What is Project 13 and How to Use Daily Site Records to Fuel Project Success

Project 13 is a new, collaborative way to work for asset owners, contractors and advisors on infrastructure projects in the UK and beyond. First proposed by the Institute for Civil Engineers (ICE) in 2016, it puts emphasis on long-term relationships, efficiency and productivity. 

The centrepiece of Project 13 is the enterprise model. All participants of an infrastructure project will work together under the enterprise model, shifting client-contractor relationships from cost-driven, transactional procurement to value-driven collaborative delivery of joint goals. Notable adopters of Project 13 include the World Economic Forum’s Platform on Cities, Infrastructure and Urban Services, UK National Highways’ Smart Motorways Programme (SMP), and Network Rail’s Southern Renewal enterprise (SRE). 

In this article, we will walk you through the five pillars of Project 13 and illustrate how daily site records are integral to the success of these innovative principles. 

‍

‍

Principle One – Capable Owner

The capable owner is at the heart of Project 13. It no longer chases short-term outputs and acts reactively to course correct. In the new enterprise model, the capable owner defines the vision, establishes long-term value and leads all participants, with whom they collaborate and trust. 

With a focus on long-term outcomes and optimising performance along the way, the capable owner must have a bird’s-eye view of the existing and proposed future performance of their assets. This holistic overview requires consistent, accurate data. 

Traditionally, asset owners may have attributed the duty of capturing site records to their suppliers. They may have put limited value on the productivity and commercial insights in site records. This underemphasis of site records, in turn, has made the leadership of asset owners less effective.  

Proper records, most likely captured using a record management system, provide the crucial performance insights required to maximise performance, mitigate risk and add long-term asset value. Such insights are not only critical to successful delivery of any project; they are the anchor for collaborative, trust-based relationships with contractors, providing much-needed traceability, reliability and accountability. 

Too many times, on traditional contracts and delivery models, the asset owner is unaware or becomes aware too late to influence outcomes. Extensive daily commercial site records support a transformation of this outdated approach to the collaborative model under Project 13.

‍

Principle Two – Governance

Governance in Project 13 aims to shift the focus from price to value. For too long incentives have been misaligned. Client outcomes and whole-life cost benefits for infrastructure have often been sacrificed for short-term cost savings. 

Project 13 emphasises transparency, accountability, and ownership to drive a new governance model that helps, not hinders all members within the enterprise.

Imagine that everyone in the delivery enterprise has access to accurate, comprehensive records of what happened when, and by whom in real time. This radical visibility without subjectivity and common biases can empower all stakeholders to make data-driven decisions.

The ability to measure, visualise and analyse performance opens governance structures to timely feedback. Interventions can be made at the right time to ensure the project’s lifetime value. 

Having a shared, digital construction record management system (RMS) provides exactly such real-time insights across all participants of the enterprise, regardless of their order in the supply chain or distance from site. 

Effective governance structures rely on accurate information available to the right stakeholders at the right time. Project 13’s vision for improved governance cannot be achieved without an up-to-date, reliable single source of truth on project performance. This is vital for compliance to become simple, effective and value adding, rather than an obstacle to progress.

‍

Principle Three – Integration

Historically, integration has been a never-ending challenge for our major infrastructure schemes. Under the Project 13 model, all participants in the project are expected to have aligned interests, organisationally and commercially, committed to the health, safety, and wellbeing of the scheme as well as the people working on it.

In order to achieve this, the integrator needs to focus on programme, production and information management. Each of these key areas benefits from consistent, structured site data.

A shared repository where all stakeholders can access and review site records in a collaborative environment is instrumental to end-to-end integration based on the latest and most accurate information across the supply chain. Having variance and delay analysis at everyone’s fingertips enables constant, quick optimisation of workflows and updating of schedules. 

When circumstances change, integration must adapt and evolve to meet those circumstances and efficiently update the plan to stay on track. Having access to data on site, as well as aggregated data on the whole project, allows informed decision-making and objective risk management.

‍

Principe Four – Organisation 

The organisational focus of Project 13 aims to create coalitions of equal partners working toward shared outcomes. Trust, transparency, and consent are the bedrock of these relationships.

Collaborative tools, such as a shared record management system, foster trust and nurture good behaviour. Members of the whole enterprise team all have access to reliable, consistent, and structured site data. Roles and responsibilities are more clearly defined than ever. 

How efficiently an organisation operates depends on effective knowledge sharing. Having immediate access to relevant data and insights throughout the supply chain is essential to fostering and sustaining the deep, broad, and long-lasting relationships Project 13 demands. Adopting a proper record management system will set the enterprise on the course to achieve these benefits. 

‍

Principle Five – Digital Transformation

Under Project 13, data creates an information value chain that connects data, decisions, and outcomes. To have data that is accurate, consistent, and traceable requires exploring, adopting, and utilising smart, fit-for-purpose technologies.

With artificial intelligence (AI) tools taking the spotlight in UK construction for the last two years, we argue that a return to fundamentals is more important and fruitful for any project that wishes to use digital transformation to deliver intelligent solutions. Without actual information from where our infrastructure is built – the site, no tool can compute reliable, effective solutions. 

A record management system may not be in itself a groundbreaking technological innovation.  However, its deployment can benefit the digital transformation for any project, especially those following the Project 13 approach.

“Garbage in, garbage out.” In order to deliver the data-driven, long-term outcomes the Project 13 model promises, you need all the accurate data you can capture. Site, as the frontier of infrastructure delivery, deserves higher priority than it has historically received

‍

‍

Dyer & Butler has already partnered with Gather for their reactive works under the SRE’s Southern Integrated Delivery (SID) framework. Explore how Gather’s construction site record management system can add to your project today.

‍

‍