News round up July

Industry calls for government action on apprenticeships

The industry has been challenged by the government education minister John Hayes to come up with solutions ‘to increase the provision and effectiveness of apprenticeship schemes, following a summit with senior construction bosses.

The meeting took place as the industry steps up its lobbying efforts as workloads continue to plummet. In mid-July, the UK Contractors Group is to launch a campaign that will cover site hoardings in London during the Olympics with posters highlighting the importance of construction to the economy, using the slogan “Creating for Britain”.

It follows a report last month from the construction council of the Confederation of British Industry, which urged the government to bring forward repair and maintenance projects planned for future years to create more construction jobs now. In its report, Bridging the gap: backing the construction sector to generate jobs, the CBI said getting employment levels in construction back up to pre-2008 levels would create an extra 193,200 full-time and 24,300 part-time jobs.

Midas chairman Steve Hindley FCIOB, who chairs the CBI’s construction council, said the report focused on  repair and maintenance because projects tend to be labour intensive, part of long-running contracts and are good at generating apprenticeships. He said: “It would have the effect of helping with youth unemployment and keeping the industry working.”

At last month’s summit, construction chiefs highlighted the impact the economy was having on apprentice training and the complexities of getting  funding from 47 different initiatives.

Another key message to John Hayes was that public bodies should be less prescriptive in asking for apprentices to be taken on as part of the contract, because the length of projects was often much shorter than the two-year training period required.

Photo: Agnese Sanbito

Bridge work

The award-winning Bridge of Aspiration (above), by Wilkinson Eyre Architects, which links the Royal Ballet School in Covent Garden, London with the Grade I-listed Royal Opera House , is one of 60 pioneering buildings to feature in the Building Centre’s Summer exhibition — 60 Buildings 60 Years.

Sponsored by BLP Insurance and running until September, the show takes a look at the best London architecture built over the last six decades and forms part of the London Festival of Architecture 2012.

David Philp: “Massive potential”

Institute commits to BIM training

The CIOB has pledged to develop new training courses to support members gearing up for BIM, an issue that’s now firmly on the radar as public sector clients start to make BIM-readiness a tender-stage requirement.

The commitment was made at the CIOB’s BIM conference in Dublin last month, where speakers included Cabinet Office head of BIM implementation David Philp, BIM for Retail chairman James Brown, and Vinci Construction’s BIM strategy manager William Hackney.

The institute will provide a BIM learning and development programme for members, offered via the regional branches and centres and aimed particularly at contractors and supply chain members in the SME sector.

Eddie Tuttle, public affairs and policy manager at the CIOB, said: “The industry faces huge challenges on training and upskilling to operate in a BIM-enabled world. The CIOB recognises that it needs to support its diverse membership as the industry adopts this and is transformed through the use of this technology.

The CIOB is also exploring the linkages between BIM and time management, and hopes that the consultation currently underway on the Contract for use with Complex Projects (p26 and p43) will generate insights that can be fed through to government as part of the legal, contracts and insurance working party reporting to its BIM Task Group.

“The CIOB has a massive potential to enable the construction supply chain and help them on their BIM journey raising awareness and giving practical guidance to its members,” said David Philp, commenting on the training plan. “It was unmistakable that the Institute intends to put BIM on the top of the “making it happen” list.”

He added: “Both Chris Blythe and Alan Crane set out a compelling vision for the CIOB’s BIM strategy and their intention to be strategic and global in their mission.”

But although the government mandate  only applies from 2016, contractors report that clients on frameworks are already quizzing them on their BIM strategies when discussing new projects. 

Peter Robertson, group strategy and business development director at contractor Rydon, confirmed: “People have been asking us BIM questions already, and I think it will happen quite quickly.”

Karl Redmond, director of the Leeds-based Construction Sector Network, said the government’s BIM Task Group needs to respond: “BIM is being developed by government quite slowly, but it’s being overtaken by the market. They need to get information on BIM out to the SMEs.”

Colour vision

East London’s Leyton High Road (below), running close to the eastern edge of the Olympic Park, has been given a colourful make-over in preparation for the Olympics. Using cash from the government’s Working Neighbourhoods Fund, Waltham Forest Council has transformed the street by removing clutter and applying a Portobello-style colour scheme. According to London’s Evening Standard, most of the retailers have reported an increase in trade.

Small business cooperative targets Green Deal work

A scheme to help thousands of small construction firms get work through the Green Deal is likely to launch next year.

The Federation of Master Builders, the National Federation of Builders, the RICS, the Electrical Contractors Association and the RIBA are among 10 professional bodies and trade associations working with consultancy Parity Projects to create a cooperative of small businesses that can undertake Green Deal work.

Russell Smith, managing director of Parity Projects, said the cooperative, which has a working title of the Green Deal Conduit, is talking to around five Green Deal providers who can supply householders with loans to pay for the work, which would then be carried out by the cooperative’s members. The cooperative can also provide installations of green technology that go beyond the scope of the Green Deal.

The idea behind the cooperative is to ensure that small firms do not lose out on Green Deal work to bigger firms.

Smith said: “It allows small organisations to be in charge of their own destiny. The Green Deal is an opportunity if they grasp it but it is also a threat because it will get bigger organisations moving into the territory of the smaller builder or builder’s merchant.”

Brian Berry, chief executive of the Federation of Master Builders, said: “Most Green Deal providers will be retailers or large energy providers. We have talked to Parity and the other trade associations to see whether we could set up a Green Deal cooperative so SME installers could direct their customers to the cooperative to help arrange the funding.”