The CIOB has relaunched its Chartered Building Company and Chartered Building Consultancy schemes , making the assessment criteria more robust, but also raising the scheme’s profile with a new marketing campaign.
Just under 600 businesses, from SMEs to international concerns, have joined the scheme since its inception, and the CIOB hopes that the relaunch will boost membership by at least 10%.
Under the revised criteria, new applicants and existing members will need to have been trading for a minimum of two years, and commit to becoming a CIOB training partner.
Health and safety, quality management, environmental, equal opportunities and corporate social responsibility policies must all be in place, and references from clients and supply chain partners must also be submitted.
"I think there’s a bright future for CIOB CBCs – it certainly helped our business to link ourselves in with such a great institute."
Rob Hooker, Greendale
Applications will be assessed by a new Member Admission Panel, made up of CIOB members and headed by Local Authority Building Control chief executive Paul Everall.
The MAP will also conduct audits on members. Businesses currently within the CBC scheme have until 1 October 2016 to comply with the more rigorous criteria.
Rob Hooker MCIOB, co-founder of Poole contractor and CBC Greendale, chaired a group of major contractors, employers, sole traders and clients that helped redraft the rules.
He told Construction Manager: “It needed a refresh, and we wanted to improve the scheme’s robustness – to create something tangible the rest of the industry can look up to.
“Membership numbers have been fairly constant for the past three years. So I’m hopeful we’ll improve on that 10% target. I think there’s a bright future for CIOB CBCs – it certainly helped our business, especially when we were smaller, to link ourselves in with such a great institute.”
The CBC logo has also been revamped to make the CIOB’s own logo more prominent, and members will be given guidance on branding and merchandising displaying the new look.
Hooker commented: “Unless you know the firm was regulated, you might not have linked the two – but now you’ll be linking yourself straight into the CIOB. Being a CBC is like the manifestation of professionalism – architects and clients can recognise it as a badge of professionalism.”
Chris Blythe, CIOB chief executive, said: “CBC members can feel proud of what they have achieved. They are setting new standards of professionalism in construction businesses across the UK and beyond. That recognition is in no small part having a positive impact on construction’s overall image and reputation. Against a backdrop where the general public too often hear about the worst in class rather than the best.
“Our members share the same ambitions as we do – to create the very best industry we can delivering exceptional projects and providing careers that are both fulfilling and rewarding. These new rules make sure CBCs remain at the cutting edge of today’s industry.”
The CIOB is offering support to any current CBC scheme members who may need it as they transition to the new rules.
