HISTORY OF THE CONSIDERATE CONSTRUCTORS SCHEME
In late 1994, following Sir Michael Latham’s review ‘Constructing the Team’, the Construction Industry Council formed the ‘Latham Review Implementation Forum’. One of the member groups focused on the need to improve the image of the industry.
The result was the creation of the Considerate Constructors Scheme, which was based very loosely on existing Considerate Contractor schemes run by the Corporation of London and Westminster City Council.
In 1996 a steering group took over the implementation of this new Scheme and developed the Code of Considerate Practice. They also decided on the general principals that the Scheme should aim to achieve. These were: to form a voluntary scheme founded on encouragement, which would work with construction company’s sites to improve their relationship with their neighbours and the general public; that the Scheme should carry out inspections of registered sites and report on and mark them against the eight key areas listed in the Code of Considerate Practice and finally to reward the best performing sites.
In 1997, responsibility for the implementation of the Scheme was given to the Institute of Building who recruited Doug Goodsir as General Manager. The pilot Scheme which followed refined the plan and fleshed out the working details of the Scheme.
The Scheme was officially launched in June 1997. 75 sites were registered and four Monitors were recruited.
The first National Awards were held in late 2008, as part of National Construction Week, and 15 sites received recognition.
At the end of 1998, the IOB passed over the responsibility of the Scheme to the Construction Confederation who recruited David Hardy as General Manager.
May 1999 The Scheme held its first Monitors’ Conference. July 1999 The mission statement ‘Improving the Image of Construction’ came into use. November 2000 The 1000th site was registered. February 2001 The Local Government Authority issued details of the Scheme to all Local Authorities with the recommendation that they encourage registration. March 2001 BREEAM began including the Scheme in its assessments. September 2002 The ‘Industry Image’ newsletter was introduced. October 2002 Banners were introduced. November 2002 The Government recommended registration to all of its departments. January 2003 ‘Considerate Constructors Scheme Ltd’ was formed and took over the banking and legal requirements of the Scheme. A Board of Directors was formed from Scheme Monitors. March 2003 Associate Membership was launched in response to the ever increasing wish from contractors to develop a closer relationship with the Scheme. The founder Associate Member companies were Bovis Lend Lease, Mulalley & Co Ltd, Totty Construction (now part of ISG Regions) and Wrekin Construction Co Ltd. October 2003 Ivor Goodsite was introduced. The 7000th site was registered. January 2004 A Scheme promotional film, presented by Adam Hart Davies, was launched. May 2004 Construction Umbrella (Holdings) Ltd became the Holding Group for the Scheme. June 2005 A new look Scheme website was launched. January 2006 Peter Kingdon took over the role of Chairman from David Hardy. June 2006 Seminars and Workshop were introduced to give a greater understanding to those that use the Scheme. January 2007 The Scheme Holding Board commissioned an independent review to asses how well the Scheme is performing against its remit of improving the industries image. February 2007 the 20,000th site was registered. March 2007 The Scheme’s General Manager, Edward Hardy, was listed as the 22nd most Influential ‘Power Player’ in construction, by Contract Journal. May 2007 The Client Partnership initiative was launched to enable a closer working relationship between the Scheme and industry clients. The founder Client Partners were the Construction Clients’ Group, Grosvenor, the Highways Agency, Hillingdon Homes, Peabody Trust and Sainsbury’s. June 2007 The independent review of the Scheme was published with positive results, describing the Scheme as the 'Industries best kept secret'.One item highlighted was that the Scheme should look to promote its activities more to the General public. July 2007 The Scheme celebrated its 10th year with a ceremony in London. To commemorate the occasion awards were given to the best performing companies who have registered sites with the Scheme. January 2008 Norman Reed took over from Peter Kingdon as Chairman of the Scheme. March 2008 Keepmoat plc registered its 1000th site with the Scheme. May 2008 A facility allowing sites to be registered online was launched. June 2008 The 30,000th site was registered. |