CIC Cascade

19 July 2004

1. Safety in Design (SiD) consultation
2. CUB Labour party conference fringe meeting
3. CIC East launch CPD and events website
4. CIOB endorses considerate construction
5. Engineers welcome chancellor’s pre-election “spending spree”
6. Buildings must adapt to cope with hotter summers
7. Events

1. Safety in Design (SiD) consultation

CIC , as a partner in ConstructionSkills is managing a project to develop and implement benchmark Safety in Design (SiD) learning outcomes and competence standards for designers

Feedback is invited on the draft benchmark learning outcomes and competence standards for designing with safety in mind, and also to influence possible implementation methods.

What is SiD?

SiD is being developed by CIC and Safety in Design Ltd with a Steering Group involving a wide range of interested parties, including representatives of the Professional Institutions, contractors and the Health and Safety Executive. The aim of SiD is to develop benchmarks to ensure that those involved in construction design have the knowledge and the competence to design with health and safety in mind. SiD is within the aegis of the CIC Health and Safety Panel and Training and CPD Panel.

Why is SiD being developed?

There is a compelling need for designers in the built environment to demonstrate knowledge and ability to design with safety and health as an integral part of their design output.

The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 1994 (“CDM Regulations”) came into effect in April 1995. The heart of these regulations (regulation 13) is the requirement on designers in the UK construction industry – who number, at a conservative estimate 250,000, to design out hazards in order to make buildings safer to construct, maintain and demolish.

Clients of the construction industry are required to ensure that any designer they use is competent in this regard.

There are currently no detailed learning outcomes for construction industry designers in relation to CDM Regulation 13, nor are there any standards of benchmarked methods by which a designer can demonstrate competence in this regard.

There is an urgent need to introduce learning outcomes in view of the pressures of the HSE, government and industry. Also, one of CIC’s priorities is supporting the development of health and safety competence, and in particular that issues are addressed in design qualifications.

The full draft standards and learning outcomes and questionnaire can be accessed at www.cic.org.uk. All feedback must be submitted by 3 September 2004 .

For further details on SiD and this consultation please Catherine Moss at the Construction Industry Council, 020 7399 7404 or email cmoss@cic.org.uk

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2. Construction Umbrella Bodies (CUB) Labour party conference fringe meeting

The Construction Industry Council will be participating in a fringe meeting “Improving the built infrastructure of this country: what next?” at this year's Labour Party Conference in Brighton .

The event, hosted by CUB (Construction Industry Council, Construction Confederation, Construction Products Association), will take place on Monday 27 September at the Pavillion Room, the Grand hotel, Brighton from 5.45 – 7.15pm . Paul Boateng MP and Nigel Griffiths MP have been invited to speak. There will also be a panel including representatives from other stakeholder organisations.

All those attending this fringe event will need to have a commercial fringe pass to allow them entry into the security area.  These cost:  £59.00 and can be obtained from the Conference Unit (0191 238 0224) www.labour.org.uk.  The Labour Party Conference runs from 26-30 September at the Brighton Centre, Brighton .

For more information please contact Eve Ragan at CIC eragan@cic.org.uk

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3. CIC East launch CPD and events website

A new regional web site has been launched that will provide a one-stop source for information about training and events for construction and the built environment in the East of England. This is a public site and provides a fully searchable database that will allow visitors to find events by topic, location or date.

At the heart of this national system is a network of regional forums. In the East of England this project has been progressed by the Construction Industry Council East ( CIC East) and supported by Constructing Excellence. By collaborative CPD planning, publication and event delivery the aim is to increase interdisciplinary understanding, enable business networking and reduce event costs.

Ed Coe FRICS, chairman of CIC East , said:

‘This is an excellent example of the built environment professions and kindred organisations working together to share training opportunities and improve networking across the region.’

Driven by progressive industry organisations, this website is a catalyst to increase access to, and uptake of, CPD and other lifelong learning opportunities by built environment professionals .

You can visit the new site at www.cpdevents.org.uk/EE.

Every professional institution and CPD provider is encouraged to apply for inclusion – contact Carol White at The Chartered Institute of Building. E-mail: cwhite@ciob.org.uk or call 01279 724290

The CIC East website follows the launch of the CPD database, championed by CIC SE in October 2003 www.cpdevents.org.uk

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4. CIOB endorses considerate construction

The Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) is currently considering introducing a requirement that all Chartered Building Companies register their sites with the Considerate Constructors Scheme (CCS).

This follows a recent meeting between Clive Benfield, Chair of the CIOB’s Chartered Building Company and Consultancy Board and CCS Chairman David Hardy at the Scheme’s headquarters in Hertfordshire. The proposal for all chartered company members to support the scheme was established and agreed at this meeting, and now awaits ratification from the main board of the CIOB.

Clive Benfield commented “CIOB are actively promoting “Change in our Sites”, a campaign to improve site conditions, encourage respect for people, and a commitment by firms to employ a fully competent workforce. We already require Chartered Building Companies to employ CSCS certificated operatives and staff wherever this scheme operates. The Considerate Constructors’ Scheme will complement this and will help our members to demonstrate their commitment to professional standards. It will also assist us in benchmarking our members’ performance against non Chartered companies.”

The CIOB has over 350 Chartered Building Company members and more than 150 chartered consultants. One of its key aims is to establish, promote and maintain standards of excellence in the construction industry, and this is in full accord with the CCS’s own objective of improving the image of construction through a considerate approach to both local communities and site staff.

Commenting on the progress to date, CCS Chairman David Hardy said, “As a Chartered Builder myself I am delighted that the CIOB have officially shown their confidence in the Scheme and what we are aiming to achieve. We are looking to the future and to all CIOB members being required to register their sites. In this way the general public will be able to identify the most professional builders by their quality and consideration.”

For further information on the Chartered Building Companies and Consultancies scheme please go to www.cbcscheme.org.uk

For further information on the Change in our Sites campaign please go to www.ciob.org.uk/iande/changeinoursites.jsp

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5. Engineers welcome chancellor's pre-election "spending spree"

UK engineers and consultants have given the chancellor Gordon Brown's spending review a qualified welcome, in a statement from the Association for Consultancy and Engineering (ACE).

Commenting on the chancellor's statement on 12 July 2004 , ACE chief executive Nelson Ogunshakin said: "We welcome Gordon Brown's plans which, taken at face value, look like a pre-election spending spree. However, we are concerned that these plans depend to a very large extent on realising the £21 billion savings outline by Sir Peter Gershon in his review of the public sector. Achieving those savings will be a very real challenge."

On the basis that those savings are made, Ogunshakin saw the chancellor's statement as generally good news for construction. "There is much to look forward to for consultancy firms," he said. "Increases in spending in health, transport, education and housing in particular will offer increased opportunities for work and are to be welcomed as a reaffirmation of government's commitment to developing our much neglected infrastructure.

"What is also encouraging is that Gordon Brown has listened to industry. His statement that it is in the national interest not to cut science, transport, housing and infrastructure investment, is long overdue, as is the pledge - based on wide consultation with industry bodies - to press ahead with sustained long-term investment. ACE, through its sector groups, will monitor the chancellor's plans to ensure that government delivers on its promises."

Looking ahead to the transport review, to be announced later this month by the transport secretary, Ogunshakin said: "It is unclear precisely how much extra cash, if any, is being allocated to transport. Alistair Darling has a real opportunity to plan for the long term and I hope that he takes it. We await with interest the results of his review."

Further information from Andy Walker on 020 7222 6557 (Ext. 125) or 07736 667591 (mobile).

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6. Buildings must adapt to cope with hotter summers

New research commissioned by the Department of Trade and Industry provides a template for how UK buildings can be adapted to cope with increasingly hot summers, one of the main effects of climate change.

The research carried out by Arup is summarised in a new six-page briefing document. The full research and recommendations will be published in the Autumn as a CIBSE technical memorandum.

Using the UKCIP (United Kingdom Climate Impacts Programme) Climate Change Scenarios data, the research identified the key characteristics in different types of building, including houses, flats, offices and schools, that determine how well they will cope with higher outside air temperatures. The research outlines ways in which those buildings can be adapted to improve comfort levels for people who have to work or live in them.

One of the key findings is that many new houses built to current Building Regulations will, if no remedial measures are taken, become increasingly uncomfortable to live in during the summer. Computer modelling was used to predict how space temperatures would be affected by climate change. One case study of a new house of traditional 'medium-weight' construction (block-insulation-brick external wall, lightweight internal partitions and suspended ground floor), using UKCIP's medium-high scenario, shows that the number of summer days in which the internal temperature in the living areas exceeds 28 deg C will increase from about 6 days at the base year of 1989 to 14 days by the 2020s and over 68 days by the 2080s.

Although both residential and non-residential buildings are affected, the adaptation methods will be particular to each type of building. Even within similar types of building the solutions will differ according to factors such as how the building is used and the preferences of the owners/occupiers. Overall, buildings with high thermal mass will be much less affected and easier to adapt than lightweight structures.

The solution of installing air conditioning has disadvantages in terms of increasing energy use and, depending on the source of the electricity, contributing further to climate change. There are many practical ways of improving comfort levels within a building without resorting to air conditioning including:

- Intelligent 24-hour control of ventilation

- Solar shading to reduce heat gains through windows

- Turning off equipment such as PC monitors and laser printers when not in use

- Relaxing dress codes at work.

The new research was introduced as part of a one-day conference in London on understanding and adapting buildings for climate change.

7. Events

The events page of the CIC website is frequently updated visit the events page for details.

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