How Built Intelligence Upskilled EDF's Contract Management Knowledge at Hinkley Point C

Case Study

Empowering EDF's Hinkley Point C Project with Built Intelligence Training Solutions

As the UK’s largest supplier of zero carbon energy, EDF are undertaking the construction of Hinkley Point C; the first nuclear power station to be built in Britain for 20 years.

With the aim of generating enough low carbon energy for six million homes, Hinkley Point C is one of Europe’s largest and most complex construction projects. To deliver a project of this scale and complexity, EDF opted to deliver the project using a NEC3 ECC contract with substantial alterations (Z-clauses) to reflect the uniqueness of the project.

As a critical piece of future UK infrastructure with substantial security and safety requirements, EDF needed to ensure that every member of their delivery team was provided with high-quality, consistent, and detailed training about the project and its execution.

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Key Challenges

EDF had identified that, due to the diversity of experience across the delivery team, individuals within the team had varying knowledge, experience, and understanding of how NEC contracts operated. Historically, EDF found that this disparity of knowledge led to additional pressure placed on the legal team to ensure common understanding and adherence to the contract. They also knew that the unprecedented scale of this project would require the legal team to provide an unsustainable level of support.

To prevent this issue from occurring on Hinkley Point C, and to prevent it from arising on other NEC projects, EDF approached Built Intelligence to design a solution that could achieve three key aims:

• Get everyone on the same page with regards to the use of NEC3 ECC contracts

• Introduce everyone in the delivery team to the extensive Z-clauses EDF had in place for the NEC3 ECC contract to reflect the unique nature of the project

• Provide a 24/7 accessible learning system that could be delivered remotely to combat the severe limitations to knowledge sharing presented by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“EDF have been impressed by the level of knowledge and expertise delivered – by the tutors and support staff, reactive and responsive to our time constraints.

The training platform interface is easy for delegates to use and also gives access to an impressive range of additional ‘free to use’ e-learning. This also integrates with NNB corporate programme online bookings and attendance system giving a flawless package of support and learning”

Matt Goren CEng MICE MAPM

Programme & Project Manager
EDF

Delivery

The initial phase of our delivery programme was to complete a comprehensive training needs analysis, which was completed by our Customer Success and Production teams in collaboration with EDF’s legal team. Through this process, we identified that EDF would benefit from a blended version of our standard NEC3 ECC training to reflect the project’s numerous Z-clauses. In addition, we identified that EDF would benefit from the following:

• Access to detailed training metrics so that EDF could internally manage training uptake and assess its effectiveness

• Access to a private Learning Management System to ensure that all online material was tailored and branded to EDF’s specifications

• Ongoing administrative support to ensure continued access by new members of the EDF team

• Ongoing course development support in collaboration with the legal team to ensure courses reflected any changes to the contract

• Twice-annual sessions between new cohorts, Built Intelligence, and the EDF legal team to ensure any questions about the course and its content could be answered.

Following EDF’s approval of our training proposal, this package of features was put together by our Production Team. To accommodate the numerous Z-clauses, Barry Trebes—one of our experts who and a co-author of the NEC4 ECC Role of the Project Manager and NEC3 ECC Role of the Supervisor—worked closely with Built Intelligence and EDF’s legal team to ensure that all Z-clauses were reflected in additional and amended training material. Our team successfully built and delivered these courses along with their own Learning Management System within 12 weeks.

After the programme was delivered, we ran a trial cohort with the EDF team after which we took extensive feedback. As a result, we found that the live sessions were surplus to requirements and made the course 100% online.

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Outcomes

The rollout of our training programme has been a significant and long-term success for EDF. Key benefits for the client have included:

• 93% uptake of the course across the project delivery team

• Exceptional feedback from those who have undertaken the course highlighting the clarity it gave them regarding NEC3 ECC Contracts and EDF’s Z-clauses

• A substantial reduction in workload for the legal team to explain and ensure contractual processes are understood and adhered to

• The erasure of additional and ad-hoc training costs (including travel and expenses) typically required to get new joiners up-to-scratch throughout the life of the project

• A more streamlined approach to project delivery with less time required to correct mistakes that depart from contractual requirements

• Enhanced insight into the knowledge and understanding of each member of the team.

In addition, we are providing a twice-annual review process to ensure feedback and emerging needs are fed back into the training programme. This will ensure that Built Intelligence can cover EDF’s changing needs throughout the life of the contract.

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