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Introduction

Purpose

The purpose of this sixth edition of the Code of Practice for Project Management for the Built Environment is to bring together:

• best practice associated with the management of projects in the built environment, with
• the strategic imperatives of the sector to drive a 'step change' in performance in terms of health, safety, well-being, sustainability, quality, productivity and value and
• to assist users with guidance and advice related to efficient and effective project management.

The construction industry is advancing and accelerating as we incorporate improvements into our built environment focusing on the whole life cycle of an asset, including the implications of climate change. It is therefore imperative to continually monitor and validate key changes in UK Government policies and corporate strategies and that the CIOB Code of Practice is used to improve our construction operational capability.

The vision of the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) is to lead and inspire excellence in the built environment, focused on the CIOB Royal Charter. It is important to follow the national and internationally agreed standards, i.e. BREEAM, LEED, GreenStar etc. This will help reduce consumer demand for heavily polluting goods and services, the aim being to promote cleaner energy and transport systems with non-fossil fuels producing at least 60% of the required energy output by 2050 in order to achieve the required drastic reductions of carbon emissions. It could also be suggested that user/client/organisational behaviour/expectations need to change significantly to achieve this. This edition of the Code of Practice consolidates latest thinking on the part project management plays in achieving the vision, considering the whole life of assets. It provides a guide for practitioners at all stages of their professional development and career.

Core concepts

There are many different definitions in existence for the core concepts and ideas used throughout this Code of Practice, including what is meant by the 'built environment', what is a 'project' and what is meant by the term 'life cycle'. A description of core concepts is provided as follows:

Built environment

The term 'built environment' relates to man-made assets and infrastructure, regardless of client type, funding, size, scale or complexity. Built assets and infrastructure exist in transportation (road, rail, airports, maritime ports), power and utilities (nuclear, oil and gas, tidal lagoons, offshore wind, solar, water, electricity, telecommunications), natural defences (flood defences, dams), as well as buildings (homes, hospitals, schools, factories, warehouses, offices, hotels) and the parks, plazas and other spaces that create the environment in which people interact. All sectors continue to advance at a pace, a full and separate awareness of progress and improvements is imperative for an efficient and effective project manager.

Project

The term 'project' describes the multiple ways over the entire life cycle of a built environment asset, in which clients organise the work to create, repurpose and eventually retire built assets in order to achieve objectives and realise the desired value for end users, clients and funding bodies. Projects are delivered by temporary organisations: teams of people, from multiple organisations, working collaboratively in a structured way:

• to achieve defined objectives and quality standards
• in a context of competing time and cost constraints
• navigating significant uncertainty and risk
• to operate in an environmentally friendly manner
• to provide feedback and learn lessons
• to evaluate the performance of the project stakeholders

Life cycle

The term 'life cycle' refers to the key stages of the whole life of a built asset and the objectives and decisions associated with each stage. The Code of Practice is structured around eight life cycle stages that address the work necessary to identify, assess, define, design, implement, validate, operate and retire assets. The scope of some projects will address only parts of the asset life cycle, but the client nevertheless has the responsibility to decide how to organise the work across the whole life cycle, including the governance required to decide to move from one life cycle stage to the next. The life cycle is best considered as a closed loop as shown in Figure 0.1 with a final decision-point culminating at the end of life of an asset whether to (1) extend life by continuing to use and maintain to the original design or to (2) retire the original design and repurpose all or parts of the asset. The latter scenario would trigger a new project. It is important to map out what stages of the life cycle apply to your projects in the identification phase of your scheme. If relevant actions and project data are applied to each stage and continually monitored via updated programmes and plans, it will be possible to manage each element of the life cycle before moving onto the next stage. It is recommended that a validated and logic linked plan with a critical path is developed as early as possible in the project life cycle.

Figure 0.1 Project life cycle.

Different parts of the sector use different terminology for the life cycle stages as shown in Table 0.1. Some focus on the whole life of the asset, others on a more limited set of stages reflecting a particular technical discipline or specialist viewpoint. The rationale for the life cycle stages chosen is to reflect the broadest application of project management in the built environment and to focus the stage titles on the work undertaken in each stage.

It is important in the current climate to include an awareness of the sustainability life cycle. The below Table 0.2 highlights the stages and activities that should be considered in addition to the project life cycle stages described in the table above.

Sustainability overview

Sustainability and sustainable development have advanced greatly since the fifth edition of the Code of Practice. Climate science has improved the understanding of how the planet has reacted negatively to industrial practices and unsustainable consumerism.

Sustainability encompasses the three core elements, namely economic, social and environmental. It is relevant that a project manager in the built environment appreciates these issues, familiarises themselves with innovative and more environmentally friendly ways of working and, where relevant, recommends or appoints the necessary expertise to ensure that the correct sustainability criteria and governance is embedded in projects and programmes of work.

The CIOB will be producing a separate document to complement the sixth edition of the Code of Practice for Project Management that specialises in climate and environmental risk matters.

As a minimum, the sustainability expert should be able to inform and advise from a sustainability perspective on the following criteria:

• Understanding the project's core and supporting processes (and sub-processes)
• Understanding and communicating the benefits of a sustainable supply chain
• Identifying the primary and secondary supply chain stakeholders
• Undertaking a stakeholder analysis and establishing who has the greatest impact on the sustainable supply chain (using techniques such as Pareto analysis)
• Knowing where products are coming from and controlling product/component variety
• Benchmarking performance using science-based targets
• Treating a sustainable supply chain as a systemic risk to the project
• Creating a communication system to capture lessons learned and to facilitate the exchange of best practice
• Recommend and advise in the use of clean technology energy in the construction life cycle

Table 0.1 Comparison of project life cycle stages

1. Identify: needs and benefits. What are the needs and benefits for your specific project?

1. Strategic definition
2. Preparation and brief

1. Assess: options and feasibility (for the project(s))

1. Concept design

1. Define: approach and procurement strategy, logic linked to a defined programme

1. Design: specifications and functionality ensuring a coordinated design

1. Spatial...