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CIC AGM NO. 16: 11 JUNE 2005COUNCIL REPORT: JULY 2004 - JUNE 2005
Meetings1. The Executive Board manages the operation of CIC on behalf of the Council. It generally meets seven or eight times per year and provides a quarterly report to Council. The Council meets four times per year, one of which traditionally follows the AGM. This Annual Report is a composite of those quarterly reports. 2. The Council has met on four occasions since the last meeting of Council, on the dates below and at the venues noted. The attendance figures shown in brackets indicate the number of member representatives’ present at each meeting and the number of other officials and observers in attendance: 10 June 2004 CIBSE 13 members/12 others 22 September 2004 RIBA 16 members/9 others 8 December 2004 CIOB 12 members/9 others 16 March 2003 RICS 16 members/12 others 3. The Executive Board has met seven times since the last AGM, on 7 July, 15 September, 21 October, 17 November, 24 February, 20 April, and 26 May. A proposed meeting on 20 January was cancelled and replaced with an ad-hoc meeting to discuss two specific items only. 4. The Executive Board is recommending to Council a proposal to reduce the number of Council and Executive Board meetings in 2005/6 to 3 and 6 respectively. MembershipFull and Associate Membership5. Applications for Full and Associate Membership are received by the Executive Board and recommendations are made by the Board to the Council. 6. There has only been one new Associate member approved by Council during the year: the Technology and Construction Bar Association (TECBAR). 7. The National Federation of Demolition Contractors has resigned from Full membership with effect from 31 December 2004. 8. The Construction Health & Safety Group has resigned from Associate membership with effect from 31 December 2004. 9. The Association of Cost Engineers, Consultant Quantity Surveyors Association, Association of Consultant Building Surveyors and Timber Research and Development Association have transferred to Associate membership with effect from 31 December 2004. 10. There have been three changes of name within the CIC membership:
Affiliate Membership11. Applications for Affiliate Membership are determined by the Executive Board and reported to the Council.
12. CIC has awarded Honorary Affiliate membership to Paul Everall and a certificate was presented to him at the meeting of the Regulations Advisory Panel on 28 October 2004. MEMBERSHIP TOTAL 13. CIC currently has:
Electoral Colleges14. Full Members of CIC are currently allocated to one of five electoral colleges for the purposes of electing members to Council. However, some of the colleges met regularly as independent groups under the auspices of CIC during the year. The current membership of the electoral colleges is: Business College (6); Chartered College (8); Education College (1); Professional College (11); Research College (4). 15. Each Electoral College is entitled to a maximum of 24 representatives on Council with a maximum representation of two delegates per member body and three delegates per member body for members of the Chartered College. Business College16. The Business College has not met during the year. Following the transfer of the ACBS membership to the Associate grade on 1 January 2005, Michael Finn stood down as the Chairman of the Business College at that date. 17. The Association for Project Safety has transferred its Full membership to the Professional College (from the Business College) and the Institution of Highways & Transportation has applied to undertake a similar transfer which is being recommended by the Executive Board to the Council. 18. Members have recently agreed that Nelson Ogunshakin (the CEO of the Association for Consultancy and Engineering) should become the new Chairman of the Business College for two years from 8 June 2005. Chartered College19. At a meeting of the Chartered College on 8 September 2004, the College reviewed its future role. 20. Members agreed that meetings of the Chartered College should continue to be held on a quarterly basis and that Presidents and CEOs of each Chartered Body should be encouraged to attend. 21. It was agreed that meetings should be on a specific theme of contemporary strategic importance to the wider industry or built environment or to the collective interests of the member bodies of the Chartered College 22. Subsequently, the Chartered College has held meetings with invited guests on Skills Shortages (24 November) and Quality in Procurement (1 June). A further meeting, due to have been held on 2 March was cancelled. 23. The current Chairman of the Chartered College, Tim Gough, will have concluded his term of office on 8 June. A successor has not yet been appointed. Education College24. The Education College currently consists of a single Full Member (The Centre for Education in the Built Environment) supported by five Associate members, representing the various teaching and Heads of Schools’ disciplines. 25. The Education College is to hold the First Annual Joint Symposium on Built Environment Education on 5/6 September 2005 in London, hosted jointly with The Centre for Education in the Built Environment. 26. The symposium will provide all those with an interest in higher education in the built environment to meet together and explore how excellence can be identified, fostered and developed for the benefit of industry, students and society. 27. It is intended that the proceedings of the Symposium will be published. 28. Mel Lees also provided a progress report to the Executive Board in relation to the Education College following its first year in operation. In particular, it was noted that most educational representative bodies were now in associate membership of CIC; that the first Education Round Table meeting had been held in October 2004 and that the ACBEE project continued to develop well. Professional College29. The Professional College has met on four occasions during the year: 22 September and 10 November 2004, 10 February and 18 May 2005 and has received presentations on the CSCS, ConstructionSkills and the Futures Group. 30. The Chairman of the Professional College, Francesca Berriman will have completed her term of office on 8 June and will be succeeded by Diane Marshall, a nominee of the Association of Building Engineers. Research College31. The Research College has not met during the year although members met regularly in other related fora. 32. The Chairman of the Research College, Graham Owens, will have completed his term of office on 8 June and an announcement regarding his successor is expected shortly. 33. CIC has recently worked with the RICS and the RIBA to carry out a complete review of their representation on CIC Standing Committees, panels and working groups which has resulted in a thorough reappraisal of the RICS and RIBA involvement in CIC and a re-energising of member involvement on their part. 34. This was a very useful exercise and one which we would commend to other members, particularly those with a significant involvement across the many committees of CIC. A number of other members have approached CIC in order to carry out a similar exercise. Deputy Chairman 2005/6 (Chairman 2006/8) 35. The Chairman and I wrote to all members’ Presidents/Chairmen and Principal Executive Officers prior to Christmas inviting nominees for the post of Deputy Chairman (commencing in June 2005) with a view to the successful candidate becoming Chairman of CIC for two years in June 2006. 36. Following ongoing discussions with members, it is anticipated that there will be a single uncontested nomination at the Council meeting on 8 June 2005. Chairman (2002/4)37. A Dinner was held on 23 February 2005 in honour of Turlogh O’Brien’s Chairmanship of CIC from 2002 to 2004. The Dinner was held at the Royal Society of Arts and attended by around 50 people. Turlogh was presented with the traditional gift of an inscribed Armada Plate. Happold Medal Lecture38. The fourth Happold Medal Lecture was delivered by Sir Howard Bernstein at the ICE on Monday, 4 April 2005. His Lecture was about the Regeneration of Manchester. Attendance was low in comparison to the previous three Lectures but there were several questions from the audience. CIC is grateful to the Happold Trust and the ICE for its sponsorship of the Award. 39. In discussions with the Happold Trust, we have agreed a new model for the identification and appointment of the Happold Medallist, which should enable us to move the event from a bi-annual to an annual award. 40. Full Members of CIC and members of the Happold Trust will be invited to make nominations for the Happold Medallist in the following year in the period leading up to the March Council meeting of CIC and the resulting shortlist will be narrowed down by the mutual consent of the CIC Executive Board and Happold Trust in order for an announcement to be made at the CIC AGM in June. 41. The Lecture will be held at a mutually convenient date for the medallist and the organisers between January and April in the following year. Liaison with GovernmentConstruction Sponsorship/DTI42. Following the General Election, the Chairman and Chief Executive met the new Minister with responsibility for Construction, The Rt Hon Alun Michael MP, on 18 May 2005. Mr Michael has been invited to attend and speak at a future Council meeting. 43. The Chairman and Chief Executive met the Construction Minister on 29 November 2004. The meeting included a discussion of the role of CIC in building, encouraging and supporting strategic alliances for the improvement of the built environment (ConstructionSkills, Strategic Forum, Constructing Excellence, CABE, CUB) and CIC gave an ongoing commitment to continue this co-ordinating role. 44. CIC sought a commitment for ongoing support from the DTI to help embed the DQIs within public sector procurement and delivery. The Minister agreed to write to colleagues and incorporate references to the value of the DQI in his speech to the Sustainable Communities Summit. 45. The Chief Executive met with the Construction Minister on seven further occasions during the year, including a meeting on 12 October with Sir Michael Latham and Richard Haryott to discuss the Minister’s response to the review of the Construction Act. 46. Regular meetings with the Head of the Construction Sponsorship Unit at DTI and members of her staff continue to be held and a meeting was held with the Directors of the two lead Business Relations Groups in March. 47. During December, at the request of the DTI Construction Sponsorship Directorate, we held a number of meetings with DTI officials to advise and discuss the provision of the Secretariat for the proposed Quality Scheme in relation to its neutrality and independence from the trade associations and other bodies likely to affiliate to the scheme. 48. The Minister for Construction contacted CIC in January asking about the central coordination of the response from the 49. We have encouraged members of CIC with individuals or firms in their own membership who have expertise that may be of value in helping to provide relief in the disaster-hit areas of the Indian Ocean, to contact the British Consultants and Construction Bureau (BCCB) and/or the Register for Engineers in Disaster Relief (RedR). We have been in contact with both BCCB and RedR and offered support to them. 50. Some of our members have issued statements or have set up working parties to identify areas where they can provide help and/or assistance and as a mechanism for co-ordination and knowledge exchange we have established a special web-page on the CIC website to summarise these various activities and create links as appropriate. 51. Further information is available from gwatts@cic.org.uk . Technology Strategy Board/DTI52. Membership of the DTI’s Technology Strategy Board was announced in the autumn and the new TSB met for the first time on 2 November. As anticipated, there is no representation on this group from the built environment professions or the construction industry. CIC has issued a press statement, expressing concern about this situation. 53. Further information is available from kdunne@cic.org.uk . Knowledge Transfer Network/DTI54. The DTI convened a consultative meeting on 13 January 2005 to discuss the potential invitation for a bid for a Knowledge Transfer Network (KTN) for the Modern Built Environment. The Deputy Chairman of CIC, Turlogh O’Brien represented CIC at this meeting. 55. At the conclusion of the meeting the organisations represented were asked to submit a short statement to DTI which would help to inform the development of a proposal for a KTN. 56. Knowledge Transfer Networks are a key part of the Department of Trade and Industry’s technology programme. (See http://www.dti.gov.uk/technologyprogramme/).
57. The Key proposals put forward by CIC to the DTI were as follows:
58. In conclusion, CIC viewed the establishment of a KTN in The Modern Built Environment as an important initiative that is complementary to other current initiatives that are aimed at enhancing the environment in which we live, in a sustainable way. It will also contribute to business success in the field. 59. Lord Sainsbury has postponed the launch of the competition for Knowledge Transfer Networks and we understand that the Minister is asking the DTI Innovation Group for a rethink on how the new KTNs will integrate with the successful Faraday Centres, currently in existence. 60. The General Election has created further delay to the launch of KTNs as there was an embargo on promoting incentives for Government support during the Election campaign. 61. For further information contact kdunne@cic.org.uk. Honours/DTI62. The DTI system for collecting together nominations for honours has now changed and they are asking that the Umbrella organisations coordinate the nomination process from their members, which of course includes CIC. 63. For those institutions new to this process, nominations are requested twice each year and so it is always possible to add new nominations every six months if deadlines are missed. 64. Further information about the Honours process is available from gwatts@cic.org.uk or Joanna Hutchison at gwpa@cic.org.uk . Review of the Construction Act/DTI65. The (then) Construction Minister, Nigel Griffiths MP appointed Sir Michael Latham to review the Construction Act. In turn, Sir Michael appointed a Review Group to assist him with work being carried out by two sub-groups: one dealing with Payment issues, chaired by Richard Haryott and the other dealing with Adjudication, chaired by the CIC Chief Executive. 66. The Adjudication group met three times and submitted its final report to Sir Michael at the beginning of August 2004. This was accepted by the main Review Group at its meeting on 4 August 2004. 67. The Payment group met seven times and submitted its final report to Sir Michael at the beginning of September 2004. This was accepted at the final meeting of the Review Group on 9 September 2004. 68. TeCSA have also produced an extremely helpful review of the case law related to the Construction Act. 69. Sir Michael submitted the consolidated report to the DTI Minister and this report formed the basis of a consultation exercise regarding possible reform to the Construction Act. 70. Copies of both reports and covering letters have been circulated to members as part of the papers for the September Executive Board. Additional copies are available from Chrystall Nicoll at CIC. 71. The CIC Chief Executive spoke about the Reform of the Construction Act at the tenth annual Adjudication Conference on 8 November and a copy of the presentation is available on the CIC website. 72. After a six-month delay, the consultation document dealing with potential reforms to the Construction Act, entitled ‘Improving Payment Practices in the Construction Industry’ was released by the DTI on 22 March 2005. Responses are due by 21 June 2005. 73. The CUB Adjudication Task Group has met twice since the consultation paper was issued and a further meeting is planned for 10 June. The CIC Adjudication Board also met on 20 May to feed views into the process. 74. Following the meeting on 27 April, CIC issued a press release encouraging the industry to respond to the consultation and to take a broad view of the proposals. 75. CIC held a policy seminar for members, on 24 May 2005 - chaired by Phil Shearer of the RICS, to develop an input on the payment issues. 76. The DTI held an excellent consultation conference on 1 June 2005, at which the CIC Chief Executive spoke as Chairman of the CUB task group. A copy of this speech will be available on the CIC website at http://www.cic.org.uk . 77. Further information about the Reform of the Construction Act is available from htaylor@cic.org.uk . Department for Education & Skills/ DfES78. The Chairman met with the Secretary of State for Education & Skills and Lord Sainsbury, the DTI Minister for Science and Technology, alongside Sir Michael Latham, on 13 October to discuss progress with the Sector Skills Agreement. 79. The launch of the Sector Skills Agreements by the Secretary of State for Education & Skills took place at 11 Downing Street on 4 April 2005. Both the Chairman and Deputy Chairman of CIC were present. 80. The Skills Minister, Ivan Lewis MP, was due to have addressed the Council meeting on 16 March but unfortunately had to withdraw due to the coincidence with the Budget announcement. 81. The new Skills Minister will be Phil Hope MP (previously at the ODPM with responsibility for Building Regulations) and we will be inviting Mr Hope to a future meeting of the Council. 82. Further information is available from mway@cic.org.uk . Health & Safety Summit/HSE - DWP83. There have been two round-table meetings with Kevin Myers, HSE's Chief Inspector of Construction, during the year. 84. The 2005 Health and Safety Summit was held on 24 February 2005. CIC nominated around 30 people to attend from member bodies. Both Keith Clarke (Chairman, Safety in Design) and Peter Rogers (Strategic Forum) spoke at the Summit. Following the Summit, CIC has signed up to the Respect for People Code of Practice. 85. The HSE has invited CIC to contribute evidence and views to assist in its evaluation of the HSC Enforcement Policy Statement. In particular, the HSE is seeking views on the specific matter of alternative sanctions for serious breaches of health and safety law. The CIC Health & Safety Panel will be drafting a response and any views should be directed to Bridget Fidler at CIC. 86. Further information is available from bfidler@strategicforum.org.uk. Home Inspections/ODPM87. The Housing Act 2004 received Royal Assent on Thursday 18 November 2004 and, as members will know, it provides for the completion of a Home Information Pack which will be required of vendors of houses from an as-yet-unspecified future date. 88. A number of CIC members have been working together to assist the ODPM in helping to make the legislation work and enable the mechanisms to be as practical as possible for all. 89. To this end, a small CIC Home Inspector working party has been set up under the auspices of the Industry Improvement Committee. 90. Further information is available from rbiggs@cic.org.uk . Building Regulations/ODPM91. Members will perhaps recall that, in 2003, CIC presented the then ODPM Minister, Christopher Leslie MP, with a report regarding the harmonization of regulatory and legislative burdens upon the construction industry. This partly led to the Cabinet office enquiry into the industry and the establishment of CIPER and the Construction Act Review. However, many other facets of the report have not been addressed and we have therefore updated the report and intend to re-visit it in further discussions with Government. 92. The European Commission will be initiating a new regulatory simplification exercise this year, and member states are being asked to contribute suggestions. This is an opportunity to comment on any existing EU legislation which is burdensome due to the original content of the directive (rather than because of its interpretation). 93. If there is any legislation that members would wish to draw attention to in this context please contact Richard Biggs at CIC (rbiggs@cic.org.uk) Any recommendations should be well thought through, with some robust evidence. CIC will be working with CIPER on the identification of suitable regulatory/legislative reform recommendations and the CIC Liability task force has also been involved in this process 94. Further information is available from rbiggs@cic.org.uk . Egan Review of Skills for Sustainable Communities /ODPM95. The Government formally responded to the Egan Review into Skills for Sustainable Communities (which was published on 16 April 2004) and the ODPM’s response was published in August 2004. 96. The Urban Design Skills Group, which was hosted by CABE until approximately 2/3 years ago (and on which group Michael Dickson represented CIC) was briefly reformed, with Mark Way representing CIC, to act as a unifying group to provide a considered and positive response to the Egan proposals. 97. Two thousand delegates took part in the Delivering Sustainable Communities Summit, between 31 January and 2 February 2005 at the GMEX, Manchester. CIC was represented at the Summit. 98. The Academy for Sustainable Communities has now been established in Leeds and CIC has made contact with the Acting Chief Executive, Chris Murray, who is on secondment from CABE. 99. Further information is available from gwatts@cic.org.uk . Proceeds of Crime Act (2002) AND Money Laundering Regulations (2003)100. In response to requests from members, CIC has established a working party to examine the potential impact on adjudicators, arbitrators and others in the construction sector, of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (POCA) and the Money Laundering Regulations 2003 (MLR). This new working Group under the chairmanship of Chris Dancaster (RICS), has met twice during the year. 101. It was agreed, in December 2004, that CIC obtain advice from Leading Counsel to deal with the immediate issue of the applicability of the MLR to dispute resolvers (adjudicators, arbitrators, mediators, experts etc. 102. It was also agreed to lobby the industry to respond to the DTI Consultation Paper on the Review of the Construction Act as vigorously as possible. In the interim, it was agreed to increase awareness of POCA and the MLR within the industry and encourage members to think about practical instances where POCA might impact upon their everyday activities. 103. In the longer term, it is noted that if the MLR do apply, then staff must be trained in accordance with the provisions of Reg 3(1) (c) of MLR. 104. The Group has obtained a number of pledges of financial support towards the cost of obtaining advice from Leading Counsel to deal with the immediate issue of the applicability of the MLR to dispute resolvers. 105. The Court of Appeal finally gave judgment in Bowman v Fels on 8 March 2005, as a result of which Counsel's advice has now been received and has given rise to certain supplementary questions which have been put to Counsel. A further meeting will be held in due course. 106. The Cabinet Office, Better Regulations Task Force and HM Treasury have all asked to be kept informed of these discussions. 107. Further information is available from kdunne@cic.org.uk . The Office of Government Commerce108. Phil Shearer (a nominee of the RICS) has represented CIC on the OGC task group on fair payment during the year. 109. CIC Staff have continued to liaise with the Kelly Market section of the Office of Government Commerce and a meeting was held on 25 January 2005. CIC staff have attended the last two Kelly conferences. 110. The First Kelly Market (Construction) has been the focus for testing and implementing the core Kelly Market recommendations before roll out to other sectors. The recommendations fall into 3 categories – Market Shaping, Market Consultation and Market Intelligence. 111. After a delay due to election purdah, the results and recommended next steps of the First Kelly Market were launched by Martin Sykes of the OGC on 17 May 2005. CIC has a copy of Martin’s presentation at the event and is happy to send this to any interested member/s. 112. OGC's Smarter Construction Division has now taken over the remit to drive forward the work of the First Kelly Market review. Smarter Construction Division is currently in the process of reviewing outputs from the first phase in order to assess how these can be refined for the implementation phase. 113. The focus of the second Kelly Market Review is Municipal waste – including all waste under the control of local authorities; healthcare waste; and commercial waste. 114. The Kelly team is undertaking this work in collaboration with DEFRA’s Waste Implementation Programme (WIP), the Office of Fair Trading, NHS PASA/Estates, the Local Government Association and the Regional Centres of Excellence. Meetings with key waste stakeholders have been taking place. 115. Demand data and market proposals announced at the First Kelly Market event are now on the OGC website at http://www.ogc.gov.uk/index.asp?id=1002162 116. The newly appointed Director of Construction & FM Efficiency at the OGC, David McMeehan, attended the meeting of the Chartered College on 1 June 2005, together with his colleague, Arnold Butler, for a two-hour discussion about quality in procurement. 117. Further information is available from rbiggs@cic.org.uk or kdunne@cic.org.uk . Cabinet Office/ Business Regulations Team118. CIC hosted a meeting for the new head of the Business Regulation Team at the Cabinet Office on 4 June 2004. 119. The Cabinet Office’s Business Regulations Team has produced its End of Year Report, which describes the work undertaken by the Team in 2004, to review regulation in the construction, environmental services and transport sectors. CIC was significantly involved in the review of regulation in the construction sector. 120. The BRT has also produced a Scoping Report, which describes the work which the Team is undertaking in 2005, to review regulation in the environmental services, logistics and pharmaceuticals sectors. A copy of this report is available from CIC if required. 121. Further information is available from rbiggs@cic.org.uk . Construction Industry Policy and European Review Group/CIPER122. Meetings of CIPER took place on 21 July, 12 October 2004, 17 January and 11 April 2005. 123. The agenda for meetings has encompassed items on:
124. An issues log relating to policy and regulation is being developed for CIPER. 125. Further information is available from rbiggs@cic.org.uk . Structure of Government: Pre-Election Campaigning126. The Construction Umbrella Bodies agreed a pre-election Manifesto on behalf of the Construction Industry, a copy of which has been made available to Council. The document was launched on 6 March 2005 and there was significant input to it from the new CIC Public Affairs Panel. 127. Further to the paper agreed by Council in December, we have been taking any and every opportunity to advance the case for rationalisation of Government sponsorship of the construction industry. 128. We have been looking into some strategic analysis of the purpose and functions of a consolidated department which goes beyond simply seeking a convenient sponsor for the construction industry. In particular, we are looking at how its creation would affect other departments. We enlisted the support of two former senior civil servants in terms of advising this work. 129. We were able to persuade ‘Building’ magazine to run a special feature on the campaign in December 2004 and this quoted extensively from the CIC Report. We are aware that this campaign has now been brought to the attention of senior civil servants and advisers across several Government Departments and is being cited as evidence of the industry’s unhappiness with the current arrangements. 130. Both the President of the CIOB and the CIC Chief Executive spoke on the issue at the CIOB Annual Dinner at the Guildhall on 8 February. A copy of the Chief Executive’s speech is available to download. This led to a further speech by the Chief Executive at the CIBSE Patrons luncheon at the House of Lords on 19 April 2005. This speech is also available on the CIC website. 131. The Chairman of CIC wrote to the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition immediately on the writ being moved for a General Election and the Chairman has written to the PM again following the Election. 132. Although there has been no obvious evidence of any further joined-up links relating to the built environment in the new post-election structure, we are keeping the situation under review and will continue the campaign for greater awareness of the industry within Government and Parliament. 133. Further information is available from gwatts@cic.org.uk or kdunne@cic.org.uk. Liaison with Parliament134. CIC is a partner in organising the ConstructionSkills All-Party Parliamentary Group, which held two meetings during the year: one looking specifically at skills and training in housing which was held on 23 February 2005, and another on Skills on 6 July 2004 with DfES Minister, Ivan Lewis MP as its principal guest. 135. CIC is hosting a Reception for new Members of Parliament at the RICS on 4 July 2005. 136. CIC has submitted evidence to the House of Lords inquiry into the European Commission's proposals for a Directive on Services in the internal market. A copy of the evidence is available from Joanna Hutchison or Kate Dunne at CIC. 137. Following on from the written evidence, CIC was invited to send a delegation to give oral evidence to the House of Lords Committee on 7 March 2005. 138. We have met with the organisers of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for the Built Environment and agreed in principle to co-host a Parliamentary Seminar on the issues arising from the Government recognition of the construction industry. A date for the event has not yet been fixed. 139. CIC hosted an official event at the Labour Party Conference in Brighton on 27 September on the subject: ‘Improving the built infrastructure of this country – what next?’ Nigel Griffiths MP was the key guest and about 40 people attended the event. 140. We also co-hosted a similar event at the Conservative Party Conference on 5 October in Bournemouth, at which the CIC Chairman was the key industry speaker. The theme was the importance of investment in public services and the main guests were Henry Bellingham MP, the shadow industry Minister, and Stephen O’Brien MP. 141. This year the CUB will be hosting an event at the Labour Party Conference in Brighton on 28 September 2005. 142. Further information is available from Kate Dunne or Helen Smith on kdunne@cic.org.uk or hsmith@cic.org.uk. Overseas Relations143. The Chief Executive and other representatives of CIC met Professor Daniel Forgues, Professor of Project Management at Montréal's École de technologie supérieure and Yves Forté, President of the Centre de recherche sur l'avancement de la construction du on 4 March 2005. Professors Forgues and Forté were conducting a fact-finding mission on behalf of the Quebec Government. 144. CIC hosted a meeting with Dr Ng Eng Hen, Minister for Manpower in the Singapore Government together with his Permanent Secretary, Yong Ying-I and a delegation of several other politicians and officials at the ICE on 26 January 2005. The objectives of the Singaporean visit were to study the components of the occupational safety and health framework in the Public Affairs Panel145. The Public Affairs Panel (PAP) met for the first time on 10 February 2005. The panel is chaired by the Chief Executive and the secretariat role is being carried out by CIC Research Associate, Kate Dunne. 146. The establishment of PAP is in direct response to one of the recommendations of the Futures Group. 147. Terms of Reference have been developed, as follows and these were approved by the Executive Board:
148. Members outlined their proposals to develop campaigning material in advance of the proposed General Election. The RIBA explained that it had developed a Manifesto for Architecture in consultation with many other bodies, including the CIC. Their manifesto incorporates 20 strategic issues and was launched in late March. The RICS is predominantly working through a series of co-ordinated statements via the RICS website. The ACE, CIBSE, CIOB, NHBC and ICE worked via CIC in the build-up to the General Election and the NHBC and ICE are concentrating on post-election issues. 149. Members agreed that the new Panel was very worthwhile and a programme of meetings has been set for the new session. It was agreed to keep the resources issue under review but members did not see the need for any ongoing additional resource at the present time. 150. The second meeting of the Panel, on 12 May 2005, focused on post-election relationships and issues and arrangements for a Reception for new MPs to be held on 4 July. The Panel is also assessing the potential for an involvement at the various Party Conferences either this year or next and will act as the focal point for the CIC contribution to the CUB Fringe event at the Labour Party Conference, in October. Strategic AlliancesStrategic Forum for Construction151. CIC is a member of the Strategic Forum for Construction as the umbrella body representing the professional services sector of the industry; the professional institutions and the research associations. CIC continues to provide the Secretariat for the Strategic Forum, and its Chairman - Peter Rogers - through Graham Watts performing the role of Secretary, supported by Bridget Fidler as the Strategic Co-ordinator for the Forum. Members of the Forum pay a fee to CIC for the provision of this support. 152. The revised draft business plan and budget for the Strategic Forum in 2004/5 was approved at the Forum meeting on 17 June 2004 and so the CIC contribution to the Forum’s Secretariat costs in 2004/5 reduced to £5,000. 153. The revised plan has allocated a reduced role to CIC in terms of providing Secretariat support to the Forum and its Chairman, which has effectively required a half-time role since 1 May 2004 onwards. Bridget Fidler has continued to be seconded from CIC to provide this additional support. 154. The project co-ordination role, previously carried out by CIC, is now overseen by a Target Monitoring Group, chaired by Michael Ankers of CPA. Some of its concerns during the year have been the development of the Clients’ Charter, take up of CSCS and applications to courses. The Clients’ Charter has been undergoing a review and a simple, accessible web based tool has been developed. The ‘Charter Principles’ focuses on fourteen of the Charter’s recommendations. It is aimed at inexperienced and occasional clients and signposts clients to advice on best practice and bench marking facilities. The Charter Principles were formally launched on 22 November. 155. The meeting of the Strategic Forum held on 17 June 2004 considered the annual report on the Accelerating Change in Built Environment Education initiative which was launched at a Reception later that evening. Copies of the Report have been circulated to members. The ACBEE Annual Conference for 2005 was held on 7 June 2005 at the RICS. 156. The Strategic Forum met on 9 September and considered a report on the next stage of its Communications Strategy, a presentation on the impact of ending construction-specific collaborative research funding in the DTI, a presentation on the ConstructionSkills’ Positive Image campaign, and the development of proposals for a further health & safety summit in early 2005. The Construction Minister attended the first part of the meeting. 157. With regard to the next stage of activity in the Communications Strategy, the Forum considered a paper from CIC on 18 May which showed the penetration of the ‘Accelerating Change’ headline targets into the professional bodies through their magazines and agreed to monitor this across all umbrella bodies as part of the communication/dissemination process. 158. The Chairman and Secretary of the Strategic Forum held a workshop with senior officials across a range of relevant divisions at the ODPM on 16 July 2004. 159. The SFfC meeting on 17 November was also attended by the Construction Minister and it looked specifically at the action on key themes for the Health and Safety Summit. SFfC members agreed that industry should unite to support the health and safety Summit. 160. An overarching Code of Good working practices for Respect for people was discussed at the meeting on 17 November and a draft of this code was discussed and approved by the CIC Executive Board meeting in November and has since been signed by CIC. 161. Martin Wyatt from BRE and Andrew Eastwell from BSRIA gave a presentation to the SFfC focusing on the lack of resources for construction research and innovation (R&I). They noted that since the demise of the DTI’s PiI programme the level of activity in the construction R&I sector had considerably diminished. 162. It was suggested that funding for R&I was increasingly inaccessible as the Government funding routes had become obscure. SFfC members agreed that they would support a proposal for the reinstatement of a PiI type route into funding; simultaneously noting that the PiI programme had been beset with various problems and it should not be regarded as a perfect solution to R&I issues. The SFfC noted that industry’s willingness to take on a commitment to support R&I was also needed. 163. The Strategic Forum has also established a Logistics Working Group which has now produced its draft report for the Forum and a presentation on its work was made to the new Construction Minister on 18 May 2005. The Group is being chaired by Mike Eberlin, Commercial Director at Castle Cement and hosted by the Construction Products Association. The membership includes representatives from across the construction industry with a breadth of experience of logistics in construction and other industries. The Group has focussed on the way design can improve logistics, transport of construction products, stockholding and more efficient use of on-site labour. 164. Adrian Chamberlain, the European CEO of Bovis Lend Lease has formally been appointed as Deputy Chairman of the Strategic Forum with a view to succeeding Peter Rogers as Chairman from 1 January 2006. He has indicated a desire to retain CIC as the Secretariat for the Forum during his Chairmanship. 165. The formal SFfC meeting due to have been held on 10 March 2005 was cancelled and an Executive Group meeting was held in its place. The meeting considered the Forum’s Annual Report for 2004 which will measure progress against the six headline targets in accordance with the proposals set in ‘Accelerating Change’. 166. The Strategic Forum’s draft annual report, providing a response to the targets set for the industry for the end of 2004 by Sir John Egan in ‘Accelerating Change’ has been reviewed by the CIC Executive Board and is due to be launched on 16 June 2005. 167. The Strategic Forum has established an SME Forum, specifically to look at the needs of the SME sector in terms of the Strategic Forum’s remit and the wider industry improvement agenda. CIC representation on the Forum is channelled through the Industry Improvement Committee. 168. The Forum has agreed that CIC should continue to host the Secretariat for the Strategic Forum in 2005/6 and a budget for the Forum was agreed. Members of the Forum were asked to increase their contribution to the Forum from £5,000 in 2004/5 to £7,000 in 2005/6 although it was recognised that some members may have cash flow difficulties in providing this additional sum. 169. Further information about the Strategic Forum for Construction is available from bfidler@strategicforum.org.uk . Sector Skills CouncilsConstructionSkills170. CIC is formally a partner in ConstructionSkills, alongside CITB-ConstructionSkills, which provides the legal entity for the SSC, and CITB 171. The ConstructionSkills Council met on 12 October 2004 and 14 April 2005. The ConstructionSkills Management Board met in 172. The official launch of the four pathfinder Sector Skills Agreements (including that of ConstructionSkills) was made at 11 Downing Street, by the Secretary of State for Education & Skills, the Rt Hon Ruth Kelly MP, on 4 April 2005. 173. The Chief Executive appointed Mark Way to oversee the CIC contribution to the Sector Skills Agreement for ConstructionSkills. 174. The Memorandum of Understanding between the three ConstructionSkills’ partners has been approved and signed during the year. 175. A further meeting to discuss the budgeting for CIC activities in relation to ConstructionSkills was held on 18 November. 176. The first year’s report of ConstructionSkills activity has now been produced for the SSDA and was discussed at a meeting between the partner Chief Executives and the SSDA on 2 December 2004. 177. ConstructionSkills has carried out research on the skills needs of the self-employed that encompasses the professional services sector. The resultant report on the self-employed and micro businesses is to be discussed by the CIC Industry Improvement Committee. 178. A graduate sponsorship scheme, which aims to provide 85 bursaries in the first year (25 of which are earmarked for consultancy firms) has been developed in association with ACE. 41 firms have now signed up to the programme with a further 15 indicating an interest. 179. A Memorandum of Agreement between Constructing Excellence and ConstructionSkills has also been agreed and was signed at the Constructing Excellence Conference on 22 November. A copy of this agreement and accompanying press release are downloadable from the CIC website. The document is aimed at improving co-operation and mutual support in the Regions. Through this association we expect to engage in the ongoing CITB-ConstructionSkills regional skills forums. 180. A strategic meeting is to be held for the Chairmen and CEOs of CITB-ConstructionSkills, CIC, SummitSkills and AssetSkills on 6 July 2005. 181. ConstructionSkills is to set up an environmental skills sub-group, to be chaired by David Adamson of Cambridge University. 182. ConstructionSkills has offered CIC National Regions a “hot desk” in each CITB-ConstructionSkills’ Regional Office 183. A Paper, which had been developed by Paul Wainwright and Mark Way, aimed at providing necessary additional resource to boost the CIC-ConstructionSkills capability within the Regions was approved by the Council in April. 184. ConstructionSkills has not yet been able to make comprehensive progress delivering the breadth of the skills agenda across its full footprint. Commendable work has been taking place but it is widely recognised that effective delivery across the 185. The proposal considers what resources could feasibly be drawn from the Sector Skills Council funding to enable such wider engagement with employers. The initial proposal was to appoint three full-time equivalent posts tasked with a clear remit of delivering regional SSA objectives. This will significantly boost the CIC capability in the Regions. 186. The Positive Image campaign for 2004 included television advertising for the first time, aimed at exciting the interest of young people in construction careers. A presentation was made on this to Council in September 2004. The campaign was updated for 2005 to focus more on women and graduates and a re-voiced TV advert was aired in April 2005. 187. Further information on ConstructionSkills is available from mway@cic.org.uk or dcracknell@cic.org.uk . SummitSkills and AssetSkills188. CIC sits on the Professional Bodies Forum of SummitSkills and participates, as a partner in ConstructionSkills, in a joint Forum with SummitSkills at a governance/senior executive level. We have currently no formal relationship or association with AssetSkills. 189. A joint conference with SummitSkills was held on 23 November 2004 and was attended by representatives of several CIC members. 190. The Chief Executives of both ConstructionSkills and AssetSkills attended a meeting of the Chartered College on 24 November 2004. 191. Further information on SummitSkills and AssetSkills is available from dcracknell@cic.org.uk or cmoss@cic.org.uk . Convergence between Constructing Excellence and BE192. CIC has no formal relationship or association with BE and has recently signed a Memorandum of Agreement relating to co-operation in the Regions with Constructing Excellence. 193. The convergence between CE and BE formally took place on 4 April and the new organisation is to be called Constructing Excellence in the Built Environment. 194. The Chief Executive of CIC served as a member of the Board of Management of Constructing Excellence during the year. 195. It is felt that there is scope for the Industry Improvement Committee of CIC to become the institutional arm of the new organisation, providing a potential bridge between CIC and the new body. 196. Further information is available from gwatts@cic.org.uk . Construction Skills Certification Scheme197. CIC has no formal relationship with CSCS Ltd although the Chairman of the CIC Standards Panel (Jon Pritchard) is an observer at the CSCS Management Board. 198. The Chairman of CIC has been particularly active in relation to CSCS and has attended meetings with the Chairman and Deputy Chairman of CSCS, the Chairman of the CITB and the Chairman of the Strategic Forum in support of his campaign to have the CSCS developed into a ‘national institution’. 199. We have received a copy of the ‘Bilborough Report’ during the year and the Chairman and Chief Executive have met variously with the leading players in the CSCS to discuss its implications and a way forward in terms of ownership, participation and governance. We have been instrumental in gaining agreement for Peter Rogers, as Chair of the Strategic Forum, to act as a mediator in discussions amongst the owners of CSCS. 200. We are hopeful that, as a result of these discussions, CIC will be offered a place on the ownership board or governing body. 201. CIC is reviewing jointly with CSCS the relationship between the CSCS card and professional qualifications. 202. Further information is available from gwatts@cic.org.uk or dcracknell@cic.org.uk . National Construction Week203. National Construction Week is organised by ConstructionSkills on behalf of the industry and CIC is involved in its development and organisation as a partner in ConstructionSkills. 204. The Chairman of CIC (Stuart Henderson) is also the Chairman of the Steering Committee for NCW and Helen Smith represents the communication interests of CIC on this Group. 205. National Construction Week was held between 6 and 13 October 2004 and will be on the same dates in 2005. 206. Further information is available from hsmith@cic.org.uk . Construction Umbrella Bodies207. The CUB is the main lobbying vehicle for the construction industry and comprises CIC, the Construction Confederation and the Construction Products Association. It does not have a legal identity and is run collectively by its three members. 208. The main function of CUB at present is to run specific campaigns at a macro level, as agreed by its members, such as the ongoing campaign to reduce the rate of VAT on construction Repair, maintenance and improvement work; to host events at the Party Conferences; and to host an Adjudication Group, which meets regularly and is chaired by the CIC Chief Executive. 209. Further information is available from gwatts@cic.org.uk . CUB Holdings Ltd210. CUB Holdings Ltd is the rump of business activities left over from the demise of the Construction Industry Board. It is jointly owned by CIC, the Construction Confederation and the Construction Products Association. 211. CUB Holdings Ltd has ongoing responsibility for the operation of the Considerate Constructors Scheme and the CIB publications. 212. The Annual General Meetings of CUB Holdings Ltd and the CCS Ltd were both held on 25 April 2005. The continued success of the Considerate Constructors Scheme was noted and it was agreed that the CCS Ltd should pay a dividend of £7,000 to CUB Holdings Ltd in 2004, rising to £7,200 in 2005, which will enable project funding in 2005/6. Michael Ankers of CPA was re-appointed as Chairman of CUB Holdings Ltd and Huw Taylor of CIC continues to provide a secretariat service (for which CIC received a fee). 213. Further information is available from htaylor@cic.org.uk . Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP)214. CIC is supporting the Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP) as it delivers reconstruct - a series of high-level, complimentary events aimed at the construction industry. The UK-wide programme is designed to give practical advice and support on increasing the levels of recycled content across projects. 215. We are writing to members and the industry generally inviting them to take up this opportunity to attend one of the complimentary events. The Breakfast Programme (running in June) is for clients and senior decision makers. The Workshop and Seminar Programme (running through September and October) is aimed at operational levels. Further information is available from www.wrap.org.uk/reconstruct 216. Further information is available from hsmith@cic.org.uk . The Futures Group217. The Futures Group is a distinct sub-set of CIC members, working to achieve closer collaboration between professional institutions related to the built environment, with a strong focus on strategic issues which require a multi-disciplinary approach. It operates under the umbrella of CIC, but has its own steering group and is developing a distinctive agenda, which will be closely coordinated with the core work which CIC carries out on behalf of all of its members. 218. The Futures Group was established in January 2004 by 12 professional institutions, all of whom are members of CIC. All eight members of the Chartered College are involved. The Futures Group is chaired by Turlogh O’Brien and support is provided by Graham Watts, with assistance from Patricia Behal. The members of the Futures Group have made equal financial contributions to the principal research study carried out by BRE, which was managed through CIC. 219. The work of the Futures Group has been reported to CIC Executive Board and CIC Council at all relevant stages. The BRE report has been made available to all CIC members. 220. Meetings of the Futures Group have been held on 14 September, 14 October and 9 November 2004 to consider the final report from BRE and to agree a way forward in terms of implementation. The Research by the BRE has been accepted and an implementation report approved. 221. The CIC Executive Board has considered the recommendations of the Futures Group at its meeting on 21 October 2004. In particular, it identified that all of the recommendations in the Futures Group Implementation Report should be taken forward within the existing CIC framework, except for one which was developed further by a sub-group of Futures Group members. The recommendations being progressed by CIC are designed to energise current arrangements or enhance activity being undertaken by CIC. 222. A penultimate meeting of the Futures Group was held on 18 January 2005. The purpose of the meeting was to reflect on what the Future Group had achieved over the past year and to consider how to take things forward. 223. The recommendations agreed by the Executive Board are given below, together with a brief statement regarding current progress (some recommendations have been linked together for ease of reporting) : 224. (R1) The Lifelong Learning Committee and Education Panel of CIC are to develop a business plan for developing a cohesive careers promotion strategy to be presented to the Executive Board and Council in February/March 2005. 225. (R2) The Lifelong Learning Committee/CPD and Training Panel of CIC are to develop a business plan for investigating common topics for cross disciplinary CPD and identifying appropriate methods of delivery to be presented to Council in March 2005. 226. The Collaborative Careers project is ongoing and runs through until the end of 2005. This work will also need to dovetail with the Sector Skills Agreement. It will be necessary for the professional institutions to commit to this work. 227. A Paper was presented to the meeting of the Training and CPD Panel in November, which sets out a projected strategy for a common approach to CPD. Member institutions have given feedback and potential commitment to the programme. 228. The main work of the Sector Skills Agreement is progressing well. The concerns raised in the CPD survey about skills gap have been addressed in the SSA. 229. CIC and CITB-ConstructionSkills are developing a proposal for a DVD version of the ‘Building Visions’ video. This would cover both professional/technical and craft level careers using both archive and new footage. Pledges of support have been received from ICE and Transport for London, amongst others. It is intended that the DVD will be launched by January 2006. 230. CIC will continue to provide input into the CITB-ConstructionSkills ‘Positive Image’ campaign. There will be greater emphasis on the professions in the 2005 campaign. 231. A steering group has been set up to promote Employer engagement. The members are mainly centred in London and the South East. There is a need to set up a regional panel to target the smaller companies across the 232. (R3) Complete the process of rolling out the CPD and Events website both to the CIC National Regions and to the CIC members before July 2005. 233. At the meeting of the Executive Board on 21 October 2004, it was agreed that individual National Regions of CIC could choose to roll out the website within their own Region. However, it was also agreed that the national rolling out of the website should not be a major priority for CIC since, although the website itself is seen as a beneficial mechanism for alerting members of different organisations to events being held by other professional disciplines, it is solely concerned with events as opposed to the broader aspects of CPD; does not yet fit into an overarching CPD strategy; and has no obviously verifiable process for ensuring quality control of events. CIC has agreed not to put any central resources into the development of the website at the present time. 234. (R4) Clarify the ownership arrangements for the website through an appropriate protocol between the South East Centre for the Built Environment (SECBE)- the current developers - CIC and ConstructionSkills. 235. It has been agreed that this is not currently an issue in the light of the decision with regard to R3. 236. (R5) Establish a CIC Public Affairs Panel and invite public affairs representatives and specialists to join from the CIC membership to meet before the end of January 2005. 237. The new CIC Public Affairs Panel is up and running and has now met twice. The Panel has decided that no additional resources are required from the professional institutions to support the work at the present time. 238. (R6) The Chief Executive is to develop a business plan for the recruitment of a public affairs specialist at CIC for agreement by members at Council in December 2004. 239. Following further discussions with members, it has become clear that the cost of recruiting a public affairs specialist will not be less than £60K per annum and that it is not feasible at the present time to try to seek this extra funding from members. 240. It is anticipated that this requirement of the Futures Group will now be satisfied through the proposals for the appointment of a new Deputy Chairman. 241. (R7) Work towards bringing separate specialist built environment groups within the CIC operational framework. 242. There is nothing specific to report at this stage. 243. (R8) Complete the establishment of CIC National Regions as soon as practicable. 244. A meeting was held in 245. CIC London has also been established during the year bringing the total of extant National Regions to ten. 246. There is no further progress, at this stage, to report in relation to resurrecting CIC West Midlands or establishing CIC London and CIC Yorkshire & Humber. 247. (R9) Press ConstructionSkills for the appointment of a CIC Employer Engagement Officer to work with the National Regions. 248. A formal proposal has now been approved by the ConstructionSkills Council and new posts have now been advertised. 249. (R10) Request BRE to carry out a desk research survey of the Regional composition, boundaries, staffing and property of Futures Group members in the National Regions. 250. Tim Whitehouse and Mindy Hadi, Principal Consultant from the BRE Centre for Sustainable Construction have completed the additional research phase, to complement the earlier work carried out by the BRE team, on potential areas of cooperation in the Regions. Her final report has been circulated to FG members and also to the Chairmen of the National Regions. 251. This research provides further underpinning information about the regional facilities of the 12 member institutions, including information about:
252. The cost of this additional work of around £3,000 was met by the individual members of the Futures Group. 253. (R11) The National Regional Chairmen Committee of CIC to develop a business plan for further developing a joint strategy for serving the regions by March 2005, including the identification of the most suitable National Region for the development of a joint office for the built environment professions. 254. This is with the National Regions Committee for action. 255. (R12) The Futures Group ( 256. The Futures Group ( 257. The sub group has now changed its name and continues to meet as Professional Institutions UK (Built Environment & Engineering). 258. A meeting in Shanghai was attended by the professional institutions (including non-CIC members), the trade commission and the British Council. It has been agreed to develop a bilingual portal to promote each of the institutions’ websites which will be launched in March 2005. 259. The 260. (R13) The relationship between the Futures Group ( 261. It has been agreed that there is no need for action on this issue. 262. (R14) The Sustainable Development Committee of CIC to develop the terms of reference and business plan for investigating the implications of broadening the sector to cover the whole life cycle by March 2005. 263. This recommendation has been passed to the Sustainable Development Committee for action. 264. (R15) Establish a CIC task force to develop a core set of universal values that apply to all professionals in the built environment. 265. It was noted that the recommendation to co-ordinate core ethical values amongst the institutions was one where there still needed to be a coordinated effort from the professional institutions. It was agreed that this should be taken on board by CIC and reviewed in due course. Don Leeper agreed, in principle, to act as a potential champion. 266. (R16) The Chief Executive to develop a business plan for the recruitment of a p/t press officer and additional resources for developing the CIC website for agreement by members at Council in December 2004. 267. The same issues apply to this recommendation as to R6 and it is not felt to be feasible that members will be willing to increase resources to CIC for this purpose. It is hoped that additional capability in this area may be possible through a rationalisation of existing budgets in 2005. 268. (R17) Establish a task group of the Futures Group to investigate the establishment of a “CIC Academy of the Built Environment” and to develop a full business plan for consideration by the Futures Group in January 2005 and CIC Executive Board and Council by the end of March 2005. 269. The Futures Group is also discussing separate proposals for arrangements will enable greater involvement with the members of their organisations in cross-disciplinary activities. A workshop to discuss a potential model was held on 13 December and a report made to both the Futures Group meeting on 18 January and the Executive Board meeting on 20 January 2005. 270. A paper was developed outlining the proposed role of a Built Environment Alliance and a programme of potential joint activities. It was explained that the Alliance is intended to cover Learned Society activities whilst CIC would continue to work on a full remit of government-related and external representative areas. It was proposed that the Alliance would be a virtual organisation and would aim to be up and running by June 2005 with a series of joint activities and events in place. The aim of the Alliance is to raise the profile and image of the professional institutions in the wider world. 271. Several members expressed concern that there is insufficient distinction between the proposal for the Alliance and existing CIC activities. It was also suggested that the title ‘Built Environment Alliance’ might need to be changed as it was very wide ranging and suggested the establishment of a new organisation. It was agreed, in principle, by the originators of the proposal that a more suitable title should be found and it was also confirmed that the enthusiasts for the Alliance were keen to avoid duplication of CIC activity. 272. It was agreed that the briefing paper would need more clarification to help identify the demarcation between the CIC and the Alliance remits 273. Ongoing activity and discussions have continued and a final meeting of the Futures Group is to be held on 4 July 2005 to consider a way forward, either as a separate Alliance of professional bodies or as a distinct group working within the auspices of CIC. Teambuild274. It has been agreed that the Teambuild competition for cross-disciplinary teams of young construction professionals will be much more prominently held under the auspices of CIC from 2004 onwards. 275. A multi-disciplinary steering group was established under the chairmanship of Alan Crane and with secretariat support from the ICE. 276. The CIC Teambuild competition was held at Loughborough University on 20/21 November 2004. CABE and CITB-ConstructionSkills both provided £10K sponsorship for the 2004 event. Additionally, members of CIC pledged to provide an additional £26K in funding. 277. The event was well received and will be repeated in 2005, although there are some concerns about ongoing funding from members. 278. Further information about Teambuild is available from hsmith@cic.org.uk , and further information about the Futures Group generally is available from gwatts@cic.org.uk or pbehal@cic.org.uk. Operational Activities and ServicesApproved Inspectors - Chairman, David Lush OBE279. The Management Board met on a regular basis. The Code of Conduct has been modified as a result of experience with two complaints that involved disciplinary hearings. 280. During the year, CICAIR has given approval to the first woman Approved Inspector. 281. The ODPM has overseen an independent quinquennial audit of the CIC Approved Inspector Register and we have held a number of meetings with the auditor, Christopher Joubert. He delivered his report to the ODPM in July 2004. We are pleased to report that the findings are to recommend a continuation of the current arrangements. Action is now being taken on a number of recommendations made in the Quinquennial Review Report. 282. There are 26 Individual and 30 Corporate Approved Inspectors on the CIC Register. 283. Three members of the Management Board retire in June 2005: Robert Hunter-Jones; Tony Dennison; and William Black. William will continue as chairman of the CICAIR Appeals Panel. Pat Wynne has been nominated as a consumer representative and ratification by the Council is being sought. Pat has had 6 years on the NHBC Consumer Committee. 284. Further information is available from rbiggs@cic.org.uk or htaylor@cic.org.uk. Adjudication – Chairman, John Reilly285. The CIC Adjudication Board met regularly during the year and has concentrated an input into the review of the Construction Act. New Chairman, John Reilly (RIBA), took over on 21 June 2004. 286. There are currently 150 Adjudicators registered with CIC and we have made 229 Adjudicator nominations. 287. The Council has approved new terms of reference for the Adjudication Board and these have been circulated to members. 288. Further information is available from htaylor@cic.org.uk . Regulations Advisory Panel (RAP) – Chairman, David Lush OBE289. Anne Hemming has succeeded Paul Everall as head of Building Regulations at ODPM. 290. The Panel held a luncheon at CIC in honour of Paul Everall on his retirement at which he was presented with Honorary Affiliate membership of CIC. 291. The Panel has helped CIC to streamline responses to Government consultations on regulatory issues. 292. It was suggested that RAP, the Health and Safety Panel and the Executive Board should work closely together in view of their shared H&S responsibilities. 293. Further information is available from rbiggs@cic.org.uk . Independent Appeals Tribunal – Chairman, Robin Wilson CBE294. The Management Board has met regularly during the year. No appeals have yet been heard by the Tribunal although an appeal from a participating member institution is pending. 295. The Tribunal Management Board is currently considering a permanent solution to the problem of avoiding frivolous or vexatious appeals and advice from CIC lawyers has been discussed. Four dates for Tribunals in 2005 have been promulgated on the website. 296. Chris Vickers CBE has retired as Chairman of the CIC Independent Appeals Tribunals during the year, a post he has held since 2000. Robin Wilson CBE took up the appointment as the new Chairman on 8 March 2005 – Robin was the third Chairman of CIC (from 1994 – 1996) and is a Past President of the ICE. 297. Further information is available from rbiggs@cic.org.uk Design Quality Indicators – Chairman, David Walker298. DQI online is available at www.dqi.org.uk. 299. 440 projects have now used the DQI and over 3,700 people have used the tool. 300. Representatives of CIC met with Elizabeth Whatmore and colleagues at the DTI on 24 September 2004 to discuss DTI funding for the DQI. As a result of the meeting our re-submitted funding bid for 2004/05 was divided into two distinct projects, rather than as core funding. This funding has been approved and will deliver statistical analysis of the database, the Fundamental Added Value Excellence (FAVE) briefing module, and a new output method for the tool. 301. We have completed the statistical analysis process, and received a comprehensive report from Imperial College, who are generally pleased with the data that the tool is collecting. There are some interesting findings, including that respondents are generally more enthused about education projects than other types of projects. Respondents generally score early brief designs higher than completed buildings (showing that aspirations drop off). There is no statistical difference in overall level of response between the supply side and the demand side. 302. The new version of the DQI will be available online at www.dqi.org.uk from 13 June. 303. CITB ConstructionSkills has also approved funding for the DQI Facilitator training package. Over 60 people have expressed interest in facilitator training and CIC has started the registration process. Two tranches of full facilitator training have taken place (in January and May). This will bring the number of trained facilitators to more than 30. An additional tranche is due in September. 304. The DQI Annual Facilitators Meeting (AFM) for all registered facilitators to share experiences and update on the developments of the tools is being held on 7 June 2005 at IStructE. 305. The CIC Executive Board has approved a protocol for the training, assessment and registration of DQI Facilitators which will be operated by CIC along similar lines to its work with Approved Inspectors. The protocol is available from William Hawkins at CIC. 306. The DQI was nominated for the British Institute of Facilities Management Innovation Award. The nomination recognises the role the DQI is playing in capturing all the stakeholders’ views at the briefing stage. Encouragingly over 75% of respondents to the DQI when used during briefing are either end users; facilities managers; or visitors. 307. We are working closely with the DfES and CABE Space on the development of two sectoral variants of the DQI, one for School buildings and one for Public Spaces. CIC has also been approached by the Housing Corporation regarding the possibility of developing a Housing DQI to compliment the current Housing Quality Indicator (HQI) - which assesses more quantitative issues of design. 308. Six pilots for DQI for Public Spaces have been undertaken with another 12 pilots lined up for the next tranche of work. 309. The DfES has piloted the DQI for Schools on seven schools, and the consequent data from these has been analysed to confirm the performance of this toolkit and ensure compatibility with the DQI. 310. CIC has signed a contract with the DfES to produce the DQI for Schools, which is to be completed for 13 June 2005, for a testing period only, after which it will be made publicly available later in the year. 311. DQI for Schools is being integrated with the facilitation and the web tool of the DQI through the development of an HTML interface and front end to create a different, but related brand for the DQI for Schools toolkit. 312. From information provided by DfES we expect that the use of DQI for Schools between now and 2011 will be on approximately 650 schools. Working on this information we have agreed, in principle, a five year service level agreement for the supply of DQI for Schools for the Building Schools for the Future projects. 313. In order to continue the DfES interest in the DQI we have invited the DfES to nominate a member of the DQI Management Board. 314. Work is continuing on the DQI for Children, a learning resource which will complement the Built Environment GCSE. CABE Education are leading the development but CIC has been integral in bringing this together, and as well as the DQI the steering group draws on CIC’s Education Panel, Edexcel, DfES, CITB-ConstructionSkills and experienced practitioners of the DQI. As well as supporting the GCSE the tool will help when the DQI for Schools is used. The resource, which will be entirely web based is due for completion in summer 2005, and provides a visual interpretation of the DQI principles. 315. CIC has initiated the establishment of a forum for developers of indicators of design quality, which has met twice during the year. The forum is chaired by David Walker, the Chairman of the DQI Management Board and CIC provides secretarial support. 316. Members of this Forum have either developed toolkits for assessing design quality or are working with CIC to develop variants of the DQI. Current areas of collaborative work are facilitation and statistical analysis. . The aim of the forum is to promote closer working to reduce confusion in the industry. The aim of the forum is to share knowledge and approaches and to avoid confusion between toolkits. Members are:
317. On 13 October 2004 CIC hosted the DQI AGM - The Way Forward - at the Design Council in London. The event was attended by 80 delegates. The keynote speaker was Richard Simmonds, CABE’s new Chief Executive who reaffirmed CABE’s support for the DQI. Papers from the Conference are available from the DQI team at CIC. 318. The next DQI AGM will be held in September/October 2005. We are planning to invite Des Browne MP, the new Chief Secretary and Procurement Minister at the Treasury, to make the keynote address. 319. The Centre for Advanced Engineering and the Ministry for the Environment in 320. Further information is available from the DQI team at CIC on dqi@cic.org.uk . Management and FinanceStaff321. Eve Ragan gave birth to her son, Nathan, on Sunday, 13 February and the Board is sure that all members will wish to pass on the Council’s congratulations and best wishes to Eve and her family. Eve will be returning from maternity leave in September. 322. Kate Dunne joined CIC on 27 July 2004 as a Research Associate under our programme with University College, London, whilst concurrently studying part-time for the MSc in Construction Economics and Management. This scheme has been a remarkably successful partnership with UCL. 323. Sylvia Castillo Mena joined CIC on 1 June 2004 as our Finance Assistant. 324. Joanna Hutchison, Chrystall Nicoll and Camille Datoo have joined CIC under the British Olympic Association’s Open Programme to provide part-time work for athletes preparing for the 2008 Olympic Games. Jo and Chrystall will be job-sharing Eve’s role as the Chief Executive’s Personal Assistant during her Maternity Leave; Camille assists the Chief Executive in relation to policy and events. 325. Mark Way has been appointed to assist CIC in developing our contribution to the Sector Skills Agreement on a short-term contract until 30 June 2005. 326. Mary Budd, a freelance HR professional, was commissioned to review and update CIC staff terms and conditions to ensure that they are fully compliant with recent statutory changes. Mary has now been appointed to provide ongoing HR support. 327. Dr Graham Ive (University College, London) has been appointed as the Council’s Honorary Economic Adviser. 328. Gillian Birkby (now of Fladgate Fielder) has been re-appointed as the Council’s Honorary Legal Adviser. Website329. A ‘brainstorming’ meeting took place on 1 December 2004, which involved Turlogh O’Brien, the Chief Executive and other members of staff. A number of changes were agreed, principal among them being the addition of an ‘Initiatives’ page, which has now gone ‘live’. Other minor changes have already been implemented. 330. The CIC website is at http://www.cic.org.uk. Following the commitment in our Corporate Plan every effort is being made to keep the site up-to-date and to develop it, within cost constraints, into an information hub for members. 331. The quarterly reports to Council are now to be included in the news section of our website in ‘bite-size’ chunks so that members are always able to get up-to-date information about the latest position on CIC policy and activity. 332. We have continued discussions with the Engineering and Technology Board regarding the redevelopment of our website linked to SCENTA and these are now at an advanced stage. 333. Any questions or queries about the website should be directed to htaylor@cic.org.uk . CIC Cascade334. The CIC Cascade is a fortnightly electronic briefing prepared by CIC and Construction Plus. 335. 21 issues of the CIC Cascade have been made during the year. Cascades have been issued on 21 June, 6 and 19 July, 6 and 19 August, 8 and 21 September, 1 October, 15 and 29 October, 15 November, 6 December and 21 December, 14 and 31 January, 14 February, 1 and 22 March, 26 April, 18 May and 3 June. All back issues of the cascade are available on the CIC website (www.cic.org.uk). 336. For further information about the Cascade please contact hsmith@cic.org.uk . Finances337. The Finance Committee has met on 28 September, 15 November 2004, 15 March and 9 May 2005 338. In September, the Finance Committee considered the problems CIC is experiencing in collecting subscriptions from members for membership of the National Regions under the new arrangements of central authorisation, agreed by Council last year, and has made proposals, which have been endorsed by the Council for unifying national and regional subscriptions from 2005 onwards. 339. These new arrangements establish a Regional fee as a percentage of membership subscriptions and, as agreed, all members were written to before the end of 2004 outlining their proposed subscription for 2005, including the regional fee, and invited to apply for an exemption from the regional fee (and participation in the CIC Regions) by 7 December. 340. At the present time 14 Full Members and 9 Associate members have applied for exemption, leaving 16 Full Members and 12 Associate members still remaining within the CIC National Regions’ structure. Based on these members, the present forecast is for the Regional fee income to be around £47,000 in total, from which the National Regions have each been awarded a budget of £3,500 for 2005. 341. Publication sales for 2004 were exceptional, particularly due to the launch of the Novation Agreement and steady sales of the Collateral Warranties. 342. CIC held no Conferences during 2004 but generated some income from the hire of CIC meeting rooms. 343. CIC Projects includes income and expenditure relating to the Futures Group. 344. We have carried out a review of debtors that are outstanding at the end of 2004 and CIC has written off bad debts amounting to some £13,385. This amount includes outstanding subscriptions from 2003/4 of £4,476 and £4,157. This will reduced our projected end of year surplus. 345. The Finance Committee and Executive Board are currently considering the potential for moving the Council’s financial year to end on 31 March (as opposed to 31 December). 346. Any questions or queries about finances should be directed to rminors@cic.org.uk Standing Committees347. The Council has several standing Committees, which themselves have sub-groups, which may be permanent (Panels) or temporary (Task Forces or Rapid Response groups). The Standing Committees report to the Council through the Executive Board and generally meet once each quarter. An organogram describing the structure of CIC is available on the CIC website at (www.cic.org.uk). 348. The current Chairs are indicated for each Committee, Forum, Panel or task force. Forum for Research, Innovation and Knowledge – Acting Chair: Turlogh O’Brien CBE349. The Council authorised the carrying out of a review of Innovation & Research within CIC, conducted by the Deputy Chairman, Turlogh O’Brien, which included a special meeting of members’ representatives on 22 July 2004. 350. Following the Report and recommendations to Council in September 2004, the Innovation & Research Committee of CIC has now been formally disbanded and replaced with the Forum for Research, Innovation and Knowledge (FRIK). 351. The Forum met for the first time on 27 January 2005. The objectives of the group are;
352. The role of CIC was thoroughly discussed and the method it could use in tackling I & R considering its multi-disciplinary grasp on the industry and its ability to form networks amongst key organisations. 353. The DTI KTN paper for the modern built environment was considered alongside the CIC submission. 354. The FRIK Executive Group met for the first time on 3 May 2005. The Group comprises champions for the Employer, Professional Body, Research Association and Higher Education sectors: Stuart Alexander (ACE/WSP), Barry Clarke (GF/University of Newcastle), Colin Gray (CIOB/University of Reading), Graham Owens (SCI) and Keith Snook (RIBA). The Group will assist in the more political issues facing the Forum and help to focus the full group on topics and assemble task groups when relevant. 355. We have been delighted that our Deputy Chairman, Turlogh O’Brien CBE, has been able to act as Chairman of FRIK during the year, however we are still not able to report the appointment of a Chairman for FRIK for the new session. 356. Speakers and presentations will be arranged for main Forum meetings to help inform our members of research, innovation and knowledge issues. Future meetings of the full Forum will take place on 25 July and29 November 2005. 357. Organisations are encouraged to send up to three representatives to full FRIK meetings, thus promoting and maximising the knowledge sharing of FRIK. 358. The findings of a joint study undertaken by CABE and nCRISP, which addresses some key questions about the current state of research into the built environment, have recently been published. 359. The study paints a picture of a fragmented field of disconnected research, and a distinct lack of balance between the funding available for ‘construction’ and ‘technical research’ as opposed to the ‘creative’ and ‘social’ aspects of design. 360. For further information contact kdunne@cic.org.uk Industry Improvement – Chair: Peter Sheaves361. The Industry Improvement Committee met on 22 June and 20 October 2004, 12 January and 14 April 2005. The next meeting is to take place on 13 July 2005. 362. Wisam Kamleh-Chapman, an architect, gave a presentation in June on ‘The Shape & Size of the Architectural Fees Market’, which she was researching for a higher degree. She questioned the accuracy of figures currently in use for the size of the 363. The DTI consultation on the EU Directive on Services was discussed and members agreed to ask their institutions to copy any responses to CIC. Relationships with other bodies364. Kate Hollinshead, from Constructing Excellence, gave a presentation in September on the CE website to the October meeting. Concern was expressed that subscriptions were being introduced for access to information and it was agreed to recommend to the Executive Board that CIC press DTI to ensure that such information be freely available. The Executive Board has agreed this and representations have been made to the Construction Minister. 365. Building on its concern that information about Strategic Forum for Construction activities is not reaching the industry grass roots and its suggested graphic representation of how such bodies fit into the wider industry picture, it the Executive Board has approved the formation of a small group to draft such a map. 366. The Formal Memorandum of Agreement with Constructing Excellence is to be reviewed with the intention of CIC becoming involved in monitoring and maintaining the CE Website. 367. Rodney Chartres, Andy Rogers and Bob Sansom, as engineer, architect and surveyor respectively have been nominated to represent CIC on the Strategic Forum SME Forum. 368. A report on the OGC’s Fair Payment Task Group has been provided by the CIC representative, Phil Shearer. 369. It was felt that Constructionline was now more at ‘arms length’ following the elevation of the Advisory Group to a more strategic body. CIC were exploring the benefits of joining the free part of ‘Clik’, a means of promulgating one’s services. Constructionline had proposed a Standard for pre-qualification bodies and a progress report was requested on this initiative. It was agreed that a Standard would be beneficial. 370. Richard Hill of Constructionline is to be invited to give a first hand report to the next meeting. The proposed Standard for pre-qualification bodies was not supported by DTI. On-Line Bidding – Chair: Nora Fung371. Rob Cassab, from Bovis Lend Lease, gave a presentation at the October meeting on their ‘Advanced Procurement Process’ (On-line bidding). Following the presentation, it was agreed to recommend to Executive Board that the CIC guidance should be reviewed, perhaps with industry wide representation on the group. 372. The Executive Board agreed that this group should proceed with the development of a new position statement involving the widest possible industry participation. 373. The Chief Executive chaired the EMAP/NCE conference on online bidding on 24 June 2004. 374. For further information contact rbiggs@cic.org.uk Liability Panel – Chair: Frances Paterson375. A new ‘working-group’, to be chaired by Chris Dancaster, has been formed to produce guidance on the effect of the introduction of the ‘Proceeds of Crime Act’ (POCA) and new Money Laundering Regulations (MLR) and a Seminar on the the Proceeds of Crime Act took place on 25 January. The sub-group has nearly completed its task and guidance has been received. Guidance was also being drafted on new insurance regulations 376. The draft ‘Services’ section of the Consultants Contract is to be circulated to IIC as soon as available. 377. The Panel is leading the efforts to make the proposed EU Services Directive workable for construction. As a CIPER action DTI is to host an industry round table discussion to inform the DTI negotiators. The ‘country of origin’ principle was the main concern. 378. For further information contact kdunne@cic.org.uk Equal Opportunities Panel – Chair: Helen Stone379. The Equal Opportunities Panel has distributed almost all of the 5.000 copies of the ‘Building Visions’ video originally produced. A ConstructionSkills project to put video clips on the website has been completed and these can be accessed on www.cic.org.uk. 380. The Panel is now working with ConstructionSkills on an updated DVD version. 381. The collection of Case studies to promote good practice in the industry continues as part of the work on recruitment and retention. Three case studies were featured in ‘Building’ magazine in January 2005. 382. For further information contact pbehal@cic.org.uk Health & Safety Panel – Chair: Greg Brown383. The Health & Safety Panel has been heavily involved with developments for the Summit in February and progress with the CDM review and Safety in Design project. 384. The Panel has also debated the NAO attack on designers and the lack of undergraduate training during the year. 385. The Panel has been very active in connection with the review of the CDM Regulations. Members were encouraged to read the consultation document and make direct response. The need for a code of practice has been stressed. 386. It was agreed that CIC should have a seat on the ConstructionSkills H&S Environment Committee, not just observer status as at present. 387. Greg Brown has succeeded Gillian Birkby as Chairman. 388. For further information contact bfindler@strategicforum.org.uk Procurement Panel – Chair: Dermot O’Reilly389. The Procurement Panel paper received a report on the Scottish Parliament building procurement and the consequent paper is to be worked up for wider distribution. 390. The Procurement Panel has carried out two sub-projects during the year: ‘A Route Map of Procurement Options’ and ‘Improving the PFI Process’. A DQI workshop for interested members has been arranged. 391. Dermot O’Reilly has succeeded Alan Gilbertson as Chair of the Panel during the year and the Panel has agreed to review its remit during the next year. 392. For further information contact kdunne@cic.org.uk Partnering Task Force – Chair: John Wright393. ‘Selecting the Team’ and ‘Partnering Workshops’, have been approved by the Executive Board as two companion documents to be published as PDF documents alongside the Strategic Forum Integration Toolkit. The plan is to link them a series of seminars, to be rolled out later this year. 394. A new partnering term contract ‘TPC 2005’ had been launched, published by ACA. It was reported that some partnering contracts were experiencing insurance difficulties, which would probably be alleviated if ‘project insurance’ was available 395. For further information contact rbiggs@cic.org.uk Project Insurance Task Force – Chair: Mike Pepper396. A letter was sent to Paul Boateng MP, (then) Chief Secretary at HM Treasury, seeking support for the single project insurance concept in terms of Government allowing some pilot projects to be developed. 397. The task force is keen to develop a project to underpin and support the Integrated Team promotion by the Strategic Forum for Construction and members are now working to identify potential stakeholders with whom to work. 398. The planned OGC Pilot project was reported as being key to progressing this initiative. Peter Roe is to clarify the relationship with the Strategic Forum Insurance Sub-Group. Home Inspection Task Force – Chair: Diane Dale399. Diane Dale, of BIAT, has agreed to chair a working group to coordinate feedback to the ODPM, in relation to secondary legislation under The Housing Act 2004. 400. For further information contact kdunne@cic.org.uk or bfidler@strategicforum.org.uk Lifelong Learning – Chair: Mark Way401. The Lifelong Learning Committee met on 1 June 2004, 30 September 2004, 15 February and 17 May 2005 and reviewed the ongoing work and issues covered under the individual CIC Panels (and reported below) which includes ongoing ConstructionSkills projects and activities. Lifelong Learning staff have also been working with the Lifelong Learning Chairman in the development of CIC’s contribution to the ConstructionSkills Sector Skills Agreement. 402. At the May meeting members asked for consideration to be given to consolidating any of the lifelong learning related Committee/Panels. Occupational Standards Panel – Chair: Jon Pritchard403. The Occupational Standards Panel met on 14 September 2004, 9 February and 12 May 2005 404. Michael Brown has retired as Chair of the panel and has been succeeded by Jon Pritchard (ICE). 405. The panel considered a paper giving an overview of the status of higher level Occupational Standards and NVQs/SVQs over the 10 years since they had been introduced. Whilst noting the substantial progress that had been made, the meeting recognised that there was a need for a greater level of publicity and promotion to increase awareness and adoption and to assist in helping to change the training culture within the industry. There may be possibilities for this within the new SSC arrangements. 406. It was agreed to set up a short-life working group to develop a strategy with CITB-ConstructionSkills for the promotion of higher level Occupational Standards and NVQs. This work will be taken forward by the Joint Careers Group. 407. The Panel approved in principle the revised Built Environment higher level Occupational Standards and Functional Map following their extensive review. The full text of the revised Occupational Standards is now to be finally considered by the Panel and Expert Reference Group, prior to republishing the database on the web. The Occupational Standards database is a primary application/tool for organisations and individuals and also for much of the sector’s education, training, qualification and competence agenda. CIC’s work in this area is seen as being at the forefront of such activity across all sectors of 408. Concerns about the QCA’s Framework for Achievement – particularly the idea of time based credits - have been raised and will continue to be raised at related seminars. 409. The Panel considered the report ‘New thinking for reform’ produced by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority. Concerns were expressed about the lack of consultation by QCA and clarity within their proposals for revisions to the National Qualifications Framework and for developing a credit-based/notional learning hours system for inter-relating sector qualifications. The proposals primarily served the needs of the education and training community, but not the needs of employers, employees and Professional Institutions. A briefing paper was prepared for circulation to sector stakeholders to outline the concerns and indicate potential alternatives. Feedback from this would be referred to QCA and also potentially DfES, DTI and ODPM. 410. ConstructionSkills is to develop a qualifications strategy (Sector Qualifications Framework) by March 2006 the aims of which are to look at what we have already and see what opportunities there are to develop qualifications which mix different types of units. A consultation document will be issued in late summer for September/October consultation. AssetSkills are working on their SQF. 411. It is hoped that the CIC Progressions Pathways Project will be completed by the end of 2005. This work will update guidance from the previous Progression Project and provide a means of informing work on the Qualifications Strategy. 412. Terms of Reference have now been drafted for the Built Environment Standards and Qualifications Forum which will act as a means for Built Environment SSCs to work together on related matters of mutual interest. This is a ConstructionSkills initiative potentially operating jointly with associated SSCs and comprised primarily of SSC officers. The purpose of the Forum is to deal with strategic issues, exchange ideas, avoid duplication of effort and not to act as a bureaucracy. The Forum will have a relationship with CIC’s Occupational Standards Panel. 413. It was reported that the SSDA is establishing a central National Occupational Standards Database. The participating SSCs are being asked to provide copies of their standards and additional information to make their standards more searchable. CIC will receive minimal funding for the additional work. 414. The Construction Management Level 5 has now been approved by QCA and SQA. 415. The Panel agreed to validation of Spatial Data Management Levels 3 and 4 NVQ/SVQs, subject to some minor amendments and proof reading. 416. ‘Construction Contracting Operations (inc Technical Support) 3’, and ‘Construction Contracting Operations 4’ are about to go forward to QCA for approval. 417. The Panel agreed to validate the Quantity Surveying Practice Level 4 NVQ/SVQ, unless any contentious points are reported back from the Validation Group. 418. The Panel gave their endorsement and validation of the ‘Manage health and safety in design’ Occupational Standards. 419. ‘Managing the Built Estate’, ‘Construction Project Administration’, ‘Sales Technical Support’, and ‘Adjudication’ are long-standing NVQ/SVQ developments that CIC had to translate into a more up to-date format and these are now going to UKCG. 420. Development work is complete on ‘Built Environment Development and Control 4’ but the Level 3 is still to be completed. 421. The Panel are concerned that C&G/CITB went direct to QCA for validation of the Construction Site Supervision/Management qualification, thereby circumventing the Panel. The Panel sought reassurance from QCA that this would not happen in the future. The QCA representative reported that the official line is that it is not possible for the Occupational Standards Panel to be the sole validator, but where the Occupational Standards Panel raises a legitimate concern about a qualification, then QCA would undertake to ensure issues would be addressed. 422. It was reported that CIC will be undertaking the review of the NVQ/SVQs in design and surveying, maintenance and property and will be collaborating closely with Penny Dawson of Asset Skills in relation to work which is related to their remit and which they will lead. 423. Members of the Panel would like, subject to all Awarding bodies agreeing, the full text of the CIC-led higher level NVQ/SVQs, to be downloadable free of charge on the CIC website, and are seeking Executive Board support, bearing in mind the need to address resource issues for creating and posting the documents on the web. 424. A CIC and CITB-CS led International Benchmarking group looked at how NOS can be benchmarked to other overseas Standards. A workshop was held in March involving overseas contacts identifying similarities and opportunities to learn from overseas systems and resulting in a virtual organisation: International Forum for Construction Occupational Standards (IFCOS). A fuller report is to be made at the next meeting. 425. The original CIC Standards Panel work plan has run its course. Future plans of work for the Standards Panel will be discussed at the next Panel meeting and might include a repeat cycle of reviews, plus any newly identified areas of coverage for NVQ/SVQs, annual update of generic NOS, and applications of NOS. 426. The Panel has referred the Validation of City and Guilds Higher Professional Diploma level 4 VRQ. The Panel have asked for evidence of support from the key professional institutions and industry employers. 427. It also discussed the review and validation against the Sector’s criteria, of a Vocationally Related Qualification in Asbestos Inspection submitted by the Royal Society for the Promotion of Health (this validation process is a chargeable service the CIC provides for the sector). 428. The Panel also considered a web based database which could potentially be used by professional institutions and others as a tool to plan, map, organise and record people’s progress as they developed in the industry and between different qualifying systems. The database would enable the individual user to plan and track progress using a single set of standards. The meeting concluded that the system would not collectively be pursued in the short term, although one or two Institutions are separately following this up. 429. The potential for the use of Occupational Standards as an alternative to NVQ/SVQs for CSCS matching purposes was discussed during the year. 430. For further information contact dcracknell@cic.org.uk or cmoss@cic.org.uk or pbehal@cic.org.uk. Training and CPD Panel – Chair: Joni Tyler431. The Training and CPD Panel met on 3 November, 1 February and 9 May 2005. 432. Joni Tyler (RIBA) has succeeded Sue Beavil as Chair of the Panel with Richard Larcombe (ICE/CIOB) remaining Deputy Chair. 433. Work in respect of CSCS and its implementation in relation to higher level occupations is ongoing. Further Professional Membership Routes have been developed by the Institution of Structural Engineers and the Institution of Civil Engineers. 434. Some members of the Panel continue to have concerns about CSCS, particularly in respect of the requirement for Institutions to map to NVQ/SVQs if they wish to develop Professional Membership Routes. CIC staff have been in ongoing discussions with CSCS to try to resolve these and other issues. 435. The Training and CPD Panel is currently engaged in reviewing and developing a project to “Review, update and promote structured industry CPD significance, requirements, practice, guidance and support”. The project is considering the potential for developing output focused CPD, a common CPD framework approach, CPD themes, appropriate CPD provision and mutual recognition. The Panel is concerned to avoid the misconception that ‘CPD’ and ‘events’ are synonymous. David Cracknell spoke about the CPD review at a PARN (Professional Services Research Network) event. 436. Sixteen Professional Institutions have given responses to suggestions for action on CPD made in the policy paper. Responses were mixed with all suggestions supported in principle by many, but not all respondents. Concerns were detected from some PIs fearing that CIC was trying to compel them to do things and compel their members to do things. CIC is keen to stress that there is no ambition to compel members to do anything, rather to encourage opportunities for enhancement and mutual advantage for Institutions, individual professionals, employers, providers and the industry as a whole, through a shared approach. 437. An event to discuss CPD policy with Institutions was held on 26 May at RIBA. Raising informed awareness amongst Institution members was identified as a key priority action for CIC and professional institutions in respect of CPD. 438. The Panel originally reviewed the CPD and Events pilot proposal in 2003. Its initial response when introduced to the site, was to wait to see the results of the pilot, the outcome of which left them sceptical about the site due to the CPD label, when the site details events that may not necessarily be appropriate for CPD. These concerns have not diminished since, and this has been intimated in earlier responses within CIC fora. Additionally, the CIC Executive Board turned down a request from SECBE for matched funding from members to support the further implementation of the website. 439. The Training and CPD Panel has now reconsidered the website in the context of its current work and has concluded that support could be given to the idea of an events website, only if:
440. Given the above changes, the Events website could be seen as one way of enabling individuals to access appropriate CPD provision, where events clearly address particular developmental needs. 441. The Panel endorsed the SiD (Safety in Design) Competence Standards and Learning Aims. These have also been endorsed by the Health and Safety Panel and the Standards Panel. Members of the Lifelong Learning Committee have since agreed the documents in principles, but have replaced the original term Learning Outcomes with the term Learning Aims. 442. The SiD Learning Aims and Competence Standards were launched at a well attended event on 19 May. A meeting is being arranged to discuss possible means of implementing the Learning Aims and Competence Standards with representatives of interested PIs who attended the launch. 443. An exploratory meeting between the SiD Working Group representatives and the Deputy Chairman of CSCS has taken place. The Deputy Chairman of CSCS will raise the issues discussed with CSCS. 444. It was agreed that we should alternate Professional Services Business Surveys and Professional Services Skills Surveys. Since the meeting, Catherine Moss has received guidance that September would be the best time to send out a Business Survey and plans are being prepared for this. 445. A CIC survey has sought to find out the extent to which industry benchmarking tools are used by Professional Service employers, why employers do, or do not, make use of benchmarking tools. This has helped to build up a picture and to inform future implementation and development work within the professional services sector. Key conclusions include that use and awareness is low, and that time and cost are seen as the biggest barriers to benchmarking. 446. The problems caused by multiple Sector Skills Councils and different CIC members being aligned to different SSCs has been highlighted by the group during the year. 447. For further information contact cmoss@cic.org.uk . Education Panel – Chair: Professor Mel Lees448. The Education Panel met on 10 November 2004, 24 January and 18 April 2005. 449. Mel Lees has been appointed the new Chair for the Education Panel as well as the newly formed Education College. Members of the Education College will be invited to join the Panel. 450. The Joint Careers Group have drawn up a list of action points based on the data collected from a careers related mapping exercise. These include encouraging more involvement from the professional institutions in the Construction Ambassadors scheme and to maximise their input to the Bconstructive website by supplying case studies. 451. CIC staff and Education Panel members have joined the editorial board for the BConstructive website to provide input from the construction professions perspective. 452. Work on an updated DVD version of the Building Visions Careers video is ongoing. This will cover both professional/technical and craft level careers using both archive and new footage. Pledges of support have been received from ICE, Transport for London and the DfES. 453. A CIC CITB-CS Building Visions DVD working group are meeting on 8 June to discuss the project brief and provide technical input. The DVD will include new footage as well as archive material with a budget of £140,000. It is hoped that filming for the DVD can take place during the summer with the launch taking place in January 2006. 454. The Web Clips of the Building Visions Video are now available on the CIC website. (http://www.cic.org.uk/BuildVisions/video.shtml). The clips will be linked to the BConstructive website as well as the professional institution websites. 455. A draft general industry statement designed to provide a generic overview or brand for the industry has been circulated to the Education Panel for comments. The statement may be used by the institutions on their website and in careers materials. 456. As part of the Joint Careers project a set of UCAS statistics on applications to built environment and construction related courses is being compiled. The initial £1,600 cost of the data set will be covered under the Joint Careers project budget and the £250 cost of the annual updates will be shared by the Professional Institutions. 457. The Panel are reviewing mechanisms for obtaining and sharing of education related statistics. 458. A proposal to develop a Careers Portal is being explored. This would provide an intranet for the sharing of careers related information among the institutions. It is likely that it would be housed on the ConstructionSkills website. 459. The Panel has formally validated the submissions of BIAT, CIBSE, ICES, RIBA, CIOB and the LI to endorse the Common Learning Outcomes within their accreditation processes. ICE, IStructE and IHIE are unable to endorse the revised scheme of the Common Learning Outcomes at the moment as they do not match the guidelines of the Joint Board of Moderators. The Institutions who have agreed to formally sign the Memorandum of Agreement for adoption of the Common Learning Outcomes will sign the Agreement at the AGM on 8 June 2005. Further promotional work will be carried out following this event. 460. Members of BACH have been consulted on the content of the original FE CLOs. The Education Panel were asked to consider the draft Intermediate CLOs proposed by BACH. The title change to Intermediate fits within the QCA framework for sub-honours degree work. 461. The Panel has been invited by EdExcel to help with developing support material for the new Construction GCSE. 462. A free ACBEE conference ‘Progress Through Partnership’ will be held on 7 June at the RICS. 463. ACBEE is developing a framework for measuring engagement between universities and employers. Drafts have been circulated to the Panel for comments. 464. A CIC/CEBE Education Symposium will tale place on 6/7th September. The event will focus on the three key areas of Industry engagement, education practice and education research. Further details will be available shortly. 465. Allan Hamilton presented his report on the CITB-ConstructionSkills Foundation Degree sectoral framework. He reported that there has been resistance to Foundation Degrees (FDs) from employers and providers due to the continuing popularity of construction related HNC/Ds. Support from the Professional Institutions was also not widespread, however there were some exceptions. 466. For further information contact pbehal@cic.org.uk National Regions – Chair: Paul Wainwright467. The National Regions Standing Committee chaired by Paul Wainwright meets quarterly prior to Council. It has therefore met on 22 September and 8 December 2004 and 16 March 2005. 468. The decision by Council that funding of the regions would now be dealt with as part of the funding of CIC nationally through a 15% charge was welcomed by all the regions. In addition to the guaranteed income this would generate for each of the regions it also ensured regional committees did not have to waste valuable time determining membership and who was entitled to participate. 469. It was confirmed that CIC rules did not allow for surpluses to be rolled over from one financial year to the next and Council would not permit general funds to be carried over. However it was noted that Regions may accrue funds which were to be used for a clearly identified project before the year-end and this would be actioned through the CIC audit process. 470. The Committee also suggested the possibility of ‘top-slicing’ regional funds, providing a small central purse which regions could apply to use for specific work. 471. It was also clarified that non members of CIC who wished to participate in the regions would pay a fee for each regions that they participated in, but it was agreed that organisations in strategic alliances with CIC such as Constructing Excellence and CITB-ConstructionSkills would be permitted to participate without charge. 472. Mark Way made a presentation to the National Regions about the CIC contribution to the Sector Skills Agreement. Mark briefly outlined the paper and the progress which was being made. He explained that a questionnaire had been issued in July/August to institutions, employers and education providers, the full results of which known by the end of October. A lot of concerns were raised, but the responses were fairly consistent with no real surprises. He reported that CIC had held face-to-face regional discussions in CIC East, CIC South East and CIC Scotland. 473. Five key priority drivers had been suggested – Expansion of approved training schemes, development of education supply chains, pilot lifelong learning networks, improved tracking of graduate destinations and foster a stronger commitment to CPD and training. 474. It was suggested that there was a disparity between the quoted figure of students entering further education and those produced by the establishments. One possible reason could be lack of clarity in what constituted the ‘construction industry’. 475. No progress had been made in liaison between CIC and the Engineering in the Olympics initiative. It was agreed that there would be no further involvement by CIC unless contacted by the ETB. 476. The Committee considered papers on regional interface and agreed that there was a lot of good work taking place in the regions but there was a need to note and share good practice and experiences. To aid this process a simple template had been produced which could be filled in quickly and would provide a simple update on what was taking place in each of the regions. It was agreed that an electronic template would be useful and could be placed on the website. 477. It was also agreed that the CIC Cascade could be used to promote regional activities. 478. It was noted that the three main areas which were of interest across the board at national and regional level were skills, sustainability and the way the industry works (i.e. Constructing Excellence). Members could use these as a guide for their activities, choosing specific aspects which were relevant to their needs. 479. Discussions suggested that a number of event based websites had been produced in some of the regions; therefore clarity and co-ordination were essential. 480. The Committee considered a paper that had been circulated by the South East Centre for the Built Environment relating to the CPD Events website which had been developed by CIC South East. 481. The CPD events website has been rolled out in a number of the regions. Following the Executive Board decision that no central funding should be used for the website, responsibility has been placed on each of the regions to determine their own involvement with resources taken from each region’s funds. CIC South East, East and East Midlands are already signed up to the website, whilst CIC South West have made a commitment to join 482. All regions are in agreement that working closely with CITB ConstructionSkills and Constructing Excellence is a priority. Many of the regions have representatives from both organisations on their Executive committee with an agreement to work as closely as possible in their respective regions. 483. The Committee also considered a paper providing an insight and progress report on the work being done by CIC East and agreed that it could be used as a template by regions who did not already have their own newsletter/update. Summary of Regional Activity484. 485. North West: Chair – Guy Rigby (ICE): The Regional dinner held on 11 June 2004 had been very successful with over 160 guests and arrangements for the 3rd Construction Challenge were well underway. CIC North West has a presence on the Sector Skills Alliance, although there are very few practitioners involved at present. 486. South West: Chair Barry Griffiths (ICE): CIC SW has been improving links with other organisations including Constructing Excellence and Business Link. Barry Griffiths, Regional Manager for the ICE in the South West, has now taken over as the Chair of CIC South-West. 487. South East: Chair – Angus Foster (CIOB): CIC South East was working closely with Constructing Excellence in the region and also with the South East Skills Forum which was developing a programme for management training. It was reported that whilst CIC South East was undertaking a considerable amount of work, resources were a crucial issue. 488. East: Chair – Ed Coe (RICS): CIC East has been working with Investors in People and recently held an event to promote IiP to clients. An open forum event has been organised for the institutions to come together to consider a way forward for the industry in the region. CIC East also sponsored a Graduate Award which has been developed in the region and has also been involved in the Centre for Built Environment. CIC East has been working on a document with Constructing Excellence in the East, which set out a number of targets which relate to the RDA and training. In terms of membership, CIC East is fortunate to have a number of active members who are progressing the work of the region. 489. North East: Chair – Barry Clarke (ICE): The Secretariat for CIC NE is provided by Constructing Excellence in the North East. CIC is engaged with the Centre of Excellence and actively participating with the universities. A long term view is being considered, looking at where the industry will be in the region in 2016 and how this can be influenced. Work is also being undertaken to consider how knowledge can be shared and trust maintained. The region has held two meetings and one AGM and has a number of guest members including the RDA. A lot of activity is taking place between the organisations, and the leading newspaper in the North East has been persuaded to run a monthly article on construction issues in the region. 490. West Midlands: There has been a long period of inactivity in the region as a result of changes at the West Midlands Centre for the Built Environment and the funding of activities. However work had been underway to pull together a meeting of CIC West Midlands which would place the CPD events website as a core issue. 491. East Midlands: Chair – Julian Owen (RIBA): The Region had decided to go ahead with the CPD events website, and was currently looking at the structure of website backup. A brochure had been produced outlining what CIC East Midlands did and the work which was being undertaken. An MPs Forum was arranged for September, along the lines of Question Time. The region had also succeeded in maintaining good regular attendance at meetings, which involved CITB and Constructing Excellence, and close links were continuing to be forged with the RDA. 492. 493. London – Chair Mark van den Berg (RICS) – CIC London has now been formed and its first formal meeting was held at CIC on 14 March 2005. Mark van den Berg (RICS) was elected as the first Chairman for CIC London. 494. 495. The Professional College of the Construction Industry Group in 496. CIC Yorkshire & Humber has not yet been formed. 497. Further information about Regional activity is available from erowe@cic.org.uk . Sustainable Development – Chair: Dave Hampton498. The Sustainable Development Committee met on 7 September 2004 and 26 April 2005. The next meeting will be on 23 June 2005. 499. The meeting in September was preceded by a talk and tour of the Swiss Re building at 30 St Mary Axe organised by Skanska. SDC members were joined by some members of CIC’s staff. The talk was given by a representative from the architectural team and the project manager for the ground works. 500. The talk highlighted the sustainable features of the design. The ‘gherkin’ shape of the building reduced the amount of wind buffering. The Steel skeleton was more robust than buildings with a conventional steel core and had required less steel to be used. The unique design also allowed for more natural light to reach the centre of the floor plate reducing the need for artificial lighting. 501. It was noted that not all the sustainable features had been successful. In the original design the atriums twisting up through the building were created as a natural ventilation system. On completion it was decided that Swiss Re would occupy half of the building which meant that the atriums had to be capped at some points preventing the natural flow of air. 502. One of the main discussion topics at the 26 April meeting was a review of the future objectives and strategies for the SDC in 2005 first debated at the November 2004 meeting. SDC members identified three main areas which it was agreed the SDC should focus on: communication issues, carbon reduction and special projects for the SDC. The issues to be progressed under these topics are noted below. SDC Objectives and Strategies503. There is a suggestion that the SDC consider changing its name to more accurately reflect its activities; become a forum rather than a committee. There was no consensus of agreement on this. 504. Members agreed that the SDC should review the focus of the Committee on an annual basis. It was agreed that the SDC should provide a greater opportunity for institutional members to look at opportunities for cross-working. 505. Members discussed areas of focus for the next few months. These included monitoring the sustainability of the Thames Gateway project, looking at ways to make the Olympic bid include sustainability issues and developing an apolitical ‘manifesto’ for sustainability in the built environment. 506. It was agreed that a sub-group should be created to look at planning issues. 507. It was agreed that future SDC meetings would be restructured so that presentations took place at the end of the meeting to allow more time for the general business of the committee. 508. The following three priorities were agreed for the committee in 2005/6. 509. Communication: In regard to communication issues, it was agreed that the SDC needed to respond to consultations in a more organised way:
510. Carbon Reduction: There was some debate as to whether the SDC should focus on carbon reduction as this was a topic that several organisations were already engaged with. It was agreed that SDC members should continue to address this topic focusing on ‘putting their own houses in order’. It was suggested that all members encourage their institutions and places of work to publish a ‘carbon declaration’ noting the amount of carbon emissions produced by their buildings:
511. Projects: It was generally agreed that the list of potential projects identified by the Committee was over ambitious. It was suggested that the SDC review their resources and establish which projects they would realistically be able to undertake. It was noted that the SDC could develop some projects collaboratively, for example, the Constructing Sustainably guide for clients was being ‘revamped’ in conjunction with the Sustainability Forum. Dave Hampton and other SDC members were also involved with the CarbonSense initiated ‘CO² for CEOs’ project (go to http://www.carbonsense.com/ for more information):
Buildings’ life cycle512. Brendan Patchell gave a presentation on a building’s life cycle tool developed by Bucknell Austin. The tool looks at the life of components in a building and estimates the life of each component and how that impacts on the overall life-cycle of the building; from empty site through occupancy, demolition and beyond. The tool notes the sustainability and cost of each component and from this information the future maintenance costs can be ascertained. For example, the tool can determine whether the initial costs of installing a green roof system saves on costs over time. The tool also calculates less tangible aspects of a design such as the aesthetic quality of a component. Declaration on Carbon Dioxide/ Strategic Forum Carbon sub-group513. The SDF Chairman, Dave Hampton as a member of the Sustainability Forum has been active in the setting up of a Carbon sub-group and was appointed Chairman of the Group which held its first meeting on 7 June. 514. The Group is currently working on a definitive guide to industry carbon issues. The dissemination and format of the Guide will be determined by the level of resources available to the Group which has yet to be ascertained. The Carbon Group is also considering sponsorship opportunities for the project. 515. Bill Bordass reported that he had been working with the Carbon Sub-group to develop a declaration on carbon dioxide. He said that the Carbon Group had agreed that there was a need for some common standards to be identified. For example, when discussing building emissions it is not clear whether the floor area is net or gross or if the area is calculated to include people. The declaration would also consider the effectiveness of existing initiatives such as heat recovery systems. Bill noted that nCRISP had written up six think pieces on carbon issues and these had been ‘donated’ to the Carbon Group to use as a basis for the declaration. Work on the declaration would be done in conjunction with The Edge as the Carbon Trust had provided some funding for the project via The Edge. It was noted that the Edge intended to hold a meeting to look at Part L on 13 September CEEQUAL516. Keith Montague gave a presentation about CEEQUAL. He said that the awards scheme had been set up to provide an incentive to improve environmental performance. He noted that the scheme is complimentary to BRE’s Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM) which assesses design intent while CEEQUAL considers outcomes and is specific to civil engineering projects. BREEAM and CEEQUAL might be used in conjunction to assess the sustainability of a community. Keith noted that structures put forward for the award so far had been rated ‘excellent’ or ‘very good’. He expected that the awards would provide more of a benchmark as an increasing number of projects were submitted. More information about CEEQUAL can be found at http://www.ceequal.com Clients’ Guide to Constructing Sustainably517. Dave Hampton and the SDC secretary met Annie Hall from CITB-ConstructionSkills. It has been suggested that the Guide might be reprinted for a wider audience with the support of some large sponsors from outside of the industry such as banks and legal firms. She explained that she had already made a tentative approach to secure funding for a print run of around 50,000 copies. Annie believed that CITB-ConstructionSkills would be prepared to provide £5,000 development funding for the Guide to be revamped. 518. Waterman Group, Engineering and Environmental consultants, has commissioned a run of 500 copies of the Guide for its clients and advisors under the co-sponsorship scheme. Sustainable Communities Summit519. There was a review of the Summit and a discussion about which activities the SDC could take forward. Members agreed that a major issue had been that many organisations involved in sustainable construction were not represented at the Summit. This was because the delegate fee had been set at over £700 per delegate, excluding accommodation and travel costs. SDC members who had been able to attend the Summit felt that discussion sessions were biased towards the views of large developers, mainstream industry bodies and government departments who made up the majority of delegates. 520. SDC members noted their disappointment that the Summit had not been used as a platform to launch the Sustainable Buildings Code. It was agreed that the SDC should explore any opportunity to influence the development of the Code. It was noted that, with one exception, members of the original task group were not represented on the senior steering code that had been set up to further progress the Code. SDC members feared that the Code might be ‘dumbed down’. For example, it was not intended that the Code would address location and transport issues in the way that the EcoHomes initiative does. Development of the Sustainable Buildings Code will be an agenda at the next SDC meeting. SDC Chairmanship521. Dave Hampton retires at the AGM after three years as Chairman of the SDC. The Deputy Chairman, Hazel McKay will take over the chairmanship. Members thanked Dave for his generous time commitment to the SDC over the past few years. Members were asked to note their nominations for the Deputy Chairmanship to the secretary. 522. Further information about Sustainable Development Activities at CIC is available from bfidler@strategicforum.org.uk. The Annual General Meeting is invited to receive this report of activities during the year. A formal published Review will be published in December 2005. On behalf of the Executive Board and Council Graham Watts Chief ExecutiveThe Executive Board invites the Council to receive this report Graham Watts Chief Executive |
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