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CIC Cascade14 February 2005
1. Fourth Happold Medal Lecture to focus on the Regeneration of Manchester The CIC and the Happold Trust are to host the fourth Happold Medal Lecture, a regular event held in memory of the CIC ’s first chairman, Professor Sir Edmund (Ted) Happold. Sir Howard Bernstein, will receive the fourth Happold Medal award after delivering the lecture “The Regeneration of Manchester” on Monday 4th April 2005 at 6.30pm at the ICE in London . At a time when regeneration and sustainability are such important issues CIC is delighted that Sir Howard Bernstein will give the next Happold Lecture. Sir Howard is Chief Executive of Manchester City Council. He played a key role in the regeneration of Hulme, the first area in the UK to attract City Challenge Status; the construction of Manchester Stadium and Sport City Complex; and the rebuilding of the city centre after the 1996 bomb blast. He was also instrumental in securing Manchester as Host City for the XVII Commonwealth Games in 2002, the largest multi-sport event ever hosted by the UK and the most successful Games ever. Any construction professional is welcome to attend and applications from young professionals will be particularly welcomed. Attendance to the lecture is free, but numbers will be limited and therefore early booking is essential. To register for a place complete the form at http://www.cic.org.uk/Contact/HappoldReg.asp Further details from Helen Smith at CIC hsmith@cic.org.uk telephone 020 7399 7407 2. CIC Chief Executive and CIOB President call for Unified Government for the Construction Industry Guests at the recent CIOB Annual Dinner heard both Graham Watts , Chief Executive of CIC , and Geoff Wright, CIOB President call for the Government to form a single Department for the Built Environment. The Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) held its 46 th Annual Dinner at the Guildhall, London on Tuesday 8th February. In the long tradition of this event a variety of distinguished guests, fellows and members attended the evening joining Principal Guest Speaker John Gummer MP, former Secretary of State for the Environment, to celebrate the success of the CIOB. One of the key messages at this year’s Annual Dinner came from Geoff Wright CIOB President and director of Hammerson UK Properties, who called for the Government to form a single Department for the Built Environment saying, “The Government is the largest client of the industry creating 40% of demand. When our guest speaker, John Gummer, was Secretary of State for the Environment the majority of construction and the built environment were within his single department with a Minister of State supported by Junior Ministers. Today we have a junior minister from the DTI who shares his duties with that of Energy and Small Business and the remainder of construction is spread amongst a total of 13 different Government departments. “The Government must reverse their fragmented recognition of the industry. We need a single Department for the Built Environment after all as the biggest customer they have most to gain from a focused approach and that must be in the public interest.” Graham Watts , chief executive of the Construction Industry Council echoed this message by saying, “We are fortunate to still have a few valiant and hard-working individuals rooting for the industry in Whitehall but their abilities are effectively buried under the dead weight of the DTI. Our problem is that now we need to hire the Albert Hall in order to reach all the scattered parts of Government that impact upon our industry. The impending General Election is an opportunity to put things right. There is a chance to create a single Department, led by a Cabinet Minister who has the time and the inclination to get out and speak to the industry a Department which will join together the responsibilities for sponsoring the various elements of designing, constructing, managing and maintaining the built environment.” Read the full speech by Graham Watts 3. CIC Publications – Sustainability Pack Offer Following the recent Sustainable Communities Summit CIC are offering a special deal on sustainability publications. The Sustainability Pack, which includes 4 publications, can be bought for £10.00 plus postage, a saving of over £17.00 The Sustainability Pack (£10.00 plus £1.50 P&P) includes:
To order a Sustainability Pack please complete the order form Please note that members are not entitled to discounted rates on this offer. 4. Sustainable Building Design Scheme launched The RIAS (The Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland) scored a world first on 1st February, launching an accreditation scheme for sustainable building designers. With the G8 summit to be held in Scotland in the summer, this is an ideal time for Scotland to show what it is doing to tackle global problems. “Recognising solid achievement in buildings that have been in use for at least a year, helps encourage other professionals to the lift their game, and also helps clients find chartered architects with the skills for tomorrow” said Sebastian Tombs, RIAS Chief Executive. “This achievement reflects a genuine partnership process” said Sandy Halliday of Gaia Research, who first envisaged this as an outcome of her work in 2001. “With DTI and the Ecological Building Society support I was able to create learning packages for building design professionals, and at the associated events, ask professionals about accreditation; they were very positive!” In 2003, Sust. The Lighthouse on Sustainability, with funds from the Scottish Executive’s Architecture Policy Unit, enabled the RIAS to pilot a scheme. This accredited 13 chartered architects in the summer of 2004. With some refinements, the full scheme is now being launched. Lori McElroy now running Sust. welcomed the development. “While there are numerous schemes for assessing the environmental characteristics of buildings around the world, this is the only one that tests the skills and experience of the designers” she said. “I hope this takes off, and encourages other disciplines like Building Services Engineers to follow suit”. Raymond Young OBE, a member of the UK Sustainable Development Commission chaired the assessment panel with Fionn Stevenson of Duncan of Jordanstone College, Dundee, and Lori McElroy. Young who has just been appointed Chair of Architecture & Design Scotland, chaired the events at the Scottish Parliament building, and said “The environmental challenges facing us are huge, but the built environment can play a major part in tackling them: skilled architects and designers are therefore crucial to our long term survival”. Four chartered architects presented their work - each accredited at different levels, but each with a star rating for innovation. These were: Tom Morton An exhibition, created by Chris Stewart Architects, on display in the Garden Lobby, from 31 January to 4 February, illustrates projects by the 13 accredited chartered architects, highlighting their environmental credentials. The whole event at the Scottish Parliament, was hosted by Robin Harper MSP, who said:
In addition, some of the green aspects of the Parliament Building itself were explained, by John Kinsley of RMJM, Edinburgh. Once the building has been in full use for a year, Mr Kinsley plans to apply for accreditation, too. For more information, contact Sebastian Tombs at stombs@rias.org.uk Further details on the scheme are available at http://www.rias.org.uk CIC involvement with the Cabinet Office’s Regulatory Impact Unit of the Business Regulation Team, over the last two years, is reflected in the BRT ‘End of Year Report 2004’. There is also mention of follow up work for our sector in their ‘Scoping Report 2005’. An extract from the End of year Report and the Summary of the Scoping Report are below with links to the complete documents. Regulatory Impact Unit, Business Regulation Team I am pleased to present the Business Regulation Team’s (BRT) annual report which sets out the results of our 2004 work programme. This is the third annual report covering the work of the Team, and my first since taking over as the Head of the Team in May 2004. The key elements of the 2004 programme were pre-set by the Chancellor in his 2003 Budget Statement. In it, he asked us to look at existing regulatory issues in the construction, environmental services and transport sectors. We also continued to work with relevant Government Departments and Agencies on progressing some issues arising from our 2002 and 2003 programmes, as well as taking up a number of ad hoc issues which were brought to our attention during the year. The BRT has sought to address those inappropriate, disproportionate, or poorly focused regulatory issues that impose burdens on UK businesses. Overall, the Team has had a particularly successful year in addressing many of these regulatory issues, and has established good working relationships with all stakeholders from both the Government and the private sector. Industry/Government forums An important aspect of our work over the past year has been the establishment of industry/Government groups on policy and regulation, along the lines of the VIPER (Vehicle Industry Policy and European Regulation) industry/Government group already in operation in the automotive sector. Groups have now been established for the construction, retail and chemicals sectors, with a group proposed for the food sector. Construction Payment practices and the adjudication process. Amendments to the Construction Act, to be issued for consultation, are expected to reduce problems with late payments, and improve the adjudication process, for construction businesses, particularly small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). Improving industry/Government relations. A new industry/Government group – ‘CIPER’ – has significantly improved relations between the construction industry and Government on regulatory matters. Framework of architectural regulation. Proposals are being developed to improve the framework of architectural regulation, mainly by reducing overlap. Environmental Services Brownfield remediation – waste licensing. Our joint industry/Government task force has made good progress towards developing a simplified waste licensing system to remove the immediate obstacles to the brownfield development industry. Brownfield remediation – soil guideline values. A BRT instigated forum, including industry and Government representatives, will help Government complete the production of soil guideline values, which are essential to brownfield remediation, and will improve training, guidance and policy in this area. Hydropower development. Regional joint industry/Government working groups are tackling regulatory concerns that otherwise hamper hydropower development. Hydrocarbon duty on alternative fuels. A duty exemption on biofuels enabled the development of a company using innovative technology to burn unmodified tallow and recycled vegetable oil in standard diesel engines to generate renewable energy and heat. Oleochemicals. Our work has prompted a review of the financial incentives and other benefits for the use of biomass as part of renewable energy policy which are distorting the market and having negative consequences for the oleochemicals sector. Used vegetable oils. As an alternative to traditional regulation, a voluntary audit scheme was developed to ensure that the handling and subsequent use of waste cooking oil complied with the Animal By-Products Regulations. Offshore wind farms. We have received a positive response from all stakeholders to looking at ways to increase joinedup Government working and co-ordination in the offshore wind farms sector. Transport Delivery restrictions. The joint industry/Government working group is reviewing the potential for relaxing delivery restrictions to retail sites, and we are also actively working with industry to obtain detailed evidence to feed into this work. Red diesel. Customs & Excise are considering the detailed evidence we obtained about the undue regulatory burdens on the plant hire sector in relation to the sale or supply of red diesel, prior to identifying potential solutions. Working at heights. The BRT sponsored an initiative for the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and the constructional steelwork sector to produce joint sector-specific guidance to enable compliance with the proposed ‘Working at Heights’ regulations. Conclusion We also worked with relevant Government Departments and Agencies on a number of issues arising from our 2002 and 2003 programmes, for example regulation of the food and drink industry, chemicals regulations, etc. As part of the Regulatory Impact Unit (RIU), the Team is committed to working with business, Government Departments and Agencies to deliver significant changes in the regulatory environment to relieve burdens on the private sector, and where appropriate, improving the application of regulations and enhancing regulatory consistency. Finally, on behalf of the Team, I would like to thank all the individuals and organisations, from both the public and private sectors, for their efforts in ensuring the delivery of a successful 2004 work programme. Ian Morfett ‘These initiatives will be of vital benefit to the construction industry.’ The full report is available at: http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/regulation/docs/business/pdf/brtend04.pdf Regulatory Impact Unit, Business Regulation Team The aim of the Business Regulation Team, part of the Regulatory Impact Unit in the Cabinet Office, is to reduce the burden of existing regulation on the private sector, by engaging directly with the business community, to identify specific areas of concern, and by delivering change through joint action plans agreed with relevant government departments. The team was set up in 2001, as a result of discussions between the Prime Minister and industry leaders, and is staffed largely by secondees. The purpose of this report is to summarise the work which has been undertaken by the Team, to assess options for its 2005 work programme, and to describe the proposed work programme. The main conclusions are as follows.
The full report is available at: http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/regulation/docs/business/pdf/brtscop05.pdf 6. Events The events page of the CIC website is frequently updated visit the events page for details.
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