Improvement & Efficiency

The foundation of Improvement and Efficiency in the Public Sector and the Private Sector is the Clients' Commitments.

“The Clients’ Commitments provides a simple yet effective framework to enable you to get better value from your construction procurement and to engage your supply chain partners more effectively in your project decision making process. The 6 guides cover the critical areas vital to delivering success on your construction project. We encourage you to sign up to the Clients’ Commitments to gain access to these guides and the associated guidance, training and products and services that the Construction Clients’ Group is developing through its membership to enable you to deliver project success."

Source: Construction Clients' Group

WMCCE provides support to all sizes of organisation to enable good awareness of the Clients' Commitments and the 2012 Construction Commitments through its Business Improvement Programme.

Clients' Charter

The Commitments stem from the Clients' Charter which provides a clear statement to commitment of Client performance. Charter Clients do not pay lipservice to culture change but are prepared to measure their progress against an agreed programme with incrreasingly demanding targets. [Source: The clients' Charter]

A complete review and feedback process took place during 2007/2008 which indicated that the Charter needs some development to improve its usability and robustness and that the Charter needs to be linked to the 2012 commitments.

A new process has been developed by a Construction Clients' Group working group and the revised version of the Charter will be underpinned by benchmarking, diagnostic, accreditation and training/coaching to reduce barriers to usage. The Charter has been re-branded as the Clients' Commitments. It will be a unique tool that engages the demand and supply sides in the 2012 commitments.

Clients' Commitments in more detail

The Commitments have now been launched and further information on them can be found at the CCG website.

In summary, the commitments are as follows:

  1. Procurement & Integration - to include transparency in procurement decision, selection on best value, early contractor involvmenet, integrated and collaborative working principles, fair payment policies, risk management, non-confrontation, fair employment, non-adversarial ways of working
  2. Commitment to People - to include local community involvement, training & development, equal opportunities, project specific agreements, considerate sites, collaborative behaviours
  3. Client Leadership - to include clear client vision, adquate client resource, detailed brief, clear objectives, championing of best practice, clear and collaborative procurement policy, working within the project team, commissioned before handover
  4. Sustainability - to include recognition of an overarching government and industry Strategy for Sustainable Construction, addressing environmental, social and economic aspects, business case and targets set within contracts, addressing resource use, waste minimisation and low carbon performance, employment, training and local community engagement, consideration of the local natural environment and the environment of the local community
  5. Design Quality - to include the client's clear brief before design commences, selection of appropriate designers, encourage of visionary designs, practical, funcional and operational designs, meeting the needs of clients and users, ensuring whole life value, innovation, third party design reviews, exploitation of IT-based collaborative tools and communication technologies
  6. Health & Safety - to include risk register inclusive of health & safety key risks, aspiration to be injury and accident free, availability of occupational health support, utilisation of guidance as appropriate, qualification equivalent to CSCS, and demonstration of compliance with client obligations under current CDM regulations.

 Further background information can be found on the Best Practice page of this site.