ECA and HVCA slam shortfalls in sustainable construction strategy

The ECA and HVCA have criticised the government for failing to go further with its draft strategy for sustainable construction. According to the associations, a lack of suitable incentives and enforcement measures means the draft falls short of requirements.

David Pollock, group chief executive officer at the ECA, said: “The strategy is undoubtedly a positive move by government and we welcome the focus on key priority themes, notably climate change and waste. However, we feel the strategy does not give the impression that a major step change, notably on reducing carbon emissions, is going to be pushed through by government.”

The consultation was launched back in July by Stephen Timms, minister of state for competitiveness, with the aim of helping to develop a government and industry strategy on sustainable construction.

The ECA and HVCA feel the government should actively support the uptake of low and no carbon technologies and substantially force the market with fiscal support and incentives. The associations are not convinced that the measures in the draft report will deliver significant reductions in climate change impacts, which rely greatly on the procurement actions of stakeholders.

The enforcement of standards has also raised concerns. There are already fears that current standards, such as Part L of the Building Regulations, are not enforced sufficiently, encouraging a negative market view of how serious the government is about the sustainability agenda.

Simplification and clarity of definitions is a further issue. The WEEE Regulations, the Hazardous Waste Regulations and the Waste Management Licensing regime are obscure to most construction SME and micro-businesses. The practical implications of these regulations for SMEs could be explained a lot more clearly by the Environment Agency and other authoritative bodies. In terms of presentation to small businesses, the ECA and HVCA consider modern HSE safety legislation and guidance to be a more effective model.

Paul Reeve, secretary of M&E Sustainability, said: “Site waste management plans, when introduced, should be in line with the requirements of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007, so that companies only have to adapt the current on-site legislative regime to achieve effective waste management.”

It is usually too late to put useful measures to reduce waste in place once design parameters have been set and construction has started. Contractors and specialist contractors can design-out waste when they are appointed as part of the design team. The focus of the team should be on designing out waste through improved logistics and efficient on-site processes and management.

Robert Higgs, chief executive of the HVCA, said: “The HVCA warmly welcomes any moves by government to push forward with a strategy on construction sustainability. We would however, have preferred to have seen a document with clearer aims and objectives; something tangible to which the industry can truly relate.”