DQI - The National Assembly for Wales

The National Assembly for Wales

“The DQI assessment at the in-use stage has established the ‘ground truth’ as seen from the diverse perspectives of the various participants…. On this occasion, the Welsh Assembly are able to justly claim that the building has achieved what it set out to do.”

The National Assembly is at the heart of the Capitals flagship regeneration zone in Cardiff Bay. The building was to become a symbol for Wales throughout the world and a prestigious landmark.

It was both the client’s and architect’s aspiration to create a design sensitive to the surrounding developments, completing the ‘jigsaw’ of development in the immediate vicinity.

As a public building, the National Assembly for Wales demonstrates a political commitment to addressing the issue of sustainability. The building exemplifies high environmental standards and has been awarded a BREEAM rating of ‘Excellent’, DQI provides credits to achieve this.

The architectural concept was one of placing the electorate above the elected whilst offering maximum transparency and openness, symbolic of democracy. It uses traditional Welsh materials such as slate and Welsh oak in its construction.

The Briefing assessment was useful in directing design development and the in-use one in capturing the successes and failures of the building for guiding future projects and the ongoing management of the Assembly building.

The briefing stage assessment identified that the design only met 57% of the default fundamental factors, informing the design team where changes required the in use assessment showed this had increased to 94%.

Terms and Conditions of Use

The Website is operated by the Construction Industry Council (referred to as “CIC/we/us/our”). As a user of the Website and/or the DQI Service (referred to as “you/your”) you acknowledge that any use of the Website and/or the DQI Service is subject to our terms and conditions below (referred to as the “Conditions”).

DEFINITIONS
“DQI Service” means the Design Quality Indicator (DQI) product including the DQI Assessment Tool (Questionnaire), the Briefing Tool, the Outputs (Results) and the Report;
“DQI Leader Key” means an 8-digit password that gives you access to the DQI Service.
“Packet” means a group of 5, 10 or 20 DQI Leader Keys purchased in a single Payment;
“Payment” means the payment by a User to CIC in relation to the DQI Service;
“Payment Date” means the date on which Payment is made by a User if payment is made by credit card, or the date of receipt by CIC of a Purchase Order from a User if the payment is to be made by cheque;
“Personal Information” means any personal details provided to us by a User in relation to the DQI Service;
“Questionnaire” means a questionnaire to be completed by a User;
“Report” means a report which is produced by DQI Facilitators/Leaders based on information from the Design Quality Indicator (DQI) online tool and the DQI sessions;
“User” means a user of the DQI Service;
“DQI Facilitator” means construction professionals or experienced construction clients trained by CIC to facilitate DQI sessions ensuring that all opinions are included and recorded;
“DQI Leader” means someone that champions the process, with authority to bring people together and ensure decisions can be implemented; ideally a member of the client team;
“Website” means the website located at the URL www.dqi.org.uk on which the DQI Service is hosted or located at any other URL which CIC may decide to use from time to time.

1. DQI SERVICE
1.1 Please see the My projects > Buy section on the Website for information on how to apply to use the DQI Service.
1.2 We reserve the right to change the Conditions from time to time. Any such changes will take effect when posted on the Website and it is your responsibility to read the Conditions on each occasion you use this Website and your continued use of the Website shall signify your acceptance to be bound by the latest Conditions.

2. PAYMENT
2.1 Details of our current fees and methods of Payment are available on the DQI Shop section of the Website.
2.2 You agree that you are the owner, holder and duly authorised user of any credit card specified by you in our registration procedure.
2.3 In the case of off-line Payments, Payment must be made within 14 working days of the date of the invoice (the 14th such day being the “Due Date”). Payment must then be made by a cheque, payable to the Construction Industry Council, sent to 26 Store St, London WC1E 7BT. Late payments will accrue interest at 4% over Barclays bank plc base rate from the Due Date to the date of Payment.
2.4 All Payments made are inclusive of VAT and shall be made in full without deduction or withholding.

3. REFUND POLICY
3.1 Subject to Clauses 3.2 to 3.4 below you have one month from the Payment Date to use a DQI Leader Key and if a DQI Leader Key is unused by you after this period then you shall not be entitled to any refund in respect of the DQI Leader Key.
3.2 If you purchase a single DQI Leader Key (i.e. not in a Packet) and within one month of the Payment Date, you decide not to use it, you may cancel it by notice and in these circumstances you shall be entitled to a refund for the amount paid in respect of the DQI Leader Key.
3.3 Where DQI Leader Keys are purchased in a Packet, each DQI Leader Key may be used within five years from the Payment Date. Any unused DQI Leader Keys after the expiry of this five year period shall not be used and after this period you shall not be entitled to any refund in respect of such DQI Leader Keys.
3.4 Where DQI Leader Keys are purchased in a Packet:
3.4.1 Within two years from the Payment Date, CIC may give notice to terminate the DQI Service in relation to any particular User, in which case it will refund to the User the pro rata Payment for the DQI Leader Keys which have not been used by the date of termination.
3.4.2 Following the end of the two year period from the Payment Date, CIC may give notice to terminate the DQI Service in relation to any particular User, in which case the User will have a 3 month period from receipt of the notice in which to use further DQI Leader Keys, but shall not be entitled to a refund. After that 3 month period no further Questionnaires may be used.
3.5 You will not be eligible for a refund if you cannot use any part of the DQI Service because of a failure, suspension or withdrawal of all or part of the DQI Service due to circumstances beyond our control.

4. YOUR OBLIGATIONS
In using the DQI Service you agree:
4.1 not to upload or transmit to the Website any computer viruses, macro viruses, trojan horses, worms or anything else designed to interfere with, interrupt or disrupt the normal operating procedures of a computer;
4.2 not to upload or transmit any material which is defamatory, offensive, or of an obscene or menacing character, or that may cause annoyance, inconvenience or needless anxiety;
4.3 not to cause the Website to be interrupted, damaged, rendered less efficient or such that the effectiveness or functionality of the Website is in any way impaired;
4.4 not to infringe the intellectual property rights or rights of confidence of any third party;
4.5 not to attempt any unauthorised access to any part or component of the Website and/or the DQI Service;
4.6 not to allow any unauthorised third party directly or indirectly to use or access the DQI Service; and
4.7 to provide true, accurate, correct and complete information when you register as a User of the DQI Service and information which to the best of your knowledge is accurate and correct when completing any Questionnaire.

5. YOUR DATA
5.1 With respect to your Personal Information, please view our privacy policy on our Website, which forms part of these Conditions.
5.2 You agree that we may share non-Personal Information obtained from a Questionnaire with our research partners, and that we may publish aggregated information arising from the content provided in any Questionnaire.

6. INDEMNITY AND LIABILITY
6.1 We will use our reasonable endeavours to verify the accuracy of any information on the Website and in the Reports but make no representation or warranty of any kind regarding the contents or availability of the DQI Service or that it will be timely or error-free, that defects will be corrected, or that the Website or the server are free of viruses or bugs. You will not be eligible for any compensation if you cannot use any part of the DQI Service or because of a failure, suspension or withdrawal of all or part of the DQI Service due to circumstances beyond our control.
6.2 You shall not rely upon information included in the DQI Service and shall use it at your own risk and we shall not be liable to you for any loss arising directly or indirectly from any use or reliance by you on information included in any aspect of the DQI Service (including the Reports). Accordingly, all warranties, representations, guarantees, conditions and terms whether express or implied by statute, common law, trade usage or otherwise and whether written or oral are hereby expressly excluded to the fullest extent possible by law.
6.3 You agree that neither CIC nor any other person involved in the DQI Service shall be liable for any direct, indirect, consequential or incidental loss or damage arising from or relating to the DQI Service. You will keep the information in the Report confidential and will not disclose the whole or any part of the Report to any other person without our prior written consent.
6.4 You shall be responsible for keeping your own copies of all content produced by you (if any) in connection with the DQI Service. We will not be responsible for any file recovery or files lost by you.
6.5 You agree to indemnify us, or any subsidiary or holding company (as defined in section 736 and 736A of the Companies Act 1985) of ours and our and their officers, directors and employees, immediately on demand, against all claims, liability, damages, costs and expenses, including legal fees, arising out of any breach of these terms and conditions by you or any other liabilities arising out of your use of the DQI Service, including in relation to any infringement of any third party intellectual property rights by you. You shall not enter into any settlement or compromise of any such claim or action without our prior written consent. We may, at our sole discretion, assume and control the defence of such claim or action.

7. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
You acknowledge and agree that as between CIC and you all intellectual property rights existing in or relating to the DQI Service shall belong to CIC.

8. THIRD PARTY LINKS
In an attempt to provide increased value to our Users, we may provide links to other websites or resources. You acknowledge and agree that we are not responsible for the availability of such external sites or resources, and do not endorse and are not responsible or liable, directly or indirectly, for the privacy practices or the content (including defamatory content) of such websites, including (without limitation) any advertising, products or other materials or services on or available from such websites or resources, nor for any damage, loss or offence caused or alleged to be caused by, or in connection with, the use of or reliance on any such content, goods or services available on such external sites or resources.

9. MONITORING
We have the right, but not the obligation, to monitor any activity and content associated with the DQI Service. We may investigate any reported violation of these Conditions or complaints and

The National Assembly for Wales

Request a Quote

Terms and Conditions of Use