General elections are always a good time to take stock and review how the national landscape has changed. When we last went to the polls in 2005, the Code for Sustainable Homes and updated Part L hadn’t yet been published, Building Schools for the Future hadn’t yet got under way, and one of the main construction-related issues was the
fear that the unstoppable proliferation of new housing would carpet over the green belt. So when we’re beset with today’s worries, there may be some comfort in realising that we’ll probably struggle to remember them in five years.
The fact that so much has changed since 2005, with shifts of gear from boom to bust to post-recession reality, each one accompanied by exhortations to go greener, has probably contributed to the sense of weariness among the construction sector in Northampton.
It’s tough to rethink your strategy and sustainability agenda every six months, especially when getting it wrong could have disastrous effects.
But away from the seat of government and national-level concerns, other issues also came into focus. There was a sense that bureaucratic barriers erected to ensure fair play on procurement were having a perverse effect, sidelining the local businesses that knew local conditions best. And frustration that planning decisions were made with seeming disregard for the commercial realities of development. In other words, there was some instinctive sympathy for the Conservatives’ “localist” agenda.
That isn’t to say there was much confidence that Open Source Planning would work – in fact, none of the interviewees had read it. It was more a disenchantment with one-size-fits-all policies applied across the board, and a desire for more diversity of thinking.
Clearly, it’s a tricky issue. Nationwide policy initiatives get attention and generate results, while local patchworks of policies risk confusion and inefficiency. But there could also be positive aspects to localism, such as beneficial regional competition, empowered communities, and the opportunity to trial different approaches. It would be a pity if the incoming government, whether Labour, Conservative or a Lib Dem coalition, viewed localism purely as a party issue.
Emerging opportunities
If the Election campaign prompts despair, remember that other countries are going through very different times. In the new emerging markets, the talk is of GDP growth, multi-billion infrastructure schemes and changing skylines. The opening up of hitherto unexplored markets in Africa, Central and South East Asia brings opportunities for companies that have never exported before.
Now that many UK companies have a globalised staff drawn from many cultures and countries, some employers will have a direct route into markets they wouldn’t previously have had access to. Risky, but so is a stay-at-home strategy.
Elaine Knutt, editor
Feedback
Let’s use RICS as a role model, Heath Powell MCIOB
I was moved to write after reading the James Wates Q and A (CM January) and Janet Wood’s letter (CM March). Wates was enthused by the idea that CIOB membership should be seen almost as a licence to practice, and the pinnacle of the construction management profession.
I agree, but our CIOB title of “builders” still gives the idea to the majority that
we could do them an extension on their house, as Wood suggests. Should we revisit the name of our institution, maybe the Chartered Institute of Construction Management?
In many ways, we do seem less appealing than the RICS. Here’s a few examples:
The CIOB magazine has Mercedes Benz vans, the RICS magazine has Mercedes Benz cars. I have driven a company car for more than 20 years, as many other members do too.
On the RICS website you can put in a surname, such as Wates, and find a list of members. On the CIOB website, unless you have your membership number, it returns no results.
According to www.wates.co.uk, the new president’s family company is not a Chartered Building Company. Do the rest of the board not think it has value to gaining customers?
Judging by the “Wates Family Holdings” page, it seems that there is only one Chartered Construction Manager on the Wates board. Would the Wates construction company consider becoming a Chartered Building Company, showing employees that membership of the CIOB may assist their progression? Most surveying companies state on their websites and company literature that they are a company of chartered surveyors which may (must) encourage membership.
We should encourage all construction companies to add the detail of whether their staff are MCIOB or FCIOB.
Wouldn’t it be good if all vacancies in the CIOB magazine stated membership as desirable (perhaps offering a discount to encourage this)? More than 80% of RICS adverts in the RICS magazine state membership as a preference.
I am unsure whether we need a name change but we do need to do something different and mirroring the success of the RICS must be a good starting point.
The future of training, Mark Farrar, chief executive, CITB-ConstructionSkills
We’re very much looking forward to working with James Wates as he takes over as chairman in April (Vox pop, CM March). He’ll no doubt have his own take on the future of the organisation and we’ll be exploring this with him and the board over the coming months. The main challenges as we see them are:
Balancing the levy/grant books. With CITB-ConstructionSkills facing lower income from falling levy payments, reduced government funds and less commercial income, it’s essential that the industry agrees on the best way to support skills and training – through changes to the grant scheme and by identifying activities that will make the biggest impact. While the changes are not going to be popular with all parts of the industry, they are needed to create a financially sustainable grant scheme. The board will make final decisions about its shape in April.
Making it about more than levy and grant. The levy supports other industry-wide skills and training initiatives and leverages in non-levy income. We support employers through a network of advisers across Britain; we help apprentices at risk of redundancy to remain in work; we provide skills intelligence for the sector, improve the industry’s image through high-profile recruitment campaigns, shape qualifications and lead the way on health and safety, management and leadership and graduate programmes to name but a few.
We’re talking to employers every day to ensure that these “added value” activities support the industry’s needs now and in the future.
Getting our own house in order. Balancing the levy/grant books is not the only thing we are doing to react to the challenges of the recession. A four-point financial plan is now in place and agreed with industry and government. It sets out the critical steps required to put the organisation on a firm and sustainable footing.
The organisation has stepped up efforts to make a range of cost savings, and redundancies, pay restraint and prioritisation are making a difference to our operating costs. Our longer-term transformation plans focus on delivering a more flexible, leaner, and e-enabled enterprise that is fit for the future.
Technologist sums me up, Jamie Sugg ICIOB, via website
I wholeheartedly agree with what David Stockdale says (CM March and website). I am someone who has benefited from the broad church of the CIOB as I don’t come from a traditional construction management background. I trained as a CAD technician working for a consulting structural engineer. I then worked for a firm of steel fabricators, taking a role in managing some of the projects. I now work as a project manager/designer for an architectural glazing company.
In this era of CDM regulations, I have a major responsibility towards the design and management of the facade before, during and after the construction phase. I am using my knowledge of construction technology to design and build a solution, therefore “chartered building technologist” perfectly sums up my role. I would definitely welcome the title change.
We need open minds on IT, Grant Gover, via website
Your IT article (CM March) was jolly interesting. I have been extolling the virtues of Building Information Modelling for some time. I think one must remain flexibly minded and quickly take on board new technologies that increasingly go, and will go, hand in hand with developments in discrete systems such as architecture, construction, contract procurement and estimating. This is the modern world – and where will it take us?
Contact us
Do you have an opinion on any of this month’s articles? Email: [email protected]
Vox pop
Should construction take inspiration from Tesco or John Lewis?
The press portrayed Tesco as the bad guy for cutting costs, but really it was a smart procurement move. Businesses can’t afford to be protective about how they operate. We operate in a global market and to remain competitive we have to explore all opportunities of achieving lower costs in terms of both materials and people procurement.
The main issue for me is one of guaranteeing the same level of quality of individuals, or indeed products, that we have in the UK. That’s why Tesco is training the Indian architects and QSs in the UK before sending them back home to work.
There are other benefits to Tesco’s approach. The time difference between the UK and some countries means you can send paperwork over to India in the evening and have it back on your desk by the next morning, which is particularly useful on fast-track projects.
Paul Nash FCIOB, Cyril Sweett
Tesco’s methodology isn’t one the industry should adopt. The UK has plenty of unemployed, skilled professionals who I’m sure would be willing to negotiate lower salaries to secure work. It’s also damaging to the economy, especially as the government is paying unemployed people who are seeking work to sit at home.
You only have to go into a Waitrose to see the positive effects of John Lewis’s business model – everyone looks so happy. The model of employee ownership is definitely something contractors could adopt and it delivers many key benefits for employee and employer alike. Building materials supplier Burdens uses the same model already. With employees also shareholders, there’s an incentive to work hard and gain value ahead of retirement, and it brings stability to the company.
Phillip Hall, managing director, Hall Construction
Outsourcing UK work to India is a worrying trend already widespread in the IT and banking industries, which could really damage the construction supply chain if allowed to escalate. It’s not great in terms of team collaboration and encouraging skills development in the UK. We need to be creating jobs here for when the economy picks up.
To cut costs construction businesses should instead look to innovate as Waitrose has done, which widened its product offer to make it more appealing to consumers. Waitrose’s “Essentials” range generated sales of more than £500m in its first year.
Emma Nicholson ICIOB, senior project manager, Stace
In the UK we have a significant underuse of resources, which we should be making the most of instead of looking abroad for expertise, even if that appears cheaper in the short term. An eBay-style of tendering, where lowest cost rules, runs completely counter to principles set out by Latham and Egan, which show that collaboration helps develop long-term relationships, quality and savings.
We currently have this strange global scenario with UK clients increasingly looking abroad for expertise, while many foreign countries are seeking UK talent, which they see as delivering a higher level of quality, skill and value for money. We don’t want to lose all our expertise abroad.
Bob Heathfield, PPCIOB, chairman, South East Centre for the Built Environment
Hard-nosed efficiency doesn’t necessarily mean outsourcing employment to India. It can be achieved by involving empowered employees in decision making. Integrated working from client, through the entire construction team to end user, is the way to future success. Construction must come out of the recession able to prove that it has learned its lesson and is able to deliver safe, efficient, sustainable solutions.
Peter Jacobs, vice president CIOB, director, Bovis Lend Lease
I’m with John Lewis. The best projects I’ve worked on have shown strong team collaboration with communication between all parties involved. It’s about understanding the challenges together and solving problems as a team. Tesco’s decision to employ workers from India could fall flat. Construction projects really benefit from face-to-face contact, which is impossible if their architects and QSs are on the other side of the world.
Louisa Finlay, operations director, Kier
(Apologies to mistakenly refering to Louisa France in March’s CM – Ed)
Online opinion
Your reaction to the stories in last month’s CM
Welcome to Bob’s world
Interesting to read the Top 10 IT trends – specifically online services for mobile devices. One collaboration vendor, UNIT4 Collaboration Software (formerly Business Collaborator), already has a mobile service that enables users to access their BC project collaboration system.
Stuart Hall-Cooper
“Professionals like Bob Leung envision a future”. There is no such word in the English language as “envision”. “Envisage” is the perfectly adequate word you are struggling to find.
Philip Sears
“Envision” is listed in the Oxford English Dictionary – Ed.
Tories progress plan for private safety inspections
The Tories are nuts, there is no such thing as a low-risk construction company, it’s a contradiction in terms. I would ask for some examples and I bet you won’t get any.
Jim Green
Tory green planning paper has industry up in arms
I think they would be better off trying to get the economy back on its feet, instead of creating more ways of messing up the construction industry.
R J Kilduff
Charities seek CIOB members to help with Haiti recovery
Hi, just to let everyone know, Costain is sending a team to participate in the RedR challenge. A link to the donation page is below. The team is a mixture of managers and engineers, and will be representing the brand to help raise awareness of RedR’s efforts and help raise money for rescue efforts, including Haiti. www.justgiving.com/costainredrchallenge
Sanjit Barham
Tesco outsources work to India
Yet again it’s Tesco doing as they please. It’s about time the UK government stood up to them and put them in their place. There’s a recession still on in the UK, so Tesco should be passing this work onto BRITISH workers. Another reason why we should shop at Morrisons and Asda instead.
Jonathan Davies
Why do people keep insisting British jobs for British workers! All retailers look at the bottom line, it’s time to try to promote added value for services to ensure that work is not outsourced overseas.
Kevin Matthews
David Stockdale: hold the horses
I agree that construction management presents a narrow view of the broad church that is CIOB. Not sure I like technologist, much prefer to remain as a Chartered Builder.
Ray Melville
Why not have several titles? Chartered building technologist would suit me as I don’t “build” anything, but others may stick with chartered builder; or chartered construction manager.
Tim Richardson
