One of the last acts of the soon-to-be-defunct CLG is to develop proposals for integrated supply teams. We hear the views of specialist contractors.
The production of a consultation paper on recommendations for the development of integrated supply teams for the construction industry is moving so fast that by the time you receive information it's probably already out of date.

The working party within the Strategic Forum for Construction charged with delivering this paper hopes to have the document out by mid-May, with the final report on the table in June. Not only has it had to meet an accelerated programme (the original schedule required completion in October 2002), but it has seen its remit expanded, in particular, with the surprise inclusion of payment issues within its responsibilities.

The working party is led by the Constructors' Liaison Group (CLG) and will be one of the last acts of the CLG before it is wound up. As CLG chairman John Harrower reflects, on one day of the process, three drafts of the document were agreed and produced. Keeping up with the latest editions is becoming a difficult task in its own right but, at the same time, this reflects the urgency with which the initiative is being pushed.

The key proposals
In essence, integrating supply teams is about establishing the role of the specialist contractor in the design stages of the building project, and of mutual responsibilities. In other words, the whole team gains or loses by the actions of each party.

These objectives sit neatly with the long-term aim of centralising the role of the contractor within the construction team, and are part and parcel of the initiatives kick-started by Michael Latham, which are currently under the auspices of John Egan.

Last year’s Foresight Constructing the future report found that 60% of total construction site accidents can be attributed to decisions made before site work began

John Harrower, CLG chairman

This latest strand to the broader momentum for change hopes to push the concept forward through what the CLG working party charged with its production describes as 'key levers'. These levers (originally six but now eight) are:

  • CDM Regulations – the CLG hopes that it can win Health and Safety Executive (HSE) backing for supply chain integration becoming a prerequisite for improved safety performance on site;
  • mutual project insurance – a model exists for a project rather than the individual members of the construction team being insured. This would be a significant step in breaking the blame culture that exists in the construction industry;
  • public sector acceptance – with a high proportion of jobs funded by the Government, the CLG hopes to persuade it to become a best practice employer, including insistence on integrated supply teams. Local government is another matter;
  • priority funding – benchmarking, good practice and KPIs: all part of measuring the effectiveness of real jobs using integrated supply teams;
  • institutions and associations – these, says the CLG, should become the medium for encouraging and facilitating integrated supply team initiatives;
  • toolkits – with many clients inexperienced at procuring building teams, a toolkit should be provided to lead them through step by step;
  • logistics – one of two new areas that the working party has been asked to address, this covers best practice, just-in-time techniques and the like;
  • payment – a surprise inclusion within this project, Sir John Egan has asked the working party to re-examine payment practices within the industry after learning that things are not improving.

"The most important levers are the CDM Regulations and project insurance," says CLG chairman John Harrower. "We've been talking to the Health and Safety Executive about this incredible fact that came out from last year's Foresight Constructing the future report that found 60% of total construction site accidents can be attributed to decisions made before the site work began."

He hopes that the HSE can be persuaded to write supply chain integration into the CDM Regulations, any alterations ensuring that "buildings are not just safe during the construction phase, but are safe to use and safe to maintain".

He also believes that a change in the approach to insurance could reap big dividends for the integrated supply team process. Under the current proposals, instead of each individual party insuring itself, the project team (including the client) would be jointly insured. According to Harrower, Drake & Scull's Martin Davis, the principal proponent of this idea, says that such products are already available and the key to moving this forward is to find pilot projects where the approach can be tested and evaluated.

"As far as this approach goes, there are a lot of savings to be made, especially on paperwork," says CLG executive secretary John Nelson. "Although insurers are a little bit more nervous about insuring the whole project post 11 September, willing companies are still out there. We'd like to get an early result on this. It's important that the clients, contractors and designers can see a profit in taking this way forward. I think that the integrated supply team can offer big savings, especially for SMEs.

"With the CDM Regulations, there are still a lot of electricians being killed out there and, though there are a lot of reasons why it happens, we hope that the HSE will revise the Regulations and make safety paramount."

Of course, persuasion has always been the big issue with everything to do with changing the construction process. Despite the raft of proposals and recommendations, it's real projects and real work using new principles that makes the difference. Both Harrower and Nelson see central government as crucial to achieving implementation of this new strategy.