The Industry Standards Group has today published its report to Government Specifying Successful Standards, which recommends the simplification of procurement specifications and the removal of unnecessary technical standards.

The adverse impacts of the “traditional” approach to how standards and specifications have been used to set out client requirements are widely recognised by industry and clients alike.

Through the investigation, it quickly became clear that much of the inefficiency was not caused by British, European or other International Standards themselves, but by how these were interpreted by different clients. For example, Midland Quarry Products in Leicestershire produces asphalt for a range of local authority clients. Despite there being similar requirements, it has to produce 270 different asphalt mixes to meet the different clients’ interpretations of the high level standards.

There is already evidence of a change in behaviour and process that is yielding significant reductions in duplication, redundancy and, quite simply, the sheer volume of “standards” that have been used in some sectors.  The number of Railway Group Standards managed by the Rail Safety and Standards Board (RSSB) has been reduced by 46%, Network Rail has reduced their portfolio of standards by 80% and London Underground (LU) has reduced the volume of pages in their in house standards by 95%.

This is good news, but there remains much more to be done.  Terry Hill and the group will now continue to help drive the implementation of the recommendations and actions identified in the report.

Lord Sassoon – Commercial Secretary to the Treasury:

“I welcome the publication today of the Specifying Successful Standards report by Terry Hill’s Industry Standards Group.  It makes a strong contribution to the Government’s drive to reduce the burden of regulation and to delivering the top-class infrastructure we want to see built in the UK.

“I am pleased to see that the report recommends streamlining specifications in the transport sector and that it builds on the progress already being made.

“That is why I am keen to see the approach extended to other areas of economic infrastructure so that a wider range of infrastructure clients and projects benefit from reduced bureaucracy and lower whole life costs.

“I would like to take this opportunity to thank Terry and his group for this considered and timely report and I look forward to seeing further progress with the group’s implementation of the actions in this report by next spring.”

Terry Hill – Chair of the Industry Standards Group:

“We found many examples of confusing and overly prescriptive use of international, European, national, organisation and project layers of requirements. We also found examples of best practice that demonstrates how smarter use of standards and specifications is yielding benefits.  The evidence suggests that client requirements can be simplified with no loss of quality, safety of operational effectiveness.  We believe that through following the recommendations of this report, infrastructure clients can generate significant gains in delivery efficiency. This in turn will lead to cost reductions.

“I look forward to this group leading the implementation of the actions set out in our report.”

The report makes four key recommendations developed from examples of best practice found already taking place in the roads and rail industries. These are:

1. Define Outcomes, not Inputs

Clients should clearly define their performance and output requirements and structure their specifications and standards to support this objective. For each standard or specification, the mandatory requirements should be clearly distinguished from text that is advisory or informative. Recognising that influence of safety, licensing, regulatory and levels of complexity will vary between sectors and projects, clients should assess, set and justify the level of optimum prescription that will deliver the lowest cost for each project consistent with whole life asset management best practice.

2. Enable Standard Assets, not Asset Standards

Different standards and specifications, or different interpretations of the same standard, that apply to the same asset class is uneconomic and can act as a barrier to standardisation. Clients should work together to enable standardisation of assets to deliver improved whole life cost and ensure that any interfaces between their assets/networks are made compatible and safe.

3. Empower Industry to Challenge and Innovate

Clients should seize the opportunity empower their supply chains in the early stages of projects, especially the procurement phase, by ensuring their requirements are clear, accessible and promote innovation. The client bodies should simplify their standards derogation process, work with industry to encourage challenge and make the resolution process faster.

4. Measure Benefits to drive Continuous Improvement

Client bodies should introduce a requirement in their in-house standards development process to demonstrate clear value for money in introducing new standards and requirements within standards. The value for money should be assessed considering safety, performance benefits, business risks and costs over the whole life of assets.

And for each of these recommendations we propose actions for Government, clients, agencies, standards bodies and the industry.

London Underground

Mike Strzelecki, LU Director of Safety, said: “I am delighted that this report recognises the ground-breaking work that London Underground has been doing to help align industry standards and remove bureaucracy. LU has devoted a great deal of time and effort into streamlining standards so we can work with our supplier and contractor partners to get even more value for money as we continue to upgrade the Tube. Coupled with the rigorous benchmarking we are undertaking against similar metros and operators, we are confident that we can drive costs down by identifying the best practices and innovation needed to drive performance up.”

Network Rail

Steve Yianni, Network Rail’s Director, Engineering said, “The railway can play a key role in driving sustainable economic growth. To meet the challenges we face and the expectations of all our customers and stakeholders, we need to become more efficient and deliver even greater value. Improving our approach to engineering standards and specifications has been vital in our progress to date. As a company, we are committed to continue this work and deliver a railway that is even safer, bigger, more reliable and more efficient than it is today.”

More Information:

1. The Autumn Statement 2011 announced Terry Hill (Chair of the Arup Board of Trustees) would lead and industry standards group in the infrastructure sector to examine the simplification of procurement specifications and the removal of unnecessary technical standards.

2. The need for the Industry Standards Group report is in response to the Infrastructure Cost Review programme (http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/iuk_cost_review_index.htm) and is supported by the Infrastructure Steering Committee (ISC), a group of leading clients, consultants, contractors and academics, chaired by ICE Past President Peter Hansford.

3. The ISC is the focal point for industry input into the work of the IUK Infrastructure Cost Review implementation programme.

4. View the report here: http://www.ice.org.uk/successfulstandards

5. For further information: Kate Ison, ICE Media Relations Manager, t: 020 7665 2104, e: kate.ison@ice.org.uk    

6. The Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) is a leading source of professional expertise in transport, water supply and treatment, flood management, waste and energy. Established in 1818, it has over 80,000 members throughout the world including over 60,000 in the UK. ICE’s vision is to place civil engineering the heart of society, delivering sustainable development through knowledge, skills and professional expertise. The ICE has long worked with the government of the day to help it to achieve its objectives, and has worked with industry to ensure that construction and civil engineering remain major contributors to the UK economy.