Sustainable construction & infrastructure

RICS is strongly supportive of measures to mandate the measurement, reporting, and disclosure of embodied and operational carbon in built environment projects. This is crucial in allowing sustainable decisions to be made at the earliest possible stage in the project initiation process.

Alongside industry partners, RICS has produced a suite of standards to support the measurement, reporting and benchmarking of carbon data in the built environment, enabling sustainable decision making from private and public sector organisations and the delivery of net zero ambitions. RICS calls on decision makers, in public and private bodies, to embed these standards into the heart of construction projects. These include:

• International Cost Management Standard: ICMS3 will support the transition to net zero by enabling the accurate benchmarking and reporting of carbon in construction.
  
• Whole Life (Lifecycle) Carbon Assessment: A mandatory professional statement, setting out how to consider embodied and operational carbon within the built environment.  
  
• Built Environment Carbon Database: A free resource that allows users to identify where carbon reductions can be made in a building's lifecycle. It is the main source of carbon estimating for the construction sector.
  
• UK Net Zero Verification Standard: RICS is part of a coalition of built environment professional bodies, supporting the development of the UK Net Zero Carbon Buildings Standard, the first of its kind to help define how we measure and assess an properties net zero readiness.

The Government should foster a culture of collaboration and conflict avoidance in construction and encourage both public and private sector organisations to consider innovative alternative mechanisms – such as smart contracts, project bank accounts, integrated project insurance and third-party deposit schemes - in place of cash retentions.  

RICS supports the move away from retentions, provided there is some alternative form of assurance and protection for all parties working on construction projects. The status quo presumption should be that retentions should not be used unless requested.  

We strongly encourage public and private sector organisations to sign up to the coalition-led Conflict Avoidance Pledge (CAP) which is backed by over 250 organisations, and welcome the recognition of CAP in the UK Government Construction Playbook, the Scottish Government Construction Policy Note on Conflict Avoidance and the Welsh Construction Forum’s 12-point recovery plan from the Covid-19 pandemic.

RICS is strongly supportive of increasing the use of digital technologies such as MMC and Offsite Construction across the built environment. The Government should provide greater support for it and play a leading role in trialling and researching their use cases. Developing MMC will take a concerted effort across the public and private sector. To support its development, the Government must:

• Place itself at the centre of the policy area and act as a coordinating force alongside industry.  
  
• Invest in and develop the required skills
  
• Help define the various different aspects of MMC
  
• Integrate MMC and Offsite Construction into broader policy programmes, such as NPF4 and building standards
  
• Assist with R&D to figure out ‘what works’ and the required level of standardisation.
  
• Provide investment and guarantees to allow the industry to survive in the short term while economies of scale are developed and the business case proven.