Road partners to undergo change

A major reshuffling of partnerships between contractors and their consultants is expected in the coming months after the Highways Agency (HA) officially launched its pre-qualification Capability Assessment Toolkit (CAT) for future multi-million pound major works packages.

The CAT, which was put out to industry as a consultation document in March, enables companies to self-assess themselves on 18 indicators across six areas. These are strategies and planning; direction and accountability; people; partnering; processes; and internal resources.

However, the HA's supply chain manager Gary Wright said he wouldn't be surprised if companies were using the consultation document to poach future partners rather than concentrating on lower costs.

"I feel this will make healthy competition," said Wright. "There is currently a debate over
whether we publicise scores from the CAT.

"However, I don't think this will make much difference now as the document will be used by the industry to choose its future partners."

The change in relationships, which could be worth millions in gains or losses to companies, will mean that many long established partnerships could be scrapped as teams look to sign up with those who achieve high CAT scores.

The self-assessment scheme is worth 80% of the marks to get on the agency's pre-qual lists.

The other 20% comes from a written submission on past performance. The final decision will be made from an overview process which includes other issues such as previous health and safety records and project performance.

The HA will not hold back on barring contractors with a bad work history.

Once a self-assessment has been carried out, the HA will send out its validation teams to verify the scores during interviews and get feedback from subcontractors.

Validations must be completed by the middle of December.

Wright also revealed that six packages of works will be announced in the autumn, each rumoured to include three varied work types.

The projects themselves have yet to be announced, although they are believed to include road schemes announced earlier this month by transport secretary Alistair Darling, such as the widening of the M25 and M6.

A prior information notice is expected in the next two weeks.