Contractors and consultants improve CAT scores

Highways contractors and consultants have made marked improvements on their Capability Assessment Toolkit (CAT) scores for the Highways Agency (HA), as revealed in CJ at the start of the year (CJ 5 Jan).

A total of 48 companies, 25 civil engineering contractors and 23 consulting engineers, participated in the 2004/5 CAT programme which aims to pre-qualify contractors on to tender lists and was completed in March this year.

The average validated CAT score is now 63, out of a maximum of 72, with the top five contractors achieving scores ranging from 66 to 70 and the top five consultants achieving scores ranging from 68 to 70.

In the previous round of CAT accreditation contractors and consultants were scoring in the mid 50s.

The HA is now seeking to develop the CAT and has enlisted the expertise of an Industry Advisory Group to assist in delivering the continuous improvement of the CAT framework and process.

The 2005/6 CAT programme is expected to commence towards the end of this year.

An HA spokesman said: "We are delighted with the improvement in the CAT scores as they represent a clear commitment by our suppliers to focus on business improvement and best practice.  We now need to work on developing the CAT to ensure that it continues to represent capabilities at the cutting edge of best practice.”