Professional Practices
Constant changes in a Professional world
Professional Engineer Training
A successful event that offered a valuable insight to the PET course and subsequent career opportunities as a Professionally Qualified Engineer. The feedback received at the event and afterwards overwhelmingly suggested that events such as this should continue to be run in years to come.
See the resulting Post event report here.
Building Control – For the Future
In November, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) released the Building Control Inspector Competency Framework consultation, the outcomes of this important consultation will affect all building control professionals working in English Local Authorities, Approved Inspectors and Building Control Approvers.
From October 2023, Building Control Professionals will need to prove their competence before applying for registration with the new Building Safety Regulator (BSR). 17% of CABE’s membership currently work in Building Control, this is a significant number of individuals who will be directly affected by these changes and their valuable insight was essential to this consultation.
To ensure CABE’s consultation response reflected the thoughts and concerns of the membership, a survey was issued asking questions not just on the consultation, but on their views of the whole of the Building Control sector. This allowed us to get a snapshot of the sector, their work, their career plans, and the industry, and we are delighted to share a summary report of the survey results. Amongst the findings we uncovered that:
• 66% of respondents intend to register as a Building Inspector
• 42% believe the construction industry’s understanding of how to comply with the Building Regulations has deteriorated; and
• Over 82% believe that resourcing for Building Control functions has declined.
With the rapid changes in the sector, it was not surprising to discover that Building Control professionals are concerned about the future, with 38% considering, or planning to leave the sector altogether. But what is also clear is that there is a dedicated and committed group of Building Control Professionals who are striving to deliver the best service for their clients.
It was positive to see that there was general support for the core competencies outlined in the consultation, along with the establishment of the four different levels – awareness, appreciation, understand and comprehensive – to distinguish the level of experience and knowledge the Building Control professional has.
The results of the survey, which informed CABE’s response to the consultation, have now been shared with the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) and the BSR at HSE.
The survey can be viewed at cbuilde.com/buildingcontrol
Notes
The survey garnered 412 responses, with 90% of the respondents currently working in the Building Control profession. The split of those working in Local Authority Building Control (36%) and Approved Inspectors (53%) has allowed us to generate a snapshot of the whole of the profession and establish the thoughts and concerns of those working in the sector.
Phase 2 NEPC Report – Infection Resilient Environments: Time for a Major Upgrade
Following on from the deep dive on infection resilient environments investigations the phase 2 NEPC report – Infection Resilient Environments: Time for a major change – has now been published.
COVID-19 provided a stark illustration of the direct health costs and socioeconomic impacts of poor infection control. We have used a systems-based approach, exploring the needs for different building types and considering interventions across the stages of infrastructure lifecycle, recognising the vital need to target both existing and future building stock and public transport systems. Our report makes eight policy recommendations that together could improve how our indoor environments are designed, commissioned, operated, and managed. Key messages include;
- Establishing good practice – There is a need to develop a clear baseline for best practice in infection resilience by convening multidisciplinary expertise and developing meaningful standards.
- Align with Net Zero strategy – government departments such as BEIS, DfT and DLUHC must ensure that major retrofit programmes designed to meet the commitments of the Net Zero Strategy also incorporate infection resilience.
- Promoting building health – the UK Health Security Agency should undertake a communications campaign for building and transport owners, management and the public, that heightens awareness of infection resilience.
- Ensuring that buildings operate as designed in terms of infection resilience – industry bodies and public procurement must drive improvements to commissioning of building systems to ensure they function as designed to provide safe environments.
- Establishing in-use regulations with local authorities to maintain standards of safe and healthy building performance over the building lifetime.
The project has been run in partnership with CIBSE and has involved contributions from several NEPC partners including IMechE and IHEEM, we would like to thank everyone who has been involved for supporting the scoping, evidence, and direction of this work. Over the next few months, we will be planning a series of activities to ensure the recommendations are impactful, and welcome involvement from you and your members. If you have any questions you are welcome to follow up with Shema Bhujel.
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