Changing the record

And this is no nine-day wonder. It has come about because a year ago local authorities were freed from the straitjacket of compulsory competitive tendering, which dictated that the lowest bid invariably won out. Its replacement, best value, incorporates a more complex formula for assessing bids that permits councils to break out of traditional adversarial procurement when they spend their £14bn-a-year construction budget.

Local government now has a duty to provide the best quality service within its means, measuring performance throughout. In construction terms, best value is synonymous with Egan. This means that it offers contractors incentives to improve and provides long-term deals. "We consider it is the future. Our margins are more secure, the supply chain is better managed and there is a better prediction of work. It is more open and there is less conflict," says Harris.

The partnering ethos is not exactly sweeping through the corridors of local government, but bolder councils are showing the way. Last year, local government minister Beverley Hughes called for 100 best value demonstration projects: so far there are about 80. These range from large schemes, such as Schal's £71m construction management contract to refurbish 22,000 houses for Barking and Dagenham Borough Council, to Gosport's £650,000 five-year deal with Connaught Property Services to repair its housing stock (The magnificent seven, below).

Local authorities experimenting with Egan procurement methods are enthusiastic. Last year, Gosport ran a pilot evaluating a partnered maintenance contract and a traditionally tendered deal. The partnered scheme was 11% cheaper and the council signed on for a five-year partnered deal.

Ian Gould, property officer at Cheshire County Council, which is going down the same road, says: "It is something that, as an authority, we thought we should be doing. We have not been happy with the quality and cost of capital projects." This view is echoed by Chris George, Gosport's head of operational services. "This process gives us the opportunity to explore different options and to be more creative with our services," he says.

Pricing and financial transparency are central to a number of schemes. Dorset County Council and Buro Happold have agreed an open-book account system under which the client sees how much the contractor spends on overheads and can work out how much it should make.

West Wiltshire Council and Russell Construction have gone one step further by installing an ISDN link between client and contractor so the council can access the construction firm's accounts whenever it wishes.

This openness on costs and prices means that the contractor can concentrate on the project instead of talking to lawyers about claims.

Keith Carey, business development manager with Laing Partnership Housing, admits that this system does not lead to vast profits. "What it is doing is ringfencing margins. Because we are not spending time arguing with clients on delays and contract issues, we have a better chance of achieving those margins," he says.

Hackney is looking at options including construction management. The key is to become an intelligent client, as I know there is a weakness in public construction clients

Noel Foley (left), Hackney council

Fears that best value would lead to sweetheart deals settled after a few whiskies at the golf club have proved unfounded. Strict monitoring procedures and the fact that there is no contractual promise of work on many long-term deals means contractors are being kept on their toes. Buro Happold group manager Martin Duffy says the Dorset deal is on a project-by-project basis. If the consultant did not come up to scratch, it didn't get the next job. "There is no way it can become a comfy relationship as we are only as good as the last job," says Duffy.

There's room for small builders, too
The jury is still out, however, over fears that small builders would be frozen out of bread-and-butter work as small jobs were rolled up into multimillion-pound long-term deals.

Clearly, small builders have lost out in some cases. But North Tyneside Council is using a local contractor as part of its capital works team and Gloucestershire County Council has also included local contractors on its long list for capital works after a best value review, which found that clients such as headmasters and librarians preferred Joe Bloggs Roofing from around the corner to a national contractor.

Federation of Master Builders director-general Ian Davis remains undecided about the impact of best value on small builders. He says: "Gloucestershire is the sort of change our members will be looking for, but it is difficult to get a clear picture. Best value is still relatively new and there can be 400 different approaches in 400 different councils." Some of these approaches resemble compulsory competitive tendering. Phil Cusack, northern business development manager for Moss, says there has been little action on the partnering front in North-west England.

His firm has five tenders on its books for council jobs worth between £250,000 and £3m, and all are being tendered traditionally. Hugh Roberts, WS Atkins' director of property design in the South-east, says there are a number of best value success stories, but these are outweighed by those that are floundering. "Good partnering arrangements are a bit like truth and beauty: you know it when it is there, but not what constitutes it," he says.

Constructors Liaison Group chief executive Rudi Klein believes that best value is still fighting an uphill struggle against the adversarial tactics of compulsory competitive tendering, in particular the use of retention. Klein says: "Some councils are doing quite radical things and partnering is de rigueur, but generally we haven't seen a radical change. Changing the mindset is going to be a hell of a job." The greatest obstacles are the regulations established within councils to ensure that they are acting properly. Standing orders dictate the number of tenders that must be looked at and financial regulations dictate the point at which the contractor can negotiate with the council.

Authorities that have introduced partnering have successfully waived regulations in standing orders. As Cusack says, with disappointment: "When I tell local authorities that where we can bring benefit is getting involved with the job early, many say, 'That's great but standing orders don't allow it'." The process of transforming the mindset of local government was never going to be rapid. But there is a tremendous amount of information-sharing going on among councils that does bode well for the future.

Contractors are also eager to give local authorities a push. Willmott Dixon has employed Jim Marler as head of partnering to deal with local authorities and best value. The firm has also taken Marler on a roadshow with company chairman Sir Michael Latham and has organised workshops with a number of councils. The firm has picked up about 12 partnering contracts since it started doing this.

One year on, it seems that there are enough good examples of partnering schemes to raise the profile of best value.