The value Toolkit will bring lasting value to the procurement of UK public sector infrastructure projects

Steve Thompson, Senior Specialist - Construction Standards for RICS shares their experience in developing and using the Value Toolkit.

The pandemic narrative has progressed as we start to deal with the lasting impact from months of countries being locked down. As the world starts to adjust to higher costs, slower supply chains and changing workforces, there is a renewed focus in the construction sector to tackle these challenges in innovative ways, allowing our sector to deliver true value and transform places that people work and live.

The Hub’s Value Toolkit is one such innovation to do this. At RICS, we have been involved with the Toolkit’s development since 2018, when we collectively identified that the sector needed to bring about change in the way in which procurement was viewed, and we provided input to its forerunner, the ‘Procure for Value’ overview.

As a globally recognised professional body, everything we do at RICS is designed to effect positive change in the built and natural environments. We have around 140,000 members operating worldwide, and the toolkit gives our UK members a suite of tools using a common language to provide a user-friendly process to help close the gap between policy goals and what is happening on the ground. For our global members, it provides principles that can be applied in their own markets to improve the procurement process.

The Value Toolkit enables value-based decision making focused on driving better social, environmental and economic outcomes, improving industry’s impact on current and future generations and providing the tools needed to tackle the challenges of tomorrow today.

The response to the Toolkit has been excellent and shows a real appetite for this value-based approach to decision making."

In its New Foundation report, the CBI states that “the Value Toolkit’s role in creating and embedding a shared definition of value in the construction industry should not be underestimated”. Chartered surveyors are well placed to promote this across the sector, due to their involvement in projects from dirt to demolition. They can advise clients to adopt the principles that sit behind the development of the Value Toolkit for the benefits that it will bring.

At RICS, we work with our members to get ahead of shifting trends in the construction and built environment sectors to guarantee our members are as competitive as possible.  The Value Toolkit is one product that can potentially deliver this competitive edge. With this in mind, we are looking to embed the principles of the Value Toolkit into our upcoming  Guidance Notes for our members (and others) and are encouraging members to familiarise themselves with the Toolkit and recommend it to their clients.

RICS is pleased to have played a part in the creation and testing of the Value Toolkit, which we believe will bring lasting value to the procurement of UK public sector infrastructure projects."