A selection of readers’ comments about news and issues in the industry from across the CIOB community and social media.
Call for workforce reforms to tackle construction skills crisis
A report from the Centre for Social Justice has warned that without radical reforms, construction risks falling short of the government’s 1.5 million homes target.
Instead of employers wanting modular workers (i.e. kitchen fitters) or wanting people who can do first fix and the like, train apprentices the traditional way to be able to cover all aspects of their trades be it brickwork, plastering etc. Ensure companies only employ fully trained workers by more stringent use of the CSCS cards, perhaps even using a registration system such as the Gas Safe or NICEIC.
Roy Anderson
Government housing targets are a bitter lemon
Gleeds’ Richard Steer sets out why he believes the government’s 1.5m homes target now appears “wildly optimistic”.
Mike Reader MP is still suggesting that this target is achievable, whilst also saying
“This isn’t just about the quality of the housing product itself. It’s also about the quality of place – do these homes create communities rather than isolated housing developments, how do they promote sustainable travel, connect with green spaces?” Well not really. Developers always quote ‘sustainable developments’ as a sales pitch, but in reality they fall way short.
Mac1
We are united against ‘dumbing down’ of apprenticeships
Helen Hewitt, CEO of the British Woodworking Federation, explains why industry leaders are coming together in response to the government’s proposed apprenticeship reforms.
More and more, I see a worrying lack of skills and knowledge on construction sites. Many tradespeople do not fully understand the regulations or how to apply them in practice. Members of design teams often lack insight into good design, effective supervision of contractors, or even the motivation to check work on site – leaving the responsibility to already overstretched building control departments… Let’s hope things improve – but I’m not holding my breath.
David Fitchie
What happens if your registered building control approver becomes insolvent?
Following the collapse of Assent, Trowers’ Tim Hillier and Olivia Jenkins outline the options available after a building control body ceases trading.
There [are] also those initial notices for non high-rise buildings where the BSR is not involved. With all the new regulation, if the building control body goes under, a new application is needed and this sounds like “unregulated business” despite [whether] they are registered or not. The new system falls short here.
Gabriel
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