Construction industry gains new framework from BSI for best practice procurement
Press release - 10 November 2010
A new procurement standard for the construction market has been launched by the British Standards Institution (BSI).
BS 8534:2011 - Construction procurement policies, strategies and procedures. Code of practice - gives recommendations and guidance on the development of policies, strategies and procedures for the procurement of construction in the built environment.
In contrast to its sister standard, BS ISO 10845 – Construction procurement - which provides the detail, BS 8534 takes a top level approach which will be highly useful to all procurers of construction work within both private and public sectors. It will also be extremely helpful to supply chain teams which procure sub-contracted labour.
BS 8534 evolved as a result of the 'Rethinking Construction Standards' workshop series sponsored by the Department of Business Innovation and Skills (BIS) and delivered by BSI in partnership with Constructing Excellence. It responds to industry demand for consistency in the way construction work is procured and in the engagement of the supply chain in the project decision making process.
“Successful construction procurement enables a project to be delivered on time, to cost and to the desired quality,” says Jonathan Griffin, Head of Market Development at BSI. “BSI strongly believes that the construction industry will benefit from the introduction of a high level best-practice framework in this area since it will; eliminate wasteful processes in design, procurement and construction; facilitate fair competition, reduce the possibilities of abuse; improve predictability of outcome and allow the demonstration of best value procurement across the life span of the project.”
Implementation of the new procurement standard in the public sector will also help achieve a co-ordinated approach resulting cost savings and therefore better value for taxpayers. Improving the construction procurement process is also one of the major initiatives under the HM Government Low Carbon Action Plan.
