1. CEEQUAL IMPROVING SUSTAINABILITY
CEEQUAL Version 5 UK Project Assessor Training Tutor Notes
CEEQUAL IMPROVING SUSTAINABILITY
‘The Essence of CEEQUAL’
IEMA Webinar, Tuesday 19th May 2015
Professor Roger Venables
CEEQUAL Chief Executive
Issue September 2012

2. CEEQUAL Version 5 UK Project Assessor Training Tutor Notes
The essence of CEEQUAL
What is it?
Key Features
Who uses it?
What the questions cover or prompt?
The 9 Sections of CEEQUAL
Relationship with EIA, EMS and legislation
Benefits of using CEEQUAL
CEEQUAL is the sustainability assessment, rating system and award scheme for civil engineering, infrastructure, landscaping and the public realm. It is driven by the idea that by using it enables people to improve sustainability through best practice.
Initially CEEQUAL started by being applicable to mainstream civil engineering (roads, bridges, railways, water treatment works etc…) but over time has increased its scope to include many other kinds of infrastructure (such as power stations, power transmission systems, networks of other kinds such as pipelines etc). Similarly landscaping, such as works carried out by landscape architects and landscape contractors is included. Often these people don’t think of themselves as civil engineers but in fact they are doing engineering works in the civil space. Lastly all of the work that goes on in cities, towns and villages between the buildings for the areas where you and I walk, linger, shop and so on can be included on a CEEQUAL assessment.
In terms of what CEEQUAL is:
- it is a rating system
- it is a very strong influencing tool as I will go on to talk about in this presentation
- Used to the full it results in project and contract team being able to improve their sustainability characteristics through the application of best practice
In terms of how it gets done:
- It is a team based self assessment by a trained CEEQUAL assessor within the project or contract team.
- It is very much evidence based. It has a powerful combination of flexibility and rigor. I will talk more in this presentation, but essentially the rigor comes from it being evidence based.
- And after an independent verification and a ratification process (a check by one of the CEEQUAL Scheme Manager) an award is presented which indicates the grade of performance achievement achieved.
Issue September 2012 2

3. CEEQUAL Version 5 UK Project Assessor Training Tutor Notes
What is CEEQUAL? …
The sustainability assessment, rating and awards scheme for civil engineering, infrastructure, landscaping and works in public spaces
Rating system
Influencing tool
Improving sustainability through best practice
Team based self assessment
Evidence based
Independent verification + Award
Issue September 2012 3

4. Key features of CEEQUAL
CQL for Projects V5.1: UK & Ireland Edition - Assessor training course
Key features of CEEQUAL
Scoping-out + Evidence
= Points
= %
= Award
No Evidence = no points
Applicable to all types and sizes of civil engineering works in the UK and internationally
Assesses what is built and how it is built
Usually completed at the end of construction
Scoring is a mechanism to recognise performance
Not a legal requirement, but maybe contractual
Issue June 2014

5. Award types – Standard awards
CQL for Projects V5.1: UK & Ireland Edition - Assessor training course
Award types – Standard awards
Design & Construction Award
Client & Design Award
Pass – over 25%
Good – over 40%
Very Good – over 60%
Excellent – over 75%
(beyond minimum legal compliance)
Whole Team Award + Interim C&D
Whole Team Award
Construction Award
Design
Award
Issue June 2014 5

6. A selection of Key Users
Jacobs Engineering
Mouchel
Mott Macdonald
Parsons Brinckerhoff
URS
WYG
Amey
Balfour Beatty
BAM Nuttall
Carillion
Costain
Skanska
Transport for London
Volker Stevin
Crossrail
Northern Ireland Govt
Environment Agency
Highways England
Network Rail
Olympic Delivery Authority
Transport Scotland
Welsh Assembly Government
Aecom
Arup
Atkins
Capita Symonds
Halcrow / CH2M
> 650 individual assessments
> £25 billion of work has been or is currently being assessed

7. What CEEQUAL questions cover or prompt
CQL for Projects V5.1: UK & Ireland Edition - Assessor training course
Consider/Assess
Avoidance (of adverse impacts)
Reduce, minimise & mitigate
Enhancement (of positive impacts)
Inclusion of amenity & environmentally beneficial features
Stakeholder involvement
Resource efficiency
Legal compliance (a few)
Beyond legal compliance
Plan
Implement
Monitor/ Performance
Issue June 2014

8. The 9 Sections of CEEQUAL1
Project Strategy 2
Project Management 3
People & Communities 4
Land Use & Landscape 5
Historic Environment 6
Ecology and Biodiversity 7
Water Environment
The 9 sections in the overarching Methodology remain fundamentally the same.
The only real change is Section 1 – this has been renamed Client Contract Strategy and whilst the concept of the section is the same as Project Strategy it does includes some additional content to make it relevant to Term Contracts. We will explain this later in the module. 8
Physical Resources 9
Transport

9. Sustainability-driven projects
CEEQUAL Version 5 UK Project Assessor Training Tutor Notes
Sustainability-driven projects
Enhanced quality of life
Delivering the right project
Contributing to a more sustainable society
Environmental+ social+economic benefits
Balancing competing demands
sustainability-driven project
improved biodiversity
Delivering the project well
Minimising adverse impacts & maximising positive
energy and carbon
Minimising waste etc
Issue September 2012

10. Weighting and Scoring in the Project Scheme and their influence
CQL for Projects V5.1: UK & Ireland Edition - Assessor training course
Weighting and Scoring in the Project Scheme and their influence
3 Column headings with 2 meanings
Sum relevant columns for sub-set awards
Has an action happened in the right Stage of the project?
Has an action been done by the right Role in the project?
Scoring in the Project Scheme
We have already seen how each question is weighted for its relative importance. Let us now look at how these scores are allocated within the project Scheme
As you can see each question has three scoring columns attached to it. These column headings have two alternative meanings depending on the question. They indicate how many points are available for each Stage or Role.
So for STAGE the critical thing is to provide evidence that shows the issue was considered at the right stage of the project – eg concept design, planning, feasibility, design or construction. Timing of the evidence is critical here.
For ROLE the critical thing is to provide evidence that shows the right person dealt with the issue. For instance the client, designer or contractor.
If you are applying for one of the sub-set awards then you simply add up the relevant columns for the award you are using.
Issue June 2014 10

11. Weighting and Scoring in the Project Scheme and their influence
CEEQUAL for Project Version 5.1: UK & Ireland Edition - Assessor training course
Weighting and Scoring in the Project Scheme and their influence
Examples of scoring scales
There are three key types of scoring scale.
Yes/No - There is no grey area so if the question is 26 points it is 26 or 0 you cannot decide to award 10 points because you have done part of it.
Staged scoring scales split the yes/no down into specific milestones eg plan drawn up, implemented, plan monitored, plan achieved. Also the scoring scale usually aligns to the spread across the three columns – eg drawn up (client/design) monitored and achieved (construction)
Percentage scales – are more for outcome based questions and you need to provide evidence of some sort of calculation to back up the score being claimed
Columns greyed out indicate the question is not relevant to that stage or role. So for instance in a construct only award the question wont appear (even if it is marked (M)
Sometimes you also see columns combined. This means the action only needs doing once and it is less critical when or who does it.
Point Scales (3 examples)
They are black and white!
Box Greyed out
Question not relevant for that stage or role
Boxes combined
Points can be scored by either role or at either stage, but only once per project
Issue June 2014 11

12. Weighting and Scoring in the Project Scheme and their influence
The 9 sections in the overarching Methodology remain fundamentally the same.
The only real change is Section 1 – this has been renamed Client Contract Strategy and whilst the concept of the section is the same as Project Strategy it does includes some additional content to make it relevant to Term Contracts. We will explain this later in the module.

13. Relationship with EIA, EMS and legislation
CQL for Projects V5.1: UK & Ireland Edition - Assessor training course
Relationship with EIA, EMS and legislation
EIA
EMS
Legislation
Completed at planning stage
Tend to be company wide
CEEQUAL goes beyond legislation
Procedural systems
CEEQUAL: assesses what is actually constructed
Tests some legal compliance
CEEQUAL: project specific & assesses performance
Relationship with EIA’s, EMS’s and legislation
We often get asked how CEEQUAL relates to Environmental impact assessments, EMS’s and Legislation.
EIA
Assessment that feeds into the planning approvals process so does nothing to assess how well a project is actually delivered. Clearly because CQL is completed at end of the project it assesses what has actually happened. So CQL also provides a means of assessing whether the recommendations from an EIA actually get implemented.
CQL also provides a very good means for projects that don’t require a formal EIA to comprehensively consider environmental issues.
EMS
Tend to be company wide procedural systems whereas CQL is project specific.
Only demonstrates a management framework, it does not demonstrate performance.
We have seen some people use CQL as part of their EMS.
Legislation
As we have mentioned already, CQL assesses performance beyond compliance so there is not a huge focus on compliance. But there are a few areas where good practice is currently just to be legally compliant.
We also ask a few questions that penalise failure to comply with legislation, because it is important that projects that have an environmental incident are given more scrutiny before being granted a CEEQUAL Award.
CEEQUAL: good checklist for projects that don’t require an EIA
Can use CEEQUAL as a checklist in an EMS
Penalises failure to comply
Issue June 2014

14. What effect do we have? What benefits do we generate?
In relation to the completed Forth Replacement Crossing M9 Junction 1a and Fife Intelligent Transport System (ITS) projects:
“CEEQUAL has been used to provide a systematic and comprehensive approach to the detailed design and construction of these projects, tracking the site management activities and associated sustainability initiatives, within the overall sustainability objectives of the FRC project.
CEEQUAL also considered environmental aspects not routinely covered by the EIA process such as energy and carbon assessment, which ensured a holistic approach to the project was undertaken and all aspects of sustainable development were duly considered.”
Transport Scotland chose to use CEEQUAL on a trial basis for the Forth Replacement Crossing project as a tool for the comparison and evaluation of the sustainable appraisal process of the project. It was used in the preparation stage of the project and achieved an ‘Excellent’ (92.7%) for Whole Interim Client and Outline Design Award. The use of CEEQUAL was incorporated into the contract documents for all the major contracts of the project with a requirement on the Contractors to maintain this achievement.
Three civil engineering projects make up the Forth Replacement Crossing (FRC) Project, which on completion, will be the largest project in Scotland for a generation. These are the Fife Intelligent Transport System (ITS) project,  The Forth Replacement Crossing M9 Junction 1a and the FRC Principal Contract.
The £13m Fife Intelligent Transport System recently achieved an Excellent 91.6% Whole Project Award and the M9 Junction 1a project was awarded an Excellent 86.5% Whole Project Award.

15. CEEQUAL Version 5 UK Project Assessor Training Tutor Notes
What effect do we have?
The overall scope for the GNGE Alliance East Coast Mainline Capacity Relief Project was to increase capacity for freight and passenger trains on the Great Northern/Great Eastern (GNGE) Line. 
CEEQUAL played a huge role as the main driver for the delivery and implementation of the vast majority of the environmental and sustainable improvements initiated on the GNGE Alliance Project. The GNGE Alliance Environment Manager and Alliance Leadership Team set 14 stringent Environmental and Sustainable Targets and Objectives for the Project, with one of the key ones the achievement of a Good or Very Good Score for CEEQUAL. This targeted commitment helped to provide a focus to deliver many of our aims, goals and objectives.
Issue June 2014

16. CQL for Projects V5.1: UK & Ireland Edition - Assessor training course
What effect do we have
CEEQUAL helped the project to both measure and drive performance … all three organisations were challenged in the areas of carbon and material use.
As a result, for the next and final phase of the Thameslink programme, new targets and objectives have been established to focus on these areas.
A carbon baseline is being calculated and a carbon policy will be established, material use plans are now a standard requirement for all contracts, and Thameslink has established a contractors’ sustainable procurement forum.
Lets have a quick look at some examples of the effect CEEQUAL is having on industry by looking at some quick examples
Firstly, Blackfriars bridge and station – this gained an excellent award of 92.4% and also won one of our prestigious OAAs this year for their work on energy and carbon.
This feedback received directly from the team on the benefits to them clearly shows how CEEQUAL is an influencer through measuring and driving performance and challenging the team. We can also see how there is continual improvement through the expansion of new targets on future phases of the ThamesLink project.
Issue June 2014

17. Motivations and benefits
CEEQUAL Version 5 UK Project Assessor Training Tutor Notes
Motivations and benefits
Public recognition and public relations
We have already seen three
Improvements to projects and
best practice
Team reward and team building
Issue September 2012 17

18. Reputation & competitiveness
Benefits Summary
Identifying current performance
Setting improvement plans
Delivery of objectives and targets
Identifying areas for improvement
Demonstrating continual improvement
Linkage to ISO14001
Positive reinforcement
Business improvement
Innovation
Improved project management
Team building
Internal benchmarking
Reputation & competitiveness
Proactive management of sustainability aspects
Resource efficiency & cost savings

19. Motivations and benefits: Improvements to projects and best practice
CQL for Projects V5.1: UK & Ireland Edition - Assessor training course
Motivations and benefits: Improvements to projects and best practice
Trigger actions that improve performance and save money
whole-life costing
waste minimisation
energy consumption reduction
water consumption reduction
minimising complaints
minimising costs of environmental incidents
minimising costs of dealing with protesters
Issue June 2014 19

20. Motivations and benefits: Use as an organisation-wide improvement tool
CQL for Projects V5.1: UK & Ireland Edition - Assessor training course
Improve Performance
not
Maximising Score
Use section scores to drive improvement programmes
Benchmarking
So going back to benchmarking – it is not possible to say that your road (for instance) at 86.5% is better than another road scoring say 85.2%.
It is probably ok to say that your road at 86.5% is higher performing than one that scored 76.5%.
Benchmarking is therefore more qualitative than strictly quantitative.
Finally, CQL can be used internally as a benchmarking tool to demonstrate internal performance improvement provided that you compare a trend line rather than whether every project scores higher than the last.
It is also possible to benchmark individual sections – so you can say that best practice in waste is... or best practice ecological management is...
Issue June 2014

21. Website case studies – www.ceequal.com
CQL for Projects V5.1: UK & Ireland Edition - Assessor training course
Website case studies –
Website – case studies
All completed projects have opportunity for a case study on website – extra publicity.
Website also a resource for getting examples of good practice – helps with convincing colleagues/ clients.
We also have a CEEQUAL Banner that can be put up on your project to promote that you are using CEEQUAL to assess your project.
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22. Significant influencer & change agent tool
Summary: CEEQUAL – Sustainability assessment, rating and awards for civil engineering and infrastructure
Established
Flexible but rigorous
Wide coverage
Significant influencer & change agent tool
in addition to end-of project rating and awards
Worthwhileness
Better performance
Delivers better projects
Major on-going development
Open process

23. Questions and comments
CQL for Projects V5.1: UK & Ireland Edition - Assessor training course
Thank you for listening.
Your questions and comments are welcome.
Follow up webinar on 25th June
‘Getting to grips with how CEEQUAL works’ +
Follow us on
Issue June 2014