The new guidance note on so-called ‘modern’ methods of construction (or MMC) aims to set out procurement best-practice.

It has been published as part of a follow-up to the Construction Playbook, first published in December 2020 and updated to Version 1.1 this week.

“Different MMC solutions and platform approaches will require different contracting models and ways of thinking,” it says.

“Traditional contracts have developed in a manner that suits traditional methods of construction, where every element of that project is developed incrementally. Design continues to evolve at relatively late stages of the project, including after construction has commenced. MMC and platform approaches require product-led thinking, an increased fixity of design and earlier decision-making associated with manufactured elements.”

It also advises on the potentially thorny issue of intellectual property (IP). It says: “The intellectual property in the products usually remains owned by the manufacturer and provision should be included in the contract which states the Tier 1 Contractor (or Integrator) will not seek an assignment of it.

“However you will need to reconsider how IP is owned. The approach to IP may be assisted by developing elements which are so valuable to a project or programme that they should be ‘owned’ by the contracting authority, and which are ‘products’ that should be bought as such from the market.”

The MMC document, Modern Methods of Construction Guidance Note, is available via the Cabinet Office’s Construction Playbook website, along with the Playbook V1.1 itself. See: www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-construction-playbook

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