Public Construction Procurement Trends 2009—2014
Public Construction Procurement Trends 2009-2014
Year
2014
Services
Research & Publication.
Authors Walter Menteth, Owen O’Carroll, Russell Curtis and Bridget Sawyers
Project Compass CIC
Public Construction Procurement Trends is a unique report evaluating the trends in UK public sector architectural design procurement for commissions that come within the remit of the European Union Directive 2004/14 and its threshold values over the last five years (2009-14).
Project Compass CIC has captured over 12,000 OJEU notices, generating entities to cover all notice types in all procedures and under all instruments with frameworks, lots and their contents. This data has been interrogated and a range of concerns for the architectural profession in the UK, such as market access, evidenced.
Key headlines show:
that a very small percentage of practices are winning the greater majority and value of project work year on year
the larger percentage of architects work is procured now through alternatively led multi discipline teams, engineers, surveyors, project and construction managers
the large public sector organisations are aggregating projects under single notices, one example being an authority which grouped some 870 projects in a single OJEU Notice
there is a vast tract of architectural work which is hidden i.e. it is not declared within notices save for the terminology 'design and execute', effectively laying open procurement to non-professional routes
finally, it is clear from the pattern of notices that responsibility and the quality of the design of our built environment falls to non-professionals, contractors and those whose driving interests are other than design standards and quality.
“‘As an SME we backed away from looking at OJEU almost five/six years ago, because there is no possible level of entry for small practices. We are very encouraged that Project Compass are continuing to raise this issues as the RIBA are not tackling this issue at all. Building ladders of opportunity appears to have been dropped and ignored since its publication.”
In terms of wasted effort, the report reveals that an astonishingly low number of tendered contracts, just 30 per cent, are actually awarded. Many, such as the original 2009 OJEU process for the Windermere Steamboat Museum project – later won by Carmody Groarke – are cancelled before an appointment is made.
For those that are awarded, the time period between advert and award in the UK has also slipped over the five-year period – to 221 days compared with the EU average of 133 days.
More shockingly, since 2008 this country has launched a grand total of just two design contests through the OJEU system. In France there were more than 300 in 2013 alone.
“For most of the profession, the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) procurement process for winning publicly funded work is a dreaded, bureaucratic minefield which should be avoided. It is wasteful, anti-risk, frustratingly slow and off-limits to all but a handful of companies. Now, a damning new report has uncovered figures that seem to support this perception, exposing just how bleak architects’ chances of winning work are.”
About the Authors
Walter Menteth FRIAS, is an architect, planner, writer and educator. He is director of Walter Menteth Architects, Project Compass CIC, Trustee of the North Southwark Environment Trust and Regeneration Partnership Manager at the London Borough of Enfield. He holds the inaugural 2015 RIBA President’s Medal for Research and an RIBA President’s Award for Practice-located Research for his work on procurement reform.
Owen O’Carroll Dip Arch. B.Sc. MA. RIBA, Director of Urban X Architects.
Owen shares a strong interest in the design and procurement of the public and urban environment having worked within it for the thirty years in the UK, Europe and the Middle East. He has sat on the Board of RIBA (2011-13), was a Council Member (2014-17). Owen has a strong connection with India, having spent time visiting over 37 cities on the sub-continent. In lecture series in universities in Chandigarh and Lucknow, he has participated in discussing the future of India’s urban centres. He has provided strategic urban design advice to Mumbai First and advised on Mumbai’s 2034 Development Plan. Owen holds Master and Bachelors degrees from Trinity College Dublin and a Masters in Urban Design from London Southbank University.
Russell Curtis BA (Hon), BArch(Hon), RIBA, Founding director of RCKa Architects, member of RIBA Construction Leadership Group and former chair of RIBA Procurement Reform Group, RIBA Council member for London Region 2012-2017. Russell is a graduate of the Universities of Portsmouth and Newcastle, and founded RCKa Architects with Tim Riley and Dieter Kleiner in 2008. The practice has since won a number of international design competitions, has twice been a finalist for Young Architect of the Year. In 2014 RCKa was awarded RIBA London’s Emerging Practice of the Year, later going on to win a number of RIBA National Awards. Russell is a Trustee of the Architecture Foundation and a member of the Mayor of London’s Design Advocate panel.
Bridget Sawyers ARB, RSA is cultural producer, architect and urban designer. She is director of Bridget Sawyers Ltd and Project Compass. She was previously Chief Executive of the Architecture Centre Network, Head of Regions at CABE, Senior Architecture Officer at Arts Council England and a Capital Assessor for Arts Councils England, Wales and Creative Scotland – all with a focus on improving design quality in the built environment.
Data processing and management by Leo Byrne.
This publication is one in a series produced by Project Compass CIC whose aim is to improve procurement to create better design.
See: Project Compass CIC