Built Environment Skills Alliance (BESA)

CIC is a member of the Built Environment Skills Alliance (BESA) which is predominantly an advisory and liaison group of Sector Skills Councils (SSCs) working within the built environment with a focus on development issues.

It aims to work through its members and to promote and encourage joint working and a partnership approach where this is appropriate and likely to add value.

Our members include Asset Skills, CITB ConstructionSkills, CITB Northern Ireland, Engineering Construction Industry Training Board, Energy and Utility Skills, Pro Skills, Summit Skills and Lantra .

For further information visit the BESA website at www.besa-uk.org.uk

The Built Environment Functional Map

This project was led by the Construction Industry Council in conjunction with the Built Environment Skills Alliance (BESA). BESA identified “Developing a broad functional map for the built environment” a priority activity in its programme of work.  

The project brings together the extant functional maps and National Occupational Standards suites across the built environment, to create for the first time a complete view of the sector and the huge array of functions and skills that contribute to its significant place and purpose within the UK economy.

Purpose and use of the Built Environment Functional Map

The consolidated Functional Map is intended for use by:

• Sector Skills Councils (SSCs)
• Standard Setting Bodies (SSBs)
• Education and training providers,
• Employers and in-house training departments,
• Accreditation and certification bodies
• Awarding bodies
• Regulatory bodies;

The Consolidated Functional map provides, at its most basic, the public with an overview of the industry - a visible picture of the scope of the sector for public use – including for careers/recruitment and an introduction to the immense range of occupational coverage across the built environment. The map also provides ‘directory’ links to sources of the individual NOS.

The map will enable the built environment SSCs/SSBs to:

• Identify the scope and coverage of the whole built environment sector to enable economic and skills planning
• Forecast and tackle skills issues collectively relating to massive challenges facing the sector and its patterns of working
• Deliver NOS that straddle different footprints at the higher levels
• Facilitate lateral and vertical progression and career development between built environment occupational areas, particularly through the adoption of an integrated mix of appropriate NOS for ‘bridging’ occupational roles and qualifications
• Develop individual qualifications which meet requirements across and in sector boundaries;
• Identify and provide for the first time a clear built environment philosophy and focus that facilitates education and training provision and qualifications providing cross-discipline/occupation approaches
• Provide a tool for future development work to avoid duplication, and develop a natural evolution towards more commonly shared functions
• Provide a tool for identifying/accessing sector-wide NOS for SSCS/SSBs and regulators
• Provide a stimulus for the need to agree a common format and level of detail for NOS development within individual sectors

The BESA SSCs/SSBs intend to update the map on a biennial basis.

www.besa-uk.org.uk