CIC Cascade

15 November 2004

1. DTI ignores construction in composition of new Technology Strategy Board
2. ConstructionSkills update
3. Paul Everall becomes honorary affiliate member of CIC
4. National Engineering Recruitment Exhibition and the National Construction Recruitment Exhibition
5. Top City and Guilds Honour for IPHE member
6. First Pilot GCSE in Construction and the Built Environment approved by the QCA
7. RICS awards 2005 – a call for entries
8. Events

1. DTI ignores construction in composition of new Technology Strategy Board

The Construction Industry Council has strongly criticised the lack of any construction or built environment knowledge or expertise amongst the membership of the Technology Strategy Board, which has been recently announced by the Department of Trade and Industry.

Members of the Board comprise senior people from the IT, automotive, pharmaceutical, manufacturing and telecommunications industries, together with an academic.

Speaking about the Boards composition, the CIC Chief Executive, Graham Watts said:

" The construction industry is fundamental to the UK Economy. It employs 2 million people and provides infrastructure, facilities and buildings for every other industry. Although it is one of the largest industries, accounting for 10% of GDP, it is unlike any other. The largest construction firm has less than 3% of the overall market which comprises hundreds of thousands of small businesses.

Construction has driven 20% of UK GDP growth in the past year and over one third of net job creation in the past two years². For this reason, the industry needs a central Research, Innovation and Technology Strategy and, as its biggest client, the Government has a huge stake in gaining from the benefits of improved technology to create and construct our built environment.

However, since 2001, the Government has progressively eroded its sponsorship of the construction industry to the effect that the industry no longer has a strong voice within Whitehall and it has withdrawn over £23m of specific annual R&I pump-priming funding (which certainly levered a further £30/£40m of industry support) without any specific policy decision to do so. Now, the most important body to determine the future direction of Technology Strategy in the DTI completely overlooks the industry that is most vital to achieving the Government’s policies in health, education, transport, housing and in so many other areas.

Although, I hope to be proved wrong, I suspect that this will mean that the research funding being delivered by the DTI, on the advice of this Board, will inevitably point towards the automotive, IT, pharmaceutical, manufacturing and telecommunications industries and is likely to continue to have little relevance to construction."

2. ConstructionSkills update

In early Summer CIC embarked upon a consultation programme to engage its three major groups of stakeholders – education providers, employers and professional institutions. This has involved regional consultations and meetings, questionnaires to relevant individuals and organisations, and most recently a ‘round table’ discussion of representative stakeholders in London.

The research gathered during this process, along with other recent CIC research projects, such as the Professional Services Skills Survey, will culminate in CIC’s input into the ConstructionSkills Sector Skills Agreement, together with the input from consultations held by the two other ConstructionSkills partners – CITB-ConstructionSkills and CITB (NI).

The Sector Skills Agreement will outline a number of key priority actions which will be carried out over the next two years focusing on improving business performance; image and recruitment; and qualifying the workforce.

As part of the overall ConstructionSkills consultation process ConstructionSkills and SummitSkills are holding a joint conference – Altogether Stronger - on 23 November. This will see both SSCs coming together to drive forward collaborative action plans, involving employers and stakeholders, that will address the key training and skills challenges facing the construction and building services engineering sectors.  Delegates will be invited to discuss a range of solutions to training and skills issues, and will hear from leading figures from industry and Government.  News from the conference will be reported back in a future issue of Cascade.

If you have not contributed to the ConstructionSkills consultation so far and would still like to have your say please visit http://www.constructionskills.net

3. Paul Everall awarded honorary affiliate membership of CIC

CIC has awarded honorary affiliate membership to Paul Everall. This is to mark his pending retirement and in recognition of CIC ’s long term relationship with him over Building Regulation matters. He was closely involved with the setting up of the Approved Inspector Register and subsequently in the setting up and running of the Building Control Performance Advisory Group. Paul has had continuous involvement with CIC since our early days.

Paul Everall graduated with first class honours in civil engineering at the University of Cambridge in 1966. The early part of his career was spent undertaking traffic research at the Transport and Road Research Laboratory. He joined the Department of the Environment in 1974, and became Head of the Buildings Division of what is now the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister in October 1991. He has previously headed Divisions responsible for new towns, planning control over mineral working, and housing renewal policy.

In his current post, Paul is responsible for all aspects of policy on building control, housing warranties and the implementation of the Construction Products Directive in the UK . He sits on a number of national and international committees and is Head of Profession for architects and engineers in ODPM.

Paul is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Building and a Member of the Institution of Civil Engineers. He received the Peter Stone Award from the Association of Building Engineers in 1997 for services to building engineering, and was awarded honorary fellowships of the Institute of Building Control in 1999, the Association of Building Engineers in 2000, and the Architecture and Surveying Institute in 2002. In 2004 he was made an Honorary Member of the London District Surveyors Association and recently became an honorary Affiliate Member of the Construction Industry Council.

4. National Engineering Recruitment Exhibition and the National Construction Recruitment Exhibition

This CIC sponsored event is taking pace on 26 and 27 November at the NEC Birmhingham. The largest event of it’s kind, it is aimed at both skilled professionals and graduates.

Features include essential one-on-one CV consultations and company presentations that will enable visitors to find their dream job. Organisers are even offering cash-back on transport for all full time students.

Recruiters include: Allianz Cornhill Engineering, Altran, Contract Journal, Cummins Business Services, Elliot Penny, fisitajobs.com, Flight International, General Dynamics UK Ltd, GoodRich, GTI Specialist Publishers, Health and Safety Executive, Hobsons, Honda Manufacturing Ltd, INPUT, Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemeE), Institution of Structural Engineers (IStructE), Jobs Group, Jobserve, McNicholas Plc, Milkround Online, Network Rail, QinetiQ, Railstaff & Railway People.com, Royal Air Force, Royal Navy, Royal & Sun Alliance Engineering, RS Components Limited, Teacher Training Agency, The Engineer, The Institution of Incorporated Engineers (IIE), The Telegraph Group, Total UK, Toyota Manufacturing UK Ltd, TRL Technology......

Careers presentations will run throughout both days on a variety of topics including interview preparation, effective interview skills, selling yourself, and many more.

You can also test your skills with industry challenges, presented by INPUT.

For more information please visit www.engineerjobs.co.uk or www.construction-job.co.uk.

5. Top City and Guilds honour for IPHE member

Geoff Marsh, MBE, Director Industry Liaison for the IPHE, has received a Fellowship from the city and Guilds of London Institute. This is the highest award that can be conferred by the Council of City and Guilds.

It is awarded for outstanding personal and professional development. It denotes the ability to manage people, information and operations in complex professional or technical situations and to formulate and implement strategies at the highest levels of responsibility.

The first award or Fellowship was approved by Council in December 1892. Since then, 527 awards of Fellowship have been made (as at September 2004). Andy Watts, Chief Executive of the IPHE said: “This is very appropriate recognition of Geoff’s remarkable contribution spanning over 50 years. Although now in his 70s his incisive brain is just as lively as ever – in fact I don’t see any evidence of him ever slowing down or indeed giving up! The IPHE and the plumbing and heating sector generally owe him a debt of gratitude for his unselfish commitment to making things better.”

6. First Pilot GCSE in Construction and the Built Environment approved by QCA.
Edexcel has received approval by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority to offer Construction and the Built Environment GCSEs. These important new qualifications will be taught in schools and colleges from September 2005.

John Kerr, chief executive, said: "Edexcel is the first awarding body to offer this GCSE. It is a major achievement for Edexcel and the construction industry to have a GCSE Single and Double Award in Construction and the Built Environment.

"It provides exciting opportunities for students who wish to study this within their school curriculum, and not only does it meet the government and Mike Tomlinson's requirements, I believe it may go some way to encouraging young people to consider vocational courses from an early age."

Edexcel's GCSEs in Construction and the Built Environment provide strong vocational opportunities for students and will help inform their career choices. They will learn about the industry and choose from a range of options that will give them an introduction and insight into the main crafts and technical/professional occupations and career opportunities that the
industry offers.

Students will have an opportunity to apply their knowledge to a range of practical vocational activities that will provide a foundation for future education and training in employment. Skills covered include those required for technical/professional occupations such as project managers, surveyors, civil engineers and craft occupations such as carpentry and joinery, bricklaying and building services. The GCSE is available as both a single and double award.

Edexcel's specification has been shaped by the industry's requirements and meets occupational standards to ensure maximum progression opportunities for students. Staff developing the qualification have worked closely with ConstructionSkills and SummitSkills,(Sector Skills Councils with a construction footprint) to ensure that these qualifications meet the needs of industry, whilst retaining the features of GCSE qualifications that make them suitable for schools and colleges.

ConstructionSkills’ Director of Training, Sheila Hoile, welcomed the new GCSE as an important development that could help promote construction careers to young people: “As the Sector Skills Council for construction, ConstructionSkills is tasked with ensuring that gaps and skills shortages in the industry are reduced. A GCSE in Construction and the built Environment will provide an important progression route into the industry and an opportunity for young people to make informed choices about the wide range of careers offered by the sector”.

“Simply by offering this GCSE as part of the curriculum, it will introduce construction careers to a much broader range of pupils that the industry can currently reach.”

Keith Marshall, SummitSkills’ chief executive, added: “SummitSkills welcomes the introduction of the new GCSE in Construction and the Built Environment. This award offers opportunities for young people to gain a useful insight into craft and technical/managerial roles in construction and building services. Within this award young people will acquire basic skills and an understanding of the challenges facing the sector in the future. The award will enable students to make better informed decisions on career paths, and give those who wish to enter the sector a head start in knowledge and understanding.”

Edexcel's GCSEs in Construction and the Built Environment offers both craft and technical options that will enable students to progress to a variety of career options including level 2 apprenticeship, advanced apprenticeship or further study leading to a degree and/or professional qualification. Or, students may just wish to study this subject to enhance and broaden their curriculum and ensure a good foundation of skills for young people in DIY skills.

One of the central themes running through Edexcel's GCSE qualifications is 'sustainability and the built environment'. Sustainability has been taught traditionally through Geography and this has not focused on its importance to the built environment. Through an internally assessed project, these new GCSE awards will give students the opportunity to learn about how important sustainable development of the built environment is to our future and to the environment we live and work in.

A significant feature of these GCSE qualifications is the attention paid to health and safety. This is considered to be so important that it forms the basis of a new form of teacher assessment that forms part of all the practical activities. There is also on-screen external assessment to test
students' knowledge and understanding in each award.

Edexcel's GCSEs in Construction and the Built Environment are designed to ensure a balance of assessment between theory and practical work that will give students equal opportunities to achieve the higher grades whether they study the craft or technical options. This has been achieved by designing a Single Award that contains the core knowledge and understanding needed for the single and double award and a Double Award that provides a broadening of study and progression around the common core.

The process of selecting pilot centres is currently underway with over 50 centres and 1,000 students taking part. Further information on the structure of Edexcel's GCSEs in Construction and the Built Environment and a draft accredited specification is available on the Edexcel website at
www.edexcel.org.uk

Centres wishing to offer the Edexcel GCSE in Construction and the Built Environment should contact Parul Patel on 0870 240 9800 or email her at CBEPILOT@EDEXCEL.ORG.UK

7. RICS Awards 2005 – A call for entries

RICS is calling upon teams and individuals involved in delivering outstanding building projects to submit their entries for the RICS Awards 2005. The RICS Awards celebrate the best new projects in the built environment and the 2005 winners will join a long line of inspirational building projects.

Past winners have included prestigious projects such as The Bullring in Birmingham , London ’s Royal Opera House, the Eden Project in Cornwall and the site of the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney . The Awards also recognise a full spectrum of organisations and projects worldwide, from small schemes achieved by the vision and persistence of one person, to multi-million budget, globally recognised developments.

The awards scheme will be open from October 2004 and the closing date for entries will be 31st December 2004 . A revised format for 2005 will see schemes competing in regional heats, with the best entrants in each region forming the shortlist for the main awards.

Judging will take place during Spring 2005 and will be followed by a series of regional awards before the final awards ceremony takes place in London’s Banqueting House on 7th October 2005.

The 2005 Awards will consist of four categories: building conservation; regeneration; sustainability and community benefit. This year the judges will be looking for examples of innovation from each of the submitted entries and may chose to award the discretionary ‘Building of the Year’ award to any entrant that satisfies this criteria.

RICS Chief Executive, Louis Armstrong, says:

‘RICS Awards is a perfect showcase for diversity and creativity in the built environment. Successful entrants will need to prove that their schemes demonstrate excellence within their specific category and that their buildings have made a positive contribution to peoples’ lives.

‘In particular they should demonstrate how RICS members have used their skills to develop, regenerate and conserve the world in which we live, work and play.’

To obtain further information on the RICS Awards, or to obtain an entry form, please contact the awards administrators Spada on 020 7269 1430, or email ricsawards@spada.co.uk.

8. Events

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

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