London, 9 November 2026 – A new standard designed to improve productivity in the development and delivery of built environment infrastructure has been published by BSI, the UK’s national standards body. Sponsored by the Department for Transport (DfT) and the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE), the standard gives clients and asset owners, designers, contractors, subcontractors and suppliers a consistent approach to managing and improving productivity across infrastructure programmes and projects.
PAS 4010:2026 Infrastructure – Improving productivity in infrastructure development and delivery – Specification – applies throughout the lifecycle of infrastructure and across the whole value chain. It defines improving productivity as increasing efficiency and effectiveness, which means both the output delivered for a given level of input, as well as the resulting outcomes achieved. An accompanying guidance document, sponsored by the DfT and the Infrastructure Client Group (ICG), that expands on how to apply the PAS is also published today by the ICE.
The standard has attracted significant support from senior figures across industry, including a letter of support signed by 15 Chief Executives from leading UK infrastructure contractors and design consultants during its public consultation in summer 2026. PAS 4010 is also backed by the influential ICG in their Client Commitments for Productivity Improvement initiative.
Improving productivity in major infrastructure is an essential enabler of the UK Government’s 10 Year Infrastructure Strategy, both to deliver the scale of work planned and to achieve the outcomes it sets out. Yet construction productivity lags the wider UK economy in terms of output per hour worked, according to data from the Office for National Statistics. This is part of a broader challenge, with the Infrastructure Strategy, drawing on ONS data, also highlighting the gap in economy-wide UK productivity growth, since 2008, versus other countries including the US, France and Germany.
How the PAS works
PAS 4010 helps organizations put in place a strategy for managing productivity, setting out who is responsible, how progress is measured and how it is improved over time. It gives the sector a practical framework to increase productivity, clarifies the role each part of the value chain plays, and encourages organizations to consider productivity across the whole life of an asset. It also helps them factor in wider benefits, such as climate change mitigation, when making decisions.
There are many different areas where productivity improvements can be realized. For example, embedding productivity into scoping and procurement, better use of data, repeatable and modular design and assembly, minimizing the misuse of materials, and supporting continuous improvement throughout the lifetime of a project.
By enabling a more consistent, strategic and joined-up approach across the value chain, the standard is intended to help scale up productivity improvements across infrastructure. It also recognizes the important role of senior managers and leaders in creating an open culture that enables people to bring forward improvement ideas, raise issues, embed learning and share best practice.
The accompanying guidance document provides practical advice, case studies and implementation tools to support adoption of PAS 4010. It promotes an "Avoid, Switch, Improve" hierarchy, encouraging organisations to eliminate unnecessary work, identify better solutions and optimise what remains.
Case studies featured in the guidance include a water project that saved more than £30m by repurposing existing assets rather than constructing a new pipeline and a transport project that saved 36 weeks and £370,000 by redesigning a construction process.
Scott Steedman, Director-General, Standards, BSI, said: “Reaching consensus on how industry could improve productivity in the delivery of infrastructure projects has been an urgent priority for BSI as the national standards body, for the construction sector and for government. The launch of PAS 4010 is the culmination of a commitment by leading experts in the built environment to agree what good looks like in the delivery of major projects in the UK. The new standard provides a strategic framework for the entire industry, from clients and asset owners to contractors and suppliers, to improve productivity. With over £700 billion of investment committed in the Government’s 10 Year Infrastructure Strategy, PAS 4010 has the potential to deliver huge benefits for the nation.
We strongly encourage organizations across the built environment to adopt the best practices set out in the new standard, PAS 4010 and we look forward to continuing our work with ICE, DfT and wider industry to help build a more consistent, collaborative approach to delivering infrastructure.”
Rail Minister, Lord Hendy, said: “This Government is committed to getting infrastructure projects right and doing things differently to fix the failures of the past.
“Productivity within the construction sector remains low, impacting the cost, and schedule of infrastructure projects, which delays connecting people and communities to growth, jobs, new homes, or vital services.
“PAS 4010 gives us the opportunity to improve the cost and efficiency of all infrastructure projects, delivering these benefits and saving taxpayer money. I would encourage the whole transport sector and supply chain to embed and adopt these principles.”
Janet Young, Director General, ICE said: “The infrastructure sector’s productivity has been a long-standing challenge.
“The introduction of a new standard and complementary guidance moves the conversation on from diagnosing the problems to actively addressing them.
“We know that implementing standards can have a positive impact; the progress the industry has made in reducing carbon with PAS 2080, the carbon management standard, has been remarkable.
“If PAS 4010 is able to move the dial in the same way for productivity, that will be good news for the industry, the wider economy and the country at large.”
The ICE has produced supporting guidance to help organizations understand and implement PAS 4010, which is available, here.
For more information on the standard, please click here.
