We have been nominated for a national award by the Considerate Constructors Scheme for its work on the Building a Better Nottingham scheme.
The company has been working with Nottingham City Council and Nottingham City Homes on a £2.85m scheme to build 26 council homes across the city. It has been nominated for its site at Henning Gardens in Top Valley. The former disused garage site is now host to eight two-bedroom family homes, providing much needed accommodation and improving the surrounding environment for local people.
The Considerate Constructors Scheme (CCS) is a national initiative, set up by the construction industry to improve its image. Construction sites and companies that register with the scheme are monitored against a strict set of standards. These have been designed to encourage best practice, beyond the statutory requirements of any building site. Nottingham City Homes has become a Client Partner of the CCS scheme. Being a member of the scheme highlights the commitment from NCH, Nottingham City Council and our supply chain partners to meet the high standards required to achieve this level of recognition.
Assessors are looking at a number of areas related to how the site is managed. Site managers are expected to demonstrate how considerate the construction has been to the general public, the workforce and the local environment. Each of the four Building a Better Nottingham sites Robert Woodhead has worked on over the past year have been assessed by CCS against a new stringent set of guidelines built around key themes, including:
• Enhancing the appearance
• Respecting the community
• Protecting the environment
• Securing everyone’s safety
• Caring for the workforce
All scored highly, with a number of individual marks of ‘excellent’ and a couple of ‘exceptional’ points. But it was the site at Henning Gardens which stood out from the rest. The company will not know whether they will receive a Gold, Silver or Bronze award until the awards ceremony, which will be held at The Lowry in Manchester on Thursday 25th March.
Glenn Slater, Business Development Director at Robert Woodhead Ltd, said: “We’re really pleased that our Site Manager Robert Chadwick has been put forward for his second National Site Award.
“We work hard to make sure all our sites are managed considerately It is important however for these standards to be independently verified, to help make sure we are consistently performing to the level that is expected of all construction companies.”
The CCS assessor highlighted all areas at Henning Gardens as excellent, with the exception of ‘securing everyone’s safety’ which they said was exceptional. The site scored a total of 41 out of a possible 50 points. In summarising the assessment, the CCS report said: ‘The site has remained as an excellent example of promotion of CCS principles and a commitment to improving the image of the construction industry.’
It paid particular attention to the local community: ‘Respect for neighbours and prompt personal attention to their concerns has remained excellent throughout and appreciation in the form of “we’ll miss you” comments indicate the extent of the site manager’s efforts.’
Councillor Alex Ball, Executive Assistant with responsibility for Housing and Regeneration at Nottingham City Council, said: “We have been incredibly pleased with the work that has been done on all four of Robert Woodhead’s sites across the country.
“Not only have they taken into consideration the quality of the construction of these fantastic new family homes, but they have paid close attention to the impact they have on the surrounding community too.”
Robert Woodhead’s Site Manager at Henning Gardens, Bob Chadwick, also invited apprentices and students from Vision West Notts College and pupils from the nearby Big Wood School to spend time on-site to learn about the day-to-day running of a construction site.
Robert Chadwick, Robert Woodhead’s Site Manager on the projectadded: “We work with a number of our own apprentices and it’s always important to us to give young people an opportunity to visit a working site, answer their questions, and provide them with knowledge and experience to move forward with their careers.”