The value of looking back as we head to the future

It’s been two months since the Hub gave early adopters and implementers their first chance to test the Value Toolkit. A structured process with supporting tools and guidance, the Toolkit offers a way to do things differently as we commit to a greener and more equitable post-pandemic world.

As Ron Lang becomes Chief Technical Officer for the Construction Innovation Hub and Ellie Jenkins steps as Value Toolkit Integrated Project Lead, we pause and reflect on what has been achieved and what comes next.

The rise in prominence of the Value Toolkit can be directly linked to the sequential launch of the CLC Roadmap to Recovery and Construction Playbook. But by this point, the Value Toolkit, built on the CLC’s Procuring for Value, had already been under technical development for over a year.

An exemplar of what collaboration can genuinely achieve, the Value Toolkit was developed by over 200 partners, including RICS, RIBA, UKGBC, Social Value UK, ACE, the CLC, CECA and CIOB. It is the embodiment of our sector’s ingenuity, it’s potential for technical innovation and, above all, its collective desire to do things better.

Directly enabling clients to link key policy objectives to project outcomes, the Toolkit supports informed decisions at every stage of the project or programme lifecycle to optimise value.  Crucially, outcomes are not limited to the delivery phase but rather the whole lifecycle of the asset, creating a golden thread of value from early concept through delivery and use.

The momentum around the Value Toolkit continues to grow. The Hub has trained over 40 early implementers to deliver the Toolkit, with the second wave of training currently underway. The scale of the early implementer programme will ensure rigorous testing on the broadest range of projects and programmes.

It is an exciting time for the Value Toolkit. In addition to building a network of Early Implementers, the Hub continues to trial the Toolkit with early adopter clients, including Network Rail and the Ministry of Justice. This work makes it possible to see benefits to the Toolkit in action, which includes enhanced business cases, with a more explicit connection between policy priorities and outcomes.

By collaborating and listening throughout the pilot, the Hub will refine the Toolkit while preparing the legacy model to underpin an industry-wide launch at the end of the year.

Blog post written by Ron Lang and Ellie Jenkins. Ron Lang is the Chief Technical Officer for the Construction Innovation Hub and  Technical Director – DfMA at Atkins. Ellie Jenkins is the Value Toolkit Integrated Project Lead and Partner at Akerlof.