Full corporate members (MCIOBs) and fellows (FCIOBs) of the CIOB will be able to describe themselves as Chartered Construction Managers from March next year.
The new designation can be used as an alternative to or in addition to the term “Chartered Builder”, meaning that individuals can use both descriptions and choose the most appropriate according to circumstances, for example in tender documents or corporate websites.
[Edited January 20th 2014 – the CIOB has now made a revision to the above information. Members will have to choose whether to use the new designation or continue to use the term "Chartered Builder". It will not be possible for one individual to use both terms.]
Members interested in taking up the new designation should register their interest in advance with the CIOB, in order to officially join the new Register of Chartered Construction Managers.
The term “Chartered Builder” has been in use since 1980, when the CIOB gained its Royal Charter. The new designation was officially sanctioned in October by the Privy Council, the government body that regulates certain public institutions.
The CIOB says that “Chartered Construction Manager” reflects the breadth and complexity of careers within the built environment sector, and signals the influence that professional construction managers have within, and beyond, the built environment.
"Securing Chartered Construction Manager is an important milestone for the Institute and its global membership. We expect that this internationally recognised title will attract a generation of newcomers to the sector, inspired by the variety of exciting roles on offer."
Chris Blythe, CIOB chief executive
On a website page asking Chartered Construction Managers to “stand up and be counted”, it adds: “As a CIOB member you could be working with BIM or setting strategies for carbon reduction. You might be on site, but you could equally be sitting at head office, supervising teams and setting corporate strategy. And you could be working at any point within the life cycle of a structure, from inception to recycling.”
Chris Blythe, chief executive at the CIOB, said: “We are delighted that construction management has received the external recognition and validation that it so richly deserves. The title Chartered Construction Manager reflects the professionalism of our members and the influence they have on the built environment sector.
“Acting as an interface between disciplines and trades, professional construction managers are pivotal team players. Their contribution is critical to the successful outcome, as well as the quality and sustainability of any completed building.
“Securing Chartered Construction Manager is an important milestone for the Institute and its global membership. We expect that this internationally recognised title will attract a generation of newcomers to the sector, inspired by the variety of exciting roles on offer.”
Members commenting on a LinkedIn discussion thread welcomed the arrival of “Chartered Construction Managers”.
Miltiades Agathou MCIOB said that it would be “more in line with our era”, while Lee Carty MCIOB said that it would align better with his experience than Chartered Builder.
Consultant Nicholas Everett MCIOB said the term sounded “more up to date and more inclusive than Chartered Builder” while Alan Smith ICIOB commented that “there are benefits to both titles. Being called one or the other gives a different impression to people not in the industry.”
The new designation also brings CIOB into line with long-running trends in academia and industry. The Higher Education sector increasingly describes built environment degrees as “construction management” courses, opening up career options that go beyond the construction process to encompass design, carbon reduction, costing, procurement or strategic business development.
The process of expanding the designations available to existing members and potential members began in 2009, when PPCIOB Professor Li Shirong and PPCIOB John Bale began work to set out a new broader definition of the construction manager’s role.
Full corporate CIOB members (MCIOBs) and fellows (FCIOBs) who would like to use Chartered Construction Manager are invited to register their interest by visiting www.ciob.org.
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I agree with the comments of Michael Whittall. In line with Europe, Chartered Building Engineer will be more appropriate than Chartered Construction Manager, but since The Building Engineers in England have now been Chartered, there is nothing we can do than to accept Chartered Construction Manager
I 100% agree with Michael Whittal’s comments. I hope and plead that the proposal is not rushed through, but given thorough thought. Other institutions like the ICE have a title designation after the chartered membership (MICE, CENG) for the technically qualified.
I would propose Building Construction Engineer (BldCENG) after the title MCIOB for those who have technical qualifications.
I found myself marginalised and actually told by my organisation to obtain chartered membership with the ICE, otherwise my CIOB subscription will not be re-imbursed by the company. I had an interview with the ICE to explore my options and found the assessor’s view of the CIOB as degrading. In her opinion, the CIOB is not an institution accredited by the Engineering Council. As Michael Whittal put it, all other professional institutions retain specific designation to technical expertise as essential to add prestige to the membership. I am afraid our institution has got to sort this out fast, as many members might migrate to other institutions, given circumstances like mine. Technically, I am a Civil and Building Engineer. I joined the membership of the CIOB beacuse I deal with building projects and structures, but I found myself marginalised in my organisation and rated lower than ICE members.
I am not sure with Lee Kyson’s comments, but I have great respect for those members who have built up a lot of experience not through academic or technical qualifications, but through hard work in the the industry, for which Construction Manager would be perfectly suitable for them. What I don’t agree with in his comments is that we who manage sites and projects are not just managing processes as he describes it, but are actually engineering them at the same time. We communicate with designers and arhitects throughout the life of a project through “Technical Queries or Request For Information” tools. For that reason, nearly over 50% of projects are designed by engineers working at the forefront of things like us.
I would encourage those members who feel like me to join the debate so that a better and suitable title is agreed, even if for different levels to go after the MCIOB.
In my humble opinion ‘manager’ says what it is – Manager – most of us ‘manage’ processes, we do not ‘engineer’ them in an engineering sense. If a potential client is going to search for relevant professionals i.e. engineer (chartered or not) –surely he is going to expect someone who is more aligned to engineering? They are going expect an ‘Engineer’ not someone who will manage processes or consult with them, as I believe most of us do i.e. consultants, project / site manager, CDM co-ordinator etc….. I can’t see how Chartered Construction Professional would work either, it encompasses too much and is too vague, and would you advertise yourself as such? People / clients look for architects, engineers, project / site managers etc. not CCP’s. I’ve just upgraded to ICIOB, will hopefully be MCIOB in a few weeks and have pre-registered my interest for Chartered Construction Manager so I’ll be happy with Chartered Builder and CCM, it says what I am and what I do which is what potential clients expect to find.
I like this new title. My ‘ Master Builder ‘ is inelegantly Ibsenian rather than Brunellian and wasn’t ‘Engineer’ thrown out by the PC .
Let’s all register as Chartered Construction Managers .
I think the title Manager is of lower ranking and would suggest Chartered Construction Professional similar to CQI that use the title Chartered Quality Professional.
I have already indicated my misgiving in an email to the CE. I believe the term ‘Manager’ is viewed with less and less respect in the media, and generally. Other professional institutions still retain a specific reference to technical expertise as the first essential (Structural, Civil, etc, etc.) Surely a title such as Building or Construction ENGINEER would have greater prestige!
Michael Whittall F (Retd).
Will the new designation commence on the original date of incorporation or a new date from March 2014?
… or what about the elegantly superior (if slightly Brunellian) title ‘Master Builder’?
I found those common words that used in the construction industries as profession.
Of the opinion, I am suggesting “accredited construction manager” would sound better and respected
Regards
I would favour Chartered Building Professional.
Perhaps this has more to do with ongoing discussions with CMAA (Construction Management Association of America) than any real research or discussions and their CCM designation? Is this a turnaround from http://www.politics.co.uk/opinion-formers/ciob-chartered-institute-of-building/article/ciob-calls-on-construction-professionals-to-challenge-wikipe
Having successfully passed the Professional Review, every full member is a construction professional. Again with the recent UK NARIC accreditation of MCIOB status to be slightly below Masters, I think the most appropriate designation should be ‘Chartered Construction Professional’ and not ‘Manager’