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CIC Cascade10 October 2003 DQI Online – How well is your building designed? Construction industry calls on government to resist ‘stop-go’ investment policy Constructing for Sustainability as well as for profit DQI Online – How well is your building designed? The CIC with support from CABE, OGC and SFfC have publicly launched the much anticipated DQI Online, the easy to use web based version of the Design Quality Indicator. It has been developed to allow everyone involved in the procurement and use of buildings to evaluate the inherent design quality. The DQI can be used at all key stages of the construction process, to set and then continually monitor the aspirations for design. The importance of design quality is evident in the current climate of change within the industry. Design quality was highlighted in Sir John Egan’s Strategic Forum for Construction report ‘Accelerating Change’ as a major industry cross cutting issues. The current Chairman of the SFfC Peter Rogers has gone further and declared that use of DQI as one of the five major headline targets by which the industry’s ongoing performance should be judged between 2004 and 2007. The DQI tool has been developed using the best intelligence from clients, industry and Government on the issue of design quality, and how to assess the inherent value design can add to buildings. Over the past 14 months feedback has been obtained from 86 organisations who have used a paper based version of the tool during the Trailblazing scheme. During which over 1000 people completed the DQI, of which a third were end users of projects. DQI Online is straight forward to initiate and easy for respondents to use. The results are obtained instantly and are visualised graphically to help facilitate discussion about project aspirations, and the extent to which they have been met. The tool operates on a pay as you go basis, so it can be used as often as needed. The long term aim of the DQI is to influence best practise by harvesting data from the accumulated DQI returns and relate it to the practices undertaken during the procurement process. We should be able to see and learn from patterns of success by examining the data longitudinally – e.g. by comparing sets of post occupancy evaluations with briefing and with design stage evaluations. The aim for the DQI over the next 4 years is to become a self-funding tool, used on the majority of projects to help with the delivery of better quality buildings for clients, users and the public. Peter
Gershon, Chief Executive, Office of Government Commerce (OGC) Stuart
Henderson, Deputy Chairman, Construction Industry Council (CIC) Paul
Finch, Deputy Chairman, Commission for Architecture and the Built
Environment (CABE) Peter
Rogers, Chairman, Strategic Forum for Construction DQI Online can be found at www.dqi.org.uk. Construction industry calls on government to resist ‘stop-go’ investment policy The construction industry has called on the Government to maintain its public sector improvement programme and not to revert to the old ‘stop-go’ investment plans of the past. The plea came at a Labour Party Conference fringe meeting organised by the construction industry umbrella bodies – the Construction Industry Council (CIC), Construction Confederation (CC) and Construction Products Association. The meeting’s theme was Working Together to Deliver Better Public Services. CC chairman Trevor Walker said the construction industry was key to the government’s commitment to provide improved public services and stressed that sustained investment and consistency was vital to the programme’s delivery. He said: “We need a commitment that funds intended for capital expenditure will not be diverted elsewhere. The decision earlier this year to raid school capital maintenance budgets to fund the crisis in revenue funding must not be repeated.” “Government policy on infrastructure has to take the form of a long-term framework for investment and renewal. This provides firms with stability of workload enabling them to invest in and gear up their operations to meet demand and deliver to the Government’s agenda. “Our industry is investing in its people – in health and safety, in recruitment and training, in improved processes, plant and machinery – all of which helps us to achieve increased productivity and Best Value in the Government’s public services improvement programme.” Mr Walker said that industry was capable of helping the government get back on track in areas where it was already behind in meeting its own targets, as highlighted in the Construction Products Association’s third annual report ‘Achievable Targets? Is Government Delivering?’. He also urged the Government, which is responsible for more than 40% of the construction work carried out in the UK, to use its influence as a major client, saying: “Make Best Value your criteria, encourage Best Practice in our industry, reward responsible health and safety regimes and help us to drive out those who cut corners.” “Together we can provide the people of this country with the world-class public services they want and deserve – and which this Labour government has promised them.” Construction Minister Nigel Griffiths re-affirmed the Government’s commitment to its investment programme and backed the use of the Private Finance Initiative as a means of achieving public service delivery. The meeting, chaired by Construction Products Association president Roy Harrison, included a lively discussion session where speakers Nigel Griffiths and Trevor Walker were joined by CIC chief executive Graham Watts and UCATT general secretary George Brumwell to answer questions on a wide range of related topics. Constructing for Sustainability as well as for profit Protection of the environment and the pursuit of sustainable development while protecting business interests are amongst the greatest challenges facing construction clients. Clients do not need to know everything there is to know about sustainable development and construction. However, knowing enough to ask professional advisors and project teams the right questions is becoming increasingly important and will give their business an edge. CIC
has recently published two client guides in their Sustainable Development
series which put forward the business case for adopting the principles
of sustainable development: “Brownfields – building on previously developed land” – avoiding the pitfalls, navigating the planning process and appointing the right team to develop your site. This guide provides a framework for a sound business approach to help clients building on previously developed sites. It also explains the steps that clients should take so that they can interact successfully with their advisors. Please go to "Constructing for sustainability as well as for profit" for further information as to how to obtain a copy of the guides or contact publications@cic.org.uk. Institution
of Civil Engineers
The brochure highlights some of the major civil engineering projects that have helped to light the way in recent years and reflects on some contemporary and sustainable approaches. It highlights the concern that UK investment in research is declining and this could seriously impact on the cost of the future built environment. The brochure presents examples of major achievements in civil construction under main themes:
Copies of the brochure can be obtained from ICE by contacting Julia Christie at 020 7665 2223 or julia.christie@ice.org.uk |
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