Restart > Reset > Reinvent: The CLC’s roadmap out of COVID-19 and beyond

The Construction Leadership Council (CLC) has published “Road-map to Recovery – An Industry Recovery Plan for the UK Construction Sector”, mapping out a two-year strategy to drive the recovery of the construction sector in the immediate wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. The strategy also looks to set the tone for the future of the construction/built environment after the immediate recovery.

The Roadmap to Recovery comprises of three stages:

1. Restart (1-3 months)
   Maximising work on projects as far as possible within government guidelines; maximising employment in the construction industry and supply chain; and minimising disruption from contractual disputes (this ties into the RICS conflict avoidance pledge endorsed by CLC last month – see our report on the pledge here).
2. Reset (3-12 months)
   Developing a robust pipeline across the construction ecosystem; addressing reduced productivity from implementing government guidelines with new approaches; and investing in training, collaboration, fairer contracts and payment practices. As a part of this phase, the CLC has recommended a further delay to the implementation of the Reverse Charge VAT until 1 October 2021 (this was previously pushed back to October 2020, in October 2019).  This was a move which was supported by the Federation of Master Builders (@fmbuilders). It has just been announced by the Government that the VAT Reverse Charge will indeed be pushed back to March 2021.
3. Reinvent (12 months >)
   Achieving sustainable, low carbon and better quality growth/output using digital technologies; adopting procurement practices that deliver better value and whole-life performance; and building stronger industry/client/supply chain partnerships and investing in an upskilled workforce.The Roadmap, in particular the Reinvention Phase, is an excellent example of how the construction industry is responding positively to the challenges faced due to Covid-19. It looks to use the recovery as a springboard to drive many changes that have been staples of the UK construction strategy for many years. The Roadmap sets many of the same aims as the Government’s Construction 2025 report produced in 2013 (use of digital BIM, skills development, and low-carbon, sustainable output). These long-term aims must now be viewed as a means to help build a construction industry that will be resilient against a similar disruptive event in the future.

The CLC intends to engage with stakeholders and publish further recovery plans for specific sectors following consultation with working groups, to be established later this month.

The full report can be found here. If you have any questions what the strategy may mean for your business’s own recovery from Covid-19 disruption, our construction team are here to advise.