International law firm Trowers & Hamlins has advised Great Places Housing Group and the Off-Site Homes Alliance (OSHA) on the procurement of its national construction framework for volumetric and panelised Modern Methods of Construction (MMC).
OSHA is a consortium of 23 Registered Providers and Local Authorities with partnered stakeholders led by Great Places and strategic support partners including the Greater Manchester Combined Authority and Homes England.
The framework is valued at £2 billion over four years, aggregating demand from OSHA's existing 23 partners and other public sector housing providers across the UK looking to deliver high-quality modular homes as part of their development programmes through this framework. It is anticipated that 10,000 homes will be built per year during the framework period with maximum focus on utilising off-site technologies.
Trowers advised on the procurement strategy and drafted the procurement and construction documents for the framework which utilises a Framework Alliance Contract (FAC-1) as recommended by the "Constructing the Gold Standard" report published by UK Cabinet Office in December 2021. The framework is open to all housing providers across the UK who want to work with the appointed suppliers.
Trowers Partner Katie Saunders, said:
"Use of FAC 1 promotes collaborative working within the framework in order to support the development of modular housing for the overall benefit of the OSHA members and to drive positive behaviours in the projects coming out of the framework."
A key feature of the collaborative framework is to allow for information sharing and collated insight to provide a successful supply chain delivery route for MMC projects for all the clients, allowing cutting-edge construction technologies to be utilised to provide high-quality affordable housing across the UK.
Trowers advice also included specialist governance advice on the structure of the alliance and framework as well as the incorporation and procurement of a focused MMC Project Management Office (PMO) being provided by Cast Consultancy who form part of the Alliance of Clients and Suppliers formed through the FAC-1.
