黑洞社区

The 黑洞社区 Safety Bill drawn up in the wake of the 2017 Grenfell Tower fire is due to come into effect some time between this and next year 鈥� with a big impact on the construction industry and its processes.

Last month a group of 12 industry experts gathered to discuss the issues around fire safety in the sector, possible solutions to the problems and what they would like to see from the legislation.

The panellists, chaired by 黑洞社区鈥檚 head of content Carl Brown, discussed the bill鈥檚 requirement for a 鈥済olden thread鈥� of information about buildings, the need to standardise data, and the troubles caused by fragmentation in the sector.

As well as the importance of useful data and its management, those at the roundtable talked of a need for safety engineers to be involved in projects at an earlier stage and to move away from the 鈥渞ace to the bottom鈥� competitive nature of the industry to ensure buildings were constructed to a higher standard from the start.

Data as an opportunity

Everyone around the table recognised how important data was to ensure buildings were fire-safe. Mohsan Alvi, chief science officer at Disperse, called data a constant 鈥渙pportunity鈥�. But he warned the industry had to 鈥渕ake that data work for you鈥�. 鈥淚t鈥檚 about your understanding of what鈥檚 happening. It鈥檚 an opportunity to bring together around one table lots of different stakeholders and understand how you鈥檙e contributing to the success of a project.鈥�

Charlie Versi, director of operational performance for Europe at Multiplex, thought it was necessary for the ownership of information to be clear. He asked how one could ensure a building performed the way it should in the future if the data was held by organisations that did not understand it. He also talked about how the information could be pulled 鈥減illar to post鈥� during a build.

鈥淔undamentally everyone within a project, every stakeholder, has conflicting motivations,鈥� Versi stated. 鈥淪ubcontractors don鈥檛 necessarily want to give you all the information at certain times, contractors want it, designers want to give it, but they are limited by fees as to the level of detail they can provide,鈥� he told the panel. 鈥淲ho owns [the data] I think is key.鈥�

Tony Lonergan, associate director and head of planning at Canary Wharf Contractors, suggested to his fellow panellists that when creating a model it was important to think: 鈥淲hat are you going to do with it? Who鈥檚 it for? What鈥檚 the purpose of it?鈥� Creating too much data was easy, he said, but 鈥渁ctually doing something that鈥檚 functioning and usable and understandable is much more challenging鈥�.

Paul McSoley, sector design leader at Mace, said one of the issues with the industry in regard to fire safety was that people 鈥渨eren鈥檛 thinking systems鈥� and were 鈥渨orking in silos鈥�. He said that, for him, 鈥渂ehaviour, culture and competency鈥� were important but so was information in the right 鈥渓anguage鈥�. He also warned that with the industry getting 鈥渆xternal help鈥� it had to be careful that 鈥渨e don鈥檛 end up with a digital record that records the wrong thing because none of us have understood the prescriptive nature of what it should have been originally鈥�.

鈥淔undamentally everyone within a project, every stakeholder, has conflicting motivations.鈥�

Charlie Versi, Multiplex

McSoley mentioned the issue of branding and getting the right products. 鈥淚t鈥檚 all about the specifics of products,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he big risk of construction products is that there鈥檚 a limitation to size, form and shape,鈥� he explained. 鈥淭hreads [of information running through a project] can be very difficult,鈥� he added. 鈥淭he digital platform is going to [be] key to this.鈥�

Golden thread and standardisation

The 黑洞社区 Safety Bill will introduce a requirement for a 鈥済olden thread鈥� to run through projects, with the aim of retaining information about a building to keep it fire safe but also ensure effective management of that data.

The government has said the golden thread will mean that the people responsible for a building will have easily accessible, reliable, up to date and accurate information. But panellists suggested this would not necessarily be a panacea for buildings鈥� fire safety.

Jumana Al-Zubaidi, vice president for Europe at Disperse, said she believed the golden thread could become a burden 鈥渋n terms of requiring people to collect that data鈥�. She suggested it 鈥渨on鈥檛 be compiled properly, especially during the construction phase鈥�. Al-Zubaidi thought if you were relying on subcontractors to report information then 鈥渢here will be gaps鈥�. But, she added: 鈥淥ne of the opportunities that comes with data is if you can spot those gaps as they appear rather than getting to the handover phase.鈥�

Simon King, director at the Robert Bird Group, said he was concerned about the 鈥渨ealth of information that鈥檚 going on a system鈥�. He warned: 鈥淲hat the golden thread must not be is a dumping ground.鈥� King also said data had to be 鈥渇uture-proofed鈥�. It was important to use 鈥渕anagement systems and software that can be read later, say in 20 years鈥� time鈥�.

But Alvi believed that the thread offered a chance of 鈥渂eing something that we can pull people around together to be able to improve the delivery of products鈥�, although while 鈥渙bviously also making sure that we are compliant and reduce disasters down the line鈥�.

鈥淵ou鈥檝e got to do your own due diligence on your supply chain.鈥�

Chris Spiceley, Claritas

Ashley Murray, BIM and digital programme lead at McLaren Group, said she felt standardisation was 鈥渢he key鈥�, and not just of technology. 鈥淭here鈥檚 so many different people involved [on a project], if we all start going off customising everything which only suits us it鈥檚 not going to work,鈥� she said.

Johnny Furlong, BIM lead at L&Q and vice chair of the Golden Thread Initiative, said you had to build in the 鈥渞ight way, in a quality way鈥� from the start. 鈥淚t actually leads to cheaper and quicker products, doing things in a standardised way,鈥� he said.

Holy Liang, fire and life safety director at consultancy AESG, said an improvement in the sector since Grenfell was that fire engineers were now brought into projects earlier: 鈥淭raditionally a fire engineer was not brought in at the beginning of the project [but near] the end.鈥�

She said clients now have more of an awareness of fire safety and 鈥測ou will be brought on board right at the beginning of the project, which is very good鈥�. Liang explained that, as a result: 鈥淲e can actually help with the planning side to solve lots of problems in the beginning.鈥� She believed the bill would improve procedures but warned the industry needed to 鈥減repare and be ready for it鈥�.

But McSoley pointed out there were still challenges because of 鈥渄ifferent standards鈥� across the industry and between various projects. Understanding of a building could change as it went from the architect to the engineer to the contractor, he explained, which created a 鈥渂ig chasm鈥� in the sector that needed to be fixed.

Fragmentation and the race to the bottom

Chris Spiceley, head of Claritas Four Zero, said the sector was fragmented. 鈥淭his industry has always been driven by fragmentation and [a] disparity in size,鈥� he told the other panellists. 鈥淢y biggest fear is for small to medium-sized trade contractors.鈥� And he urged: 鈥淵ou鈥檝e got to do your own due diligence on your supply chain.鈥�

Lonergan echoed this, suggesting that there was always a risk of data being lost through the process of a project: 鈥淭he weakest part of all is the transition [from one part of the business to another], between one element who has a focus on one part of the business to another element, who then focuses on a different part.鈥�

Multiplex鈥檚 Versi also talked about the fragmentation of data, which would make it difficult to have a thread running through a project. The industry was 鈥渁ctually fragmenting our information more and more鈥�, he said. 鈥淭he challenge with our industry is that a lot of software companies make money out of these models,鈥� he explained. 鈥淪o they might offer a cheap upfront licence fee for a project but then charge to retain your data on their system for the next 15 years, which you can鈥檛 access.鈥�

Rebecca Rees, partner and head of public procurement at Trowers & Hamlins, also talked about supply chain issues and how the current system in the industry creates a 鈥渞ace to the bottom from which a project never recovers鈥�.

鈥淭he whole business model in the construction sector is shot,鈥� she stated. 鈥淲e are asked not to bid the cost of something. We鈥檙e asked to bid the lowest price. There鈥檚 no way that you will get a quality and safe outcome via a procurement that鈥檚 premised on a race to the bottom.鈥�

Cliff Smith, executive director of the not-for-profit membership body GIRI (the Get It Right Initiative), mentioned the government鈥檚 Construction Playbook guidance for departments to procure and contract work, launched in December 2020. He pointed out that it was 鈥渄riving a different feel on the procurement value and these sorts of things鈥� but added: 鈥淸It鈥檚] only a proportion of the industry. It doesn鈥檛 affect local authorities, and it doesn鈥檛 affect the private sector.鈥�

鈥淭here鈥檚 no way that you will get a quality and safe outcome via a procurement that鈥檚 premised on a race to the bottom.鈥�

Rebecca Rees, Trowers & Hamlins

Liang suggested there needed to be greater benchmarking for competence but also 鈥渢he level of detail being required for a project [should be more] consistent throughout the industry鈥�.

Procurement problems

Versi believed: 鈥淧rocurement takes longer than it should because of all the rubbish we鈥檝e got to go through now with protecting ourselves and having adversarial relationships.鈥� He said this longer procurement time eats into design time: 鈥淲e don鈥檛 give each other enough time to get the design right.鈥� The programme was key and build programmes should be benchmarked, he said, adding: 鈥淧eople say design is the root of all evil. I think programme is the root of all evil.鈥�

GIRI鈥檚 Smith said: 鈥淭he key is to invest more at the design stage,鈥� and to get information into the model at an 鈥渆arly stage stage鈥�, which is then 鈥減assed down the line鈥�. Lonergan said it was necessary for companies across the sector to be 鈥渂rave enough鈥� to recognise where gaps in information came from and 鈥渁dopt the right way鈥� of procuring contractors 鈥渞ather than paying lip service to it鈥�.

Trowers & Hamlins鈥� Rees said: 鈥淐learly the method of procurement and the risk of warranty has an immense impact on who owns the information.鈥� She cautioned: 鈥淭he need of the model or the interests of the project isn鈥檛 being served by the [current] method of procurement. You鈥檝e got to understand the limitations of the design and build contract when you are setting up your team.鈥�

Conclusions

Everyone obviously wanted construction processes and the fire safety of buildings to improve. Furlong also hoped the bill could help the industry tackle other issues, such as net zero: 鈥淭he whole industry is going to be spending a lot. I think if you look at what we are trying to achieve round building safety, it can be used to fix a lot of the other issues that the industry is focused on.鈥�

Smith explained: 鈥淐ompetence is going to be a big part of this bill and how people deal with it.鈥� He reminded the panel that this was not just about high-rises and that the industry needed to 鈥渢hink more broadly about the impact of the bill鈥�. GIRI, he said, was doing the important work of getting people together to talk about how they were going to tackle the bill and legislative changes.

But it was clear from the event just how much of an uphill task the industry has ahead of it. As 黑洞社区鈥檚 Brown, rounding off the session, said: 鈥淭his has made me realise just how much of a big job there is.鈥�