JCT launches sustainability life cycle consultation

The JCT launched a consultation on 6 December 2011 to canvas the views of the property and construction industries about sustainability in the context of building contracts and the building life cycle. 

Although a previous consultation in 2008 on sustainability resulted in published guidance and reinforcement of sustainability clauses in JCT contracts, this consultation hopes to go further by engaging with a wider range of property and construction professionals. By doing this, the JCT hopes to send out the message that sustainability needs to be integral to every stage of a building’s development and that everyone involved has a duty to ensure that it tops the agenda.

Dr Andrew Flood, chair of the JCT sustainability working group, acknowledged that there is a degree of fragmentation in the current procurement process which needs to be addressed as it is clear that property owners – and their tenants - are interested in the long term performance of their buildings. The need for a coordinated approach from all the professionals involved at the outset will deliver greater certainty in terms of efficient performance once the building is operational.

The consultation is online (www.jctltd.co.uk/life-cycle-consultation.aspx) and will run until 5 April 2012 and seeks views on the following:

• whether integrated procurement facilitates life cycle matters, and whether contracts should do more to address this;
• what is the principal focus of sustainability? Could JCT contracts help to achieve sustainability objectives?  If so, should clauses be legally binding? What might encourage or discourage performance?
• whether a form of contract that applied through the design, construction and then the operation of the building would provide a more sustainable building;
• which of the suggested options that relate to the roles of various parties including the contractor, the specialist contractor and the facilities manager would help; and
• how the assessment of life cycle matters and how data relating to sustainability could assist in understanding future projects.

The results will be published in the summer of 2012.

February 2012