Efforts to attract private inward investment to the Midlands’ infrastructure sector could be given a significant boost through the adoption of new global construction standards, according to RICS

RICS states that adopting ICMS (International Construction Measurement Standards) would make the Midlands even more attractive to international investors – providing greater transparency, consistency and certainty for them. ICMS is a collaborative international standard developed by 46 global construction professional bodies.

For the last seven years, workloads in Midlands’ infrastructure have grown consistently and strongly, with the main activity taking place in the road, rail and energy sectors, according to RICS Construction & Infrastructure Market Survey, which gathers the sentiments of RICS Chartered Quantity Surveyors working in the region.

Chartered Quantity Surveyors –  experts in the financial management of construction – commit to working to the best practice through RICS standards. Quantity Surveyors are fundamental to ensuring best value for money for the taxpayer.

Looking ahead, workloads in the Midlands are expected to rise quicker than the rest of the UK. Employment in Midlands’ construction is also expected to grow, at a rate 0.8% by 2022*. Not only is this above national expectations, but means the region’s current and planned projects will create around 17,000 new jobs in the sector.

Therefore, growth fuels the need for more trusted, skilled and regulated professionals and accurate reporting of costs in construction and infrastructure projects. This is critical not only in terms of attracting investors, but also for assessing the economic viability of projects and maximising their impact.

Alan Muse, RICS Global BEG Standards Director, commented:

“At present, there is a lack of uniformity in how construction projects and costs are measured and reported around the world, which can provide risks for investors.

“Chartered quantity surveyors ensure the economic optimisation of construction projects through a process of prediction, control and challenge. As construction becomes more global, both in terms of funding and implementation, international learning through common international standards becomes more important and ensures better information for investment decisions.

“Widespread adoption of ICMS in the construction market here could provide the Midlands with a real competitive advantage and signal to potential investors that this is a market that they should be active in.

“ICMS provides global consistency in reporting; the kind of consistency that inward investors increasingly demand, and government projects need. Our message is very clear to those working in the Midlands’ built environment, widespread adoption of ICMS provides the opportunity for significant competitive advantage.”

Malcolm Horner, Emeritus Professor of Engineering Management, University of Dundee and Chair of the ICMS Civil Engineering Stream, commented:

“The benefits of sharing useful, robust and consistent data are widely recognised, both to provide benchmarks and improve the quality of estimating and cost prediction.

“Data sharing would be helpful to governments and other organisations who need to demonstrate value for money. It would allow the efficiencies of different organisations to be compared and inefficiencies to be identified and targeted. It would also allow clients and consultants, particularly smaller ones, to better determine what a project should cost, what it will cost and what it did cost.”

International Construction Measurement Standards (ICMS) is a high-level international standard that aims to provide greater global consistency in the classification, definition, measurement, analysis and presentation of construction costs at a project, regional, state or national/ international level. The standard has already been adopted by Arup, Arcadis and Turner & Townsend.