Welsh Assembly Government
01/10/2008
In February 2006, the National Assembly took occupation of its new building, the Senedd. The Auditor General found that the Assembly Government and its project team did a good job in the second phase of the project which restarted in 2002.
The Auditor General recommended that the Assembly Government disseminate the use of good practice processes that had helped make the procurement of the Senedd a success. One of the key elements is value engineering.
The Office of Government Commerce's Achieving Excellence in Construction programme states that value engineering is a continuous process in which all the components and processes involved in construction are critically appraised to determine whether better value alternatives or solutions are available. It is helpful for reducing wasteful processes and inefficiency in specific aspects of the design, construction and maintenance. It enables stakeholders to define and achieve their needs through facilitated workshops that encourage participation, team working and end-user buy-in. The focus of value management is on function and value for money, not reducing cost.
During the detailed design phase, negotiations between Taylor Woodrow (the construction contractor) and the Assembly Government, led to establishing the final fixed price. This process involved extensive use of value engineering resulting in savings of £763,000. Further details can be found in the Auditor General's report on The Senedd.
Contact Name: Richard Wilson
Contact Role: Construction Programme Director
Contact Telephone: 029 208 26924
Contact Email: Richard.Wilson@wales.gsi.gov.uk
Contact Address: Welsh Assembly Government
Cathays Park
Cardiff
CF10 3NQ
Website: http://new.wales.gov.uk