A COUNCIL'S radical change in the way it tackles major building and civil engineering schemes has won national recognition.

Durham County Council has spent the last two years establishing partnerships with private sector companies to help avoid the sort of problems which can plague big construction projects.

The move followed publication of two independent reports which suggested ways of removing obstacles to achieving better performance and improving quality.

The Egan report, Rethinking Construction, called for greater collaboration between designers and builders to reduce waste and duplication of effort.

Durham County Council's readiness to adopt the principles means it is only the second authority in the country to be singled out as an example for others to follow.

The authority's director of environment and technical services Chris Tunstall said: "This is a further significant achievement for the county council and puts us among the very best of innovatory organisations in the UK."