CECAcommunicatesthe newsletter of the civil engineering contractors association

ISSUE 78, JULY 2011

His is fast becoming the most recognised face in UK construction, and everyone is after a meeting right now. For members who couldn’t make the discussion CECA arranged with the government’s Chief Construction Advisor Paul Morrell this month, our main feature in this issue of communicates should bring you up to speed in less than eight hundred words.

Also included are a couple of important updates members should take note of, including the future of the ICE Conditions of Contract and the conclusions of the latest pay negotiations from the CIJC. As always we’ve covered all the latest developments from Westminster, including the Infrastructure UK Charter, the report into low carbon construction from the Department for Business, and the Electricity Market Reforms that could see a new fleet of nuclear plants constructed.

As always, there’s detailed coverage of how CECA is delivering where you are.

Also Inside:

2//First Words

Photo

cre

dit:

BIS

4-6//Regional News

7//Strategic Roads Review

7//ONS Figures

9//Project Spotlight

10//Charter for Infra-structure

11//Workplace Pen-sions

12//Construction Pipeline

7//Conditions of Con-tract

PAUL MORRELL:

IN THE ROOM

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CECAcommunicates

FIRST WORDS

Mark Roper, CECA Managing Director

Welcome to the July issue of communicates.

For the rest of the country it’s time for summer holidays and the seaside, but there’s no time for a break at CECA. We’re still busy fighting for members’ interests and ensuring your voice is heard, and there’s plenty to keep you updated in this issue of communicates.

There’s only one man who everyone wants to talk to in construction at the moment: Paul Morrell, the government’s chief construction advisor. CECA was able in the last month to organise a meeting for members with Mr Morrell where they had the opportunity to hear the government’s real priorities for the construction industry first hand, and feedback to him face-to-face. Of course, the process of feeding back is not instant, and we’ll keep members up-to-date with the latest developments through the Weekly Updates and this newsletter.

Naturally, we’re on top of everything else going on in and around the corridors of power, and in this communicates you’ll find briefings on the new Charter from Infrastructure UK, and the report from the Department for Business’ Innovation and Growth Team Report on low carbon construction. And that’s not all; we’re clear that our members’ interests are best served by our neutrality, so we’ve also been talking to Labour’s shadow minister for roads John Woodcock, and you’ll find a report from that meeting on page 10.

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But you know even better than we do that there’s far more to life than politics, and CECA hasn’t been ignoring the needs of the broader industry. When the Institution of Civil Engineers announced last year it was ending its involvement with the Conditions of Contract that bears its name, CECA and our partners at the ACE took the decision to take on the responsibility for keeping them updated and relevant. You can read more about our plans for the Conditions of Contract, and how we’re planning to keep it going, inside.

So behind the scenes we’re working hard at CECA, but we’re also planning something very exciting and very visible. Our brand identity has remained the same since we started out in 1996, but very much like our members, the work we do has changed a great deal. We hold ourselves to higher standards now than we ever have before, and our identity as an organisation has failed to keep up with the professional, helpful service we aim to provide for members.

So in addition to a new, more personal, easier to navigate website, we’re also busy designing a new brand identity for ourselves, one that better matches and represents the high quality work done by our members. A new brand will enable us to speak as the voice of our industry with greater confidence and allow us to take into account the changes that have taken place in civil engineering over the years since we were founded. We hope you’re as excited about it as we are, and there are already opportunities to have your say. See more detail on our new branding on page 12.

Yet with our new brand coming, we are aiming higher than ever. If there is ever anything you need help with, don’t hesitate to get in touch with your regional CECA office, or contact our national office on 0207 340 0450.

We’ve got plenty to keep us busy over the summer as we work to analyse the results of our most recent Workload Trends report, and prepare for political conferences this autumn.

Enjoy the summer break if you have one, and I hope you find much of interest in this issue of communicates.

Sincerely,

Mark Roper

CECA Managing Director

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CECAcommunicates

“I don’t think there’ll be a better opportunity to redesign the industry”

CECA talks to Paul Morrell, the government’s Chief Construction Adviser

Paul Morrell is the name on everyone’s lips at the moment, and the man everyone in the construction industry wants to talk to. The government’s Chief Construction Adviser, not only has the ear of senior government ministers, but he also chairs the new Government Construction Board (GCB), designed to drive changes to the way government interacts with construction firms.

With government a major customer of the infrastructure sector, Mr Morrell is an important figure. Last month CECA members got their chance to speak to him face-to-face to discuss changes to public sector construction procurement.

He wasted no time in emphasising the purpose of the current government focus on the construction industry, the savings of 20% the government wants to make.

Mr Morrell outlined two core ideas that underpin the construction strategy: making the government a better client, and enabling industry to unleash its own potential.

“Genuinely, no one is looking for the industry to work without sufficient margin”

Improving government as a client

Mr Morrell was clear that the manner in which the government has historically procured construction projects needs to change, with a fundamental rethink about what the government, as a client, needs to know, and needs to ask. He suggested three questions that need to be asked:

How do construction projects deliver value?•

How is this best communicated in a formal way to • the supply side?

How much should a project like this cost?•

He believes that by specifying desired outcomes rather than methods, contractors are far freer to come up with innovative new solutions to meet those needs. Solutions which, the government hopes, will also cut costs. He is clear that is should not be up to government to command cost-cutting ideas, rather it should be up to suppliers, when dealing with a knowledgeable client, to develop and suggest more efficient solutions to common problems.

That said, he suggested greater use of Building Information Modelling (BIM) could be used far more widely among civil engineering firms as a means to demonstrate the whole-life cost implications of certain projects.

He was clear that government does not envisage making its 20% savings from construction firms’ margins. Rather, it can come out of a more intelligent procurement

process.

While contractors will doubtless agree that the state can become a more intelligent client, Mr Morrell did strike some notes of caution. He emphasised the difficulty of creating even a two-year public project pipeline, noting that central departments do not have the final say for most major projects despite sourcing the money to fund them.

He also warned that ‘stop-start’ construction could never be exterminated in a democratic political system, although he did promise greater visibility of the consequences of stopping projects once started. Taken alongside the impossibility of government using a single supply chain for all its work, means public projects cannot be viewed in the same way as projects funded and run by the private sector.

He explained that this strategy is only valid for decisions taken in Westminster, and not those taken by devolved assemblies and local authorities. It is hoped, he claimed, that that voters across the UK will reward assemblies and local authorities who develop a track record of well-managed and efficiently procured projects.

“If tier one fails to support the supply chain, the government feels it needs to.”

Changes to the supply side

Integration is the key government expectation of contractors, placing the responsibility firmly with tier one firms to integrate their projects right down their supply chain. Mr Morrell pointed to the government’s real concern for the state of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and warned that if large contractors proved unable or unwilling to support the lower supply chains, they would step in.

He was clear that more tier one firms need to look at their supply chains for integration, as well as with their clients, in order to secure the big savings the government wants to make, without cutting deeply into margins.

It’s a big change Mr Morrell is trying to bring about, and the government is a huge and unwieldy client, but an indispensible one nonetheless. If he can deliver what he promises, then savings are certainly possible, and CECA members are eager to see more taxpayers’ money fund projects on the ground rather than convoluted procurement processes. They’ll do their best to help government achieve their aims. The real challenge is whether government can really change.

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CECAcommunicates

CECA IN YOUR REGIONYorkshire and Humberside

Scotland

Wales

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Competitive rates available, contact calumbenson@ceca.co.uk

Active at HolyroodCECA Scotland have kept up their active programme of political campaigning over the last month, ensuring members’ views are heard at the heart of the Scottish parliament. CECA Scotland chief executive Alan Watt has maintained a close working relationship with the new Scottish Secretary for Infrastructure and Investment, and offered CECA’s position on greater borrowing powers for the Scottish parliament, as well as the Scottish government’s revised Infrastructure Investment Plan.

CECA Scotland has also been active to secure the relaunch of the cross-party group on construction in the Scottish parliament following May’s historic election.

Skills in WalesAs part of their dedication to building skills in the construction industry in Wales, CECA Wales director Rhodri-Gwynn Jones chaired the Welsh Construction Qualifications Advisory Group at the end of June, where participants discussed how Higher Apprenticeship models could better relate to construction, as well as Future Skills, Foundation Degrees, Pathways to Apprenticeships, the 14-19 strategy, NOS (National Occupational Standards) and CQS (Construction Qualifications Strategy) revisions.

Protecting Wales’ Environment

CECA Wales has been active in environmental forums in the region. CECA Wales director Rhodri-Gwynn Jones met with his counterpart at the Environment Agency in

Wales as part of an overall review of relations between the construction industry and environmental regulators. Discussions included the EA’s capital programme and contractor frameworks, the risks to critical infrastructure posed by climate change, and the proposed merger of the Environment Agency, Countryside Council for Wales and Forestry Commission into a single environmental body, possibly as soon as 2013.

Improving Procurement

CECA in Wales has continued working to improve procurement in the country through the Construction Procurement Strategy Steering Group, established by the Welsh government’s Minister for Finance. Items up for discussion included the introduction of a Welsh Fair Payment Policy, the development of a Construction Commitment Charter, the idea of Construction Project Procurement Lifecycles. The group also discussed the latest research on contract procurement and local authority capital programmes.

On the Right Track With Network Rail

CECA members in Yorkshire and Humberside had the opportunity to meet with representatives of Network Rail at the end of June. Ian Quick and Mike Philips gave members an overview of the new initiatives taking place inside Network Rail, developments focussing on delivering better value for money and improving supplier engagement. Members also had the opportunity to discuss Network Rail’s new methods of packaging works, and offered ideas of what improvements could be made to the tender process. Importantly, members were also given an overview of forthcoming works in the region.

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CECAcommunicates

Southern and South WestHelpful Liaisons

Members of CECA Southern have had the chance to meet representatives from major clients in the region over the past month. Over twenty met with representatives of Gatwick Airport, with whom they discussed the airport’s procurement strategy as well as future plans for the airport’s development. A smaller meeting also took place with Transport for London, one of the region’s largest single clients, and it is hoped this leads to a stronger relationship in the future.

Getting a Head StartFor the third year running, CECA South West supported the University of Plymouth’s ‘Headstart’ event, which took place on 13 July 2011. Headstart is backed by the Royal Academy of Engineering and is aimed at Year 12 students, interested in mathematics and engineering, to spend five days at the university during the summer, to encourage students to consider engineering degree courses and careers. It provides hands on experience of practical engineering problems and explains the various career routes available, including civil engineering. CECA South West and members supported this by holding an evening event for the students with presentations given by member contractors on why civil engineering is a rewarding career. Presentations were given by three young and very enthusiastic engineers; Rob Hayman from Raymond Brown Construction, Steve Withers from Dyer & Butler and Tom Rice from Interserve Project Services, on their route into the industry and their experiences to date. This was followed by an informal session where the Headstart students spoke with members about career opportunities and what it is like studying and working in the profession.

Behavioural Safety

Following the very successful programme of events run by CECA Scotland over the past three years, and the event run by CECA Southern in London last November, CECA South West are pleased to advise we will be running a behavioural safety event in Bristol on Wednesday 5 October.

It will be run in association with AKT Productions and is based on the highly successful production Terminal, already seen and praised by many large organisations in the UK.

Despite today’s economic climate, safety remains paramount and it is in everyone’s best interests to learn to avoid or prevent accidents. Terminal is based on a true story and involves a role play with actors exploring behavioural aspects of a true life accident that occurred at Gatwick Airport, which resulted in serious injury to members of the public. The performance allows the audience to view behaviours they have seen, even their own, objectively sitting in the audience.

This event is suitable for all employees; covering all levels of management, supervision, support staff and H&S professionals and is free to members of CECA South West and Southern. In view of its location, we also invite members of CECA Midlands and Wales to attend. If you would like to book a place on this half-day workshop or require further details please contact Leone Boyle leoneboyle@cecasouth.co.uk.

ICE London Water PanelThe ICE’s London region has recently established a water experts’ panel which aims to promote the value of water in London and the River Thames as among the city’s key assets, as well as using the professional expertise and experience of the ICE and its members to inform decisions that affect London’s water environment. In this regard, the ICE extended an invitation to CECA Southern to have a senior water industry contractor on the panel. Mark Allan, Director of Projects, Water Europe, Black & Veatch has agreed to represent CECA (Southern) members on the ICE London Water Panel and attended their first meeting on 27 June 2011.

In order to ensure appropriate support for Mark, and indeed to ensure he is in a position to reflect the consensus CECA position on the matters under consideration, CECA Southern will endeavour, in conjunction with CECA Director of External Affairs, Alasdair Reisner, to set up a meeting of interested (water sector) members within the region.

If members wish, we could perhaps use this as the springboard to set up a Water Group/Forum, which is a CECA Southern objective for 2011. If any members are interested in sitting on this panel, please contact Leone Boyle leoneboyle@cecasouth.co.uk

Nominations Now Open for Training Awards

CECA Southern and South West are both continuing their training awards programmes in support of young people new to the industry.

Members in both regions are encouraged to nominate trainees in the following categories:

Most promising apprentice• Most promising trainee civil engineer (technician • or graduate)Most promising trainee quantity surveyor•

Nominations are encouraged as part of CECA’s committment to recognising training and development. Winners are awarded with an engraved cup and cheque for £500.

CECA South West award winners will be presented with their prizes at the annual lunch on 30 September in Torquay, while CECA Southern winners will be presented with their prizes at the annual dinner at the Lancaster hotel in London on 2 November. For further details please contact leoneboyle@cecasouth.co.uk.

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CECAcommunicates

Understand today’s challenges to generate tomorrow’s opportunities

It is vital that CECA members understand the localism agenda in order to ensure that we continue to meet future skills needs in the civil engineering sector, says Jemma Carmody, the association’s Training Manager for Yorkshire & Humberside.

I recently attended a ‘Builders’ Breakfast’ event in Sheffield where construction businesses met with local authority representatives to explore ways of bolstering economic growth in the city and creating sustainable jobs within the construction and built environment sector.

The event focused on the coalition government’s ‘localism’ agenda and how the responsibility for delivering economic growth and job creation has been devolved to local communities, through the establishment of Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) and other initiatives.

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) has placed a great deal of emphasis on the creation of LEPs and, with this in mind, it is important for civil engineering firms to have a good dialogue with their counterparts at local authorities – a subject which was examined closely at the Builders’ Breakfast.

The event, hosted by CITB-ConstructionSkills in partnership with the Local Government Information Unit (LGiU) and Sheffield City Council, was part of a

series of events taking place across England this year to address growth in the sector. This is particularly important because the most recent Construction Skills Network (CSN) forecast highlights that the UK needs 43,000 new trained and qualified recruits each year to 2015 to fulfil the country’s order book. In addition, an average of 1,340 new civil engineers will be needed each year between 2011 and 2015.

Three key pieces of advice for all LEPs were highlighted. The first was the importance of appointing a local member of the construction sector to each LEP board. The Sheffield LEP has already done so and by doing this, council leaders have formed strong relationships with their peers at businesses in the city to develop projects that help to regenerate the area and give valuable skills to local people.

Another way of extending the dialogue between businesses and local authorities, which CITB-ConstructionSkills strongly encourages, is the creation of a sub-committee within each LEP that has a specific remit for construction and the built environment. This group would then be able to offer input on decisions for crucial factors such as planning, housing, sustainability, infrastructure, skills and employment.

Finally, it was suggested that a formal process between BIS local teams and CITB-ConstructionSkills be developed to integrate key skills, training information and advice into LEP strategic planning.

The event really emphasised the importance of the construction and built environment sector to local growth in Sheffield, and encouraged new ways of working between participants to ensure future skills needs for the sector can be fully understood and met.

Key issues such as apprenticeships and funding opportunities for employers were discussed, and the open forums provided a good opportunity for associations like CECA to put across the views of our members’ businesses.

I was involved in an interesting round table debate which included MP Clive Betts. We talked about pre-qualification issues for small to medium businesses, how businesses can be encouraged to recruit apprentices through traditional Group Training Association routes, and the current employment issues facing businesses in the Sheffield region. Factors such as these are important obstacles to overcome, and we must accept that the industry can’t find solutions on its own.

That’s why now, more than ever, we need to ensure strong partnerships between employers and government representatives at the local level, as well as at the national. These will act as a key driver for spurring economic recovery and creating sustainable jobs as we move on from the recession.

To find out more about the Builders’ Breakfast events and CITB-ConstructionSkills’ work with LEPs, visit www.cskills.org

Left to right: Andy Sawford, LGIU; Sarah Fenton, ConstructionSkills; Clive Betts MP and John Morthersole, Sheffield City Council

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CECAcommunicates

Strategic Roads Review

ONS Figures: Solid or Shaky?

From 1 August 2011 CECA and the Association for Consultancy and Engineering (ACE) will have taken formal ownership of what has historically been the ICE Conditions of Contract suite of contracts. The change follows the decision of the ICE to end its involvement with the contracts last year. CECA and ACE agreed to continue to support the development of the contracts in order to continue to provide an industry-standard alternative to the NEC suite of contracts in the market place.

The contracts will in future be known as the “Infrastructure Conditions of Contract” to better reflect the breadth of work being done in the industry. In the long term, a new advisory and select committee will be convened to advise on intellectual property and manage the contracts future development as laws and

the industry change to ensure they remain relevant and useful. Representation on this committee will reflect a wider selection of industry interests than the current arrangements offer, and the aim is to enable choice between contracts in the market.

In the short term, ACE will act as secretariat to to current Conditions of Contract Standing Joint Committee (CCSJC), until the formation of the new committtee. The CCSJC has completed drafting the amendments made necessary by the Construction Act, which is due to come into force this autumn, thereby ensuring a smooth transition to the new ownership. For further information, contact CECA director of external affairs Alasdair Reisner on 0207 340 0454, or by email at alasdairreisner@ceca.co.uk.

The Office for National Statistics’ (ONS) most recent figures for output in the construction industry were keenly awaited by the construction industry, as they were the first set to be released following the ONS’ rare decision to publicly defend the accuracy of its figures following widespread criticism of their methodology across the industry.

Concerns had been raised following a sharp divergence between the official ONS figures on the state of the industry, and the general feedback from industry surveys and reports, following the decision to move the official figures to a monthly report rather than quarterly. Senior industry figures went so far as to dismiss the official figures as “baloney”, while other analysts raised concerns that the existing methodology was not fit for reporting an accurate level of activity in the construction industry.

During its defence the ONS protested that firms may be filling in their surveys in different ways, possibly recording new orders or invoice data when output data was required. Graham Sharp, the head of construction at the ONS admitted: “We’d like to do some further analysis. Some firms may be struggling to give us the data we’re asking for.”

The actual release of the most recent data, construction output for May, was less controversial than many expected, with overall construction showing broadly flat on most measures, and infrastructure largely following the same trend. Interestingly, the data did show a slight but notable increase on output for the three months ending with May, compared to the snow-hit quarter previously, indicating the impact of ‘lag’ in data may be less marked than some believed.

The results from CECA’s current Workload Trends Survey will be available in the next few weeks, and will be analysed closely to see how they compare to the official, if much maligned, figures produced by the ONS.

CECA and ACE take over ICE Conditions of Contract

Hot on the heels of the recently published McNulty Rail Value-for-Money study, which involved a com-prehensive look at the UK rail sector, comes an equiv-alent study of England’s strategic roads network.

The Department for Transport has put together a team to look at the current structures for operating, main-taining and improving the strategic roads network.

At the heart of this review will be a look at the High-ways Agency, and the work that it carries out to de-liver these functions. The review was set up to inves-tigate whether the current structure of the agency offers the most effective way to manage the net-work, or whether other models should be considered.

CECA was invited to contribute to this review and met with officials from the Department – as well as counterparts from the Treasury and Highways Agen-cy – in June to provide initial feedback from industry.

Following this meeting CECA has agreed to provide fur-ther views from industry, and would welcome any com-ments from members who have opinions on this issue.

CECA will also be consulting with our Transport Group and Roads Forum, to ensure that any guidance given fully reflects the opinions of all members with an in-terest in the roads sector. A draft version of the re-sponse has already been circulated to the two groups.

We will be responding formally to the review team in early August. Could any member who would like be involved in the preparation of this response please contact CECA director of external affairs Alasdair Reisner on 0207 340 0454, or by email at:alasdairreisner@ceca.co.uk.

Following this initial response, we hope to meet again with the review team as they prepare their final advice to ministers in the autumn. We will keep members updated as this process goes on.

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CECAcommunicates

GOING UPCIJC agrees pay rises with

construction unions

Imag

e credit: jp

hilip

g via Flickr

The Construction Industry Joint Council (CIJC) has recently announced that following negotiations with signatory trade unions, a pay increase of 1.5% as been agreed with effect from 5th September 2011, thereby bringing an end to the pay standstill of the last two years. CECA is among a number of organisations that are parties to the agreement.

Commenting on the announcement, Gerry Lean, CIJC Employers Secretary, said that “Our industry continues to face the most challenging trading and economic conditions, and based on the economic forecasts there is little justification for increasing pay rates at this time.”

“However, CIJC employers are fully committed to maintaining this most important collective agreement as the premier agreement within the industry, and feel that it is essential to provide recognition to those who are the lifeblood of it and its future. We have tried to balance affordability with the preservation of jobs, and believe this to be the most sensible settlement for all parties.”

The changes mark the first increases in basic pay for construction workers since 2008, and reflect concerns over inflation in the wider economy. Construction wages have remained frozen through the downturn, while inflation has risen sharply.

CECA’s internal survey of members’ experience of inflation has shown that the costs of key materials have risen sharply. Fuel for example was up by around 10% while metals soared by over 6%. Staff costs have until now been a restraining influence on cost inflation, remaining flat, and these agreed increases, while modest, will bring them more into line with other production costs.

Full details of the settlement are available from the CECA website at: http://www.ceca.co.uk/SectionDocDetail.aspx?ContentID=22&SectionID=4&IsArchived=&DocumentID=334

Amey win first new CEEQUAL awardAmey has won the new CEEQUAL Term Contract Award for its work maintaining the Scottish road network in the south west of the country. The award is designed, as with all CEEQUAL awards, to recognise high standards of sustainability in civil engineering, and includes extensive environmental and social criteria that go well beyond industry standards. This new category is one way the scheme is broadening its outlook to recognise more examples of best practice.

Amey won particular praise for its efforts to mitigate any impact of its works on protected species including otters, badgers and bats, as well as its extensive efforts to maintain good relations with local communities. As part of their commitment to environmental issues, Amey also carried out Initial Environmental Reviews for over 400 schemes in south west Scotland.

Amey account director Colin MacKenzie (pictured below)commented on the award: “We are acutely aware that the network we manage for Transport Scotland, and our operations, have the potential for environmental impact and so through our team of sustainability specialists embedded in all aspects of the contract we work hard to identify and mitigate these factors.”L-R: Ian MacKay, Amey; Graham Edmond, Transport Scotland; Colin MacKenzie, Amey; Keith Sexton, Amey; Carol Walker, Amey

Glasgow’s ‘missing link’ opens early and under budget

The new M74 link through the East End of Glasgow opened to traffic on Tuesday 28 June, promising real economic benefits for a relatively deprived area of the country.

The 8km long scheme, Scotland’s largest ever single road construction project, was finished ahead of its original schedule and under budget by the Interlink M74 joint venture comprising Balfour Beatty, Morgan Est, Morrison Construction and Sir Robert McAlpine. All four are CECA members.

The mammoth project involved the construction of 14 major structures, 11m high embankments, 10m deep cuttings and 240,000 tonnes of asphalt, much of it over heavily contaminated land. Construction began in 2008 following the completion of a bespoke Transport Scotland design and build contract, and the project was paid for largely by Transport Scotland, with contributions from local authorities.

MEMBER NEWS

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CECAcommunicates

PROJECT SPOTLIGHT:

In April this year Barhale Trant Utilities completed their Hardham Water Resource Project, near Arundel in West Sussex, a 12-month long tidal abstraction scheme for Southern Water. The project was implemented in full consultation with the Environment Agency and Natural England, and is intended to safeguard water supplies to customers in Sussex, particularly in times of drought.

Southern Water’s 2004 Water Resources Plan indicated that demand would outstrip supply within the Sussex North WRZ by 2011/12. Since 1989 hosepipe bans have been in place for eight of the last 20 years. This compares with the ‘Level of Service’ requirement of one in ten years.

The scheme has been designed in order to provide support to Hardham during drought conditions, when the availability of water from its existing abstraction on the River Rother and groundwater resources becomes restricted.

The project aims to abstract water from the River Arun at Hardham, in the river’s tidal section downstream of Pulborough. The abstracted water is pumped to a new water storage pond, located on nearby farmland at Church Farm, and then pumped onwards via a new pipeline to the existing Hardham water treatment works across the A29 and a railway. From there the water will be treated before it enters the supply network.

The existing Hardham water supply works, supplying water to 100,000 households, already abstracts water from the River Rother at Hardham Weir, and from the Folkestone Beds groundwater aquifer beneath the Hardham site.

The development of this project forms part of Southern Water’s ‘twin track’ approach to balancing supply and demand, which includes extensive demand management measures such as leakage control, customer metering and customer water efficiency measures alongside the development of new water supplies.

The most notable new infrastructure consists of a raw water reservoir of 75 million litres, with a surface area of 2.1 ha and a depth of 7m. The surface is part covered with a HDPE liner area of 16,000m and a Verdacell UV protection area of 2,300m. Abstraction from the River Arun is via a two-tier structure created by piling. The river intake will abstract up to 231 l/s over 6 hours of each tidal cycle, through three 500mm diameter ‘T’ form slotted circular galvanised steel intake screens. The water is transferred to the reservoir via 500 dia pipe, length 0.5km.

Additionally the project required 1.2km of temporary roads, along with another 1.3km of permanent roads. Total excavation volume for the scheme was 360,000 m³. Archaeological digs saw 2000m of excavated trenches, with a survey area of 8ha.

Alongside the development of the scheme, a shallow wetland ‘scrape’ was created within the water meadows area immediately to the south of the main site. This offset the loss of 25m of river bank where the intake structure is constructed on the bank of the River Arun.

The scheme is located close to Pulborough, Waltham and Amberley Brooks, all of which are designated as Special Protection Areas (SPA), and a wetland of international importance.

The location of the storage pond meant it was constructed without having to import or export embankment materials, with on-site pumping stations and access tracks used for the scheme.

By excavating deep into underlying clay, the required height of the embankments could be lower, which reduced the visual impact of the project. This, when combined with designs which aimed to match the pre-existing ridge line, means that views of the completed site are extremely limited, and that the environmental impact of this important project has been successfully minimised.

Barhale’s Hardham Water Resource Plan

Workers build the 75 million litre reservoir on the Hardham Water Resource project

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Image credit: Trodel via Flickr

THE VIEW FROM

WESTMINSTER

In addition to CECA’s meeting with the government’s Chief Construction Advisor Paul Morrell (see p.3), CECA representatives this month also met with John Woodcock MP, the Labour shadow roads minister. Among the topics discussed were the relations between the infrastructure sector and the Labour party, the need for extended forward contracts for road maintenance, procurement, and the future contribution of civil engineering to the roll-out of a sustainable vehicle network and a low carbon future. Following this meeting, CECA was represented at a Labour policy review round-table discussion on the future of Britain’s roads network, which centred on procurement, a focus on outcomes and the need for an integrated approach to localism in the U.K.

Also this month, it was confirmed that the speaker at CECA’s fringe event at September’s Labour party conference will be Ian Lucas, Labour’s shadow minister for construction.

Elsewhere in Westminster, June also saw the publication of the government response to the final report of the

Low Carbon Construction Innovation and Growth Team (IGT) by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. The government response focuses on a number of key themes identified by the IGT, including an emphasis on the demonstrable benefits and opportunities of low carbon construction to be attained through cooperation across the public and private sectors, the need to achieve a greater clarity in procurement to enable more efficient forward planning, and the imperative of establishing the correct framework of incentives to both facilitate and support growth.

Also published this month by the Department for Energy and Climate Change was a much-anticipated white paper on electricity market reform, which demonstrated the manner in which the government intends to facilitate the investment of significant sums of private sector capital – estimated to be approximately £110bn over the next ten years – that was deemed necessary to meet Britain energy needs by the National Infrastructure Plan. Reforms announced include building upon the carbon price floor announced in the most recent Budget, the introduction of long-term contracts to reduce uncertainty for investors in renewables, a limit on the emissions from fossil fuel energy plants and the establishment of a new contracting framework for the electricity market.

The white paper establishes the basis for investment in a new generation of nuclear and renewable power plants, in order to provide a reliable supply of secure energy for the future, thereby guarding against fluctuations in the price of energy for consumers, and providing a much-needed boost to the construction industry. The plans should also provide a short-term stimulus for GDP, secure long term economic growth, and go some way to tackling the challenge of meeting the UK’s energy needs for the twenty-first century in a clean and reliable manner.

New Charter for Infrastructure

Government body Infrastructure UK (IUK) has worked with CECA, and other organisations including ICE, ACE and the Construction Products Association, to create a new Charter for Infrastructure in the UK.

The Charter follows from IUK’s well-received cost review and implementation plan, and sets a number of commitments for both industry and government, which if observed, could help to meet the ambitious targets for cost-saving the government has set itself, and in doing so help it deliver more of the infrastructure which is desperately required by the UK’s struggling economy.

The government set seven commitments for itself, promising to increase transparency of the forward infrastructure programme and group projects into more efficient long-term programmes. Innovation was a focus of several commitments, with the government aiming to create a far more fertile environment by allowing for more integrated supply chain involvement at the procurement stage. Innovative solutions will also become one of the criteria for partner selection,

alongside “affordable cost targets and long-term outcomes”.

Most importantly, the government also committed to seek the best whole-life outcomes rather than purely looking to procure the lowest cost for a set specification. They also committed to developing their own technical expertise and capability as a client.

On the industry side, there are commitments to improving communication with government and actively help them to implement new procurement models, as well as promoting industry collaboration and joint ventures. Industry also promised to develop long-term strategies to invest in “innovation, training and improve safety, productivity and skills”.

IUK will drive the government’s commitments, and broader coordination will be managed by the new Government Construction Board, chaired by the government’s chief construction adviser Paul Morrell.

The government has also said it will report annually on the progress toward the commitments in the charter, as well as more detailed elements of the cost review and the broader government construction strategy on an annual basis, with the first report due on March 2012.

11

CECAcommunicates

The countdown to October 2012 is on and signals the official start of the government’s new compulsory employer duties, which require all employers to automatically enroll all eligible employees into a qualifying pension arrangement (companies can start contributing in July 2012).

The reforms offer the perfect opportunity to review your existing pension arrangements and will help ensure you are receiving the best possible service and that you are providing your employees with an effective, flexible solution to help and encourage them to save for their retirement. However, according to research by consumer group Which?, many consumers in the private sector are paying overly high annual management charges on their pension contributions. Effectively, the Annual Management Charge (AMC) indicates the costs associated with the administration, investment and distribution of a defined contribution pension plan.

B&CE believes it is the right of every employer and individual to know clearly what they are being charged so they can make informed decisions about their pension scheme and their Adviser. All too often, employers and individuals struggle to understand what they are being charged as not only are there often multiple different charges and commissions, there are often charges hidden in sub-funds.

What can you expect from B&CE?

A scheme such as EasyBuild from B&CE is a cost-effective and easily-administered plan that will fulfill all the administrative obligations employers face when employer duties start in 2012. In turn employees get access to a flexible and easy-to-understand stakeholder pension. EasyBuild has been designed with the construction industry and its allied trades in mind and is currently investing for the future of over 500,000 operatives on behalf of over 6,300 construction employers. It provides a simple, low cost offering that is truly portable for individuals who regularly change companies and employment status. Construction and allied trades encompasses a broad scope including any companies associated with construction or any groups with a construction association. B&CE’s EasyBuild workplace pension could also appeal to wider industries

who may share similar characteristics such as a transient workforce.

B&CE offers employers benefits that it believes other stakeholder pension providers can’t compete with based on simplicity in three key areas:

Service 1.

Simple fund choices 2.

A fair charging structure 3.

B&CE recently pledged its commitment to the industry, and its ethos of returning any surpluses, by announcing a 0% annual management charge for new and existing EasyBuild customers, during the employer’s first year of auto-enrolment. It is also envisaged that the charge will not exceed 0.5% thereafter. B&CE does not levy any other charges, such as add-on fees to employers for the services provided. More importantly, it means its customers, from those working for the largest multinational construction company to the smallest local builder are able to benefit from low charges assisting them to build a meaningful income in retirement.

Although the reforms might seem some way off, B&CE is urging all employers in the industry to start preparing themselves and their employees for this unprecedented change in the way everyone needs to save for retirement. Employers need to allow themselves enough time to have a provider in place that can offer a scheme that is right for their business which means understanding the complexities of the workforce.

Making sure you are legal

The changes are being implemented over a period known as staging (based on the size of your workforce) and by September 2016 all employers will be legally required to:

Enrol their employees automatically into a qualifying 1. workplace pension scheme such as EasyBuild

Pay a minimum contribution of 1% of band earnings 2. into this scheme from their staging date, rising to 3% from September 2017

Keep records relating to pension arrangements, 3. the enrolment of members, salary and contribution histories and members’ opt out and opt in notices

Every three years automatically re-enrol employees 4. who choose to opt out

B&CE has developed a dedicated microsite www.easybuildpension.co.uk to help employers and employees navigate their way through the reforms and beyond. As well as providing a straightforward introduction to auto-enrolment and EasyBuild, the interactive site also features tools such a ‘cost calculator’ that calculates the potential cost of the reforms to your business.

For more information on EasyBuild and how B&CE can help support you through the reform and beyond, visit www.easybuildpension.co.uk or telephone 0800 6128080.

Don’t be alarmed by Pensions Reform. Honestly, it’s as...

From October 2012, Workplace Pensions are changing... You need to start planning now

Find out how B&CE can help, visit:www.easybuildpension.co.uk Or call us on 0800 612 8080

It’s Easy with EasyBuild. B&CE’s Workplace Pension.

easy as pie.

Taking Charge of the Workplace Pension

12

CECAcommunicates

Civil Engineering Contractors Association

1 Birdcage Walk, London, SW1H 9JJenquiries@ceca.co.uk

020 7034 0450@CECANational

Forward PlanningFor many years CECA has pressed Government to provide greater clarity in relation to the future pipeline of infrastructure work that is due to be procured by the public sector.

Members have highlighted the fact that they can deliver significantly greater efficiency if they have better visibility of the opportunities that are coming to market, allowing them to ensure that they had sufficient resources in place to tender for work, while also offering the chance to invest to meet the skills, equipment and resource requirements that might be associated with delivery of the work.

For this reason CECA welcomed the announcement by the Government at the last Budget that it would be publishing a two-year rolling programme of future investment in construction. At the time CECA said that this was a positive step by the Government to reduce the cost of construction delivery without cutting into contractors margins.

While the first iteration of this plan is not scheduled for publication until the autumn, the Cabinet Office has taken a decision in July 2011 to publish an early version of the pipeline, in order for the industry to give their views on its contents.

CECA’s director of external affairs Alasdair Reisner said: “The publication of a preliminary Funded Construction Pipeline represents the first small step in a hugely important journey towards the provision of clear, comprehensive and regularly updated information about future public sector construction activity.

“For a decade CECA has pressed the case for greater clarity over future investment. We welcome the early publication of the programme, recognising that the first official publication in the autumn will add detail to what is at this stage an outline document.

“In order to ensure this official programme meets the needs of industry, we will be working with colleagues from across the industry to provide guidance back to the Cabinet Office on the pipeline. We hope that by doing so the final programme can provide the vital clarity that will help industry secure vital efficiencies on future public sector construction works.”

Copies of the preliminary Pipeline document are available from the Cabinet Office website (www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/sites/default/files/resources/funded-construction-pipeline.pdf). CECA will provide formal feedback on its comments, highlighting the considerable opportunities to expand and improve upon the plan, in due course.

A Brand New CECASince its formation in 1996 CECA has never stopped working to represent its members, ensuring their voices are heard right across the construction industry and beyond. We are proud of what we’ve achieved in fifteen years, and we’re really excited about a number of new projects we’ve got coming up.

However, a lot has changed in the last decade and a half. The infrastructure sector has evolved, becoming increasingly professional, environmentally-aware and is rightly seen as key to achieving economic growth by all political parties.

In order to reflect the high standards of our industry, in a few months CECA will adopt a new image to better reflect its members, and project the quality and professionalism that is the hallmark of our industry. This new image will be reflected on our new website, alongside a relaunched newsletter, and will accompany some large internal changes made in recent months to create a new CECA, streamlined and efficient and truly representative of its members.

CECA will continue in its current functions, engaging with government, civil servants and key stakeholders to represent our members’ interests.

However, relaunching CECA’s brand for the twenty-first century will set us up to deliver more for our members in the years ahead.

Members will be kept up to date with progress, and it is planned that a new brand image will launch in October alongside a new website. For information on how you can get involved in the change, contact CECA communications executive Calum Benson at calumbenson@ceca.co.uk

CECA on LinkedinCECA has recently established a group for members on the business networking website Linkedin.

By searching ‘Civil Engineering Contractors Association’ members can locate the group on the website and request to join.

Once authorised members can raise topics for discussion with each other. This allows members to take part in a more informal forum than the regular CECA committees.

However, aside from the initial authorisation of membership, the group is not moderated and any views expressed in the forums are not the official position of CECA.