New government funding for “innovative” approaches to construction training mean four new industry training initiatives could be up and running by November.
The first initiatives will be a BIM course offering an industry-recognised qualification, and a construction-biased course from the Institute of Leadership and Management.
Grants from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills will also part-fund a system to accredit work experience to help young people applying for their first construction job, and new specialist apprenticeships in areas such as facade preservation.
Under the Employer Ownership of Funding pilot, a consortium of contractors will arrange training courses with colleges and training providers, with their investment match-funded by the BIS. Firms that bid successfully to join the scheme, worth £67m in the first year, were announced last month.
The group consists of 10 major contractors, including Vinci, Kier, Willmott Dixon and Costain, and representatives of the National Specialist Contractors Council, an umbrella organisation for trade bodies representing construction SMEs.
CITB-ConstructionSkills convened the group to bid for the funding earlier this year, and will manage training courses resulting from the successful funding bid.
Jon Spencer, Costain training manager and chair of the UK Contractors’ Group training committee, sees the scheme as part of a spirit of industry collaboration.
‘We’re a very fragmented industry — traditionally we competed against each other. Now, we’re working more and more in joint ventures so it makes sense to collaborate more on training.
“If you take BIM, we need to be able to make sure we roll out a similar line to all our people [across the industry] — the Kier BIM course should be no different to anyone else’s. This initiative should satisfy everyone’s needs.”
Debbie Johnson, EOF manager at CITB-ConstructionSkills, said the course would reflect emerging National Occupational Standards for BIM. “We will make sure employers can purchase what they need from training providers. We’re assessing what they’re doing, and drawing on the experience of Balfour Beatty, which has led the way on BIM, to help inform others.”
She described the work experience accreditation scheme as a “standard work-readiness qualification” suitable for young job-seekers. “The companies wanted a way of [a young person] going from one employer to another with recognition of what they’ve achieved.”
Funding is available until July 2013, with the industry group planning a programme worth £18m.
She added that discussions had begun with the Institute of Learning and Management on creating a construction version of one of its courses.
