Bring on the brickies, join with the joiners

While it is commendable and necessary, I believe the time has also come to forge stronger links with the skilled trades. The CIOB can never be truly representative of the building industry unless our involvement begins at the workface and ends in the boardroom. I feel the time has come to consider the formation of a Building Trades Faculty with partnerships being forged with bodies such as the Institute of Carpenters and the Institute of Plumbing. This would not only result in closer coordination, discussion and research but also provide wider feedback on the everyday problems encountered on site. Moreover it offers an opportunity to bring together a broader range of skills at lectures and similar events. At present there is often a lack of continuity between the tradesmen at the point of application and those who devise the management concepts and programmes. The institute is in a unique position to benefit the industry by doing more to bring everyone together under one roof.