CECA publishes PAS 2080 carbon guidance for civil engineering SMEs

The Civil Engineering Contractors Association has published two free guides to help small and medium-sized civils firms understand carbon reduction and put PAS 2080 into practice, almost five years after an earlier SME carbon guide.

The guidance, titled Carbon Reduction and PAS 2080 Demystified, pairs an introduction to the terminology and concepts with a practical how-to guide on measuring, managing and reducing emissions, CECA said.

The trade body said the documents were developed with members working in environment and sustainability and draw on contractors' experience on site, with the aim of making carbon management more accessible to smaller and specialist firms in UK infrastructure.

Ben Goodwin, CECA Director of Policy & Public Affairs, said: "Decarbonising the UK infrastructure sector is the most significant challenge facing our members and will only be possible if businesses of all sizes are able to implement the required changes to day-to-day delivery."

What the guides cover

According to CECA, the introductory document sets out the relationship between carbon, construction and cost, and defines terms including Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions, embodied carbon and whole-life carbon.

The how-to guide takes a business through establishing an emissions boundary, gathering data, calculating and reporting emissions, and setting reduction targets. CECA said it includes case studies, worked examples and links to supporting tools and resources.

The association said the material is intended for firms that want either to align with PAS 2080 or to work towards certification against it.

Goodwin said the guidance was written so that an SME contractor could pick it up and know what information to collect, which questions to ask and where changes to its work could make a difference.

He added: "Smaller contractors bring detailed knowledge of materials, plant and construction methods, and make up a majority of the UK infrastructure sector." Involving them early, he said, gives a project team a better chance of finding ways to cut carbon, avoid waste and reduce costs.

The project was led by CECA Sector Group Manager Kate Lloyd.

The standard

CECA describes PAS 2080 as a framework for managing carbon across the lifecycle of buildings and infrastructure, emphasising collaboration across the supply chain and building carbon reduction into decisions on how projects are designed, procured, built and operated.

The current version, PAS 2080:2023, Carbon management in buildings and infrastructure, is published by BSI (British Standards Institution) and specifies requirements for managing whole-life carbon. BSI said the 2023 revision expanded the standard's scope to cover the whole built environment, including buildings as well as infrastructure.

The revised standard and its supporting guidance were launched on 5 April 2023 with sponsorship from the Institution of Civil Engineers and the Construction Leadership Council's Green Construction Board, according to the CLC. BSI said that sponsorship allows it to offer the standard free of charge.

The standard is also referenced in public-sector transport guidance. The Department for Transport's carbon management plan guidance and template, published on 30 July 2026 and updated on 29 October 2026, align with the standards set out in PAS 2080:2023, according to the department.

Background

CECA's new publications follow an earlier guide, Carbon Reduction Demystified for SMEs in Civil Engineering, published on 3 December 2021 following the COP26 conference. Peter Crosland, CECA National Civil Engineering Director, said at the time that the document had been written with expert input from both main and sub-contractor members.

In 2021 CECA defined SMEs as companies with fewer than 250 employees and said a great many construction companies fall into that category. Updating guidance to SMEs on ways to reduce their carbon footprint is listed on CECA's work programme page.

CECA has more than 300 members across six English regions, Scotland and Wales, and says those firms together carry out an estimated 70-80% of all civil engineering activity in the UK.

Both new publications are free to download from the CECA website. The association said it will review them periodically to keep pace with the policy landscape and is inviting comments through enquiries@ceca.co.uk.