The purpose of the EU procurement rules, underpinned by the Treaty principles, is to open up the public procurement market and to ensure the free movement of supplies, services and works within the EU. In most cases they require competition. The EU rules reflect and reinforce the value for money (VFM), focus of many new procurement policies. This requires that all public procurement must be based on VFM, defined as “the best mix of quality and effectiveness for the least outlay over the period of use of the goods or services bought”, which should be achieved through competition, unless there are compelling reasons to the contrary. This Directive (Directive 2014/24/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014 on public procurement and repealing Directive 2004/18/EC – Text with EEA relevance) establishes rules on the procedures for procurement by contracting authorities with respect to public contracts as well as design contests, whose value is estimated to be not less than the thresholds specified.
The European Public Procurement Directive includes encouragement for BIM in the procurement of public works to support the modernisation of procurement processes, improvements to cost efficiency of public funding and to increase consideration for whole-life costing in public works. The Directive establishes the need to use software (media data and tools to model the building) in processes for contracting construction work, services and supplies. Among other effects, it is expected that there will be different levels of electronic information and that evaluation of offers in procurement should take the full asset’s lifecycles into consideration rather than focusing only on direct costs, in line with the BIM objectives.
The Directive is available in 23 languages.
The Government’s BIM Strategy was published in September 2017 to stimulate the public sector and to support the digital transformation and growth of the construction sector. It was prepared by the Ministry of Industry and Trade, working closely with Czech BIM Council experts. Within the Strategy, a key element for reducing costs, cutting waste and avoiding errors is the adoption of the Building Information Management (BIM), which makes the most of digital technologies to provide a consistent flow of information and measurable standards at all stages of the construction life cycle, including asset and facility management.
The Government Construction Strategy (GCS) 2016-20 aimed to develop the UK Government’s capability as a construction client in order to achieve efficiency savings and further establish best practices developed under the GCS 2011-15.
The overall aim was to provide a coordinated approach to a highly fragmented industry to improve the delivery, efficiency and performance of construction projects in the public, private and regulated sectors.
Key objectives included:
- Supporting the use of digital technology, including Building Information Modelling (BIM).
- Establishing collaborative procurement techniques that allow early contract and supply chain involvement. These include recruiting and upskilling the workforce while promoting fair payment.
- Fostering whole-life approaches to reduce costs and greenhouse gas emissions across the construction, operation and maintenance of public buildings and infrastructure.
GCS 2016-20 encompassed a collaborative action plan to deliver its objectives involving Working Groups – including representatives of central government departments, the wider public sector and industry – the Strategic Delivery Group and the Government’s Construction Board.
The Infrastructure and Projects Authority was tasked to deliver the Strategy in partnership with major construction spending departments and agencies.
An archive version of this information article has been created if the original is no longer accessible (Archive information from January 2024)
The UK’s construction sector has a strong competitive edge in the global construction market, forecasted to grow by over 70% by 2025. The 2013 Industrial Strategy: government and industry in partnership – Construction 2025, fruit of a collaboration between industry and the Government, shares a long-term vision for UK construction and includes an action plan.
The key objectives of the Strategy are to lower construction and whole-life costs by 33%, increase delivery by 50%, lower greenhouse gas emissions in the built environment by 50% and reduce the trade gap between exports and imports by 50%.
Objectives are aligned to targets and the areas of intervention include manpower, smart solutions, sustainability, growth and leadership:
- Attracting young people and upskilling the existing workforce are key to boosting capacity and capability.
- Developing efficient and technologically advanced solutions in all areas of construction, spearheaded by investment in research and innovation, is imperative to maintain global standing. The UK’s commitment to the Building Information Modelling (BIM) programme is an opportunity to excel.
- The enormous pressure to adopt environmental practices sharpens the focus on low-carbon and green construction solutions. These have the potential to provide value for money, for instance addressing material and energy waste.
- The global construction industry is set to grow by 4.3% each year until 2025 and it is crucial to boost the UK construction’s competitiveness. It is also a great opportunity to create a strong and resilient supply chain.
- The Construction Leadership Council, representing organisations across the industry, will provide leadership and oversee the delivery of the Strategy.
An archive version of this information article has been created if the original is no longer accessible (Archive information from January 2024)
The Government Construction Strategy was published in May 2011 to support the growth of the construction sector, which is a major part of the UK economy. It was prepared by the Efficiency and Reform Group of the Cabinet Office and the Construction Sector Unit of BIS, working closely with Infrastructure UK (IUK).
The Strategy aimed to help reduce costs up to 20%, improve business models and practices, and establish a collaborative culture while ensuring the public sector is more informed and better coordinated to provide clear briefs and work with suppliers to develop cost-effective solutions for projects of all sizes.
Within the Strategy, a key element for reducing costs, cutting waste and avoiding errors is the adoption of the Building information Modelling (BIM), which makes the most of digital technologies to provide a consistent flow of information, measurable standards at all stages of construction and a basis for asset management when a project is completed.
To enable businesses of all sizes to implement BIM, the Government set up a timeframe and adoption path that allow companies at different transition stages to catch up. This is described in the Strategy as a phased process involving industry groups, in order to allow time for businesses to prepare for the development of new standards and for upskilling their workforce.
The 2011 Government Construction Strategy introduced fully collaborative BIM – with all project and asset information, documentation and electronic data – as a minimum requirement for all government clients by 2016. This is referred to as the UK BIM Mandate.
An archive version of this information article has been created if the original is no longer accessible (Archive information from January 2024)
