Reaching out

At the Construction Industry Board Conference 'Learning to Succeed' held in late 1999, the role of professionals and managers in meeting client expectations for greater efficiency and quality of product was seen as a major issue. Serious concerns were expressed as to whether there were sufficient numbers entering higher education, and whether those emerging were adequately equipped with the right skills and knowledge.

While these concerns apply to all engineering disciplines, they apply particularly to the building services profession. We are now seeing clear evidence of a significant shortage of suitably qualified engineers at all levels.

In January 2001, the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) organised a further high profile meeting, hosted by Malcolm Wicks, under-secretary of state for lifelong learning, and addressed by the DETR Secretary of State, Nick Raynsford. The aim of this meeting was to get key stakeholders to commit to an agenda for action which had come out of discussions within the Movement for Education and Training Task Force.

The outcome of this meeting was positive and the actions were agreed. There is little doubt that progress will be forthcoming to benefit the construction industry in the medium to longer term. In my view, however, the building services profession must move forward these issues itself much more quickly.

The current educational training infrastructure in building services is weak, and if current trends are not reversed they may well become weaker still. The changes to SARTOR 3 (Standards and Routes to Registration) may well exacerbate the situation.

CIBSE strategic plan
There is a fundamental need for the Institution to review policies and activities connected with training and education. The CIBSE is currently working to ensure that there is a robust infrastructure in place to enable development of its education and training policies.

This provides a framework within which to work, but is not enough to reverse current trends. There is a clear need to continually prioritise activities and to engage industry and the education and training providers in the process.

The Institution has before it recommendations for policies and priorities:

• develop and maintain the existing training and education infrastructure
  
• continue support for all viable further and higher education courses of adequate quality
  
• support development of matching sections, and courses that can lead to IEng registration
  
• promote the profession at school, further and higher education levels
  
• work with others to achieve its aims

In the short-term the main priority for the Institution is to raise awareness. It is also vital for the CIBSE to work with the Joint Board of Moderators (JBM) and the Engineering Council to ensure a smooth implementation of the SARTOR 3 changes.

CIBSE also needs to liaise closely with further and higher education courses and support the academic training infrastructure. In particular this applies to BEng degrees (leading to IEng), matching sections for HNDs and masters degrees, and support for modular and distance learning. Sponsorship will be important to promote these measures.

CIBSE needs to continue lobbying relevant bodies such as the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and promote the building services profession particularly to undergraduates in relevant disciplines.

Finally, the CIBSE needs to identify a champion or champions to take these issues forward.

All these activities are fundamental. However, it is not easy to establish the drivers which will reverse the current fall in numbers entering the profession.

We are not alone
Building services is not alone with this problem. Construction (perhaps with the exception of architecture) and other engineering courses are experiencing similar problems.

The University and Colleges Admissions Service have stated that the number of construction related applications for the September 2000 entry plummeted by 14% in 1999, from 8413 to 7261. Acceptances to courses also fell, by 9% from 1813 to 1651.

This is set against a background where a record number of students taking university and college places increased by 5000 in the same period. Of perhaps greater significance is that, since 1995, the number of construction-related applications has fallen by 60% overall, with acceptances down by nearly 40%.

The statistics also show a decline in the number of building services graduates over the last ten years, and yet it is clear from recruitment consultants that the number of jobs asking for graduates vastly exceeds supply. Recruitment at the technician level, particularly of electrical and controls disciplines, is if anything facing a greater crisis.

Over the past year, CIBSE has been looking to develop its strategy on education and the promotion of careers in building services engineering and has in place a significant number of initiatives.

CIBSE activities
In promoting the profession, the CIBSE has been developing careers literature, posters, and a website to promote building services to school leavers. It has also given support for other initiatives associated with the CITB, the Construction Industry Council (CIC) and the Engineering Council.

Employers...need to attract young people into the industry, communicate their requirements and promote a positive image

CIBSE is working with third parties such as recruitment specialist Hays Montrose, whose contribution to the Institution funds most of the work in the education area. Specific initiatives include the CIBSE Patrons initiative Planning into Practice, aimed at school children at Key Stage 1 and 2 (a Key Stage 3 project to link with government's cad/cam initiative is in development).

Advertisements are being placed in third-party literature sent to schools, colleges, careers offices and children at home, and a Powerpoint presentation is being produced for universities and colleges offering building services courses.

Outside of formal education, local networks are being established with colleges, schools and local industry by regional CIBSE committees and CIC offices.

Preparing for SARTOR 3 means close dialogue with further and higher education colleges, and close co-operation with other institutions such as the ICE, IStructE and others to identify best practice. Support for further and higher education courses will require lobbying of Government to support building services infrastructure, liaison with senior civil servants and MPs who promote engineering.

If the MEng route is to prosper we will need to enter into discussions with the EPSRC to secure funding for five new MSc courses. This will also require dialogue with University Vice Chancellors, and the CIBSE membership recruitment officer will need to visit schools and colleges to spread the message. It will also be important to broaden engineering courses to include the fundamentals of building services.

These measures alone, however, will not increase the numbers of young people into the industry. Employers and individuals must become more committed to the challenge. In my view it has been demonstrated very clearly that, where companies have in place a structured graduate recruitment and training scheme, good quality young people can be attracted into the industry.

However, while our case for attracting people into the profession is a strong one, the profession must be proactive.

Selling the message
In selling the message, we can promote the high environmental content of the discipline and its role in combating the threat of climate change. We can promote sustainability, best practice, lower energy use and reduced carbon emissions. Building services is also about working for the well-being of people, and the improvement of their social environment.

The job is varied, with a great diversity of challenging projects, many of which require expertise in computer design, visualisation and management. There are travel opportunities too, and a varied day-to-day work experience.

We mustn't forget that construction is a people-business, requiring good communication skills and the ability to work in a team. The career also delivers tangible results: you can see the results of your endeavours.

The shortage of skilled people in construction means that good calibre people can expect to benefit from training and fast-track career development, a quality working environment, and attractive salaries.

These messages must be taken into schools. Brochures, CD-Roms and posters are no longer enough. We must help representatives from industry, and preferably younger engineers, to build relationships with schools. This means targeting children, teachers and parents with the case for building services engineering.

We must raise the standards of people entering the industry and ensure that the university courses are of appropriately high standard to provide the diversity of skills required and that good industrial training is available. The framework provided by the CIBSE includes a structure for obtaining qualifications, course accreditation, guidance routes to qualification, and training scheme accreditation.

The right courses?
There is a range of options available to people entering the qualification route in building services – graduate courses (full and part-time), graduate courses in mechanical or electrical engineering, MSc courses (full-time and via matching sections), distance learning and foundation degrees, soon to be introduced.

However, the big question is whether or not these courses provide industry with what is required in terms of quality, content and skills diversity. While the CIBSE can provide the education, training and qualifications infrastructure and make available places for all within the Institution, it also needs to actively promote the right image for the industry, and make available promotional material.

CIBSE should also lobby government to provide a better balance of arts/engineering courses, and target members (via the CIBSE Regions) who have links with schools as parents or governors to promote building services in schools.

We should not forget that employers have a role to play as well. They need to attract young people into the industry, communicate their requirements and promote a positive image. Employers should also invest in training and understand the options for education and their link with CIBSE membership.

And what are the messages for universities and colleges? They need to provide quality courses for quality students to produce intellectual capacity to enable change and greater efficiency. Universities and colleges also need to provide a way in to higher education aligned with life-long learning.

The above must be treated as a start. It must be maintained and developed if we are to improve the current unsatisfactory situation. Our overall objectives should be to aim high. We should bid to attract the best at all levels, getting them on to high quality courses offering all of the skills targeted to the needs of industry, and to meet institutional requirements at appropriate levels.

We must find a way to take these actions further. As the CIBSE Education Champion, I am happy to act as a focus for suggestions and to organise debate to allow good ideas, and perhaps radical ideas, to be considered in as wide a forum as is practicable. I suggest we should give ourselves no more than six months for this debate. In the first instance your contributions should be directed in writing (as brief as possible) to me via the CIBSE.