Transforming UK construction: demonstrator projects
UK businesses can apply for a share of up to £26 million for practical, demonstrator projects in MMC, digital and whole-life asset performance.
- Competition opens: Wednesday 28 August 2019
- Competition closes: Wednesday 6 November 2019 12:00pm
This competition is now closed.
Competition sections
Description
Innovate UK, part of UKRI, will invest up to £26 million from the Transforming Construction Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund to demonstrate solutions to improve productivity, quality and performance of the UK construction sector.
Your project must show how it will deliver on the objectives and commitments detailed in the Construction Sector Deal, including significant industry investment (some exclusions will apply, refer to Projects we will not fund). Applicants should reference how their projects support the objectives of the Transforming Infrastructure Performance (TIP) strategy or the Transforming Infrastructure Efficiency Strategy (TIES) as appropriate.
Where applicable, your project should use Project 13 and Gemini Principles.
This competition aims to invest in approximately 10 world-leading practical demonstrators. They must establish improvements in productivity, quality and performance of the UK construction sector.
Demonstrators are the application of approaches, deployed at scale, that to improve all aspects of a built assets lifecycle. These will include:
- validations of new business models
- digital approaches to design, construction and management
- advancements in modern methods of construction (MMC)
- approaches to whole-life performance of a building or assets
The result will be demonstrator projects that improve on the current state-of-the-art in construction, while still demonstrating practical and close-to-market solutions.
We welcome projects by members of the CLC and its working groups and projects that involve government departments and organisations.
The competition closes at midday 12pm GMT on the deadline stated.Funding type
Grant
Project size
Your project’s total eligible costs must be between £500,000 and £8 million.
Who can apply
State aid
Any UK business claiming funding must be eligible to receive state aid at the time we confirm you will be awarded funding. If you are unsure please take legal advice. For further information see our general guidance.
Your project
Your project’s total eligible costs must be between £500,000 and £8 million.
If your project’s total eligible costs falls outside of our eligibility criteria, you must provide justification by email to support@innovateuk.ukri.org by Friday 4th October at the latest. We will decide whether to approve your request.
Projects must start by 1 April 2020 and end by 31 March 2022. Projects should last between 12 and 24 months. The duration of your project cannot exceed 24 months under any circumstances.
Projects longer than 12 months should incur and claim the greater proportion (greater than 90%) of project costs in the 2020/2021 financial year in order to fit the required spend profile. The project spend profile is part of the assessment criteria
You are expected to work closely with and share information with programme stakeholders. You are strongly advised to liaise with the Construction Innovation Hub and/or the Active Building Centre as appropriate before submitting an application.
Lead organisation
To lead a project your organisation must:
- be a UK registered business of any size or a research and technology organisation (RTO)
- collaborate with other businesses, research organisations, public sector organisations, academic institutions or charities
- include at least one micro, small or medium sized enterprise (SME)
- carry out its project work in the UK
- intend to exploit the results from or in the UK
Academic institutions cannot lead or work alone.
Project team
To collaborate with the lead, your organisation must:
- be a UK registered business, research organisation, public sector organisation, academic institution or charity
- carry out its project work in the UK
- intend to exploit the results from or in the UK
- be invited to take part by the lead organisation
Partners with no funding
The lead organisation and at least one other organisation must claim funding and enter their costs as part of the application.
Your project can include partners that do not receive any funding (for example, non-UK businesses). Their costs will count towards the total project costs but they will not count as collaborators.
Multiple applications
Any one business or RTO can lead on one application and collaborate in a further 2 applications.
If a business is not leading an application, it can collaborate in up to 3 applications.
If an RTO is:
- the lead on an application it must collaborate with 2 businesses (one SME, and one other business of any size)
- not the lead on any application, it can collaborate in any number of applications
Previous applications
Resubmissions
You can use a resubmission to apply for this competition.
A resubmission is a proposal Innovate UK judges as not materially different from one you have submitted before. It can be updated based on the assessors' feedback. You must state in your application whether it is a resubmission and include the previous application number.
If you submit a new proposal this time you will be able to use it in no more than one future competition that allows resubmissions.
Failure to exploit
If you applied to a previous competition as the lead or sole organisation and were awarded funding by Innovate UK or UK Research and Innovation, but did not make a substantial effort to exploit that award, we will award no more funding to you, in this or any other competition. You will not be able to contest our decision. We will:
- assess your efforts in the previous competition against your exploitation plan for that project
- review the monitoring officers’ reports and any other relevant sources for evidence
- document our decision, which will be made by 3 team members, and communicate it to you in writing
Previous projects
Under the terms of Innovate UK funding, you are required to submit an independent accountant’s report (IAR) with your final claim. If you or any organisation in your consortium failed to submit an IAR on a previous project, we will not award funding to you in this or any other competition until we have received the documents.Funding
Innovate UK have allocated up to £26 million to fund innovation projects in this competition.
For industrial research projects, you could get funding for your eligible project costs of:
- up to 70% if you are a micro or small business
- up to 60% if you are a medium-sized business
- up to 50% if you are a large business
For experimental development projects which are nearer to market, you could get funding for your eligible project costs of:
- up to 45% if you are a micro or small business
- up to 35% if you are a medium-sized business
- up to 25% if you are a large business
This competition is not supporting feasibility studies.
Your proposal must show how you will help to deliver the sector commitments detailed in the Construction Sector Deal, including demonstrating any additional industry leverage funding.
The research organisations in your consortium can share up to 30% of the total eligible project costs. If your consortium contains more than one research organisation, this maximum is shared between them.
This competition provides state aid funding under article 25, ‘Aid for R&D projects’, of the General Block Exemption Regulation (GBER). It is your responsibility to make sure that your organisation is eligible to receive state aid.Your proposal
The aim of this competition is to present a portfolio of demonstrator projects which showcase close-to-market solutions that go beyond the current state-of-the-art.
Demonstrators will apply known approaches on real world projects showing how improvements in the UK construction sector can be delivered at scale.
- demonstrate improvements to productivity, quality and performance in UK construction.
- demonstrate technologies across the infrastructure, social infrastructure, commercial construction or homebuilding sectors
- build industry capability (excluding skills and training) to innovate and accelerate the commercialisation of new solutions
- demonstrate commitments to long-term, collaborative relationships between clients and supply chains across sectors
- demonstrate measurable improvements in the level of pre-manufactured value in buildings and infrastructure
- establish their contribution to Sector Deal targets to reduce costs and emissions; improve speed of delivery and increase exports
Your projects should aim to be future Construction Leadership Council (CLC) case studies that can be showcased to the public.
Demonstrators will include new validations of business models, digital approaches to design, construction and management, advancements in modern methods of construction and approaches to whole-life performance of a building or assets.
Your project must:
- show how you will assist delivery of the sector commitments detailed in the Construction Sector Deal including demonstrating industry leverage funding
- support the objectives of the TIP strategy and/or TIES as appropriate
- take a cyber-security and safety minded approach and use PAS 1192-5 and PAS1192-6 where applicable
The Transforming Construction Challenge has several stakeholders and activities that are complementary to the programme. Applicants are strongly advised to liaise with relevant stakeholders as part of the application process. Successful projects will be expected to work with these stakeholders, which include:
- the Construction Innovation Hub and its partners
- the Active Building Centre and its partners
For more information see the Transforming Construction Challenge page from UKRI.
We welcome innovative and ambitious partnerships and particularly encourage teams that are demonstrating:
- usage of the Project 13 methodologies and/or Gemini Principles
- client and supply chain relationships
- Government Departments and Arm’s Length Bodies listed in the TIP Strategy or TIES
- Construction Leadership Council (CLC) members and work programme members
- i3P and BuildOffsite members and programmes
- Active Building Centre and its partners
- Construction Innovation Hub and its partners
- Infrastructure Clients Group members
- manufacturing and DFMA experts
- financial lenders, assurance or warranty providers
- digital systems developers including data analytics and AI
- cyber security expertise
- exceptional leaders and communicators who can inform and inspire people and investors
We are looking to fund a portfolio of demonstration projects, across a variety of technologies, scope areas, spend profiles and research categories.
Specific themes
Demonstrators should cover most of the following:
- advantages of MMC at scale with real-world examples exhibiting:
o how increasing MMC and production in parallel with site preparation enables increased productivity in delivery, minimises inefficiencies, waste and delays.
- significant improvements to whole life performance (including energy use) of the built asset, shifting focus from costs of construction to whole-life value across the assets’ entire life-cycle
- reformed and exemplar information management of built assets to deliver better, more certain results during the design, construction and operation of a building or infrastructure asset.
- new business models, and procurement methods to enable the transformation of the sector towards MMC, supported through analytics of demand and supply chain capacity, benchmarking and sector metrics.
- qualified benefits to the delivery of national infrastructure projects, including housing, in relation to government targets.
Research categories
Projects we will not fund
We will not fund projects that:
- are defined as feasibility studies in the general guidance
- do not respond to the aims and objectives of the Transforming Construction ISCF Programme and are unable to tangibly demonstrate improvements to the current state-of-the-art in construction
- are focussed on skills (although reference to skills as a by-product of proving new techniques is permitted)
- duplicate innovation in: traditional construction methods, BIM Level 2 tools, Project 13 methodologies and/or Gemini Principles, DFTG, CDBB or CLC work, MMC categories 3, 6 and 7a + 7b, or retrofit
- target refurbishment and retrofit of built assets
- 6 August 2019
- Overview webinar
- 28 August 2019
- Competition opens
- 4 September 2019
- London briefing event
- 4 September 2019
- Recording of briefing event.
- 5 September 2019
- Cardiff briefing event
- 6 September 2019
- Birmingham briefing event
- 10 September 2019
- Manchester briefing event
- 11 September 2019
- Belfast briefing event
- 12 September 2019
- Glasgow briefing event
- 6 November 2019 12:00pm
- Competition closes
- 6 January 2020
- Interviews
- 7 January 2020
- Interviews
- 8 January 2020
- Interviews
- 9 January 2020
- Interviews
- 22 January 2020 12:25pm
- Applicants notified
Before you start
You must read the general guidance for applicants before you start.
Interviews
If your written application is successful you will be invited to attend an interview, where you must give a presentation.
Before the interview, by the deadline stated in the invitation email, you:
- must send a list of who will attend the interview
- must send your interview presentation slides
- can send a written response to the assessors’ feedback
List of attendees
Agree the list with your consortium. Up to 4 people from your project can attend, ideally from all organisations included in the project (if numbers allow). They must all be available on all published interview dates. We are unable to reschedule slots once allocated.
Presentation slides
Your interview presentation must:
- use Microsoft PowerPoint
- be no longer than 30 minutes
- have no more than 30 slides
- not include any video or embedded web links
You cannot change the presentation after you submit it.
Written response to assessor feedback
This is optional and is an opportunity to answer the assessors’ concerns. It can:
- be up to 10 A4 pages in a single PDF or Word document
- include charts or diagrams
Interview
After your presentation the panel will spend up to 60 minutes asking questions. Questions may be based on the presentation, on your application form, from independent assessor feedback from the written stage or observations from the Transforming Construction ISCF team.
What we will ask you
The application is split into 3 sections:
- Project details.
- Application questions.
- Finances.
1. Project details
This section sets the scene for the assessors and is not scored.
Application team
Decide which organisations will work with you on the project. Invite people from those organisations to help complete the application.
Application details
The lead applicant must complete this section. Give your project’s title, start date and duration. Is the application a resubmission?
Research category
Select the type of research you will undertake.
Project summary
Describe your project briefly and be clear about what makes it innovative. We use this section to assign experts to assess your application.
Your answer can be up to 400 words long.
Public description
Describe your project in detail, and in a way that you are happy to see published. Do not include any commercially sensitive information. If we award your project funding, we will publish this description. This could happen before you start your project.
Your answer can be up to 400 words long.
Scope
Describe how your project fits the scope of the competition. If your project is not in scope it will be immediately rejected and will not be sent for assessment. We will give you feedback on why. Your answer can be up to 400 words long.
2. Application questions
The assessors will score your answers. You will receive feedback from them for each one.
Your answer to each question can be up to 600 words long. Do not include any URLs in your answers
Question 1. Need or challenge
What is the business need, technological challenge or market opportunity behind your innovation?
Describe or explain:
- the main motivation for the project
- how it responds to the objectives of the Transforming Construction ISCF Programme
- the business need, technological challenge or market opportunity
- the nearest current state-of-the-art, including those also near market or in development, and its limitations
- any work you have already done to respond to this need, for example if the project focuses on developing an existing capability or building a new one
- the wider economic, social, environmental, cultural or political challenges which are influential in creating the opportunity, such as incoming regulations
Question 2. Approach and innovation
What approach will you take and where will the focus of the innovation be?
Describe or explain:
- how you will respond to the need, challenge or opportunity identified, specifically how it will act as a demonstrator
- how it addresses the requirements of the Construction Sector Deal, and supports the objectives TIP strategy, TIES and other related activities
- how you will improve on the nearest current state-of-the-art identified but still demonstrate practical and close-to-market solutions
- whether the innovation will focus on the application of existing technologies in new areas, the development of new technologies for existing areas or a totally disruptive approach
- the freedom you have to operate
- how this project fits with your current product, service lines or offerings
- how it will make you more competitive
- the nature of the demonstratable outputs you expect from the project (for example physical asset, know-how, new process, product or service design) and how these will help you to target the need, challenge or opportunity identified
You must submit one appendix to support your answer. It must be a PDF and can be up to 2 pages long. The font must be legible at 100% zoom.
Question 3. Team and resources
Who is in the project team and what are their roles?
Describe or explain:
- that you have clear collaboration agreements between partners
- the roles, skills and experience of all members of the project team that are relevant to the approach you will be taking
- the resources, equipment and facilities needed for the project and how you will access them
- the details of any vital external parties, including sub-contractors, who you will need to work with to successfully carry out the project
- the current relationships between project partners and how these will change as a result of the project
- what work you have done with other centres or activities supported under the Transforming Construction ISCF: the Construction Innovation Hub and/or the Active Building Centre, the Construction Leadership Council and its working groups
- any roles you will need to recruit for
You must submit one appendix to support your answer. It can contain a short summary on the main people working on the project. It must be a PDF and can be up to 4 pages long. The font must be legible at 100% zoom.
Question 4. Market awareness
What does the market you are targeting look like?
Describe or explain:
- the markets (domestic, international or both) you will be targeting in the project and any other potential markets
- the size of the target markets for the project outcomes, backed up by references where available
- the structure and dynamics of the target markets, including customer segmentation, together with predicted growth rates within clear timeframes
- the structure and dynamics of the target markets, including reference to relevant policies and strategies
- the target markets’ main supply or value chains and business models, and any barriers to entry that exist and how these are being influenced by current Transforming Construction ISCF activities
- the current UK position in targeting these markets
- the size and main features of any other markets not already listed
Question 5. Outcomes and route to market
How are you going to grow your business and increase UK construction productivity into the long term as a result of the project?
Describe or explain:
- your current position in the markets and supply or value chains outlined, and whether you will be extending or establishing your market position
- your target customers or end users, and the value to them, for example why they would use or buy your product
- your route to market
- if your project is highly innovative describe or explain how you will accelerate its route to market to achieve the competition goals
- how you are going to profit from the innovation, including increased revenues or cost reduction
- how the innovation will affect your productivity and growth, in both the short and the long term
- how you will protect and exploit the outputs of the project, for example through know-how, patenting, designs or changes to your business model
- your strategy for targeting the other markets you have identified during or after the project
- a clear plan for how data and intellectual property (IP) will be generated, managed, owned, protected, shared and exploited within the project, in any linked projects, and after the project finishes
If there is any research organisation activity in the project, describe:
- your plans to spread the project’s research outputs over a reasonable timescale
- how you expect to use the results generated from the project in further research activities
Question 6. Wider impacts
What impact might this project have outside the project team?
Describe, and where possible measure:
- the economic benefits from the project to external parties, including customers, others in the supply chain, broader industry and the UK economy, specifically related to productivity, quality and performance improvements of the UK construction sector
- productivity increases and import substitution
- any expected impact on government priorities
- any expected environmental impacts, either positive or negative
- any expected regional impacts of the project
Describe any expected social impacts, either positive or negative on, for example:
- quality of life
- social inclusion or exclusion
- jobs, such as safeguarding, creating, changing or displacing them
- education
- public empowerment
- cyber-security
- health and safety
- regulations
- diversity
Question 7. Project management
How will you manage the project effectively?
Describe or explain:
- the main work packages of the project, indicating the lead partner assigned to each and the total cost of each one
- how project spend will be incurred, by quarter for the entire project duration considering for the desired spend profile of the competition
- your approach to project management, identifying any major tools and mechanisms you will use to get a successful and innovative project outcome
- the management reporting lines
- your project plan in enough detail to identify any links or dependencies between work packages or milestones
- that you have excellent project management, including stakeholder management and risk management
You must submit a project plan or Gantt chart as an appendix to support your answer. It must be a PDF and can be up to 2 pages long. The font must be legible at 100% zoom.
Question 8. Risks
What are the main risks for this project?
Describe or explain:
- the main risks and uncertainties of the project, including the cyber-security, technical, commercial, managerial and environmental risks, providing a risk register to support the assessment
- how you will mitigate these risks
- any project inputs that are critical to completion, such as resources, expertise, data sets
- any output likely to be subject to regulatory requirements, certification, ethical issues and so on, and how you will manage this
You must submit a risk register as an appendix to support your answer. It must be a PDF and can be up to 2 pages long. The font must be legible at 100% zoom.
Question 9. Added value
What impact would an injection of public funding have on the businesses involved?
Describe or explain:
- the additional industry based, engagement, support and funding leveraged as part of your activity, which must be quantified
- if this project could go ahead in any form without public funding and if so, the difference the public funding would make, such as a faster route to market, more partners or reduced risk
- the likely impact of the project on the businesses of the partners involved
- why you are not able to wholly fund the project from your own resources or other forms of private-sector funding, and what would happen if the application is unsuccessful
- how this project would change the nature of R&D activity the partners would undertake, and the related spend
Question 10. Costs and value for money
How much will the project cost and how does it represent value for money for the team and the taxpayer?
Describe or explain:
- demonstrate that you have committed financial investment
- the total eligible project costs and the grant you are requesting in terms of the project goals
- how each partner will finance their contributions to the project
- how this project represents value for money for you and the taxpayer
- how it compares to what you would spend your money on otherwise
- the balance of costs and grant across the project partners
- any sub-contractor costs and why they are critical to the project
3. Finances
Background and further information
Transforming Construction is part of the government’s Industrial Strategy Challenge fund. The Transforming Construction programme is linked to the Construction Sector Deal and applicants are expected to be familiar with the industry commitments detailed in the deal.
The programme is also linked to the Infrastructure and Project Authorities’ (IPA) Transforming Infrastructure Performance (TIP) strategy. Applicants are expected to be familiar with this strategy and to have engaged with the stakeholders where applicable.
For housing related projects, a House of Commons select committee has published a report into the impact of MMC on housing provision.
Extra help
If you require help to find a project collaborator, contact the Knowledge Transfer Network (KTN).
If you need more information, email us at support@innovateuk.ukri.org or call the competition helpline on 0300 321 4357 between 9am and 5:30pm, Monday to Friday.
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