Meeting the Egan-compliance deadline is easier than you think.
All registered social landlords must get client charter status from the Confederation of Construction Clients, to show that they are changing their practices to comply with the Egan culture of construction procurement, by the Housing Corporation's notional deadline of 2004 if they are to keep their corporation funding. So far, 63 have managed it, and more are applying each day.

Assess – then act
Compliance means taking a hard look at your organisation's working practices and assessing how close you are to fulfilling the 37 requirements laid out by the Housing Corporation. These requirements cover things like encouraging sustainable construction methods, training your staff, treating suppliers fairly and managing the supply chain. You must then give the corporation an action plan saying how you are going to meet the remaining requirements within three to five years.

For many RSLs, this seems like a long-winded process that's going to get in the way of day-to-day work. But often it's less effort than they expect, says Charles Johnston, chairman of MDA, a consultant that specialises in helping RSLs achieve compliance. "Quite often associations find they have very good processes in place already and meet more requirements than they initially thought." For instance, if you are in the Investors in People programme, you will already be fulfilling many of the human resources criteria.

Get your board on side
Johnston says: "It's very important to have a senior board member as champion of the process because it shows senior board commitment. Boards often relish the process as a chance to show how good their practices are." The Housing Corporation can give you a computer presentation on the charter to show your board.

Then, decide whether to go for full client charter status or to opt for the mini-charter. This was devised by the Housing Corporation for smaller RSLs that spend less than £1.5m a year on construction. Instead of 37 criteria, it uses 15.

The next step is to register your interest, pay your fee of £1116.25 (including VAT) and get an information pack. You can do this on the CCC website, ww.clientsuccess.org. You will get a Charter Toolkit to guide you through setting out, measuring and monitoring your performance programme.

Get some expert advice
The CCC will only give advice to its members. However, you don't have to join the CCC to get client charter status and there is plenty of other advice around for non-members. The National Housing Federation can give you a step-by-step guide to participating in the charter. As for constultants, besides MDA, Achilles – the consultant that's coordinating the charter process for the housing sector – can give expert advice, and the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, the Construction Best Practice Programme, the Construction Clients' Forum, the National Audit Office, the Construction Industry Board and the Health and Safety Executive all have useful publications available.

It's also helpful to meet other organisations that are going for compliance so you can share ideas and best practice; the CCC and Achilles run regular training sessions. There will be five in November, with more to follow.

Submit your plan
When you're ready, submit your improvement programme and the supporting evidence to the Housing Corporation. You will then be able to use the charter logo and access online reports to help you judge how well you are doing against your plan, the key performance indicators that are the basis of the programme and – anonymously – the progress of other organisations.

  • Implementing the Clients' Charter: a Step-by-Step Guide is available from the NHF on 0870 010 7676 or email publications@housing.org.uk

  • Other advice and helpful publications can be obtained via www.odpm.gov.uk, www.hse.gov.uk, www.cbpp.gov.uk and www.housingcorp.gov.uk