The government has launched its Strategy for Sustainable Construction with the three aims of tackling skills shortages, climate change and health and safety.

The document includes plans to recruit 230,000 additional trained construction workers by 2010, cut work-related deaths by 10% year on year and responsibly source a quarter of construction materials by 2012. All projects over £1m must also carry out biodiversity surveys, said the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR).

The goals were largely welcomed by the industry, although some said they did not go far enough. ‘The strategy fails to acknowledge the potential of decarbonising the industry’s energy supply at source,’ said CIOB ambassador Steven Wielebski. ‘50% of the UK’s CO2 emissions comes from energy produced from non-renewable sources and is consumed in building services.

We would argue that addressing this problem at source should be a major priority for the UK government and for the strategy.’

Paul King, chief executive of the UK Green Building Council, was also disappointed: ‘The built environment needs to be at the heart of our efforts to slash emissions – not by 60%, the government target which the strategy endorses, but by 80% by 2050. We also need to have a clearer vision about our sustainability goals. The strategy proposes 25% of our materials to be responsibly sourced by 2012, but how long until we set out a pathway to 100%?’

Designed to enforce the strategy’s goals are several construction commitments launched simultaneously by the Strategic Forum. These include: project bank accounts where practicable; local employment projects and training initiatives; clear identification of client structure and responsibilities; best practice approaches to resource use, waste minimisation and low-carbon performance; clear client briefs before the start of design; and occupational health strategies for every project.

The commitments also introduce 30-day payment periods as standard on public sector projects with no unfair withholding of retentions. Although such payments are supposed to be standard practice, some public sector contractors have been known to operate far longer periods on some contracts.

Source

Construction Manager