Everyday at Clarkson Alliance we work with clients from a wide range of sectors, for whom the language of construction can be a barrier to effective communication – words which are at best technical-but-necessary jargon and at worst complicated and opaque.

We have created this ‘Translating Construction’ series to provide definitions to these sometimes obscure terms, explanations for when you might encounter them and even a few stories to try and bring them to life and make them memorable.

Let us know any words or expressions that have resulted in blank faces across the meeting table! 

The Assessment of Professional Competence (APC) is the training scheme that graduates can complete on the job to qualify as a chartered surveyor. Becoming chartered with the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) is a key milestone in a surveyor’s professional development.

Dan Bland, completed his APC in 2017 whilst working as a Cost Manager at Clarkson Alliance:

“My journey to becoming chartered has been tough, but the varied work and challenging nature of the industry and day-to-day work has helped develop my skills in a way that any additional work done, surplus to my day job, has only helped me become a better Cost Manager.

The APC focuses on a number of technical skills however the core focus of the RICS is to ensure that you act in an ethical and professional manner and with the objective of getting the best outcome for your clients. Clarkson Alliance operate as a client-focused organisation and so operating with a high-level of customer care comes as second nature to everyone that works here.”

A Cost Manager, also known as a Quantity Surveyor, helps to ensure that a construction project is designed within budget and meets performance and quality goals.

David leads our Cost Management services and explains what motivates him:

“We work on projects in a range of sectors and variety of sizes, so every day is different, and I enjoy building lasting relationships with our clients. As a Cost Manager, accuracy and attention to detail are essential; it’s very satisfying being able to offer clients cost certainty and give them the confidence to make the decisions that get projects moving. Understanding the client’s objectives from the outset is key and helps us to provide consistent and reliable cost advice, and ensure that their building project delivers what they expect, at the right price.”

The Energy Performance Gap describes the potential difference between the design intents and actual performance of new buildings. Despite international agreements to reduce carbon emissions, recent studies have shown that the Energy Performance Gap continues to pose a risk to energy saving targets.

Project Manager Jason Crozier explored this topical issue in his dissertation, which has been awarded the Construction Dissertation Prize by Oxford Brookes University. The study concluded that this widespread issue has multiple causes and presented a range of mitigation measures including closer collaboration across professional boundaries, altering the make up of the project team and encouraging the end user to maximise the building’s potential.

Groundbreaking can be an opportunity to raise awareness of a project among stakeholders, and promote the benefits of the project to the local community, and to generate press interest in the project.

Pictured below (L-R): groundbreaking ceremonies at the Clock Tower in Caledonian Park; at Littlehampton Leisure Centre; at the Fitness Centre at Phyllis Court Club.

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  Littlehampton Leisure Centre, Arun District Council

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  Fitness Centre, Phyllis Court Club

The Joint Contracts Tribunal is the group that produces (JCT) contracts designed to facilitate the process of constructing buildings. The contracts set out the responsibilities of all parties within the construction process and their obligations, so it is clear as to what work needs to be done, who is doing it, when are they doing it by, and for how much.

A JCT contract is well-recognised by the professional team and building contractors and is designed to save time and allocate risk fairly, The standard forms are kept up to date to reflect changes to law and practice and the latest editions of the JCT Contracts were published in 2016.

Lean construction is a methology aimed at maximising customer value and minimising waste.

The term originated from the manufacturing sector and came into use as a way to address the UK’s long standing ambition to improve productivity and to deliver a higher percentage of projects on time and within budget. Construction has a particular challenge which is that each building is unique, with a unique set of risks and challenges and often a unique group of people delivering the project.

NEC is a family of construction contracts that are used on a wide range of commercial projects, from major framework projects (eg. Crossrail) to minor construction works. When the NEC was introduced it simplified the language of contracts by using plain English that could be more widely understood. It is also intended to stimulate a good relationship between the two parties in the contract, by promoting a collaborative working approach.

This suite of contracts are widely used across the industry. Clarkson Alliance have expertise using the NEC3 suite of contracts and are currently using them to deliver a number of our projects.

Learn more: Graham Clarkson has previously shared some thoughts on how to make the NEC3 work in practice – you can read some of his tips in Construction Manager Magazine.

A ‘pile’ or ‘piling’ is a vertical structural element of a deep foundation that is drilled deep in to the ground on a building site. The piles form the essential support for the structure above,

Piles are typically made of steel or reinforced concrete and are designed to support the load from the superstructure of the building (eg. the frame, the external and internal walls, the roof etc). The material and exact type of piling used on a project depends on a number of factors including the ground conditions; the size and weight of the proposed building; the proximity to other structures; the presence of water.

A Risk Register, or Risk Log, is a document created in the early stages of a construction project that can be used to track issues and address problems as they arise.

The Risk Register forms part of a Risk Management strategy whereby project managers identify, analyse and seek to mitigate or minimise the risks on a project. Typically, a risk will be defined by having a probability and an impact; when these two considerations are combined the importance of the risk can be understood and the project manager can then address the risks with the greatest potential for loss. 

For the Stage 1 of the tender contractors put forward their proposals to work on the pre-construction stage of the project. This will likely be selected on elements such as method statements; staffing; costs of preliminaries; proposed programme. The successful contractor will then work with the rest of the consultant team to finalise the design. They will be employed under a Pre-Construction Services Agreement (“PCSA”).

During the second stage of the tender, the client and the preferred contractor negotiate the main building contract in parallel with the work being carried out under the PCSA. In theory the early involvement of a contractor should improve the cost certainty of the project and lead to a well-integrated project team who are united behind the agreed project outcomes.

The client is able appoint a different contractor to deliver the project at Stage 2, however in an ideal scenario the contractor appointed at Stage 1 would be used, and the benefits from their early involvement can be realised eg. to programme and risk management.

Whole Life Costing (WLC) is a tool that seeks to calculate the cost of a building for the whole of its life, rather than only considering the cost of construction. This technique looks at costs such as: inception; construction; occupation; disposal. As a result it will also include ongoing costs such as maintenance, refurbishment, energy, utilities and security.

Whole life costing encourages the use of best value building designs and is considered a better way of assessing value for money than construction costs – which may result in lower short-term costs but higher ongoing costs. It also encourages collaborative working across the project team, as input will be required from various parties with different expertise in order to assess the full implications of options.

You can learn more about Whole Life Costing on the Constructing Excellence website.