We were delighted to attend the first Scottish Cross-Parliamentary Group on Construction in September. In line with our Strategy aims and objectives, we raised our key priorities, such as promoting the role of an EnCoW, and the value it can bring to construction projects. We also raised, and discussed, potential regulatory reform for environmental commitments…
AECoW met with NRW on 7th October 2021. In line with our Strategy, we discussed: The role of an EnCoW and how it can support environmental regulators; The issues around commissioning EnCoWs and the need for contracts to support the the delivery of the role; The importance of impartial, environmental auditing during construction to deliver…
AECoW was invited to attend the inaugural meeting of this group in September, along with Network Rail, Office for Rail & Road, Scottish Water among other stakeholders. We were delighted to be invited, particularly as AECoW is the only representative, membership body in the Group. The purpose of the group is to share information on…
AECoW has provided a written response to the biodiversity event it attended on 24th June, which was in preparation of CoP15 (October, China). This response was copied to all AECoW stakeholders, including all environmental regulators across the UK. ‘Whilst the event was interesting, we noted that it was almost silent on planning, development and construction and…
At the consultants sub-working group, AECoW highlighted the need for consistent, clear, and effective monitoring roles, and responsibilities, which must be supported by the contracts. AECoW strives for robust, independent EnCoW monitoring (ie. that is paid for by the Client, or Contractor, but commissioned independently, to avoid creating any compromise, or conflict of priorities); effective…
This group plans to engage with other stakeholders to share knowledge, and inform new EnCoW planning guidance, entitled ‘Good Practice Guide for Compliance Monitoring – For Consenting Authorities. AECoW’s existing guidance for Local Planning Authorites wil be used to inform the new guidance. Stakeholders will likely be contacted for contributions in due course and it…
AECoW attended a Biodiversity Crisis meeting recently in the run up to COP15 in China in October, hosted by the Scottish Government & NatureScot. We raised the issue regarding the lack of robust, open and transparent compliance monitoring, coupled with limited / ineffective feedback mechanisms (which should respond to monitoring findings). We believe that this…
We are delighted to have carried out initial consultation with FLS on 22nd April. We are exploring opportunities with it, whereby we can share good practice, develop training material for affiliate grades, and bring together other key agencies. We are planning a second meeting with FLS in the summer to tie in with the broader consultation…
We instructed Freeths LLP to provide legal advice on appointment terms and conditions of EnCoW contracts; and our proposed planning condition. We will share outputs with our Working Groups (to feed into the consultation) and also with our members. This includes two outputs: a validity test of our proposed planning condition which we are seeking…
We will be meeting with the ICWCI in July to discuss contracting arrangement of Clerks of Works, as we are aware that EnCoW appointments often differ from standard CoW appointments and contracts. This will help us help our members to strengthen their contractual arrangements and support their delivery of them.