News & Events

Proactively managing and delivering projects to the required quality is a year round activity but each year, in November, we have the opportunity to raise awareness and promote best practices in quality with World Quality Week (WQW 2024). This year WQW 2024 is from 11 to 15 November. We are hearing about some

The co-chair of CQIC, Colin Campbell of Scottish Futures Trust, has contributed to a podcast by the Chartered Quality Institute (CQI). It is the first podcast in their newly launched Quality Impact series. Colin was joined by Steffan Spear, Technical Director of Morgan Sindall Construction & Infrastructure and they were in discussion with

Our friends at GIRI are teaming up with the Finishes & Interiors Sector (FIS) to present the latest in their regular webinars on the subject of quality and error reduction. Both GIRI and FIS have committed to the CQIC’s construction quality charter and support the work of CQIC.  In this joint GIRI/FIS webinar, FIS will draw on data from the

The recent construction industry-wide survey seeking views on the issue of Contractor Design Portions (CDP), which CQIC undertook, was flooded with responses reflecting how important it is as a topic across the sector. The survey sought the views on what needs to change to improve the CDP process. In total there were 380 respondents from a wide spread of organisation types and

Error reduction and quality improvement in construction will be discussed at the second joint meeting of the Get It Right Initiative and the Construction Quality Improvement Collaborative (CQIC) in Edinburgh on 9 July. The event will feature expert speakers sharing the latest developments and

A key part of the CQIC strategy to create a sustainable quality culture is through engagement and collaboration across the sector. As a part of the plan for engagement with as wide an audience of stakeholders as possible, CQIC has facilitated a number of “quality forums”. The first of these was a regional forum held in Dumfries with support from Dumfries & Galloway Council.  The second forum was supported by

Cliff Smith of the Get It Right Initiative (GIRI), with whom CQIC has a close working relationship, was interviewed in Building Engineer magazine in April 2024 for an article by Matt Lamy that considered how the construction industry currently manages quality and what it needs to do to improve. “In the construction industry, we have a number of organisations that are

The Construction Quality Improvement Collaborative (CQIC) was officially launched at a joint event with the Get It Right Initiative (GIRI) back in February 2023. GIRI is a group of UK construction industry experts, organisations and businesses actively improving productivity, quality, sustainability and safety in the construction sector by eliminating error. Their work very much aligns with

The chief executive of Scottish Futures Trust (SFT) is calling for a quality ‘revolution’ within the construction industry similar to that seen around health and safety in recent decades. Peter Reekie told Project Scotland that if the sector starts to focus on the quality of construction in the same way it now thinks of health and safety, the result will be environmental, sustainability, profitability, and mental health gains. “I think the biggest change in health and safety was cultural rather than

The Construction Quality Charter, which is at the heart of the CQIC campaign, sets out the vision of the CQIC, the key values upon which the Charter is founded and four key drivers which were developed to help to deliver a

GIRI and CQIC are holding a joint meeting in Edinburgh on 9 July 2024 from 09.30 to 13.00. More details will be

Join CQIC and the Get It Right Initiative (GIRI) for an interactive webinar looking at approaches to embedding a quality culture in organisations. Speakers from GIRI, CQIC and Morgan Sindall will share insights and practical tips. GIRI and CQIC will talk about

In the construction sector, a positive quality culture isn’t just about meeting specifications, it’s about creating a culture that promotes excellence at every stage of the project. Having good processes and procedures only takes you so far – for them to bring the benefits you expect, there needs to be a quality culture. The Chartered Quality Institute Construction Special Interest Group (CQI ConSIG), the Get It Right Initiative (GIRI) and CQIC are 3 organisations with

Over the last 25-30 years there has been an increasing tendency to use Contractor Design Portion (CDP) for construction projects where a range of specialist sub-contractors are required to contribute towards the overall design and construction of major buildings. However, many working in the construction sector believe the CDP system is being used inappropriately and too late in the process. It is also believed that poor communication and a lack of coordination of details between the design team and the sub-contractors is common place. Across the various Scotland-wide forums CQIC have held about the challenges in delivering  construction quality on projects, CDP was a recurring theme in the discussions. An industry-wide survey has today (29 February 2024) been launched to find out

ICYMI – A case study on the highly successful project for Countesswells Primary School, which was handed over 3 weeks ahead of the contractual date and with zero snags, was recently published on the CQIC website. Read the full article and

Under the key driver of Competence, Roles & Responsibilities in the Construction Quality Charter, two of the commitments are – • Everyone has the right skills, experience, and qualifications to do a quality job • We are all committed to developing people Fulfilment of that commitment should include the provision of relevant training to personnel. Our friends at GIRI have developed an accredited training scheme that

Speaking at the launch of the Transformation Action Plan Iain Kent, co-chair of the CQIC, which is the Working Group for the delivery of the quality aspect of the Plan, explains the drivers for the CQIC and explains the benefits of a sustainable quality culture.

The use of technology in construction, to some degree or another, has grown over the last few years. Whilst the use of tools such as Spot the robot dog may be on a tiny minority of projects, the use of BIM and Common Data Environments, is widespread. The use of drones and photo-capture of work have also grown exponentially. The Get It Right Initiative (GIRI), with whom CQIC held a joint conference in February 2023 at which CQIC was officially launched, are firm believers that technology has a key role to play in the reduction of error in construction. In the last quarter of 2023 GIRI published two reports on the use of technology in the

The Construction Leadership Forum (CLF) – the collaboration between the public sector and industry launched the Transformation Action Plan at a special ceremony in Edinburgh this week. The Plan includes workstreams for reforming procurement, improving construction quality, moving towards net zero, fair work, increasing the uptake of digital technology and collating and using meaningful data. Iain Kent and

Our friends at the Get It Right Initiative (GIRI), with whom we partnered to hold the joint event at which CQIC was launched, have developed and launched an Error Reduction Framework. They are holding a webinar on 22 January 2024 from 13.00 – 14.00 to introduce it. The speakers will explain why they developed it, what it

CQIC were pleased to be represented at a recent site visit by Richard Lochhead MSP, Minister for Small Business, Tourism, Innovation and Trade, and Chair of the Construction Leadership Forum, to the £250m Dunfermline Learning Campus. The campus is one of the

On Monday 16 October, RICS  hosted a joint roundtable with the CQIC to consider how the ambitions set out in the Scottish Construction Accord can be adopted and integrated into the work of the construction sector. The roundtable was attended by the Chair of the RICS Scotland Board, Sandra Cummings, Vice-Chair, Nick Rowan and co-chairs of the CQIC Colin Proctor of Scottish Futures Trust and Iain Kent of Morgan Sindall as well as

Whilst construction quality must be a year round, every day thing, World Quality Week is an opportunity to re-energise and provide a boost to efforts around construction quality, drawing attention to the importance, and benefits, of a proactive approach to delivering construction quality. The Chartered Quality Institute (CQI) are promoting World Quality Week in the UK and is

Technology can make a big difference to the reduction of errors in design and construction, but only if you choose the right products and systems, and implement them in a way that best brings about change. The Get It Right Initiative (GIRI), with whom CQIC held a joint event back in February at which CQIC was launched, has undertaken research and are about to launch a report that

The Passivhaus Trust held its annual UK conference in Edinburgh on 16 and 17 October. The conference had the strap-line “Scotland Leads the Way” in recognition of the number of Passivhaus projects being delivered in Scotland and the work currently underway by Scottish Government to deliver a

As we passed the 6 months mark since the launch of CQIC, Colin Proctor, co-chair of the CQIC looked back over his notes from the joint conference held with @GIRI and picked out some key points from the day. Read what he heard and

The Construction Leadership Forum has released a video with a call to action for the sector. Iain Kent, co-chair of the CLF’s quality focused working group (the CQIC Steering Group) calls on the industry to prioritise quality in all decisions in order to build a culture where quality is

Exactly 6 months today, on 9 February 2023, the Construction Quality Improvement Collaborative (CQIC)was officially launched at a joint event with the Get It Right Initiative (GIRI) in Edinburgh. Since the launch 75 organisations have committed to the Construction Quality Charter which is at the heart of the CQIC. They cover the breadth

One of the related initiatives to CQIC is the work being done by Scottish Government’s Building Standards Division (BSD) on the building standards system. No construction project can claim to be to the required quality if it does not comply with building standards. We are pleased to be supporting BSD as they develop the new Compliance Plan Approach which will support the proactive management of the delivery of construction quality. One of the aspects that BSD are considering is the fees for delivery of the building standards system. They have issued

Colin Campbell from Scottish Futures Trust, who provide the secretariat for the Construction Quality Improvement Collaborative (CQIC), will update the next members’ meeting of the Get It Right Initiative (GIRI) on the activity and progress of the campaign to create a sustainable quality culture across Scotland since the

Advanced Traditional Screeding (ATS), the Fife-based specialist flooring contractor, has underlined its commitment to quality by committing to the Construction Quality Charter which is at the heart of the Construction Quality Improvement Collaborative (CQIC). ATS join a growing number of high-profile firms in committing to the charter – 73 to date. In an article published in Project Scotland, Jason Lister, MD of ATS, said, “The Charter is a growing collection of businesses committed to improvement and

On Thursday 1 June, Scottish Futures Trust’s Improving Project Delivery team is running a free-to-attend webinar on the ‘golden thread’ of information and how producing and holding reliable and robust information is essential to deliver safe, high-quality, compliant buildings. Those attending will hear from industry experts who will talk about lessons learned, discuss various

It was 3 months yesterday (9 May 2023) since the launch of the CQIC. In that time 60 organisations have committed to the Construction Quality Charter which is at the heart of the initiative. Details of the organisations that have committed to the Charter, and who have provided their logos, are available here. Creating a sustainable quality culture requires everyone involved

The CQIC Steering Group are pleased to share the ministerial letter they received which confirmed endorsement of the Construction Quality Charter on behalf of the Construction Leadership Forum (CLF) and

The Get It Right Initiative (GIRI), with whom CQIC partnered for the event that launched the CQIC and the Construction Quality Charter, are holding a series of FREE webinars. Based on the GIRI Design Guide, the series focusses on how to reduce error and positively influence design quality through doing the right thing in the initial design phase, and

CQIC recently published a case study on the Winchburgh Schools Project quality approach. The £62m project, for 2 secondary schools, a primary school and a sports centre, is West Lothian’s largest ever single investment in education. A proactive approach to the delivery of quality was adopted with the end result that

SELECT, Scotland’s largest construction trade association with around 1,250 Member businesses, which represents the electrical contracting industry, has pledged its support for the Construction Quality Charter. Alan Wilson, Managing Director of SELECT, said

CQIC was delighted to recently receive confirmation from RICS of their support for the initiative and for the Construction Quality Charter which is at the heart of the CQIC work to create a sustainable quality culture across construction in Scotland. Gary Strong, Global Building Standards Director & Interim Head of Construction Standards at RICS said,

The Get It Right Initiative (GIRI), with whom CQIC partnered for the event that launched the CQIC and its Construction Quality Charter, are holding a series of FREE webinars. Based on the GIRI Design Guide, the series focusses on how to reduce error and positively influence design quality through doing the right thing in the initial design phase, and

Compliance with building regulations, and the due process for achieving it, is a fundamental part of managing, and delivering, construction quality. After all, no building can be claimed to be to the level of quality expected, or required, if it does not comply with building regulations. Failures in achieving compliance to regulations (and the associated implications for quality) inevitably has consequences, and this can include enforcement action being taken. Scottish Government Building Standards Division (BSD) has published a new handbook providing guidance for

CIOB has become the latest organisation to declare its support for the Construction Quality Charter, which is at the heart of the CQIC. Eddie Tuttle, Director of Policy, External Affairs and Research at the Chartered Institute of Building and co-chair of its Quality Implementation Group, said: “The safety of the built environment should be so fundamental that

Cliff Smith, the executive director of the Get It Right Initiative (GIRI), with whom CQIC collaborated with for the event at which CQIC was officially launched, has provided an Insight for Scottish Construction Now where he states that “the launch of the Construction Quality Improvement Collaborative (CQIC) is a proud moment for Scottish construction

The Get It Right Initiative (GIRI) has published an article which details and supports the CQIC vision, as explained by the co-chair of CQIC, Iain Kent. Iain highlighted that CQIC has the aim to put quality at the heart of decision-making across the sector. Speaking at the joint event held by GIRI and CQIC in February, that marked the launch of the CQIC and the Construction Quality Charter, Iain stated, “CQIC shares a vision for the sector that puts quality at the heart of decision-making to create a sustainable quality culture.

Construction company McLaughlin & Harvey has welcomed the launch of the Construction Quality Improvement Collaborative (CQIC) and the launch of the construction quality charter that encourages transformation across the industry with quality being put at the centre of all decision-making.

In his presentation to the joint meeting of CQIC and GIRI in February 2023, which marked the launch of the CQIC initiative, Nick Ribbons, Partner – Construction at Zero Waste Scotland, highlighted the problem of waste generated by the construction sector in Scotland. Failures in quality of construction make a significant contribution to the waste generated from construction related activities,

Colin Campbell, a member of the CQIC Working Group and Associate Director – Construction Industry and Delivery at the Scottish Futures Trust, explains why CQIC is an asset for businesses and organisations of all scales.

 

The construction industry is to benefit from a dynamic new initiative – the Construction Quality Improvement Collaborative (CQIC). Launched under the remit of the Scottish Construction Accord, the CQIC is dedicated to transforming a sector that makes a significant contribution towards Scotland’s society, economy, and environment. The Scottish Construction Accord, launched in October 2022, focusses on a series of key

Public sector construction in Scotland is changing with the Scottish public sector and construction sector working together to deliver better buildings, better ways of working and minimise the impact of construction on the environment. This dynamic new approach is set out in the Scottish Construction Accord (published in October 2022) which aims to bring the public sector and construction sector  together to

Location: Hilton Edinburgh Carlton Hotel, Edinburgh Date: Thursday 9th February 2023 Time: 10:00am – 2:00pm Cost: Free to employees of GIRI member companies and to organisations wishing to know more about GIRI and CQIC On 9 February 2023 GIRI and CQIC will host a joint event at the Hilton Edinburgh Carlton Hotel in Edinburgh – join us for a panel of distinguished speakers