Defining social value in the UK construction industry

Abstract

This paper evaluates the rationale behind the UK Public Services (Social Value) Act to postulate a definition of ‘social value’ and its application to construction and enable authorities to implement it. A comprehensive literature review has been undertaken and publications on existing methods of measurement have been reviewed and discussed to provide a comprehensive summary. The literature review revealed that communities could benefit from a series of direct and indirect impacts on individual people as well as the social efficacy of the whole community as a result of implementing the Act. The intention of the Act is to provide additional social benefits that provide added value, not in the monetary sense of the word but as a broader impact to the local area. However, these types of contract conditions benefit local contractors, which conflicts with the EU’s single market legislation.