CITB helps industry Get It Right

With the government looking to improve construction productivity in order to boost the economy and help meet its housing targets and infrastructure programme, the CITB is to fund four projects which will investigate where productivity improvements can be made during the construction process.

The four projects, valued at £500,000, will work together to change behaviours at key points in the construction process, looking to reduce errors, defects and rework during construction work, thus increasing productivity and profitability.

Each project will develop short training modules to be delivered either face-to-face or online, piloted with their supply chains and then once completed, shared and available for the whole sector to implement.

The projects come following successful bids by Berkeley Group, Kier, and Vinci – supported by The Get It Right Initiative (GIRI) – and the Federation of Master Builders (FMB) for the Productivity Commission, a new approach to CITB funding which encourages collaborative working.

Through CITB-funded research, the Get It Right Initiative (GIRI) has identified that the overall estimated cost of avoidable errors to British construction is approximately 21% of project cost – around £21Bn per year – and far greater than the average profit margin for a typical construction project.

Geeta Nathan, Head of Economic Analysis at CITB, says: “I’m pleased to announce CITB will fund these four new projects, designed to address issues at all levels to prevent errors and defects across British construction. These issues cost the industry around £21bn each year, not to mention the time and effort they take to correct, lowering productivity levels. Clearly, it’s absolutely vital that we work together as an industry to reduce errors and improve profit margins, and I’m proud CITB is able to drive these valuable initiatives forward.”

Tom Barton, Head of the Get It Right Initiative, says: “Error costs our industry 21% of turnover. A key aim of the Get It Right Initiative is to develop training to drive out error. We are absolutely delighted that the CITB has awarded Grants to the three GIRI consortia and we are looking forward to working with everybody to develop and deliver training that will fundamentally improve the way the Industry operates.

Brian Berry, Chief Executive of the Federation of Master Builders (FMB), says: “This funding to deliver energy efficiency retrofitting qualifications to our members has the potential to make a huge difference. It will allow small and medium-sized construction firms to gain valuable knowledge on this important topic and ensure they’re well-placed to install measures effectively and also provide better advice to home owners. A greater understanding of energy efficiency retrofitting is important as it has the potential to vastly reduce the amount of carbon emitted from existing properties and help the UK achieve its 80% carbon reduction targets by 2050.”

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