Building control services: a local authority and private-sector organisation

Best of both worlds

30 November 2016

Birmingham-based Acivico’s Head of Building Consultancy Richard Culliford talks to Barney Hatt about the challenges of providing services to local authority and private-sector organisations


What are the pros and cons of having approved and local authority status? These are exciting times for Acivico as we are now able to offer 2 paths for clients. Over the years, their feedback suggested that some preferred a local authority route and others an approved inspector route. It therefore made business sense to seek an approved inspector licence so we could offŸer clients their preferred alternative.

We now have a number of options: for example, many clients favour the local authority partnership scheme, which combines the local knowledge of the council’s site inspection team with Acivico’s design-checking service.

Has it saved you money?
It has always been about offŸering clients the right service, building a sustainable business and increasing turnover. There is no doubt that our approved inspector service has helped us boost turnover, which for any business is an important consideration, and its initial success suggests we are on the right path. Our business plan includes both routes, and we very much hope both services grow.

What challenges have you faced when supplying services?
We are fortunate to be part of a very exciting company that can harness local authority transactional trading services and help them hone their commercial edge while building on established public-sector ethics.

We are keen for more clients to make use of the local authority building control route; we are also providing managerial and technical support to 2 nearby councils, and have entered a collaborative working agreement with another core city as well.

At the moment, our approved inspector service is a small part of the business – but an important one, as we plan to secure new income opportunities over the coming years. While demand grows for these services, Acivico’s biggest challenge – as for any other growing business – is not to overextend.

What feedback have you received from the public?
Our local authority service has always been highly regarded, and the level of repeat business has increased over recent years; I think this offŸers an excellent indicator of how well an organisation is doing. Our net promoter score – that is, the industry standard for measuring customer loyalty – was an excellent +43 last year, which is up there with the best.

So, as a team, we feel we are getting many things right.

Together with the Chartered Institute of Building and the Built Environment Hub, we host the annual Local Authority Building Control (LABC) Awards ceremony, which is now in its 18th year. At this event, there is overwhelming and supportive feedback for what the business is doing and where it is going.

Why did Acivico decide to get an approved inspector licence?
As Acivico is a wholly owned company, application for an approved inspector licence was an option. We asked many of our prospective clients that preferred to use the approved inspector route whether they would be interested in using us if we were licensed, and the answer was yes. The increase in turnover will help us invest in IT to improve our mobile apps, enhance online submissions and enable greater integration with project teams through building information modelling. Acivico is very proud of being the first local authority company to gain an approved inspector licence. We feel it is an achievement that endorses the quality of our building control service.

What is your opinion of the approved inspector licensing process?
The application process was very robust and rigorous. We found it very useful as it helped us recognise our strengths and address certain areas where we were not so strong. We gained our registration in August 2014.

What future do you see for local authority building control bodies?
I think such bodies have a very strong future. Over time, local authority building control services will move towards diŸfferent models from those that we have now. There will be more shared services, some wholly owned companies or mutuals, and others that may seek approved inspector licences. I also expect there to be more joint ventures with the private sector.

LABC also has a great product in the shape of its warranty, which will help members strengthen their market share in the new build private housing sector. I think there are 2 big issues facing all building control bodies, whether they are local authorities or approved inspectors. The first is attracting and training future generations of professionals. It is encouraging that both LABC and the Association of Consultant Approved Inspectors (ACAI) are putting initiatives in place to help expand the next generation of building control professionals and make younger people more aware of the exciting and important role the sector plays.

Second, all building control bodies need to help developers to bridge potential performance gaps between the design specification approved on a plan and the finished product. This may require additional targeted interventions on site from building control bodies, as well as a willingness on the part of developers to pay appropriate fees for such interventions.

It is great to see both the LABC and the ACAI are committed to promoting and supporting good practice in the profession, and at Acivico we are keen to play our part.

Barney Hatt is Editor of Building Control Journal

Further information

This feature is taken from the RICS Building control journal (September/October 2016)