Achieving Excellence in Construction
The British Government’s OGC (Office of Government Commerce) provides an excellent online repository of documents addressing its guidelines for achieving excellence in construction.
In one of its documents, it outlines the following critical factors for success:
- Leadership and commitment from the project’s Senior Responsible Owner (SRO)
- Involvement of key stakeholders throughout the project
- Roles and responsibilities clearly understood by everyone involved in the project, with clear communication lines
- An integrated project team consisting of client, designers, constructors and specialist suppliers, with input from facilities managers/operators
- An integrated process in which design, construction, operation and maintenance are considered as a whole
- Design that takes account of functionality, appropriate build quality and impact on the environment
- Commitment to excellence in health and safety performance
- Procurement and contract strategies that ensure the provision of an integrated project team
- Risk and value management that involves the entire project team, actively managed throughout the project
- Award of contract on the basis of best value for money over the whole life of the facility, not lowest tender price
- Commitment to continuous improvement
- Commitment to best practice in sustainability
The OGC’s respository for construction projects currently consists of:
The Achieving Excellence Series:
- Construction Projects Pocketbook
- Initiative into Action
- Project Organisation
- Project Procurement Lifecycle
- Risk and Value Management
- The Integrated Project Team
- Procurement and Contract Strategies
- Whole-Life costing
- Improving Performance
- Design Quality
- Health and Safety
- Sustainability
And …
- A Manager’s Checklist
- Common Minimum Standards
- Guide to Best ‘Fair Payment’ Practices
- Making competition work for you
These are well worth a read for anyone involved in the construction business, particularly within a Government environment.
You can access the documents at the OGC site here
