One of Northern Ireland’s largest social housing providers has launched a new development quality team to support the delivery of its homes.
With more than £285m currently invested in its new-build projects, Choice says it is creating this new specialist team to oversee and coordinate the delivery of highest levels of quality, safety, and regulatory compliance in all its developments. Furthermore, it is intended to ensure these values will be embedded at every stage of the development of a housing project.
Key responsibilities of the new team will include strengthening design standards, enhancing compliance with infrastructure adoption requirements such as roads, drainage, water and street lighting. They will embed robust fire safety considerations into both design and delivery and trialling emerging digital snagging tools. Any defect trends beyond project completion will also be closely analysed to drive future improvement. Maintaining strong relationships and engagement with tenants will continue to be a central element of this process.
The development quality team brings together specialist expertise, including clerks of works, quality and compliance officers, development assistant, and development quality manager. They will work with a strong and visible on-site presence, Choice says, with the team taking a “robust and preventative, intelligence-led approach” to quality assurance, delivering safer construction developments and a higher quality housing stock.
Monica Genney, Choice’s development quality manager, said: “This initiative marks a pivotal advancement in construction oversight and cultivates a strong culture of quality in building. It ensures that Choice stays at the forefront of raising standards, meeting evolving regulatory demands, and delivering homes that are not just high quality now, but also resilient and designed to meet the needs of our future tenants.
“This collaboration showcases the exceptional dedication of Choice Housing in Northern Ireland to work alongside housing providers, designers, utility companies, building control authorities, planners, and fire and rescue services. By combining our expertise, we are improving fire safety governance and actively reducing risks from the design stage onward. Together, we are paving the way for a safer and brighter future for all our tenants.”
A key priority for the team will be improving governance and accountability in line with emerging expectations around building safety management. Choice says it will also expand the use of enhanced Power BI – an advanced digital reporting system that identifies patterns in construction quality, defects data, and compliance more clearly and quickly so we can improve future homes.
Main image: Members of Choice Housing’s newly-formed Choice quality team
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