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At the end of last year, Professor David Mosey published his independent review of public sector construction frameworks, titled ‘Constructing the Gold Standard’, on behalf of the Cabinet Office.

The review was commissioned following the publication of the Construction Playbook which sets out key policies and guidance on how public works projects and programmes are assessed, procured and delivered.

Published December 2020, one of the recommended policy reforms from the Construction Playbook was ‘Effective Contracting’, which aims to ensure contracts are structured to support an exchange of data and collaboration, while improving value and managing risk, with clear expectations for continuous improvement.

So why do we need a Gold Standard?

According to Professor Mosey’s review, there are more than 2,000 public sector construction frameworks currently active. While some of these deliver improved value and enable excellent project outcomes, others are less ambitious and less successful.

The Gold Standard was developed to help both clients and suppliers identify what questions they should ask when using construction frameworks, what answers they should expect and how they can make informed decisions.

As a client what can a Gold Standard for frameworks achieve?

According to the review, a Gold Standard for frameworks and framework contracts can drive strategic actions to deliver:

• Better, safer, faster and greener outcomes from projects and programmes of work;
• Net zero carbon and social value targets through agreed joint actions;
• Improved safety through whole-life value and optimal use of digital information;
• Industry investment through aggregation, standardisation and optimal use of modern methods of construction (MMC);
• Improved efficiency and innovation through strategic use of early supply chain involvement (ESI);
• Improved contributions from small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs), including local and regional businesses;
• Efficiency savings through collaboration and consistent, documentation

A Gold Standard for CPC

These may seem lofty ambitions, but Professor Mosey’s recommendations come as no surprise to CPC. Indeed, many of the Gold Standard features reflect our current practices and all CPC frameworks already use the framework alliance contract (FAC-1).

As a not-for-profit framework provider, we have long promoted initiatives to reduce framework costs for suppliers. For example, with CPC frameworks there is no cost for being on the framework or for bidding – only if a supplier gets work through the framework do they pay a % levy, and only after their invoices have been paid by clients. We also ensure a limited number of places on each workstream and lots, to ensure suppliers have a good probability of securing work (more like 1 in 5, compared to 1 in 20 which is common among many commercial framework providers).

Moreover, there are significant benefits for local authorities, housing associations and NHS Trusts, many of whom still try and run their own fragmented procurement processes for individual projects without realising the significant collaboration, social value and economic benefits of working through not-for-profit framework suppliers.

Collaboration is king

The review states, “Frameworks provide an excellent medium for long-term collaborative commitments between framework providers, clients, managers and suppliers, enabling them to build successful relationships and to benefit from strategic relationship management.”

Clients play a pivotal role in this collaborative approach. Whether it’s newbuild construction or the refurbishment and maintenance of existing portfolios, a long-term view is needed. For this reason, at CPC and within the wider LHC group, we recommend that every local authority, housing association and public sector client should have a committed, and ideally approved, programme of work for at least three years ahead.

As an industry we all acknowledge that contractors compete for clients’ work, but what is generally less recognised is that as a client, the reverse is also often true – clients are competing for the attention of contractors’ bid teams. Regardless of the value of the programme, longer term commitments, early warning, and a collaborative approach to the procurement itself are crucial to increase the attractiveness of the contract and to secure the right contractor.

By fostering and nurturing long-term strategic client and supplier relationships, CPC aims to deliver better outcomes for all parties in the long term, rather than delivering a short-term gain for a few.

Delivering social value

Another key aspect of the Gold Standard framework is the delivery of social value through projects. The review recommends evaluation of proposals and call-offs should use balanced criteria that include quality, social value and net zero greenhouse gas emissions.

Delivering social value is a cornerstone of CPC’s ethos. Through our framework decisions, we support local businesses and SMEs and give back to the community via our community benefit fund. As a non-profit organisation, we return any surplus to our clients’ contracting authorities, to support social value initiatives for local communities in the north of England.

This year, as part of our social value initiative we are offering a free energy efficiency stock condition survey to local authorities, social landlords, ALMOs and tenant management organisations. You can find out more here.

MMC made as easy as 123

A further recommendation from the review is for contracting authorities to look for opportunities to work together, to benefit from the economies of scale achievable from MMC. The review suggests that this approach will help to sustain MMC production lines through multiple clients working together to develop cross-sector solutions.

At CPC and throughout the wider LHC group, we have successfully established a number of MMC clusters with the aim of doing just that; bringing together multiple parties to benefit from increased economies of scale to deliver better outcomes for all.

The future is golden

Looking ahead, we will continue to offer the highest standards to our customers, ensuring that all our frameworks achieve the Gold Standard recommendations, as part of our commitment to continuous improvement

To find out more about all our frameworks, click here.

To view our case studies and learn more about how working with CPC can help to deliver successful projects, click here.

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