The 2012 Construction Common Minimum Standards for the Built Environment have been updated. The document introduces no additional standards, instead summarising existing government policy and relevant standards intended to represent the minimum normal threshold for the application of existing government policies.
The standards apply to central government, including departments, executive agencies and the non-departmental public bodies for which they are responsible. Departments are expected to take reasonable measures to ensure that the standards are also adopted throughout the wider public sector, where responsibility for expenditure of public funds has been devolved. The standards do not cover all legislative requirements, which are mandatory. Compliance with these standards is considered to represent cost-effectiveness, but practical application by individual procurers should be considered on a project-specific basis within the context of practicality, achievability and value for money. Procurers are expected to comply with the standards unless it can be clearly demonstrated that one or more of them fall outside the criteria.
For further information on this topic please contact Chris Fellowes at Mayer Brown International LLP by telephone (+44 20 3130 3000) or email ([email protected]). The Mayer Brown International LLP website can be accessed at www.mayerbrown.com.