Institution of Civil Engineers) that there was no financial support available for students training to deliver better infrastructure. It was also felt that the Government was not taking a proactive enough role to address the skills shortages in science and engineering. 4. Improving Public Services through Better Construction Sir John Bourn, head of the National Audit Office has reported on the progress that departments and their agencies have made to their construction delivery performance since his 2001 report “Modernising Construction”. He concluded that there had been a considerable improvement in completing projects to time and cost and that real savings were being delivered, in particular, by departments and agencies which had adopted partnering and collaborative approaches to their construction work. Between April 2003 and December 2004 55 per cent of construction projects were delivered to budget compared with 25 per cent of projects in 1999. If this improvement is scaled over the £33.5 billion spent on public sector construction in 2003, then the improved performance is likely to have avoided overspends of some £800 million. In addition, 63 per cent of projects were delivered to time compared with 34 per cent in 1999. The reasons for improved performance are varied but the guidance and support provided by the Office of Government Commerce (OGC) has made a considerable contribution. A range of value for money gains from partnering and the early involvement of integrated supply chain teams are also beginning to emerge from improvement programmes of the public and private sector case study organisations included in our 2001 report. These include streamlined procurement processes, innovative solutions to the design and delivery of construction projects and improved whole life costs. Based on National Audit Office estimates, between £500 million and £2.6 billion in annual public sector construction expenditure could be saved if similar good practice was applied across all of the public sector. Despite the progress that has been made, departments and their agencies need to develop further their and their partners’ construction delivery performance to improve the quality of public services and the efficiency with which they are delivered. For example, partnering and collaborative approaches need to be adopted more widely and construction related decisions need to be taken on the basis of the implications for all costs and benefits over the full operational life of built assets. Today’s report makes nine recommendations to departments, including the need for them to create more certainty in the market by providing longer-term funding to maximise the benefits of collaborative working, to strengthen the leadership of construction programmes and projects and put in place strategies for developing construction management capabilities, to manage their construction activities in light of the Government’s aims for sustainable development and to make construction procurement decisions based on whole life value. The recommendations are illustrated by practical examples of good practice drawn from both public and private sector clients and set out in an associated volume to the main report. In addition, the report makes recommendations to assist the OGC target its advisory and support activities including improving the co-ordination and leadership of public sector construction activities and making better use of the available information on lessons and best practice on projects so that this can be shared for the benefit of the public sector as a whole. Sir John Bourn said:"Departments and agencies have had a reputation for delivering construction projects that were late or over budget and designing buildings that were not cost effective to operate. There has, however, been a considerable improvement in performance since my last report on the subject in 2001 and one of the significant contributory factors to this progress has been the work of the OGC in promulgating best construction practice, providing support to departments, and applying the Gateway Review scrutiny process to construction projects. Departments cannot, however, be complacent. There remains scope for further improvement and my report makes recommendations and highlights good practice that will enable departments to achieve better performance and identifies how the OGC can support them through its advisory and support activities to deliver maximum benefit in improving construction capability and performance across the wider public sector. Even if only 20 per cent of these improvements are practicable this would still release some £500 million to be reinvested in frontline public services or higher quality built assets to deliver improved public services."The full report, case studies and executive summary can be found at http://www.nao.org.uk/pn/04-05/0405364.htm All enquiries to Bill Schaper, NAO Press Office tel 020 7798 7335 5. British Construction Industry Awards 2005 Entries are invited for the British Construction Industry Awards 2005. Now in its 18th year this is an industry-wide scheme to recognise excellence in the overall design, construction and delivery of buildings and civil engineering projects. BCIA has been chosen to host the Prime Minister’s Better Public Building Award since its inception in 2001. The Awards results will be announced at a Gala Awards dinner at the Grosvenor House Hotel, London, on Thursday 13 October 2005. Full details, and an application form, can be found at http://www.bciawards.org.uk The main project categories are as follows - all entries must be made in a project category The British Construction Industry Small Building Project Award (s ponsored by NEC) is for a building scheme with a value below £3 million The British Construction Industry Small Civil Engineering Project Award is for a civil engineering scheme with a value below £3 million. The British Construction Industry Building Award (sponsored by Corus) is open to projects with a value above £3 million and not exceeding £50 million. The British Construction Industry Civil Engineering Award (sponsored by Civils 2005) is for projects above £3 million and not exceeding £50 million. The British Construction Industry Major Project Award (sponsored by the Health & Safety Executive) embraces both building and civil engineering projects with a value in excess of £50 million. The British Construction Industry International Award (sponsored by PricewaterhouseCoopers) is open to projects outside the United Kingdom for which either the principal designer or the principal contractor is a UK-based British firm. All entries must be entered in the appropriate project category above, according to size and type. The judges will also make Awards in the following special categories. These will be selected from entries short listed in the above project categories and visited by the judges. It is therefore not possible to nominate an entry specifically for the following Awards. However, if entrants consider that their entry qualifies for one or more of these special categories they may indicate this by ticking the appropriate box(es) on the entry form. The British Construction Industry Best Practice Award (sponsored by May Gurney) will go to a UK project which not only meets the BCIA criteria but also involved processes adopted to understand and meet client needs; supported team working throughout; and maintained continued improvements. Schemes short listed for the Best Practice Award will be required to complete a separate questionnaire. The British Construction Industry Local Authority Award will be made to a project of any size, from very small to major, that is funded by a local authority and is consistent with the Government’s Better Public Building programme. The British Construction Industry Environmental Award (sponsored by Atkins) will recognise a project which demonstrates a particular contribution to environmental issues or in which environmental issues and/or sustainability were key factors in its concept and/or execution. The British Construction Industry Regeneration Award (sponsored by Gifford) will be for a project of any size which has made a significant contribution to the regeneration of an under privileged area or the creation of new facilities or accommodation which has made exceptional use of brownfield sites. The British Construction Industry Conservation Award (sponsored by Materials Recycling Week) will be for a project designed and executed with respect for the original fabric, design and form, while making minimum intervention consistent with safety and structural integrity. The British Construction Industry Judges ‘Special’ Award (sponsored by Arup) will be for a building or civil engineering project of any size, which the judges consider to be particularly inspirational in one or more aspects. All projects entered for the project categories must have been completed between 1 January 2004 and 31 May 2005. (1 January 2004 and 31 January 2005 for the Prime Minister’s Award.) The Prime Minister’s Better Public Building Award The Prime Minister’s Better Public Buildings scheme underlines the Government's commitment to ensuring that its building programme delivers a well designed, high quality environment. The Award is open to projects of any size, commissioned by or on behalf of central or local government or by a grant-aided organisation. Any scheme short listed and visited by the Judges in one of the project categories and which fulfils the necessary criteria will automatically be assessed for the Prime Minister's Award. It is therefore not possible to nominate an entry specifically for the Prime Minister’s Award but its eligibility should be confirmed on the entry form where shown. This Award assesses a particularly wide range of criteria – whole life cost, procurement method, economic and social value, cost in use, etc. All schemes short listed for the Prime Minister’s Award will therefore be required to complete a separate questionnaire. Since performance in use is an important criterion, the Award will only be available to projects completed since 1 January 2004 and which have come into use by 31 January 2005.
An official dinner was held on 23 February 2005 in honour of Turlogh O’Brien’s Chairmanship of CIC from 2002 to 2004. The dinner was held at the Royal Society of Arts and attended by around 50 people. Turlogh was presented with the traditional gift of an inscribed Armada Plate.
7. Events The events page of the CIC website is frequently updated visit the events page for details. Sir Howard Bernstein to speak at CIC’s Happold Medal Lecture on 4 April Don’t miss out – find out more and reserve your place now by visiting the homepage of www.cic.org.uk |
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