Community & Social Values

Oakland Construction has always identified the range of impacts which construction products and projects have on end users and the wider community.

The Social Value Act became legislation in 2013, which effectively means that public sector organisations now have to consider what social, economic and environmental value could be added to a project. To this end, Oakland Construction has now developed policies for sustainable procurement, corporate social responsibility, and sustainability.

The company has a policy of highlighting awareness and use of existing best practice in considering and involving end users and the community at large in construction projects. The company does identify gaps in the provision of best practice, or barriers to its use.

The main impacts (but not exclusive) experienced by the local community during construction are highlighted below, and these are the areas which receive particular attention in order to ameliorate the effects –

• Noise
• Vibration
• Pollution
• Dust
• Soil stored
• Dirt
• Parking
• Closure of roads
• Increased traffic
• Pavement obstruction
• Security
• Hoarding/fencing of site boundaries
• Health & safety
• Disruption of pedestrian access
• General disorder of site and surrounding areas
• Power cuts
• Workmen
• Invasion of privacy
• Blocking of TV reception
• Litter

On more major projects of longer duration which impact upon the local community, Oakland Construction do involve the local residents as stakeholders, by inviting them for open evening sessions in a local church or community hall. In this way, the residents have an opportunity of meeting the management team first hand including the Site Manager, and learning of the proposals for the project. This action does serve to ameliorate any fears that residents may have.

Oakland Construction is a small but important part of the local and regional economy and understands the responsibilities to the smaller tertiary employers that form part of our supply chain.

We count the following activities amongst our community initiatives –

• Fund raising activities in support of charities such as Above and Beyond for Bristol’s hospitals.
• Health & Safety awareness for children when working on school contracts
• Use of local, small sub-contractors to assist employment opportunities
• Wherever possibly local apprentices are employed together with work experiences places
• Sourcing of materials, wherever possible from local manufacturers and suppliers to assist employment opportunities
• Use recycled or environmentally friendly raw materials and products
• The company introduce a plan to minimise the amount of energy and water used or waste produced