© 2011 LJCC

L J C C  HISTORY

 

Local Joint Consultative Committees (LJCCs) were originally set up under the auspices of the NJCC and RJCC (the National and Regional Joint Consultative Committees for Building) as part of a national hierarchy of members of the building industry committed to the development and dissemination of best practice.  The NJCC was originally set up in 1954.

 

In 1969, the NJCC, in conjunction with the Ministry of Public Building and Works, published the Code of Procedure for Selective Tendering 1969, which was the first of a long line of practice guides published for the guidance of clients using the industry and their professional advisors administering their projects.

 

By 1977, with the introduction of two-stage tendering procedures, this document was republished as the Code of Procedure for Single Stage Selective Tendering 1977.  By this time the Ministry of Public Building and Works had been replaced by the Department of the Environment and they collaborated in its production, together with the JCCs in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

 

There followed Codes of Procedure for Tendering for Industrialised Building Projects (1974), Two Stage Selective Tendering (1983) and Selective Tendering for Design and Build (1985), the Code of Procedure for the Letting and Management of Domestic Sub-Contract Works (1989) and the Selection of a Management Contractor and Works Contractors (1991).  These publications were augmented with nine Guidance Notes, twenty Procedure Notes and two Tendering Questionnaires.

 

With the backing of these Codes, Guides and Procedure Notes, the LJCCs used to monitor tendering procedures in the public and private sectors and, where necessary, used to make representations to organisations that strayed from the recommended practices  -  for example, the numbers of contractors included on tender lists was a frequent concern.

 

The Leicestershire LJCC Committee used to send a representative to the Midlands Regional Committee, meeting in Birmingham, and from Birmingham a representative used to serve on the NJCC in London.

 

Following the national and regional patterns, the Leicestershire LJCC was originally comprised of equal representation from the RIBA (Royal Institute of British Architects), the RICS (Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors) and the NFBTE/BEC (National Federation of Building Trades Employers/Building Employers Confederation).  In due course, the NJCC membership was broadened to comprise the RIBA, RICS, BEC, ACE, (Association of Consulting Engineers),  FBSC (Federation of Building Specialist Contractors) and the SECG (Specialist Engineering Contractors’ Group). The Leicestershire group subsequently broadened its membership to include one representative each from the structural and services engineering consultancy fields, in addition to four each from the original Architects, Surveyors and Builders.

 

Originally, the Leicestershire LJCC was administered by Michael Harris, the NFBTE’s secretary, from their offices in New Walk, before he transferred to their Midlands office at Federation House in Birmingham.  For a time the NFBTE’s John Wholley then serviced the group.  Currently, Martyn Lane, of NFB (National Federation of Builders) in Melbourne, supports the Group.

 

With the demise of the NJCC, the Regional Groups were no longer sustainable and the Local Groups were left to decide their own fates.  Having built up strong local support and having introduced local Merit Awards for Craftsmanship schemes, the Leicestershire LJCC has continued to promote best practice in the industry.  As well as the annual Craftsmanship Awards, the Leicestershire group now organises occasional site visits and talks on a broad range of topics affecting the industry.

 

 

September 2004  -  John A Townsend DipArb FRICS FCIArb