Bob Harris, in his interview with Andrew Brister (EMC, April 2007) is perceptive in his views and challenging of matters that affect electrical contractors. He singles out the contractual arrangements that are commonly used in the industry and he is right that we have not yet achieved all of the changes to procurement and contract conditions that we would like. This is not, however, for the lack of trying!

The ECA is a major force in the Specialist Engineering Contractors’ (SEC) Group and indeed provides its current chairman. SEC Group, which is comprised of the six leading specialist engineering trade associations, is the chosen vehicle for tackling lobbying issues including payment and contractual arrangements. It does this with considerable force and visibility. Unfortunately, prominent lobbying does not always guarantee success and whilst, largely through the tenacity of the SEC Group, government was persuaded to embark on a review of the Construction Act a couple of years ago, other vested interests seem to be demanding that the status quo remains.

The SEC Group has robustly lobbied for a change in the law through the review of the Construction Act. This is a recognition that voluntary change is unlikely and improvement is more achievable through legislation. It has been a vociferous campaign and included extensive briefing of members and the facilitating of their contributions to the two DTI consultation seminars that have taken place.

In addition, members have been encouraged to lobby their MPs on specific issues within the Review, which they have done in considerable numbers. Legislators are notoriously reluctant to interfere with how individuals contract one with another and it was a remarkable success by the SEC Group and others, through the Constructors’ Liaison Group (CLG), that the Construction Act even came about in 1996. The Act predominantly addresses issues concerning payment and dispute resolution which are both highly pertinent to specialist contractors.

The SEC Group chooses not to have a seat at the table of the Joint Contracts Tribunal (JCT), the predominant construction standard contract drafting body, having effectively been neutered by the JCT’s restructuring in the 1990s. The decision was made that we could be more effective outside that forum than within it. DOM/1 and DOM/2 are produced by the Construction Confederation, the main contractors’ membership organisation, and both are expected to be reissued shortly.

The ECA shares Bob’s frustration and acknowledges that the majority of contractual arrangements still favour the upstream party. A change in procurement philosophy would help address this issue as clients begin to realise that non-adversarial contracting encourages the success of projects.

In order to achieve fairer contractual arrangements, and increased involvement for specialists, the ECA and SEC Group are strongly lobbying not only for a legislative change but also the case for integrated teams which include a flat contractual structure supported by the fair payment vehicle of project bank accounts. There is evidence clients are beginning to take note.

Martin Wade, Head of commercial contracts and legal, ECA

Source

Electrical and Mechanical Contractor