UK infrastructure action plan proposed

Senior construction industry figures in the UK have proposed an action plan to improve the way in which infrastructure assets are procured and managed, including changes to supply chains and contracts.

In a series of roundtable discussions that form the basis of a new report from Pinsent Masons, Infrastructure in the New Era, over 50 senior figures from the government and construction industry, including representatives from Balfour Beatty, Bam Group, Costain, Fluor, Vinci and the Construction Products Association, reached a consensus on the need for change.

Business rethink

They concluded that the current economic crisis had changed the landscape for all involved in the UK construction industry, and companies must rethink their approach to business in order to survive in a new economic era.

The report states that while infrastructure has a stronger outlook than the rest of the construction industry in the UK - with rail, water, nuclear and renewable energy among those sectors looking to grow - ensuring long-term value is crucial.

It recommends that infrastructure clients promote competition with suppliers based upon the performance of infrastructure assets over their lifetime rather than just focusing competition on capital cost.

It also calls for information on best practice for integrated supply chains to be shared between different parts of the industry, providing for all aspects from infrastructure planning and design, to delivery and maintenance.

Removing waste

The action plan also calls for industry professionals to invest in "lean production" - removing wasteful and inefficient processes from the planning, design, delivery and management phases of infrastructure projects.

And modern collaborative forms of contract, such as the New Engineering and Construction Contract

(NEC) should also be widely adopted in the infrastructure sector in an effort to align the interests of clients and suppliers further.

The action plan, which is intended as a manifesto or "deal" for clients and supply chain teams, also suggests that early involvement of all partners in the supply chain is also critical to improving efficiency and productivity.

"Operational managers, specialist contractors, product manufacturers and suppliers are too often excluded from early decisions which have the greatest direct influence over asset delivery and performance, yet it is their operational strategies, products' installation and performance which determine long-term success," the report states.

Pinsent Masons is working with the construction industry leaders with the aim of developing and influencing UK government policies, including the government's National Infrastructure Plan as well as the Construction Strategy.