The council’s ‘Roadmap to Recovery’ document emphasises the importance of coordinating activity to ensure a ‘more capable, professional, productive and profitable sector’ emerges from the crisis.

Costs and delivery time on projects are likely to increase as a result of lost productivity from implementing social distancing, it says, which will further erode low profit margins and place additional pressure on firms.

The strategy sets out a three phase plan to be delivered over the next two years which aims to increase activity in the sector, accelerate adjustment to ‘the new normal’ and build capacity to deliver priorities including decarbonisation and adoption of digital technologies.

Construction Leadership Council co-chair Andy Mitchell said: “The unprecedented challenge of coronavirus calls for unprecedented solutions.
“I am delighted by the way that the industry has collaborated at pace to develop this plan, targeting those interventions that will help the industry get back on its feet as quickly as possible.”

The first phase of the plan – ‘Restart’ – includes the resumption of work on all projects and programmes in line with Government safety guidance. Efforts are needed to minimise disruption due to contractual disputes and the industry should consider adoption of a conflict avoidance pledge, it says.

The second phase – ‘Reset’, to be delivered within the first year of recovery – calls for the development of a robust pipeline of work across the sector, including in road and rail, to give industry the confidence to invest in skills and future capacity.

New approaches will be needed to compensate for the loss of productivity due to lockdown restrictions, it adds, and urges investment in training, collaborative business models and fairer contracts and payment practices.

Finally the third ‘Reinvent’ phase sets out a need to sustain economic growth through the adoption of digital technologies to achieve outcomes including net-zero carbon emissions and better building quality.

Focus should be placed on adopting procurement models and approaches to deliver better value and whole life performance, as well as embedding more collaborative and less adversarial working between the industry and its clients, the strategy says.

The Roadmap to Recovery document comes after the National Infrastructure Commission published a report on resilience last week, which highlights a need for infrastructure to be ‘stress tested’ for major incidents, including flooding and other climate related impacts.

Government should set clear resilience standards for infrastructure operators, who should be required to develop and maintain long term resilience strategies, it recommends.

Evidence used in the study comes from before Covid-19. National Infrastructure Commission chair Sir John Armitt said: “While this report draws on evidence collected before the pandemic, this study can inform thinking about the recovery and help ensure that we can be resilient to future challenges.
“To safeguard the systems our communities rely on, everyone involved in running infrastructure needs to anticipate and prepare for potential future challenges. The framework proposed in our report offers the tools to face uncomfortable truths, value resilience properly, test for vulnerabilities and drive adaptation before it is too late.”

(Photograph: Cheshire East Council)