To allow member companies to register more easily, as well as to submit levy returns online, the Bargaining Council for the Civil Engineering Industry (BCCEI) has developed a competent and user friendly electronic system.

According to Nick Faasen, BCCEI general secretary, electronic registrations can be accepted through the organisation’s website. He also encourages member companies to submit their levy returns electronically rather than using the previous, manual method.

“We are pleased to offer members this quicker system, especially as it will largely eliminate human error,” Faasen says. “If the levy return is the same as the one submitted the previous month, it can just be duplicated using a one-click system – saving time and improving productivity for everyone involved.”

He says the system has another valuable benefit – to enable BCCEI to further develop its database and to gather verifiable statistics from the industry.

“Certain statistics relating to the civil engineering sector are available, but they are lumped together with the construction industry and do not accurately represent our sector,” he says. “We need to build up our own statistics and this electronic system will allow us to do that.”

He encourages members to participate in supplying information through the system, so that accurate data could be built up over time.

The BCCEI facilitates collective bargaining between employer organisations and trade unions that are party to the council; it also monitors compliance with the agreed minimum conditions of employment.