Alarm bells sounding yet?

The alarming report last week, issued by CITB-ConstructionSkills and the Home Builders Federation, reckons so.

I’m not so sure. The report, first revealed in QS News, admits this figure is very much an estimate, and adds that the number could reduce if so-called modern methods of construction are employed. The question as to whether the government ever presses ahead with the ambitious acceleration of house building that was recommended by economist Kate Barker last year also hovers over such predictions.

In no way does the scepticism over the specific number required detract from the problem, however. One housing QS guestimated the need for residential specialists at nearer to 1,000, a figure that hardly inspires immediate sighs of relief. With current shortages of skills still the major gripe of QS and project management firms, the issue is rightly a priority for new RICS construction faculty chairman Michael Byng.

Moreover, what may be a more pressing concern for the sector than a housing shortage is the skills needed for a project whose deadline is that much more immovable – the Olympics. Greg Russell’s warning that a lack of the QS fundamentals, such as contract management, being used on the scheme could waste vast amounts of public money as well as leading to the depressingly typical contractual delays and disputes is instructive. To meet that will require a serious number of experienced QSs, and the project will also clearly need an army of able project managers to ensure the programme and quality is maintained throughout.

The industry’s Strategic Forum body is promising to draw up an Olympic charter for all parties to adhere to during the programme – skills and properly organised procurement must be a central part of such a document.