Integration, competency and getting post-handover of projects right first time were key themes of a recent Construction Management webinar on the Building Safety Act.
The webinar, titled No data, no Gateway: quality, the golden thread and the Building Safety Act, featured experts from Skanska and RLB, as well as software firm PlanRadar and industry body the Building Safety Alliance.
Speakers stressed that onsite quality, information management and building safety were becoming more closely linked and interconnected.
RLB senior building safety consultant Bex Gibson said: “They’re really one connected challenge, and once you handle them together, the whole thing gets easier rather than harder.”
Gibson said that establishing a golden thread of information on projects for safety purposes on site overlapped with evidence of quality of work, which creates the evidence expected under the Building Safety Act.
She added: “At the heart of each is the same fundamental question: do we understand what has been built? Can we evidence those decisions that were made and can we rely on that information in the future?”
Capture information as you go
Gibson said systems such as PlanRadar aimed to create a smoother and more consistent way of capturing project information. This also helped when the building was occupied, she added.
Gibson said: “The most effective approach is to capture that information as the work progresses, so that by the time you reach handover, that Gateway 3, you already have that reliable record in place.
“This not only supports those gateway requirements, but gives those responsible for the occupied building a much stronger foundation for managing safety over the long term.”
Handover information needs an overhaul
Building Safety Alliance chair Anthony Taylor said his body was developing new guidance for as-built and handover information requirements to help improve standards in this area.
Taylor said two core principles behind the guidance were trust and value over volume of information. He said he had experienced poor handover documentation in his career, with O&M manuals that were “absolutely valueless” and with incorrect information. Taylor said he was seeking industry input into this guidance.
He said companies and individuals needed to focus more on competence, as the regime for this was going to get “tougher and tougher”.
For example, he said a company delivering a principal designer role needed to look in detail at the function they provided and ensure it had the individuals or third parties to fulfil those functions competently.
Educating the supply chain on responsibilities
Skanska operational efficiency director Becki Taylor said her firm was working to educate its supply chain about the Building Safety Act as current understanding was “mixed”.
She said: “Some organisations are really advanced. But I think others still see the golden thread as something for the information team, or something to deal with at the end [of a project].”
Taylor said the firm was holding workshops to change mindsets about design responsibilities under the safety regime.
She said: “They aren’t just there delivering something and then leaving. They have accountability… supply chain competency is critical for us.”
The webinar was part of the Digital Construction Summit, organised by CM and Digital Construction Plus. You can catch up with the other webinars in the series:
- Digital delivery for programmes and projects: turning ambition into outcomes; watch on demand.
- Disputes: what to do when they arise and how to avoid them in the first place; watch on demand.
- The cost of delays you’re not tracking – how better planning helps you spot problems earlier and protect your margin; watch on demand.
