What is The Golden Thread?

The golden thread is a government initiative to create, and maintain, a detailed 'golden thread' of information for building projects. The Golden Thread would allow anyone to understand the building, know how to keep it safe, have easy access to its information (for those who need it), and have data that is always up to date.

In the aftermath of the Grenfell fire, Dame Judith Hackitt led the independent review of the building regulations and fire safety. Her report, “Building a Safer Future” recommended the golden thread approach and the UK government is fully committed to implementing it by passing the Building Safety Bill.

How will it be implemented?

The bill will allow the government to place a duty on those responsible for a building, to create and maintain the gold thread. This duty will ultimately start at the pre-construction phase, and continue throughout the entire build and handover. A designated 'Dutyholder' will be responsible for the construction phase and handover to an 'Accountable Person' once complete. With so many people involved during the construction phase, making sure every piece of information is captured and checked will be no mean feat. The level of detail required will vary based on the complexity of the project, but even relatively 'standard' construction projects will have hundreds—if not thousands—of data points that will need to be captured.

One thing has been made clear, the golden thread needs to be digital. No more bundles of paperwork that can get lost and destroyed (not to mention the sheer effort of producing it, the environmental impact of paper waste, and having to store the accompanying documents), instead the documentation should be completely electronic to ensure it's easy to access and update.

What has Fonn been doing?

Fonn has been working with a number of clients already heavily impacted by the golden thread requirements. We can produce very granular reports that capture the audit history of almost any construction phase activity—from new build houses, right down to specs and photos of individual nuts and bolts. The mobile app we have produced allows all stakeholders in the project to upload images, documents, specs, and comments to every aspect of the build—in a fully digital, collaborative and auditable way. We already have clients using our system to compile data and produce reports ready to hand over to the next person in the chain.

“With Fonn we gather everything in order with a label on it, basically tied in a bow and ready to go to the client. Quick and easy.”

Nicola Robinson, Business Manager~Milestone

If you are looking for some support in starting and maintaining your golden thread, contact Fonn today. We can discuss ways you can get started, as well as best practice approaches for all types of construction businesses.