Partnerting

Helforn’s understanding of partnering is best summed up by Sir Michael Latham as “Partnering includes the, concept of teamwork between suppliers and client, and of total continuous improvement. It requires openness between the parties, ready acceptance of new ideas, trust and perceived mutual benefit……partnering can bring significant benefits by improving quality and timeliness of completion whilst reducing costs.”

Helforn Ltd has been involved in the construction industry since 1984, in that time we have had to adjust to accommodate new ideas and embrace new challenges. We feel this is a new exciting era and that we can use our expertise to achieve a common goal with other professionals in the industry.

We have been involved in many contracts, although not always in name, they have always been conducted in a similar professional manner as is required in any partnership agreement. For example this may include contracts where we have negotiated further phases incorporating revised specifications that have been found to be more advantageous to all parties both on cost and quality.

The ethos of our company is to continually strive to meet the clients every need, ensuring contracts are completed within the overall cost structure, within programme dates and to the highest possible standard. It is our belief that this is the essence of partnering together with building a team approach to project delivery creating a “problem solving” atmosphere with team members accepting joint responsibility for the successful outcome. We believe that our primary role must be to deliver the project with certainty of time, budget and quality.

We believe that the following points highlight our commitment and understanding of partnering

	Value for money It has always been Helforn’s policy to give clients value for money. In our view this means meeting clients needs to an agreed standard or higher and at the most economic cost. We are continually improving our engineering & management systems. We have recently introduced a new computer system and continue to develop and train our staff. We believe that our systems ensure that we are always looking at the entire contract outcome and will ensure our clients receive the best possible value and a product. Value for money should be regarded by all as both a short term and long term aim. It is our belief that to meet the client’s needs in making economies in the short term can sometimes lead to poor value for money in the long term. To this end our partnering teams are continually looking for avenues to improve long-term value for money for the client. As soon as any item is identified we carry out an internal audit and research the relevant item and if in our opinion this could result in a long term savings which in turn fits in with the value for money criteria, we would call a meeting of all parties to brainstorm the idea and evaluate its advantages to the project.
	Life Cycle Costs We believe that the introduction of L.C.C. within a partnership is paramount to providing a quality product, which will be of mutual benefit to all parties. We are fully committed to improving systems within Helforn Ltd. to ensure the client’s needs are met. If we identify weakness within a project we offer advice so that a discussion can be made to establish possible improvements to reduce long-term costs and maintenance where possible
	Alteration of specification Our site management staff and office-based personel will make a conscious effort to find alternative products or methods of construction that will give an improved product and/or provide a saving for the mutual benefit of both client and contractor. This will be carried through into a partnership agreement and improved continually.
	Improvement of efficiency We believe this is of paramount importance and have always highlighted this to our staff. Over the years we have constantly strived to improve our construction methods where appropriate to ensure we are one of the most efficient contractors within our field. Our continual improvement on efficiency ensures we can remain within tight programmes and produce a high quality product. We believe the partnership agreement can only improve on this efficiency and ensure all contract are completed before deadlines.
	Quality of Service/Product Over the past 15 years we have carried out many contracts from small to large for many housing associations throughout the region including Glasgow D.C., Cadder HA, Hilltop View HA, Paisley South HA, Govanhill HA, Partick HA to mention a few. All our clients have received an excellent product that meets their needs and beyond and we have received some excellent references from many of these clients. We feel that the greatest praise is to be asked back by Housing Associations onto future contacts, which many of our clients do. It is also however our policy to continually improve, and we encourage all our staff to improve the quality of their work and the overall service to our clients. We believe the introduction of client/ tenant satisfaction survey would be beneficial to continue the improvement within the partnership.
	Team work & Team players Helforn has always been a team player within any contract partnership and we work with our partners to avoid the frustrations that can occur when issued with a contract that has no flexability to improve upon at a late stage in the project. We would revel in the fact that within a partnership we could use our expertise to assist the team from conception through to completion. We feel that as part of a strong team we can help improve the design and construction by suggesting alternative methods and/or products to give the client an overall improved product. A good team with enthusiastic players is paramount to the success of any partnership and we are an excellent team player.
	Suppliers/ Sub-Contractors Over many years we have formed an excellent relationship with many of the suppliers & sub-contractors of quality products and services. Helforn would be keen to bring these suppliers and contractors into the partnership to ensure that quality materials and services are maintained. We believe, knowing these companies, that they have the right frame of mind to enhance the team and play a vital role in providing and suggesting materials to meet the all parties’ needs.
	Key Performance Indicators The monitoring of the performance of all members within the partnership is paramount to its efficiency to meet common goals. Helforn would be committed to meeting any K.P.I.’s (key performance indicators) that are agreed. We wish to highlight the fact that we have KPI’s within our company that we regularly measure to ensure the performance of any contract and our company as a whole.
	Reduction in defects As most of our clients will testify, On contract completion we have very few outstanding defects due to the high standard of our initial and our contract managers checking procedures at every stage of development. Any minor defects that do occur are resolved within tight deadlines and to the satisfaction of all parties. The partnering agreement should endeavour to reduce the amount and severity of defects, the introduction of grading and target on defects with KPI’s should ensure this reduction. We would also hope within a partnership agreement that 99% of defects should be cleared up within agreed time limits.
	Health & Safety Over the last few years we have made great improvements to Health & Safety throughout our company and we now believe that we have an excellent H & S system. All managers qualified with to I.O.S.H. (Institute of Occupational Safety and Health) certificate level and all our staff have receive Health & Safety awareness training. Helforn staff receive ongoing training in all important aspects of our work including first aid training and scaffold inspection. Collectively with our improved recording and information analysis systems provides an overall first class H & S package. To further ensure and promote our commitment we have appointed Envirotec Ltd to independently govern and assist with our H & S procedures. They have many years of experience and are among some of the top professionals within this field to provide comprehensive commitment to our companies approach to Health & Safety.
	Risk Management We believe our Managers are skilled in risk assessment in any operating environment. However we will discuss any proposed risk management system and would be pleased to be involved from the initial conception and we would act accordingly to manage it to the mutual benefit of all parties.
	Environmental issues As this is a relatively new challenge, which is continually, being researched and developed within the construction industry on going and further education of our staff is paramount. Helforn are in the process of urging staff to use suppliers who are members of environmental groups and provide products from sustainable resources. We would also embrace the challenge of being involved in designs involving sustainable buildings, minimising waste, reducing pollution, use of degradable materials and other new methods. A good partnership can improve the client’s needs, give them a product that will have longevity, and be harmonious with the environment.
	Training We have an on going Health & Safety training programme, which includes I.O.S.H. certification for managers, Health and Safety awareness for all operatives, First Aid Training, Scaffold inspection and other ongoing training programmes. We also have on site toolbox talks on a weekly basis with our operatives to update them in current methods. We have an on going programme of training with Envirotec Ltd and update our training procedures on a regular basis. Our management team and senior site staff meet with The Envirotec group members on a quarterly basis to evaluate our procedures and discuss future developments. We are also involved with C.I.T.B. to register all our operatives under S.C.O.R.E. (Scottish Construction Operatives Registration Executive) showing that they are trained to a skill level recognised by the Scottish construction industry.
	Local Employment We have worked and employed local labour within the Glasgow area since our beginning in 1984 and we actively seek to employ staff from the local area as we see this as beneficial to the labour force, staff moral and the company’s prosperity. We have also been involved in local labour incentives such as the Glasgow (City Landscapes) programme, which have been a great success and we would willing to be involved in similar projects in the future.