The Office of Government Commerce has asked Rider Levett Bucknall to review payment practices so it can monitor the impact of its Fair Payment Charter.
The consultant has sent questionnaires to all major public sector organisations that commission building work. It will also collect data from umbrella bodies such as the Construction Confederation, the Specialist Engineering Contractors Group and National Specialist Contractors Council.
It will monitor whether companies are sticking to charter commitments, including 30-day payment periods and no unfair withholding of retentions.
The first results will be available by April and the research will be repeated every year. The research maybe used to judge if any changes should be made to the charter.
Research body BSRIA will also gather data on the new practices. The OGC said the two sets of data would complement each other.
The charter applies to all contracts started from 1 January.
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