An organisation established to improve the image of the construction industry has launched its latest initiative — to promote better collaboration between clients, contractors, subcontractors and suppliers.
The Considerate Constructors Scheme (CCS) was set up in 1997 as a non-profit-making, independent organisation to promote the Code of Considerate Practice. Construction sites, building companies and suppliers were asked to register and follow the scheme’s voluntary code to improve the appearance of sites and to respect the surrounding community and protect the environment.
Now the CCS has unveiled its Ultra Sites scheme — developed in collaboration with Canary Wharf Contractors Ltd — to be awarded to individual sites “that take considerate construction to the highest level”.
Developers and construction firms can be considered after a number of suppliers and subcontractors engaged with a site are also registered with the CCS. Ultra Sites will then receive regular monitoring and must commit to operating at the very highest standards across the scheme’s Code of Considerate Practice.
“We are delighted to be an organisation spearheading greater collaboration throughout the industry,” explained the CCS’s chief executive, Edward Hardy.
“The construction industry is acutely aware of its need to work more closely together, and is increasingly realising the commercial, social and environmental benefits of greater integration.
“Canary Wharf Contractors have championed Ultra Sites from the outset and we’re thrilled to have their expertise as part of the consortium. Ultra Sites are the next level of achieving even greater standards and collaboration across the entire industry,” he added.
With more than 85,000 sites already monitored by the umbrella scheme, Hardy said that “because the very nature of monitoring sites is on-the-ground, in real-time, we are ideally placed to encourage and evaluate collaborative activities”.
Dr Diana Montgomery is chief executive at the Construction Products Association (CPA), a co-owner of the Considerate Constructors Scheme. “Improving collaboration across the construction supply chain is a central component of the CPA’s role in promoting and campaigning for construction product manufacturers and distributors,” she said.
“Ultra Sites will help greatly in improving and promoting the positive benefits of the supply chain working together more effectively.”
The CCS is primarily targeted at sectors of the construction activity that may have a direct or indirect impact on the image of the industry as a whole and concentrates on traditional areas of concern such as interaction with the general public, workforce safety and the impact on the environment.
In January this year the organisation introduced the Best Practice Hub, a comprehensive online resource showcasing best practice in the construction industry. The hub hosts a wealth of tips, expertise, guidance and case studies to help constructors learn from their peers and raise industry standards.
