Civil Engineering Project Management (4th Edition)

The development of construction procedures 15
Best Value Contracts (see above). It meant that in-house local authority staff
had to compete on price against contractors’ bids for constructing a project or
providing services.
Construction Best Practice Recommendations of the UK ‘Construction Best
Practice Programme’ to promoters and contractors for improving productivity
and efficiency, following the findings of the 1998 Egan Report, Rethinking
Construction (see Section 1.9 above).
EC Procurement Regulations EC rules have for some years required open
competition for certain types of work, as set down in EC Public Procurement
Directives. These require that all public utilities and other major public
organizations put tenders for services and construction out to a tender system
open to all EU firms. The rules apply for values of projects above certain minimum
figures and require that details of contracts open to tender are published
in the Official Journal of the European Community. Contracts must be tendered
individually or for groups of contracts for specified similar types of
work. Individual tendering can lead to large numbers of bids being received,
each requiring analysis; whereas grouping allows a short list of preferred bidders
to be developed. Further details of EC tendering requirements are set out
in Sections 6.2 and 6.3.
The Gateway Process A system of adopting checks on the progress of a project
at critical stages i.e. ‘gates’.
Joint Ventures A relationship usually with a legally binding agreement in
which two or more firms agree to combine resources to carry out a contract. The
joint venture may be for consultancy or construction work. Between themselves
the parties to the joint venture may divide up the work and decide on
profit split or liabilities, but the main contract with the promoter will usually
hold them jointly and severally liable for the outcome of the contract.
’KPI’ or Key Performance Indicators These indicators are used for comparative
purposes, are measures of success in the design and construction of
a project. Chief measures are outcome cost as compared with estimate, time
over-runs, promoter satisfaction, freedom from defects, and safety record.
’M4i’ (Movement for Innovation) Promotion of new techniques by members
of the ‘Construction Round Table’ in line with recommendations of the Egan
Report, the members of the Round Table comprising representatives of a number
of companies making large investments in new constructions.
One Stop Shop A colloquialism for the case where one contractor delivers all
that is required to design and construct a project or series of projects.
Prime Contracting A form of design and build contract under which the
prime contractor has an association with a number of subsidiary firms whom
he uses to supply specialist goods or services. Thus, instead of a designer
specifying nominated subcontractors to be used by the contractor, these are