The Construction Innovation Hub has launched a new quality assurance framework that aims to de-risk platform and offsite manufacturing in construction.
The Construction Product Quality Planning (CPQP) framework sets out a best practice approach for manufacturers to follow during the creation of new platform systems and offsite manufactured construction products.
Aimed at driving improved quality and safety standards, CPQP sets out a five-phase process, ranging from product definition to product launch. It also includes the creation of a live control document. The document provides a digital audit trail that forms the basis of a building safety case.
Guideline documents
The Construction Innovation Hub is making a set of guideline documents available at the framework’s launch, including the CPQP Guide, the Construction Product Approval Process (CPAP) Handbook and nine supporting guidelines to follow, which help complete crucial aspects of the quality assurance process.
CPQP will ensure that products and platforms are manufactured to high standards, in line with best practices and regulatory standards such as BSI 99001 and the Building Safety Act.
The Construction Innovation Hub will also provide means for effective change control measures to mitigate risk, and product journey mapping from design through to manufacturing. And it said it would also ensure accurate product data is managed and maintained throughout as per the golden thread recommendations.
‘Smart way to accelerate change’
The CPQP framework is designed to complement the Hub’s Product Platform Rulebook and Value Toolkit. It aligns with the ambitions of the Construction Playbook, where the government is enabling more investment in innovation by committing its buying power to encourage offsite and platform construction.
Dame Judith Hackitt said: “I am delighted to see this very positive response to the new regulatory requirements for quality assurance. Learning good practice from manufacturing sectors is a smart way to accelerate the pace of change in construction.”
Keith Waller, programme director at the Construction Innovation Hub said: “CPQP provides tools that will enable the accelerated adoption of platform approaches by helping to ensure quality and consistency across all of UK construction manufacturing.
“When applied in conjunction with the Product Platform Rulebook and Value Toolkit, the CPQP framework will improve the overall safety, performance, and quality of new construction products by identifying risks as early as possible in the design and development process, when the cost of change is lower.”
