ESTABLISHMENT OF JOINT ICE / ICES COMMERCIAL MANAGEMENT BOARD TO FACILITATE SKILL SHARING IN COMMERCIAL AND PROJECT MANAGEMENT

The formation of the Joint Commercial Management Board reflects the change in working practice of the traditional Civil Engineering Surveyor, who now, more than ever, has responsibilities embracing all aspects of the procurement, financial and commercial administration and settlement of construction contracts. A number of disciplines are covered by the umbrella term of ‘commercial management’, including procurement, estimation, and construction law.

The inaugural meeting of the CMB was held at the Institution of Civil Engineers on Thursday 17 January 2000. This followed on from the Memorandum of Agreement signed between the two institutions in September 1999 in order to develop closer working relationships in areas of common interest. The two main driving forces in cementing the relationship were David Cawthra, of the ICE and David Carrick of the ICES.

The CMB is not another bureaucracy telling people how they should work. Instead it represents the Civil Engineering and Construction industry getting together to share skills, speak with a united voice to government, the industry and the community at large and promote best practice and new initiatives in the post-Egan era. A timetable for a joint programme of national and local events is being established to facilitate this, as is joint identification and promotion of best practice in total project management. The CMB aims to be a team to listen and respond to industry and the public using acknowledged experts to respond to government and industry initiatives.

The Commercial Management Board secretary is James Galassi and he will be happy to deal with any questions you may have. His contact details are:

Tel: 020 7665 2213
Fax: 020 779 1325
E-mail: [email protected] top

ICE-ICES COMMERCIAL MANAGEMENT BOARD (CMB)

Purpose and constitution

1. The CMB shall serve the Management Board of the ICE and the Commercial Management Practices Committee of the ICES.
2. The CMB shall have 10 board members (or such other number as the ICE and the ICES may otherwise agree) including the Chairman and Vice-Chairman. Corresponding members may be appointed in addition to the board members, at the discretion of the CMB.
3. The ICE and the ICES shall nominate equal numbers of board members.  Both the ICE and the ICES will nominate board members with the experience of commercial management in civil engineering.
4. >The CMB shall have a Chairman and a Vice-Chairman being one of the board members nominated by the ICE and the other being one of the board members nominated by the ICES. The Vice-Chairman shall serve for one year and then serve a year as Chairman (or such other periods as the ICE and the ICES may otherwise agree).
5. Board members shall serve for a period of three years and each member may be nominated to serve for a further period at the joint discretion of the Chairman and Vice-Chairman.
6. The CMB shall establish objectives, which shall be presented for approval to the ICE and the ICES, and shall periodically review the objectives as appropriate.
7. The CMB shall be established at the commencement of the ICE 1999/2000 session in November 1999. top

Board composition in 2001/2

 Board secretary – Adora Xavier Tel: 020 7665 2213

Aims and Objectives

1. To promote the key role of commercial management in civil engineering through ICE and ICES and other bodies, in conjunction with the ICE Management Board and the ICES Commercial Management Practice Committee.
2. To support all those engaged in activities related to commercial management in civil engineering and encourage them to become members of ICE or ICES or both.
3. To carry out and develop Learned Society activities in commercial management in conjunction with the ICE Management Board and the ICES Commercial Management Practices Committee.  This will involve lectures, meetings, seminars, conferences and the publication of papers.
4. To collaborate with other professional bodies, regional groups, local associations where it is relevant to do so and where it would encourage Learned Society activity in the regions. In this way the members of both institutions will be able to apply their influence and expertise upon other professionals whilst benefiting from their related knowledge and experience.  To establish a liaison with initiatives in higher education establishments specialising in commercial management and to participate in such initiatives as appropriate.
5. To be forward looking and act as a listening post for the industry so as to identify trends and issues in commercial management in civil engineering and thereby seek to influence or anticipate events.
6. To provide advice sought by ICE, ICES, the Management Board, and the Commercial Management Practices Committee or by government, trade bodies or other professionals and to provide responses to consultation papers and issues of the day
7. To develop, where and when appropriate, good practice guides, in particular aspects of commercial management. top

Definition of Commercial Management (CM)

• relates to the cost, risks and benefits of projects
• spans the entire period from initial sponsorship of a project through procurement and construction and onwards through its whole life cycle.
• concerns how risk is identified and transferred and the strategy for due reward, including measurement of efficiency
• concerns the contractual and financial management of projects through conception to the whole life of a project
• recognises that there is no single best commercial management practice for the industry but that there is best practice for a given project

Possible activity areas

• Risk management
• Value management
• Whole life costing
• Investment & viability appraisal
• Investment programme management
• Cost monitoring & control
• Works procurement

Also see the ICE information on the Commercial Management Board.