Colin Campbell, Associate Director with Scottish Futures Trust, and a member of the CQIC steering group states that:
“The responsibility for the delivery of construction quality does not rest solely with the contractor and supply chain contracted to deliver the works. Organisations that are commissioning construction work have a responsibility to take leadership on the approach to construction quality and to ensure there is a focus on how construction quality is to be achieved from the outset of a project.
The resources that a Client dedicates to a project, how it briefs the requirements, procures the professional services (project managers, designers, and cost consultants etc.), procures contractors and proactively contributes to the delivery of quality during the construction stage, all have a crucial role to play in achieving the construction quality standards that are required and expected.
It is essential that the approach a Client will take is thoroughly planned and documented. A Client would not undertake a project without a written cost plan or a programme setting out the timescales. They will manage the progress of the project against these plans. They should also have a Project Quality Plan setting out the approach to achieving the required quality, and they can then manage their own contribution towards this.
By having a clear plan, which is shared with all those involved in the project, they will ensure there is a common appreciation as to the importance they put on construction quality and an understanding of how this is to be achieved. The plan will allow them to determine what resources are needed to deliver the project and what the associated costs will be. Recognising and including such costs at the outset, so that they become a part of the overall budget, will be much easier, and far preferable, to having to seek funding for them separately at later stage.”
A CQIC Working Group developed guidance for the preparation of a Client Project Quality Plan and it is available here – Client Quality Plan Guidance