Frequently asked questions - CEEQUAL Awards

Q.What CEEQUAL Awards are available?

A. There are five types of Award available under CEEQUAL for UK & Ireland Projects and CEEQUAL for International Projects:

Whole Project Award (WPA) – the full CEEQUAL Award applied jointly by the client, designer and principal contractor(s)

Whole Project Award with Interim – available where a Client & Design Award is integrated into the process en route to a Whole Project Award.

Four part-team Awards are available for projects where not all project partners can take part or where individual members of the team would like to have their own role assessed and recognised separately:

Client & Design Award – for a joint application by the client and designer
Design only Award – for principal designer(s) only
Design & Build Award – for a joint application by the contractor and their designer
Construction only Award – for principal contractor(s) only.

There is only one type of Awards available under CEEQUAL for Term Contracts:

Term Contract Award – whether using either the Multiple small new works or the Maintenance Manual.

Q. When & how will our CEEQUAL Award be presented?

A. CEEQUAL Assessments are awarded upon ratification of the project or contract assessment. The Award certificate is officially presented to recipients by a CEEQUAL representative in one of many ways; at a CEEQUAL event, at an Institution of Civil Engineers regional or annual event, on site, or at any internal project company event. Melanie Manton will email the Assessor a draft version of the Award to finalise the certificate.

Q. How many Award certificates will I receive?

A. All Awards are framed A4 award certificates. The amount of certificates received depends on which CEEQUAL Award you have achieved:

Whole Project Award & Interim award = 6 copies max
Whole Project Award = 5 copies max
Design & build Award = 5 copies max
Design only Award = 2 copies max
Construction only Award = 2 copies max

Additional copies are available to purchase at £25+VAT each.

Questions about Applying for a CEEQUAL Award

Q. How far into a project or contract can we apply for a CEEQUAL Award?

A. Our recommendation is always to apply as early as possible in the project or contract. This will allow you to carry out the CEEQUAL Assessment in parallel with the project or contract, collecting evidence as work progresses and allowing for simple changes to be made to the design or construction process that result in a better project and a higher score.

However, there is no cut-off point for projects, and a full retrospective project assessment is possible. In this case it will help if the project has been keeping careful records of the issues assessed.

Q. Is there a deadline for applying for a CEEQUAL Award?

A. No. CEEQUAL Awards are based on a self-assessment by a trained CEEQUAL Assessor, usually a member of the project or contract team which is then verified by a CEEQUAL-appointed Verifier and ratified by CEEQUAL on completion. This process happens throughout the year as and when assessment applications are made.

Use of CEEQUAL for Term Contracts involves an initial baseline assessment, annual or biennial assessments thereafter, and then a final assessment in the last year of the contract or every five years, whichever is the shorter period. This means that it will be advantageous to decide while a contract is being formed, or in advance of a contract award anniversary, that CEEQUAL is going to be used and to establish the timetable for CEEQUAL Assessments accordingly.

Q. Can we apply retrospectively for a CEEQUAL Award?

A. For projects, yes. However, since CEEQUAL operates on a strict ‘no evidence, no points’ basis, it could lead to a lower score for your project, simply because the necessary evidence may not be available for the steps you have already undertaken. Nevertheless, experience shows that it is still possible to get an ‘Excellent’ Award on a retrospective assessment.

You get the most benefit from carrying out the CEEQUAL Assessment in parallel with the project as this makes it easier to collect evidence as work progresses, and allows you to make changes to the design or construction process that can lead to a better project and a higher score. However, undertaking a retrospective assessment is a quick way to gain experience of using CEEQUAL and the benefits it can bring.

For Term Contracts, we anticipate that all initial assessments will involve a certain amount of retrospective assessment (up to a maximum of 12 months in length), but once caught up the continuing assessments will be concurrent with the work as it progresses.