BSI – Written evidence (OMC0022)

1. BSI (the British Standards Institution) is making this submission as the National Standards Body for the United Kingdom. BSI has a public function in support of the UK economy. We bring together stakeholders (including government, industry and consumers) and facilitate the development of “what good looks like”.

2. Voluntary standards offer a flexible, adaptive and collaborative alternative to regulation by providing common languages, terminologies, guidelines and good practice developed by and for stakeholders. As the UK’s National Standards Body, BSI operates in accordance with an MOU with the UK Government. Our robust standards development process requires open and full consultation with stakeholders to build consensus based outcomes. This gives standards the legitimacy and degree of market acceptance to be used for public policy purposes.

3. Over 95% of BSI’s work is on international and European standards. In its role as the UK National Standards Body, BSI represents UK economic and social interests across the international standards organisations ISO, IEC, CEN, CENELEC and ETSI, providing the infrastructure for over 11,000 experts to work on international, European, national and Publicly Available Specification (PAS) standards development in their chosen fields.

4. BSI, as the UK National Standards Body, has a public interest responsibility to develop and maintain the standards infrastructure to support UK emerging industries at home and internationally.

5. At an international level, activity in off-site manufacture is growing, particularly in China where offsite construction, referred to as “industrialised construction”, is being driven by Government policy. The activity in China is leading directly to the development of international standards. UK industry has an opportunity to lead this development to avoid being left behind and subjected to standards developed by others. It is essential that UK industry extends its knowledge base, shares good practice and agrees standards so it can contribute at an international level and compete on the global stage.

6. BSI would like to respond to the committee questions that are relevant to standards and the use of standards to support government policy in construction.

Question 1) What are the opportunities offered by offsite manufacture for construction? What are the likely drawbacks? What factors are likely to influence clients, architects, design engineers, contractors and the supply chain in deciding whether to choose offsite manufacture?

7. Offsite construction has been shown to deliver key benefits to the industry in terms of safety and speed of delivery[1]. However, currently only around 10% of building projects in the UK are delivered using offsite methods. Key opportunities include;

• speed of delivery, as less time will be needed on site;
• increased accuracy through use of factory/advanced manufacturing techniques;
• higher performance level of elements as design performance is more likely to be delivered;
• less snagging will be required so there will be less cost, less redesign and fewer replacement components;
• increased levels of health & safety, as less time on site, less working at height, etc.

8. For contractors, offsite methods can deliver a higher level of performance; contractors looking to demonstrate certainty in design, sustainability, and whole life performance may choose offsite solutions to achieve maximum design performance from components. Contractors may also endeavour to “raise their game” to compete with the emerging pre-manufactured market.

9. Off-site manufacture could also be a key factor in overcoming some of the skills challenges the industry faces; however, new techniques could mean new skill sets will need to be brought into the industry, for example in product manufacturing and precision design.

10. BSI is currently working with industry on a proposal for new standards around modular housing for the design industry. Industry has identified a need for design team standards in modular housing that can create system agnostic solutions that enables smaller developers to enter the market. Architects are finding it challenging to engage with manufacturers at an early design stage, and having a universal design standard that addresses the key risks in modular delivery (for example, opening up the possibility of having various manufacturers working on one design) will enhance innovation in the industry. BSI is presently gauging support from industry and government departments for this activity.

Question 5) Can the benefits of standardisation and factory manufacture be realised without hampering architectural ambition? If so, how?

11. Standardization has a clear role to play in driving market development in this area. The Construction Leadership Council (CLC) Roadmap calls for “standardization with choice,” and specifically offsite manufacturing standards.[2] Performance based standards, developed by industry consensus can significantly help to de-risk innovative offsite solutions.

12. The key aim in delivering the benefits of off-site construction is to standardise products, components and processes while still allowing the potential of bespoke design. The Bryden Wood research document Platforms; Bridging the gap between construction and manufacturing[3], has demonstrated a digital process where a designer seeks to provide an optimum functional and aesthetic solution whilst being cognisant of and adhering to a rule set “Construction Platform”. Platforms are sets of components that interact in very well defined ways to allow a range of products and services to be produced. The term has been appropriated from the software and manufacturing industries, where systems based around Platforms have both supported rapid innovation and formed a basis for exponential growth and value[4].

13. For the industry to be able to benefit from the full potential of Platforms and have a high level of design freedom, interactions between components will need to be standardized. Wider adoption and development of the Platform approach by industry is likely to increase the flexibility within a standardised system and bring about greater flexibility in mass customisation design.

14. Widespread adoption and take up of Platforms will require the development of British Standards including product specifications, test methods, and process standards. Testing and certification will also be needed. One route to Standards output is through fast track PAS Standards development, followed by a longer term roll out of International Standards. A PAS is a BSI document typically developed in emerging areas due to its fast-track process with the potential to provide the base document for full British, European or ISO (international) standards. PAS documents can be funded by industry, trade associations or government departments and are commonly developed with the intention of being global in scope and application.

Question 8) What changes could be made to public procurement processes to encourage more economically and environmentally sustainable practises in the construction industry and facilitate off-site manufacture?

15. Where government is a major client, there is potential to use purchasing power to encourage suppliers to adopt good practice. For example, the Government Construction Strategy in 2011, announced that suppliers tendering for centrally-procured government projects would be required to use fully collaborative 3D Building Information Modelling (BIM); this then led to increased adoption of BIM by industry.

16. BSI was commissioned by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) to develop a suite of consensus standards to define the processes and information management practices underpinning BIM. The resulting suite of BSI BIM standards has collectively achieved over 100,000 downloads, and according to the 2015 government report Digital Built Britain, BIM contributed to construction cost savings of £840 million in 2013/2014.

17. Government should consider the opportunity to work with BSI to develop the necessary standards, guidance and tools that enable industry change driven by public procurement policies and practices in offsite construction.

Background on BSI

BSI is the UK’s National Standards Body, incorporated by Royal Charter and responsible independently for preparing British Standards and related publications and for coordinating the input of UK experts to European and international standards committees. BSI has over 115 years of experience in serving the interest of a wide range of stakeholders including government, business and society.

BSI represents the UK view on standards in Europe (via the European Standards Organizations CEN and CENELEC) and internationally (via ISO and IEC). BSI has a globally recognized reputation for independence, integrity and innovation ensuring standards are useful, relevant and authoritative.

BSI is responsible for maintaining the integrity of the national standards-making system not only for the benefit of UK industry and society but also to ensure that standards developed by UK experts meet international expectations of open consultation, stakeholder involvement and market relevance.

British Standards and UK implementations of CEN/CENELEC or ISO/IEC standards are all documents defining best practice, established by consensus. Each standard is kept current through a process of maintenance and review whereby it is updated, revised or withdrawn as necessary.

Standards are designed to set out clear and unambiguous provisions and objectives. Although standards are voluntary and separate from legal and regulatory systems, they can be used to support or complement legislation.

Standards are developed when there is a defined market need through consultation with stakeholders and a rigorous development process. National committee members represent their communities in order to develop standards and related documents. They include representatives from a range of bodies, including government, business, consumers, academic institutions, social interests, regulators and trade unions.

25 April 2018