2. What does the group do?
Keep an overview of current business practice in geotechnical and geo-
environmental sector
Assess best practice in the industry
Compare interests & requirements consultants and contractors
Review implications of new standards (European and UK)
Influence stakeholders (employers)
Look at commercial issues that might affect members
Debate topical issues
Provide guidance notes / documents
Future issues for the industry
Monitor effectiveness of the AGS as a whole
Promotion (marketing) of AGS
Review applications for membership
AGS overseas
3. Standards /codes & publications
• BPWG has a cross section of
consultants and contractors
who can provide guidance on
new standards & publications
• Draw on experience to allow:
Clarifications for members
Advance warning of potential
conflicts
• Has links to standards
organisations
• Members on standards and
publication committees
4. Driving up standards
• Improvement of standards has been
a long sought utopian aim for GI
industry in the UK
• European neighbours also share this
aim!
• Now EFFC have launched an initiative
to achieve this (?) by involving
insurers
• In UK the AGS are going to
collaborate with the FPS to provide
perspective of UK geotechnical
industry
• May lead to a united European front
on this issue?
5. Driving up standards
Representation to Employers
• Time to refresh documents
intended to provide employers
with summary of merits of
ground investigations
• Documents need to be:
Succinct & easy to understand
Focus on risks involved
Put the commercial case
Avoid being too technical
• Separate out guidance on what
good practice is in UK GI
6. Membership
• BPWG have debated AGS membership
criteria and fees etc for some 18
months
• Much analysis of member firms and
possible fee structures
• Results were completed in Autumn
2014 and main outcomes were:
Simplified membership categories
Change to membership fee structure
Generally a fairer structure reflecting
the size range of member
organisations
7. Marketing
Most important current initiative
centred around marketing the AGS
Well established and respected trade
organisation (due to membership)
But we need to reach a wider audience
Debate concerns:
o Making AGS more accessible
o Relevant to all geotechnical / geo-
environmental community
Students & academics
Graduates / new employees
Company's of all sizes
Laboratories
Suppliers
8. Marketing
New updated and relevant website is
part of the solution
But much work to do
BPWG has set up a small sub group
tasked with some blue sky thinking
Will report back before June’s full
committee meeting with proposals
o Aims:
Build on existing organisation's strong
foundations
To ensure we provide something of
interest for whole community
Primarily UK focussed, but could
provide international ‘excellence
model’?