Amanda Long, Code for Construction Product Information (CCPI)
The Government response to the Grenfell Phase Two Inquiry Report and publication of the Green Paper on Construction Product Reforms confirms the Government’s commitment to bring forward system-wide reform of the construction products regime.
This removes any doubt about the Government intention to drive permanent and lasting change in the wake of the Grenfell Tower Tragedy. The Green Paper underscores construction product reform with the intention to support a regulator with more powers and greater monitoring and effective sanctions. Firms that play by the rules, embrace responsibility and accountability and deserve a future in the construction and built environment sector will engage with this and some are already tangibly doing the right thing.
Here marketeers can play a key role. Central to this is the importance of clear, accurate, accessible, up-to-date and unambiguous product information and marketing. This whole subject area is consistently underscored as critical to the change required. This chimes directly with the aim and work of the Code for Construction Product information (CCPI) to raise standards in construction product information and marketing. This is essential for contractors, clients and product users who need to have greater confidence in the product information used in their decision-making.
As part of this CCPI is playing a key role in encouraging and facilitating greater construction product transparency which directly responds to issues raise by the Phase 2 Inquiry Report and also has the potential to support and underpin the development of a Construction Product Library. As a leading initiative driving critical change required, the CCPI is referenced in a number of places in the Green Paper with the Government clearly calling for greater industry engagement with the CCPI. This is for good reason. In line with the Government vision in the Green Paper, the CCPI is on a mission to drive a transformational step-change in construction product information management and marketing.
And for marketeers there is real opportunity. In this new world where construction product information and marketing is being given the due relevance and attention it needs; the role of the marketeer is central. Marketeers are the experts in managing and sharing this critical information. And CCPI is here to help. The CCPI assessment process includes valuable elements to benefit all parties’ due diligence – leadership and culture and continuous improvement mechanisms that do not exist elsewhere in the construction sector in assessments for manufacturers and their product information and suppliers. For the 100 manufacturer and supplier organisations already either with products on the market carrying the CCPI Assessed mark or close to being so, there is clear benefit in doing the right thing and engaging with the CCPI assessment. There are thousands more manufacturers and suppliers who need to step up and do the same. The Green Paper strongly encourages this.
The added bonus with engaging with CCPI is that customers, users of construction products, increasingly want and need it. The Green Paper highlights clear actions and responsibilities for product users – such as clients, contractors, specifiers and designers. Whether that be seeking assurance that the information provided for products is truthful and can be relied upon to make decisions about safe use, or upskilling to ensure that the information can be understood and applied directly. There are responsibilities for all players in the ecosystem that must work with construction products and materials to deliver a safe building. This requires a mindset change – it highlights strongly the importance and centrality of the procurement processes and the materials and products in a project and the information project decisions are based upon.
There is a need for each participant in the process, from manufacturer through to client and all the points in between, to be proactively reassuring themselves and others that they have played their required part in the delivery of a safe building. This requires significantly greater due diligence on the part of clients and contractors in relation to procurement system, process and decisions. It will also require greater consideration and understanding of risk by all participants – especially, for example, when considering products critical for safe construction.
As customers of construction products, a group of leading demand-side organisations are already showing the way with CCPI. CCPI Demand-Side Supporters, the likes of Berkeley Homes, Mace, Kier, Skanska, Morgan Sindall, Bellway Homes, Barratts, Persimmon, Sir Rober McAlpine, Murphy and BAM are all showing their commitment to driving the change. The opportunity is to work with those manufacturers and suppliers that are committed to continually improving their product information by registering and conforming with the CCPI. So if you are a manufacturer or supplier, merchant or distributor, the opportunity is to register with the CCPI for assessment of product information and marketing and become part of the community working with the CCPI to raise standards across the industry.
Join us today! Visit www.cpicode.org.uk or contact Amanda.long@cpicode.org.uk or enquiries@cpicode.org.uk