With social value becoming an increasingly important part of public procurement, Jonathan Oram, category partnerships director at national procurement specialist Pagabo, and Amanda Pilgrim, associate director at CIOB, ask: is it time to rethink how we define a successful construction project?

What makes a construction project successful? Traditionally, the answer has been fairly straightforward: was it delivered on time, within budget and to the required standard?

But what if that is no longer enough?

Increasingly, then, the success of a project is also being judged by what it leaves behind for the people and communities around it. A new building may be the most visible outcome, but its wider impact – on skills, jobs, wellbeing, local economies and the environment – can be just as significant.

Serving the community

Community impact can mean different things to different people and is, to some extent, subjective. What remains constant, however, is the benefit delivered to the people at the heart of a project – the community.

Over time, appreciation of community impact has shifted as project cost and time have become more equally balanced alongside the needs of the end user. In this modern era of the built environment, it’s no longer just about project value and shiny new buildings; it’s about what that investment and effort brings to communities.

However, for project teams, tighter margins and higher delivery expectations can make community impact difficult to prioritise against a backdrop of competing pressures. The industry must work together to overcome the barriers that prevent positive outcomes from being fully embedded in project delivery.

Meaningful returns

The industry and wider society have taken significant strides towards recognising the importance of community impact. From physical and mental wellbeing to economic productivity and skills growth, these factors are crucial in transforming project delivery into something that is genuinely community-focused.

However, arguably, the industry is still in the discovery phase. Changes to policy and regulation are frequent, so educating the workforce to understand that community impact shouldn’t be viewed as a nice-to-have, but as a non-negotiable, is crucial.

Training the workforce to identify suitable ways to deliver and measure social value does come at a cost. But the industry must recognise that investing in community impact can deliver returns that extend well beyond the project itself and back into society, as well as the sector.

Building with communities in mind

At the heart of this is the need for early engagement and collaboration. The foundations for meaningful community impact are often laid long before a project site becomes active. In many cases, this process can, and should, begin during procurement.

It is here that decisions are made about how investment can generate positive outcomes for communities and local economies.

While procurement can be a force for good – creating lasting positive impact extending far beyond the project itself – collaboration across all partners is crucial to translating procurement strategies into community-focused delivery.

From assessing the characteristics of a project against the context of the community it will serve, to understanding how success will be measured, the clear predetermination of shared objectives across stakeholders is essential. Developer-led delivery can facilitate these conversations and place communities at the heart of decision-making, with social value considered from the outset.

Collaboration also extends beyond project partners and towards people-led procurement. Actively involving local communities in the procurement process and using their lived experiences to shape project outcomes is vital to producing benefits that, above all, meet the needs of the community.

A changing definition of success

Prime minister Andy Burnham has nodded towards an overhaul of traditional UK public procurement policy and encouraged the national adoption of a community wealth building framework.

Centred on retaining wealth within communities, CWB provides a broader economic framework where social value is delivered closer to home. Here, procurement can act as a key lever for delivering community impact and embedding CWB principles through the factors, beyond time and cost, that are prioritised in the purchasing and delivery process.

However, although the foundations are being put in place to drive this shift, what also needs to be refined is the measurement and recognition of the teams and individuals doing their bit to drive forward community impact.

The Community Impact Awards is one example of projects being celebrated for the meaningful community outcomes they deliver, rather than success being measured solely in timelines and budgets.

Too often, a project’s value is what makes the headlines. Instead, the positive impact it creates for the community should be at the heart of the story. That is what should ultimately define a successful project – not simply what we build, but the lasting difference we leave behind.