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Author: Adam Jones, Strategic Change Manager - Capital Commercial, Department for Education
The round table workshop discussions held on the afternoon of the Hub’s Construction Innovation Day brought together a broad range of expertise and perspectives from across industry, consultancy and public sector to exchange views on the ‘future of platform delivery.’ These discussions were structured around: vision of the end state; supply and demand factors and measuring improvement.
Contributions were wide ranging and diverse viewpoints and reflections were shared during each of the workshop sessions. On Table 1 (Education sector) some key recurring themes were:
“End users should always be at the centre of what we do”.
Attendees commented that the development and adoption of platform approaches that encompass products, people and processes sometimes entail complex theoretical debates. What is particularly important in all these explorations is that we should never lose focus on our end users who remain at the heart of all we do.
When we develop any new process or approach to project delivery we should always be challenging ourselves to consider how these might contribute to providing excellent quality spaces and places to help deliver an excellent education for all children and learners, while also powering our economy, strengthening society and increasing fairness.
“We need to continue to transition decision-making processes from capital cost towards value creation”.
Attendees agreed that investments in social infrastructure can have significant beneficial impacts on our society and as a government department it is vital that we maximise the value generated by every pound of capital investment.
By making properly considered value-based decisions throughout the project life cycle, government departments can demonstrate that policy is being translated into meaningful outcomes across project portfolios that support better social, economic and environmental solutions and deliver a better built environment.
“Government departments can leverage their pipeline of work to create operational environments that stimulate innovation and collaboration.”
Some attendees shared their experiences of responding to the challenges of recent years and all agreed that taking a ‘long view’ can be beneficial both in realising the progress we have made, but also looking ahead to plan our future direction of travel.
Attendees observed that valuable innovation is occurring across many sectors of the UK economy, often driven by market forces and that the DfE has actively supported the development of manufactured approaches to construction which includes offsite manufacture, DfMA and platforms.
It was noted that as one of the UK’s largest construction clients, DfE Capital has a unique opportunity to continue to leverage some of its pipeline of work to stimulate innovative pilot projects and develop improvements in productivity, value generation and economic, social and environmental sustainability. Government can contribute to accelerating UK’s economic growth by creating the right environment for innovation and collaboration with industry partners, researchers and the wider supply chain.
Author: Daisie Rees-Evans, Policy and Public Affairs at Chartered Institute of Building
The Construction Innovation Day was an excellent example of how bringing together professionals from across the built environment to learn and discuss the future can help the industry develop and grow.
The presentations on the Product Platforms and the Construction Innovation Hub’s new Product Platform Rulebook will undoubtedly be an important tool to drive greater productivity in construction as will help support the development of better collaboration within and across organisations for a project.
It is important to recognise there are various factors that create barriers for productivity in the industry, such as planning, materials shortages, and weather. However, if the industry has a rulebook to follow which will allow better communication to problem-solve and work around potential delays then this will help alleviate some of the issues we face.
Discussions with the Department for Education to understand the current barriers for innovation at both a Client and Contractor level were particularly useful. It was interesting to hear perspectives from individuals who work within the school sector on the current bureaucracy that prevents work being delivered and hinders young people visiting projects for future career inspiration. Conversations about how government could help enable innovation by creating simpler processes and funding mechanisms were also helpful and need to continue. All sectors across construction are facing similar issues when it comes to red tape and trying to work with clients to meet expectations whilst delivering within a tight budget and timeline which is not conducive for innovation.
The need for competent workers to ensure compliance with health and safety regulations, in addition to constructing high quality safe buildings is also paramount. Both quality and competency of the built environment must remain a high priority and clients must make sure the contractors they’re employing are competent. Clients should be looking at contracting businesses and members who belong to professional bodies, such as CIOB, as those who belong will have been certified as someone who is a competent and ethical professional in their field.
It’s important to acknowledge the role technology can play in improving the cost, time, sustainability, and productivity of the workforce. Proving that we can have a built environment that is adaptable and resilient to the changing demands of its users.
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