The Building Safety Act was granted Royal Assent more than two years ago, promising to bring greater accountability and transparency to the UK construction industry in the wake of the Grenfell tragedy. Marek Suchocki of Autodesk ponders how the legislation can build trust in construction.
While some progress has been made, the creation of the Building Safety Regulator, for example, has the Act delivered the significant change many in the industry hoped for? Has it created more trust in construction – within the industry supply chain and among its users? Autodesk recently hosted a roundtable, with industry leaders from the likes of Morgan Sindall, the Building Engineering Services Association (BESA) and Cast Consultancy, to delve into this and more.
David Frise, chief executive of BESA, argued that the response to the legislation has varied considerably according to an organisation’s size. For SMEs, in particular, the greatest barrier to integrating new processes and new technologies to align with the Building Safety Act is time.
The priority for these firms is simply staying afloat day-to-day, so levelling up digital skills, or learning about a new, dauntingly complex piece of legislation often slips down the to-do list. Overcoming this hurdle requires a new way of thinking, and ultimately SMEs will be aware that larger contractors will increasingly be seeking compliant partners throughout their supply chains on every project. These contractors and industry associations need to play their part to help the smaller players, because making every link in the chain secure is the only way to prevent another failure in transparency and accountability.
“Trust can be lost in an instant and takes a lifetime to rebuild. The Building Safety Act will go a long way to help construction firms implement more transparent, data-led processes.”
Data is critical
Data is critical to achieving this goal. The Building Safety Act dictates maintaining detailed, up-to-date records of a building lifecycle, from design and construction through to occupation and maintenance – the much-cited golden thread of information. To build trust and transparency, everyone involved in the build needs access to, and analysis of, the data collected. However, data leadership and expertise in the UK construction industry are not currently at a level to fulfil this across the board.
Autodesk’s study with Deloitte found that while the UK construction sector leads major European peers (France, Germany, the Netherlands and Ireland) in terms of data leadership, the number of respondents identified as ‘data leaders’ was still only 18%. These are companies that score highly on use of data, in both data strategy and data talent. The research also revealed that 26% of UK construction leaders feel the lack of skilled data professionals is a major obstacle to integrating data-driven insights into their business processes.
Another significant barrier is data fragmentation. According to the Deloitte findings, 43% of UK construction leaders reported that their organisations were storing data on too many different platforms, leading to difficulties in integrating and analysing information. This fragmentation not only complicates project management, but makes compliance with regulations like the Building Safety Act more challenging.
Who do you trust?
For many, there remains a deficit of trust in construction. Not only is public perception of the industry negative, a surplus of trust and transparency internally – between clients, collaborators and even within teams – can also prevent contractors and subcontractors from delivering their best work. The Building Safety Act represents an opportunity for the industry to rebuild trust and put in place best practices for years to come. But this can only come through long-term action and consistency.
Lilly Gallafent, board director at Cast Consultancy, shared some insightful thoughts on how the Building Safety Act will need closer collaboration between clients and contractors, recognising the importance of this in her recent experience of submitting some of the first Gateway 2 applications. She was hopeful that the Building Safety Act could be the catalyst that starts to bring clients and contractors together, leading to more equitable risk sharing and a stronger foundation of trust within the supply chain and, ultimately, more cost and programme certainty and higher-quality, safer builds.
As the saying goes, trust can be lost in an instant and takes a lifetime to rebuild. The Building Safety Act will go a long way to help construction firms implement more transparent, data-led processes, but it is just the beginning of the journey. Although the regulation is still in relative infancy, its main tenets of accountability and transparency are already starting to be implemented more consistently across the industry.
“The key to establishing this culture of building safety long term is having a skills base that can deliver it. Lack of trust also only exacerbates the skills crisis.”
We need the skills base
The key to establishing this culture of building safety long term is having a skills base that can deliver it. Lack of trust also only exacerbates the skills crisis that continues to hamper our sector. If the general public sees construction as untrustworthy, they’re almost certainly not going to see themselves working in it.
Findings from Autodesk research revealed that 56% of UK construction firms said they were unprepared for the Building Safety Act, identifying a lack of skilled people as a key factor. This continues to be a challenge partly because the industry doesn’t always do a great job of selling itself as a rewarding career for the next generation.
The opportunity to build trust in construction and the communities it serves can provide real purpose and be an excellent way to attract and retain outstanding talent. If we combine this with a robust platform of digital and data tools that allows people to make a difference, the construction industry will be in the best possible hands for years to come.
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