Construction 2025 is a British government report issued in July 2013 outlining its industrial strategy for the sector until 2025. Key aims were to reduce programme lengths and costs, reduce

greenhouse gas emissions Greenhouse gas emissions from human activities strengthen the greenhouse effect, contributing to climate change. Most is carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels: coal, oil, and natural gas. The largest emitters include coal in China and ...

and improve the trade gap. The policy saw the establishment of the

Construction Leadership Council Construction is a general term meaning the art and science to form objects, systems, or organizations,"Construction" def. 1.a. 1.b. and 1.c. ''Oxford English Dictionary'' Second Edition on CD-ROM (v. 4.0) Oxford University Press 2009 and com ...

to drive change in the industry.

Background

The report was issued by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills in July 2013 during the 2010-15 Coalition Government. The foreword was written jointly by the Secretary of State

Vince Cable Sir John Vincent Cable (born 9 May 1943) is a British politician who was Leader of the Liberal Democrats from 2017 to 2019. He was Member of Parliament (MP) for Twickenham from 1997 to 2015 and from 2017 to 2019. He also served in the Cabinet as ...

, Minister of State

Michael Fallon Sir Michael Cathel Fallon (born 14 May 1952) is a British politician who served as Secretary of State for Defence from 2014 to 2017. A member of the Conservative Party, he served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Sevenoaks from 1997 to 2019, ...

and the then Chief Executive of

Network Rail Network Rail Limited is the owner (via its subsidiary Network Rail Infrastructure Limited, which was known as Railtrack plc before 2002) and infrastructure manager of most of the railway network in Great Britain. Network Rail is an "arm's leng ...

David Higgins. The report promised to "radically transform the industry". It sought to build on the changes implemented as a result of the 1994

Latham Report The Latham Report, titled ''Constructing the Team'', was an influential report written by Sir Michael Latham, published in July 1994. Latham was commissioned by the United Kingdom government and industry organisations to review procurement and cont ...

, the 1998 Egan Report and the 2009 Wolstenholme Report.

Aims

The four principle aims of the policy were: *Reduce whole-life greenhouse gas emissions in the built environment by 50% *Reduce construction time (measured from conception to completion) by 50% *Reduce whole-life costs for built assets by 33% *Reduce the trade gap on construction products by 50% The government also sought to change the public perception of the industry and its work environment, with a particular view of attracting more young people into the sector. The industry was marred by a perception that it tends towards cost overruns, late delivery, contractual disputes and slow to adapt to the technological change. The government seeks a more diverse workforce, improved safety controls and a more desirable workplace. Other targets were to improve investment in research and innovation and to confirm the government's commitment to

building information modelling Building information modeling (BIM) is a process supported by various tools, technologies and contracts involving the generation and management of digital representations of physical and functional characteristics of places. Building informatio ...

(BIM).

Impacts

One of the key measures was the founding of the

, comprising some of the most prominent leaders in the field from industry and government to spearhead change in the industry. This body has introduced the Fair Payment Charter, a non-compulsory agreement between major companies to implement standard 30 day payment terms by 2018, in a bid to reduce the occurrence of late payment in the industry. Another measure has been the move towards recognition of the Construction Skills Certification Scheme as the only acceptable proof of health and safety competence on site. This would be alongside a recognition that a National Vocational Qualification level 2 should be the minimum standard for all workers in the industry. In 2016 the British government mandated that all centrally procured projects should reach BIM level 2. The strategy has been supplemented by the Government Construction Strategy: 2016 - 2020, published in March 2016 by David Cameron's conservative government. The new strategy aims to complement Construction 2025 and implemented a new set of Common minimum standards for construction.

References

{{Reflist Reports of the United Kingdom government Construction industry of the United Kingdom 2013 in the United Kingdom