The 'Building in Quality' Working Group, has developed a new free-to-download digital tool - the Quality Tracker - to improve the quality of outcomes in the construction industry. It was launched on 9 October 2018 at UK Construction Week.
Led by the RIBA, agreed at the highest level with the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) and the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), and developed in partnership with industry, the Quality Tracker sets up a chain of custody allowing project teams to track quality on construction projects.
It picks up on the construction industry’s many efforts to improve quality in buildings in the wake of several high profile events, not least the Grenfell Tower fire.
It resonates particularly strongly with what Dame Judith Hackitt described in her Independent Review of Building Regulations and Fire Safety: Final Report as the ‘golden thread’ of information from concept to finished building and beyond.
The Quality Tracker has five distinct benefits for the construction industry:
- The Tracker is a constant reminder of quality targets.
- The Tracker sets up a formal ‘chain of custody for quality’ aligned to the RIBA Plan of Work, enabling all prospective and current members of the project team to better understand their risks.
- Post-completion, when signed-off, the Quality Tracker gives purchasers, tenants, investors and asset managers a straightforward account about the quality targets for the building they are buying into and its development history.
- The Tracker allows clients to demonstrate their overall commitment to quality and differentiate themselves in the market.
- The wider adoptions of the Quality Tracker will incentivise better quality in buildings which, in turn, will lead to improved human health, safety and wellbeing, and boost the construction industry’s reputation.
A Guide to the Quality Tracker and other supporting documents have also been published.
The Quality Tracker was piloted on real construction projects.
Further information on the Quality Tracker and the supporting documents.
Background
The RIBA Client Liaison Group set up a cross-disciplinary working group in 2017 to improve the relationship between contractors and architects in response to its 2016 Working With Architects client survey findings.
The initiative gained momentum in the wake of the Edinburgh Schools defects scandal and the tragic Grenfell Tower disaster.
On 7 March 2018, the RIBA, the CIOB and the RICS signed a Joint Memorandum of Understanding for working together to establish a chain of custody system for tracking quality in construction projects.
In the months that followed, the RIBA Client Liaison Group consulted the construction industry on a draft Quality Tracker which, with supporting documents, was published on 9 October 2018.
If you would like more information on the RIBA Client Liaison Group or the Quality Tracker, please contact clientservices@riba.org
