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The move is expected to save the industry £25m a year in reduced bureaucracy, with thousands of subcontractors no longer needing to duplicate their prequalifying questionnaires (PQQs) and Stage One health & safety assessments.
The contractors have pledged to use the government-endorsed pre-qualification register Constructionline, along with a minimum health & safety assessment standard, the Safety Schemes in Procurement (SSIP) and the PAS91:2013 PQQ in a bid to streamline procurement within their supply chains.
Constructionline is widely used by the public sector but this agreement marks a breakthrough for it in the private sector.
Vinci, Kier, Bouygues UK, Lend Lease, Seddon, Longcross Construction, Lakehouse, Bullock and McLaughlin & Harvey are all members of the Constructionline Advisory Group, which the PQQ service uses to engage with the industry on issues in procurement and supply chain management.
With the average PQQ & Health & Safety Assessment costing a subcontractor £650 to complete, as well as the ongoing cost (£300 per subcontractor) and burden to main contractors of verifying and maintaining this information, Constructionline calculates that the move will save the group and their supply-chains more than £25m a year.
A further 30 of the UK’s 100 largest contractors have also adopted these principals saving the industry up to £100m a year.
Constructionline, which sits on the government’s PAS91 steering group and is a founder-member of the SSIP Forum, is now consulting with the group on a number of issues such as the prequalification of materials suppliers and forthcoming changes to CDM regulation.
Constructionline director Rebecca Sperti said: “This agreement is a huge milestone for Constructionline, SSIP and PAS91. It also marks a major step forward in the industry’s on-going quest to reduce duplication and simplify procurement for second tier suppliers.
“Having long been the established PQQ service for local and central government, our mission has been to broaden our reach into the private sector through tier one contractors. With some of the industry’s biggest names making this commitment then we have made great progress and we want to continue to engage with many more.
“The group has shown real leadership to make significant changes to their own practices to align their systems with the three standards, which will deliver massive benefits to thousands of smaller contractors.”
One of the benefits for main contractors using Constructionline is that the burden of checking and monitoring subcontractor documentation, insurances and licences is taken care of.
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