Construction Commitments: Breakfast Club special
Date added:
17 December 2009
This morning (Thursday 17 December), around 130 people from Sandwell's construction industry attended our special Breakfast Club to learn more about finditinsandwell's new training and accreditation programme.
You can read all about the training and watch a video here, but - in a nutshell - the new programme is designed to help Sandwell's supply chain comply with the government and industry's six Construction Commitments. These Commitments were laid out by the Strategic Forum for Construction in 2009 and are designed to allow the UK to showcase the best of its construction practices.
The six Commitments focus on:
* procurement and integration
* commitment to people
* client leadership
* sustainability
* design quality
* health & safety.
With public-sector construction buyers and quantity surveyors coming under increasing pressure to ensure their supply chain complies with the Commitments (a government target has been set: that 35 per cent of suppliers will be compliant in 2010, rising to 60 per cent by 2012), it is essential that small and medium-sized businesses who wish to work within the construction supply chain take steps now to understand the commitments and engage with them.
And that's where finditinsandwell can help. By completing the new finditinsandwell training scheme and putting all the right policies in place, Sandwell companies will be able to show they are working towards Construction Commitments-compliance, competent and capable of working on and supplying to public-sector regeneration projects.
They will essentially become 'supply chain compliant and tender ready' - and large buyers will have no excuse not to use their products and services.
Approved companies will be listed on finditinsandwell's database, where Sandwell's construction officers and buyers from it's principle contractors can access their company financials, trade references, trading histories, sustainability, design and environmental policies, training records, health & safety information and so on.
"We strongly urge local construction firms to sign-up to participate in the two-day Sandwell Construction Commitments training programme," said Steve Massey, local purchasing coordinator for Sandwell Council.
"It's important to make your business stronger and better placed to bid for and win tenders; the training programme will help you to upskill your staff, giving you the knowledge and insight you need to navigate your way around the tricky tendering and approved supplier process.
"We'll also show you how to get the best out of finditinsandwell so your capabilities and competancies will be showcased to the construction buyers from the council and most importantly, the contract decision-makers from our principle contractors."
This morning, delegates from construction and building firms all around Sandwell heard from Jan Britton, Sandwell Council's executive director for urban regeneration; Steve Massey; Christopher Wise and Barry Stephens from CIAPS; and Roy Casey from Success Train, the company in charge of facilitating the programme, about the benefits and importance of taking part in the training. You can download the CIAPS presentation here.
Thanks to Sandwell Council and the West Midlands Centre for Constructing Excellence (WMCCE), Sandwell companies represented at the Breakfast Club today will pay just £50 for the two-day training course.
If you completed your joining form this morning, Roy Casey will be in touch with you soon to talk about the next stages. And if you missed out on this morning but still want to take part, email roy@successtrain.co.uk as soon as you can.
Have you signed up for our January Breakfast Club on Thursday 14 January yet? It's a must if you're a manufacturer, giving you a valuable face-to-face meeting with Sandwell Council's architects. To reserve your place, email nathan_boyce@sandwell.gov.uk.
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