Corporate Social Responsibility

Giving back to the community in which we operate.
Six Construct wants to contribute to a safer and greener planet and build a better place to live in. The goal is to go beyond the legal requirements in the social (People), environmental (Planet) and economic (Growth) areas, and that on a voluntary basis. As a global player the group takes into account the specificities and the environmental requirements of each country while developing its CSR approach.
People

Six Construct is committed to guaranteeing the well-being and safety of its employees. At the same time, we want to offer enough career development opportunities and social involvement possibilities.

Engineering

Our engineers strive to create sustainable building solutions.

Environment

We aim to minimize our impact by reducing CO2 and waste, while attempting to attain certifications (LEED, Estidama, CEEQUAL, GSAS, among others) for our projects.

Business Behaviour

Six Construct has a commitment to purchase sustainably and to follow the codes of conduct.

BESIX Group C&S Charter

Citizenship & Sustainability Charter

A strong group commitment as an answer to current reality.

In striving for these priorities, Six Construct has to take into account 5 main challenges of its industry:
Climate change, society’s ageing, the growing need for green buildings, the lack of green energy and the lack of talent management.

The combination of these CSR pillars with the industry challenges results in the following commitments for the group:

  • Enabling a low carbon & waste society

  • Encouraging green solutions

  • Taking care of respectful & sustainable operations

  • Being a preferred employer

  • Increasing employees’ safety and comfort

  • Integrating codes of conduct

  • Promoting social, local and economic development

Discover our CSR Reports

Six Construct published its first CSR report 2010-2011 in 2012. 5th report is available for 2019-2021. The report is a good opportunity to describe what we have achieved.

The report is a good opportunity to describe what we have achieved with respect to the GRI (Global Reporting Initiative), which many players, including in our field, have adopted.

The GRI enables our customers and stakeholders to be aware of our goals and the actions we take to implement them. Among these actions, we joined 'The Shift Network' in 2016 and are committed, like many other reference groups, to the United Nations and its Global Compact program. 

Sustainability & ESG Report 2022
CSR Report 2019 - 2021
CSR Report 2017 - 2018
CSR Report 2015 - 2016
CSR Report 2012 - 2014
CSR Report 2010 - 2011

Affiliations and Memberships

With our codes of conduct, increasingly adhered to by our colleagues, subcontractors and their suppliers, we are keen to drive awareness and change that goes beyond our own structures.
For this reason, Six Construct has partnered or affiliated with various organisations or societies to make an indefinite contribution to this change:

Dubai Chamber’s Sustainability Network
An active member of the “Sustainability Network” setup by Dubai Chamber of Commerce since 2013, sharing our best practices with other network members, as well as adopting theirs.

Dubai Chamber CSR Label
We have been awarded on a yearly basis “CSR Label” by Dubai Chamber of Commerce since 2013, in recognition for our outstanding efforts and commitment towards CSR & sustainability in the region.

Abu Dhabi Sustainability Group (ADSG)
Being an active member of the Abu Dhabi Sustainability Group (ADSG) since 2013, we adopt best practices of sustainability management, to practice and champion sustainability in the emirate of Abu Dhabi.

Collaboration with EWS - WWF
We have collaborated with EWS – WWF as a “Platinum Member” for the period 2017 till 2020, to contribute to the Sustainable Development of UAE and to support EWS-WWF’s critical conservation work in UAE in the areas of Climate Change & Energy, Marine conservation, Terrestrial conservation & illegal wildlife trade.

Licensed GSAS service provider
As a registered GSAS Service Providers since 2016, we assist in achieving the green building goals and sustainability vision of our clients in Qatar.

Impact Seal - Gold Tier 2022
Six Construct has been awarded the prestigious Gold Impact Seal, which acknowledges its alignment with sustainable impact, ESGs (Environmental, Social, and Governance), and SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals). This esteemed recognition represents the official federal certification that certifies, measures, and rewards entities in the UAE with leading sustainable impact practices aligned with environmental, societal, and governance (ESG) criteria, the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and national priorities.

Compliance and vigilance

Our Group’s participation in complex, largescale projects obviously requires us to bring in third parties, consortia partners and subcontractors.

Our Code of Conduct for Responsible and Sustainable Purchasing guides us in monitoring and cooperating with external partners. It also invites us to listen to NGOs when they provide information and feedback on practices which are not in line with our commitments.

In 2016, we corresponded transparently and constructively with one of them, which examined the working conditions on a building site in Qatar, where we were a consortium partner and for which subcontractors had been brought in.

We took advantage of these exchanges to further improve the control of our subcontractors with the aim of making working conditions as professional and ethical as possible in each country where we operate.

Work and life conditions for migrant workers in the Middle East

Six Construct started its activities in the Middle East through as early as 1965, first in the Emirates, followed by Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Oman. Our license to operate in this region includes a solid engagement to high quality work and life conditions for our workers, which we continue to improve further.

Our projects in building, marine and civil works require a massive amount of manpower, which is not available locally. Today we have over 11,000 employees in the Middle East, many of which are migrant workers, mainly from South–East Asia and the Indian subcontinent in particular.

Six Construct aims to go further than applying local rules. We have procurement and recruitment processes in place to avoid any abuse of migrant workers and we request our subcontractors to equally respect our standards. In the Middle East and Qatar specifically we have initiated higher lodging standards, including recreational facilities and we provide training through “Right 2 Learn” on IT-skills and many other initiatives.

Learn more about these initiatives in our video

BESIX Foundation

BESIX Foundation is a private foundation that was set up by the Belgian BESIX Group in 2009, in celebration of their 100th anniversary. It supports charities by giving them financial support so they can achieve their goals.

The foundation also encourages volunteer work among BESIX Group’s employees. Education, Construction and/or Environment are the overarching themes of the supported projects.

One of the many initiatives ventured by the BESIX Foundation over the years is "Right 2 Learn".

Please visit: www.besixfoundation.com or our Facebook page for more information.

Right 2 Learn

Computer classes for workers in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Qatar

Our Middle Eastern workers are often far from home, which causes them to spend a non-negligible part of their salary on telephone calls. To cope with this situation, BESIX Foundation has decided to create a basic computer course to allow them to make economies on their telephone calls and at the same time, discover the vast world of internet.

Four training centres and cyber cafes have been established on site or in workers' housing - where staff volunteer to train those who had never used a computer before.

The success story of Right-2-Learn is unstoppable. The first group of students attending the courses have successfully accomplished the mission. The amazing part of those classes is when you see someone touching a computer for the first time in his or her life; it is a wonderful feeling and it encourages you to do more. I encourage everyone to take part in this sensational initiative!
Mohamed Riadh Aroua
Administration Manager, Warner Bros. World Abu Dhabi

Contact

For all questions, please contact please contact Geert Aelbrecht, Group Sustainability & ESG Officer or Muriel Sacré: ESG@besix.com

For regional questions, please contact Patrice Thomas: pthomas@sixco.ae