"Nobody wants a group of people who are sitting in an ivory tower, telling them what to do," says Desiree Blamey, managing director of the Considerate Constructors Scheme.
Having joined the not-for-profit organisation as head of partnerships last January, Blamey was promoted to managing director in August. The group works with contractors and the wider built environment industry to promote best practice across construction sites, helping to improve worker wellbeing, community relations and environmental impact.
Blamey took charge of CCS with 15 years' experience working across the construction, engineering and advisory sectors, spending the early part of her career in finance after qualifying as a chartered accountant in her native Australia.
Having been at the helm for five months, which has included a number of site visits with the group's team of 58 monitors, Blamey tells CoStar News she is looking to change preconceptions of the organisation through education and action.
"There is this unfortunate perception in the industry that we act as some type of construction police," she says. "You can feel [contractors] back up when you rock up and that's not who we are... we are the 'arm around the shoulder' in taking people on the journey."
One of the main functions of the CCS, founded more than three decades ago, is to visit sites and guide contractors and clients, such as landlords, on its Code of Considerate Practice, assessing them against its recommendations.
"On a monthly basis I go out on site and shadow monitors to see on the ground how we are impacting [people] because I just don't see how you can appropriately address the challenges in the industry if you don't know what's going on."
"I just don't see how you can appropriately address the challenges in the industry if you don't know what's going on."
Blamey says a major part of her role as the CCS's first managing director is to make sure the organisation is viewed as a force for good and a trusted ally of contractors. Ramping up engagement, including with SMEs, is one way she says the group is looking to work on this.
"We need to be talking to people about the purpose of the organisation, we are a not-for-profit, trying to help the industry be better. We talk internally about the carrot and stick approach, we are not the stick, we are the carrot, we are trying to help people along that journey. I think it is engaging on that perspective."
She adds: "You see this especially with site managers new to us, you see this sort of gradual relaxation in them, they get way more comfortable [because] our monitors do such a great job to provide help and assistance. The monitors understand what they are going through and are able to signpost different way to do things."
Blamey is also looking to enhance the reputation of the CCS among built environment professionals through a refresh of its Code, insisting this will be more of an evolution than a revolution.
She stresses that the Code, which helps development sites and organisations improve their work on areas such as public engagement, inclusivity and environmental impact, must remain relevant to challenges the industry faces.
Examples of where the CCS is looking to update its Code includes around harassment, which Blamey describes as "a challenge" for the construction sector, adding that the organisation wants to encourage contractors to amend their behaviours to make sure complaints decrease or are eradicated all together.
Code evolution
Another issue the CCS will look to address in the code is skin cancer, with figures from the Health and Safety Executive showing that construction workers represent 44% of skin cancer diagnoses in the UK caused by workplace exposure, despite making up only 8% of the workforce.
"We are doing a huge piece of work to engage with our monitors, contractors, local councils and clients to identify where those problem areas are and, therefore, what [it] should address which I think, again, is another really good opportunity for us to shift the dial on perception with us.
"We are also, through that refresh, looking at amending the scoring quite a bit. At the moment, [the way the code works] is you either do it or you don't which, again, for SMEs is quite difficult. So, what we are trying to do is add that layer of nuance. So you might be doing something, in which case you should get acknowledgment for that, but to get full scores you need to do above and beyond."
Blamey, who stresses that the organisation should be engaging with all corners of the built environment, says the CCS in the past may not have given its client partners, such as landlords and local authorities, as much attention as they deserve; something she is looking to change.
She argues this benefits contractors working on their sites, as well as client partners, who have to hit environmental targets and want to highlight the benefits of their schemes to the communities they are in.
"We are doing a piece of work to engage better with our client partners. I think they have sort of been left a bit in the past and I certainly see that as a huge part of what we need to do in terms of driving this [work], because ultimately [they] are a massive part of it as well, they need to see these things change for themselves."
Blamey adds: "Being a part of us also helps organisations [to check] that they are following ESG standards, there is that element of it as well. So we are doing a lot of work with them and starting to improve their relationships."
Marks & Spencer buy-in
One such partner the CCS has a relationship with is national retailer Marks & Spencer, which she described as an "unbelievable supporter" of the group. She adds the CCS has worked with the grocer to understand the challenges it faces across its portfolio, from shops and sheds.
Its new Weymouth store that is under construction at Mercery Road, being built by Mildren Construction, recently achieved close to full marks during a CCS assessment, getting the top mark for its Respect the Community category.
Blamey says the CCS plans to hold events next year where contractors will be encouraged to bring clients along to facilitate conversations about what they need to achieve best practice, including resources landlords could provide. But she says it is a two-way conversation.
"It is about what [clients] should want from contractors as well, the standards that they should be upholding and what they need of the industry too in alignment with their own ESG strategies and Net Zero targets.
"We're considerate constructors, we are not considerate contractors, so it should be the entire built environment that is upholding these standards, so we are looking to start having that conversation right along the supply chain."
"It should be the entire built environment that is upholding these standards."
With CCS visiting sites with development values greater than £500,000 and construction periods of more than 12 weeks, Blamey says the group's monitors, who cover the UK and the Republic of Ireland, are "kept quite busy".
Having traditionally had greater involvement at housing projects, the CCS managing director says the modern organisation covers the whole spectrum of developments and is looking to work more with infrastructure projects given their significant impact on communities.
This means the CCS is looking to expand its numbers to ensure it can reach all the areas it needs. Blamey says there is also an element of practicing what they preach, appointing staff close to areas of activity so others aren't leaving a significant carbon footprint through their travel.
"Certainly one of our focuses for this year is going to be on, demographically, we have got a couple of areas where construction work is happening and we need to improve our presence. I think we have been a London-centric business for a long time and I don't think that is good enough.
"We are a UK and Republic of Ireland organisations and we need to act that way, so we are looking at improving our presence across the North West of England, another focus area is both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.
"These are areas where we can drive real impact, especially social value in the Republic of Ireland, there are a lot of organisations chomping at the bit to work with us on that sort of thing."