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CIC Cascade4 November 2003 A STEP towards integrating use of Occupational Standards Construction Skills Certification Scheme (CSCS) Cards for Professionals CABE: Creating Excellent Buildings, A Guide for Clients Office
of Government Commerce CIC new Collateral Warranty Contracts A STEP towards integrating use of Occupational Standards CIC
are proud to announce the launch of STEP (Standards, Training and
Education for Progression) the fully interactive information and
guidance tool to the industry’s higher level Occupational
Standards and National Vocational Qualifications/Scottish Vocational
Qualifications (NVQ/SVQ’s). It is of particular use, but
not exclusively, for those who are new to Occupational Standards. If you are searching for information or guidance on Standards, Training, Education, linkages between the three, or information about the CIC Progression Project, STEP should provide the information you need. STEP has been developed so that it is easy for you to view the information you want when you want it, and access further information via links to other websites. Therefore, whilst it is possible to download STEP to save onto your hard-drive, or to print it, we do advise you to view STEP whilst online to enable you to use the links to access the information you need. STEP is accessible from the CIC Standards Panel website at www.cicsc.org.uk Construction
Skills Certification Scheme (CSCS) Cards for Professionals Background
to CSCS Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott set a target for a reduction in deaths and serious injuries of 40% by 2005 and 66% by 2010 at a construction summit in February 2001. This target provided the impetus for the CSCS and it is hoped that the scheme will act as an aid to achieving this goal. Applicants to the scheme are required to demonstrate competence (the ability to carry out their job well) and knowledge of health and safety. Historically competence has been demonstrated through possession of a relevant NVQ/SVQ, although for a limited period after the introduction of each occupational category, the competence of applicants can be shown through ‘industry accreditation’, i.e. certification by their employer or another professional person. Health and safety knowledge is assessed through a multiple-choice test, sat either at a recognised driving licence test centre (the most common route), or a mobile testing unit or online.
Currently the only routes available to professionals who wish to obtain a CSCS card are:
In response to industry demand CIC is collaborating with CSCS to improve and extend ways in which cards for construction professionals can be gained. A proposed Professional Membership Route has been approved in principle by the CSCS Board. A joint CSCS/CIC Working Group is developing this new route, and a number of Professional Institutions have already committed to take part in a pilot for developing Professional routes, which will hopefully result in some routes to Professional Institution membership receiving CSCS accreditation. Take-up
of the scheme The Major Contractors Group has set a target for 100% of those working on its sites to hold CSCS (or CSCS affiliated) cards by the end of this year. Details
of the Scheme Different types of card are issued under the scheme relating to an individual’s occupation and level of competence e.g. gold (supervisor), platinum (manager), black (senior manager) and yellow (regular visitor).. There is also provision for occasional site visitors, who can be issued with a temporary visitor’s card. Holders of both temporary and regular visitor’s cards may need to be accompanied on site, at the discretion of site management Procedure
for obtaining cards CPD – You
need it – We’ve got it: www.cpdevents.org.uk Construction Industry Council South East (CIC-SE) has championed an innovative website database that will hold information on all CPD and events organized by major providers. A unique service to enable professionals to seek out the most appropriate vehicle for maintaining their Continuing Professional Development CIC-SE has launched the pilot of its unique website which will be further developed to include all far-sighted professional institutions and recognized organizers of continuing professional development activities in the South East. The pilot partners include four professional institutions (CIOB, RTPI, ICE, RIBA) the Construction Best Practice Programme and South East Centre for the Built Environment. Links from each institution’s website will open up www.cpdevents.org.uk to enable the user to search all participant’s events. In this way, every construction professional is encouraged to learn alongside other disciplines. This is a positive step towards breaking down traditional barriers between professions and achieving more integrated construction teams. Moving forward, it is hoped that collaborative event programmes will evolve to deliver better, cheaper and more challenging CPD. The initial phase of this database has been funded by SEEDA, the South East England Development Agency. Inter-disciplinary CPD is regarded as central to the life-long learning culture critical to delivering the changes required in the Construction industry. Sustainable development is key to fulfilling SEEDA’s mission to become a “World Class” region. Users can access appropriate events by entering relevant criteria, selecting to search by subject, date, location or any combination to refine the search. The data returned will include all appropriate events available from all contributing bodies. An opportunity to make an enquiry directly to the organizer is in place to enhance the booking procedure. All professional bodies are invited to apply to have their events included in this collaborative events programme. The more contributors on board, the more comprehensive and useful the site will become. Other regions have already identified the potential for developing a similar framework and discussions are already in hand to expand the service national. CABE: Creating Excellent Buildings, A Guide for Clients CABE launched in October “Creating Excellent Buildings”, a Guide for Clients. The guide highlights ten key factors crucial to the success of any building project and insists that every project needs a client committed to design, and able to balance the pressures of cost, time and quality. In this comprehensive guide, CABE outlines the client's role in delivering design quality for their building projects. The publication, in conjunction with a series of workshops is a major new initiative providing practical advice to a much wider audience. This should help clients to deliver buildings that meet, or even surpass, their expectations, for design quality. Creating Excellent Buildings: A Guide for Clients provides 240 pages of information, based around the ten key success factors for clients and it then takes clients through each stage of the process of delivering a building: prepare, design, construct and use, and they can ensure design quality through their decisions and actions. The guide also indicates the problems that may arise during a construction project and stresses that it is important to consider what can go wrong during the complex process. For example, it has been calculated that for office buildings, the cost of running and maintaining a building over its working life, can be five times its construction cost. The guide draws on CABE's work to date, experts, staff, the government and an impressive list of clients. Copies of the Main and Summary versions of Creating Excellent Buildings: A Guide for Clients are available from CABE on 020 7960 2400 and can be downloaded from CABE’s website www.cabe.org.uk
OGC has published in July on its website a suite of procurement guidance under the “Achieving Excellence in Construction” initiative. The Achieving Excellence initiative set out a route map with challenging targets for government performance under four headings - management, measurement, standardisation and integration. The suite of procurement guidance underpins the future strategy of Achieving Excellence and replaces the Construction Procurement Guidance Notes series. This new series reflects developments in construction procurement over recent years and builds on departments’ experience of implementing Achieving Excellence. The new guidance aligns with the OGC Gateway process, the emerging lessons learned from Gateway reviews and the Successful Delivery Toolkit, of which it forms a key component The suite consists of three core and eight supporting documents together with two high level documents. These two documents are the Manager’s Checklist, which outlines the key questions that a Senior Responsible Owner should as about a construction, and the Construction Projects Pocketbook, which provides a brief overview of procurement for construction projects. The first tranche of the new suite consists of the following guides: Achieving Excellence Guide 1: Initiative to Action – provides an overview of Achieving Excellence and the other Procurement Guides. It describes the key initiatives and aspirations for Achieving Excellence. Achieving Excellence Guide 2: Project organisation – explains the key roles and responsibilities involved in construction procurement projects. It provides a recommended framework for project organisation that can be adapted to individual circumstances. Achieving Excellence Guide 3: Project Procurement lifecycle – outlines the decision points and processes involved in the delivery of construction projects. It sets the project procurement process in the context of Gateway reviews, the design and construction stages and key supporting processes such as risk management, value management and quality, cost, time and change control. Achieving Excellence Guide 4: Risk and value management – explains how risk and value are managed. It summarises the key principles of risk and value management in the context of construction projects and describes the practical steps that need to be taken over the project lifecycle. Achieving Excellence Guide 5: The integrated project team – explains how to work together as an integrated project team. The principle is that client and suppliers working together as a team can enhance whole life value while reducing total cost, improve quality, innovate and deliver a project far more effectively than in a traditional fragmented relationship. Achieving Excellence Guide 6: Procurement and contract strategies – explains how to determine appropriate procurement routes that will deliver best value for money. Achieving Excellence Guide 7: Whole life costing – focuses on the need to base decisions on a whole-life approach rather than the up front capital cost of the construction. It provides advice on producing whole-life cost models and explains what needs to be done to keep costs under control at key stages in the project. Achieving Excellence Guide 8: Improving Performance – explains the principles and practice of performance evaluation. Measuring the performance of construction projects is essential for ensuring that planned improvements in quality, cost and time are achieved. Achieving Excellence Guide 9: Design Quality (to follow) Achieving Excellence Guide 10: Health and safety – identifies how client decisions and activities impact on health and safety issues and in turn how attention to health and safety issues can have a beneficial impact on the performance of the contract and on achieving Value for Money. Achieving Excellence Guide 11: Sustainability (To follow)
The
Construction Industry Council published new consultant collateral
warranties for funders and purchasers/tenants of commercial or
industrial development. The forms can be used by any construction consultant agreeing to provide a collateral warranty, and where the law is that of England and Wales or of Scotland. The
contracts have been published in sets of five with guidance notes.
For further information and order forms please go to our Publications
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