The CBI Construction Council has floated the idea that the construction industry could benefit from an integrated approach to R&D investment through raising a levy on companies or projects along the lines of the CITB levy system.
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In general, the report highlights innovation as a key component of growth in the industry that should be prioritised in the government’s forthcoming Industrial Strategy for Construction, due to be published at the Government Construction Summit on July 2.
Lucy Thornycroft, CBI head of construction, told CM: “Our submission to the construction industrial strategy calls for the government and industry to explore the possible benefits of an ‘innovation levy’. This could be similar in design to the CITB construction skills levy, with a shared funding arrangement for investment in innovation that would benefit businesses across the construction supply chain.
“Long-term certainty in regulation will give businesses the confidence to invest in innovation. But more could be done to overcome the and low levels of innovation investment compared to other sectors.”
Lucy Thornycroft, CBI head of construction
“Embedding innovation in our approach to construction will be key to securing a world-leading industry in the future. While many construction firms are leading the way in areas such as Building Information Management (BIM) we need to up our game.
“Long-term certainty in regulation will give businesses the confidence needed to invest in innovation. But more could be done to overcome the barriers of fragmentation in the industry and low levels of investment in innovation compared to other sectors.”
As well as the call for a feasibility study into the proposed levy, the report suggests setting a target of increasing private sector spending on R&D by 20% by 2025, and argues for “intelligent and responsible use of public procurement… to drive forward innovation”.
The report also called for a target to triple exports of construction services by 2025. To support its submission, the CBI commissioned independent research from the Centre of Economic & Business Research, which forecast that export activity in construction services could increase to £4.4bn by 2025, up from around £1.7bn in 2011.
To boost the industry’s capacity to export its skills in engineering, architecture and low carbon construction, the submission says that industry and government should set year-on-year growth targets, and undertake further research on the exact areas of expertise to nurture.
In addition, the report recommends setting a target to increase the use of UK-sourced building products and materials on construction sites from around 75% today to 85% by 2020 to help achieve greater efficiencies and growth.
And it says that the UK should become a world leader in sustainability and low carbon construction through improvements to building regulations and incentivising energy efficiency in new and existing buildings.
The submission states: “The Olympics helped to show the world our construction sector at its best and created a strong platform to increase exports in construction services… The UK will need to maintain its competitive edge in key growth areas. For example, the UK is now recognised as a global leader in the exploitation of Building Information Management (BIM) technology and processes. But other countries are not far behind and we will need to continue to evolve in the adaptation of BIM.”
