Achilles is a registration and assessment body that works to identify, qualify, evaluate and monitor suppliers on behalf of major organisations worldwide.
Achilles operates in the major sectors within the Uk including Construction, ICT, Oil and Gas, Public Sector, Transport and with more than 175 Utilities companies. The body works for more than 700 of the worlds largest companies who have come to trust and rely on their approach to sustainable procurement.
Summers-Inman was first assessed by Achilles in 2009 as a registered and verified UVDB (Utilities Vendor Database) Supplier. In the UK alone more than 30 Utilities companies and more than 35 of their contracting partners use the UVDB system to qualify their supply chains through an assessment of their management systems and their site performance.
The Association for Project Safety (APS) is a multi-disciplinary membership body for those who operate in, or have an interest in, Health and Safety Risk Management in the Construction Industry.
Amongst APS members are the country\’s leading surveying professionals, health and safety professionals, architectural professionals, project management professionals and engineering professionals.
Many of the country\’s leading practices are also in Corporate Membership of APS.
Together the membership of the Association is committed to shaping and sharing best practice in construction health and safety risk management.
Local Authority Health and Safety and contract professionals, supported by the Health and Safety Executive, have developed the Contractor Health and Safety (CHAS) Assessment Scheme over recent years.
It is now available for any public sector organisation to use in their pre-qualification process for contractor application for approved/select list or short-listing.
In any one month many thousands of applications are made to Local Authorities, Housing Associations, Health Trusts, Fire Services (and many other public bodies) for what is known as the applicant, select or approved list. Many of the companies making these applications do so to more than one public sector organisation requiring duplication of effort for both them and the assessing organisations. Underpinning CHAS is a logic that the assessment of a company applying in one area or region should be acceptable in another. This is not always the case leading to understandable frustration for the applicant.
Since its introduction the CHAS scheme has established that four out of five small and medium sized businesses applying to the scheme have failed an initial assessment designed to ensure the applicant demonstrates compliance with basic health and safety legislation and also show adequate management of health and safety in their company.
Constructing Excellence is the single organisation charged with driving the change agenda in construction. It exists to improve industry performance in order to produce a better built environment. It is a cross-sector, cross-supply chain, member led organisation operating for the good of industry and its stakeholders.
Constructing Excellence aims to deliver improved industry performance resulting in a demonstrably better built environment. It acts as a bridge between industry, clients, government and the research community.
In the mid nineties a wide spread recognition arose of the need for the construction industry to improve the service it provided to its clients while also ensuring future viability for the wide range of organisations that made up the industry.
In response to Sir Michael Latham’s 1994 report ‘Constructing the Team’ and Sir John Eagan’s 1998 report ‘Rethinking Construction’ a number of cross industry bodies were formed to drive change. These included:
Significant progress has been made in driving these initiatives into the practicing industry with many examples of projects that have been run in accordance with the fundamental principles.
In order to streamline the effort involved, all the above cross industry bodies have now been united as Constructing Excellence to form a powerful, influential voice for improvement in the built environment sector.
Summers-Inman is a registered member of Constructing Excellence.
CSCS was set up to help the construction industry to improve quality and reduce accidents. CSCS cards are increasingly being demanded as proof of occupational competency by contractors, public and private sector clients and others. In many instances access to a construction site cannot be achieved without one. The cards cover all of the construction trades operatives and professional consultants and show evidence that an awareness of health and safety issues has been achieved and a qualifying examination have been passed. Summers-Inman Surveyors, Project Managers and CDM consultants are CSCS registered.
Constructionline is the UK’s largest certified pre-qualification database, saving the construction industry over £500 million a year in administration. Already used by over 60% of local authorities, it reduces duplication and saves time and money by encouraging organisations to use a single source for pre-qualification. All suppliers on the online database have met a government approved pre qualification criteria and obtained accreditation.
Constructionline is a public private partnership between the Department of Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (formerly the DTI) and Capita Business Services. As a national online database, it is the UK’s largest register for pre-qualified contractors and consultants. Its aim is to improve efficiencies for buyers and suppliers in the construction industry, specifically by reducing the duplication of work and administration relating to the process of pre-qualifying suppliers for construction contracts.
Over 8,000 buyers from 1,900 organisations throughout the UK already use the database to source pre-qualified suppliers in the construction sector. They range from public sector bodies such as the NHS, local authorities, police and universities, to private sector businesses such as major contractors, small construction firms and consultants. Constructionline is open to public and private sector organisations and endorsed by the Department of Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform. The OGC Common Minimum Standards and The Local Government Task Force also recommend using Constructionline as part of the pre-qualification and tendering process.
Summers-Inman was recognised as one of the Top 50 Employers in the construction industry in a detailed survey undertaken in 2008.
Summers-Inman has been an accredited company with Investors in People since 1999, originally as Summers & Partners and then following the merger of Inman & Partners and subsequent reassessments in 2002, 2005, 2008 and 2011. The firm is assessed every three years against a progressively harder set of criteria. The process helps the Directors in setting training plans, improving communication with the staff and in formulating and reviewing business plans
ISO 14001 was first published in 1996 and specifies the actual requirements for an environmental management system. It applies to those environmental aspects that the organisation has control and over which it can be expected to have an influence.
ISO 14001 is often seen as the corner stone standard of the ISO 14000 series. However, it is not only the most well known, but is the only ISO 14000 standard against which it is currently possible to be certified by an external certification authority.
The standard is applicable to any organisation that wishes to:
In a time when environment issues are of increasing importance Summers-Inman decided that as a member of the construction industry sector it should review its operations and seek accreditation. Changes to the way the business operates have extended to travel, purchasing and disposal of consumables like paper and printer cartridges, energy management and off site storage.
After a 12 months research and development programme the Practice was assessed by BSI in March 2009 and was awarded registration. We continue to be reassessed annually.
Summers & Partners was the first Practice of its kind to obtain BSI recognition under BS 5750 for its Quality Assurance system for Quantity Surveying in 1988. Since then the Practice has grown considerably and extended geographically by merger and acquisition to its current position as one of the top 20 in the UK. Throughout this period the Practice has continued to review and update its management systems to include an ever broadening of its core services that now includes Project Management, Building Surveying, Development Monitoring and CDM Health & Safety. This is now recognised under the terms of its ISO 9001: 2015 accreditation that is continually assessed at 3 monthly intervals by external examiners from BSI.
Summers-Inman is certified under ISO45001
Summers-Inman Staff are members of the following professional bodies:
As a business the Practice is a member of:
The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) is the national body for a powerful and influential Network of Accredited Chambers of Commerce across the UK; a Network that directly serves not only its member businesses but the wider business community.
The BCC is the Ultimate Business Network. No other business organisation has the geographic spread of the BCC. Every Chamber sits at the very heart of its local business community providing representation, services, information and guidance to its members. Summers-Inman is a member of the North East Chamber, providing an opportunity to meet people and businesses from the wider community beyond construction.
The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) is the national body for a powerful and influential Network of Accredited Chambers of Commerce across the UK; a Network that directly serves not only its member businesses but the wider business community.
The BCC is the Ultimate Business Network. No other business organisation has the geographic spread of the BCC. Every Chamber sits at the very heart of its local business community providing representation, services, information and guidance to its members. Summers-Inman is a member of the Kingston Chamber, providing an opportunity to meet people and businesses from the wider community beyond construction.
