Article Business Practice

AGS Benchmarking Initiative gets underway

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Tags: Business Practice WG Preparation procurement site investigations

After several false starts, the Business Practice WG has finalised plans for an AGS initiative to evaluate the quality of site investigations undertaken by Members. This will be the first time that an attempt has been made to qualify site investigation practice and the results are eagerly awaited.

The WG has identified 11 Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and subsidiary headings:-

  • Appointment (Personnel, Responsibilities)

  • Preparation (Desk Study, Walkover Survey, Reports)

  • Design (SI Design, Laboratory Testing)

  • Risk Management (Risk, Availability of Information)

  • Procurement (GI Procurement Route, SI Award, Method of Measurement, Conditions of Contract, Specification)

  • Management (Project Management, Quality Management, Environmental Management)

  • Supervision

  • Reporting (Factual)

  • Reporting (Interpretative Report, Ground Model)

  • Outcome

  • Client Satisfaction

All AGS Members have been invited to participate. The number of projects that each participant will be asked to score will depend on the number of companies that agree to take part but will not be more than 10 (and probably less). It will not be necessary to identify the project being scored and the score of individual projects will not be revealed.

It is intended that once the initial benchmark has been set the exercise will be repeated annually to monitor changes in standards.

It is not too late to register as a participant. Please contact Jo Pascoe (jo@ags.org.uk) for further details.

Article Business Practice Loss Prevention

Electronic Tenders and Email

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Tags: Business Practice WG liability Loss Prevention WG Relevant Legislation

Both the Loss Prevention WG and the Business Practice WG have raised questions about e-business and email that highlight a degree of confusion and uncertainty in this area.

If you share this sentiment, you will be interested in guidance from the Construction Industry Council (CIC). This can be found on the website: www.cic.org.uk and following the links to liability/contracts.

The publication ‘e-Business or e-Business’ contains links to answer a number of pressing questions which include:-

Setting up a Website eMAIL
eContract
Formation extranets
eDrawings/Designs
eRetention & Archiving
Computer Disposal
Relevant Legislation/Codes of Practice

A useful list of publications for purchase or free download can be found there, including the new collateral warranty for consultants and a new liability briefing which is worthy of further study entitled ‘Managing liability through financial caps’

Note: The CIC is the representative forum for the industry’s professional bodies, research organisations and specialist trade associations. The AGS is a Member via its membership of The Ground Forum.