HMNB Clyde Clyde Commercial Framework – Multi-disciplinary Capital Works

Purpose

The Clyde Commercial Framework supports the £1.3 billion Clyde programme, to ensure that personnel responsible for delivering the UK’s continuous at-sea nuclear deterrent, can live work and train in safe, state-of-the-art facilities.

The Defence Infrastructure Organisation was clear from the outset that they wanted the framework to be a driver for change. Delivering capital works at the Base in the west of Scotland has always been acknowledged as a challenge, due to the stringent security and regulatory environment. Works often exceeded budgets and programmes overran. A more collaborative model was therefore identified as being necessary to bring the relevant parties together early and develop workable, efficient solutions.

The programme involves replacement, refurbishment, and new-build projects at the submarine base at Faslane and the nearby Royal Naval Armaments Depot, at Coulport that comprise HMNB Clyde. It will enable Clyde, to be a single integrated operating base for the whole of the UK’s submarine fleet by 2024, including the new larger Dreadnought class submarines, that will start replacing the Vanguard-class in 2028.

What we are doing

We were one of three contractor partners, appointed to advise and deliver cost-effective construction services and other infrastructure solutions, over the 10-year length of the framework. Our suitably qualified and experienced personnel are trained to work within the base’s stringent physical and digital security constraints. We have security-cleared staff and operatives, that are cleared to work within the most strictly protected ‘green’ zones at the centre of the base. 

We are currently delivering a range of facility upgrades at Coulport and recently blasted, cleaned and repainted the inside of two 80m-long access bridges that connect to a pontoon. Through detailed pre-construction planning with stakeholders and facility operators, we were able to deliver this work in just nine weeks, less than half the programmed duration.

Our team are providing early contractor involvement works to plan £90m of marine-based construction works at Faslane. This will include upgrading and replacing an existing sheet piled seawall, upgrading the wall’s existing impressed current cathodic protection system, and refurbishing the facility’s shiplift.

Project successes

The collaborative approach that was a key founding principle of the framework has been recognised by industry bodies - it was highly commended in the NEC Contract of the Year Awards 2019. Structured dialogue workshops for each package are used to discuss and understand each project’s scope, constraints and risks. We then jointly manage risk with the client and stakeholders through framework-level key performance indicators, award fees and early completion bonuses.

A framework steering group gives clear direction. Representatives from the client and the three contractors meet monthly to establish collaborative business processes, resolve any disputes, and score KPIs.

The first project procured and delivered under the Clyde Commercial Framework was our multi-award-winning Glen Mallan Northern Ammunition Jetty project. Click here to read about the project and its successes.