The new President of CIBSE,Graham Manly,identified four main aspects of concern to the building services industry and how they can tackled in his Presidential Address 'The Tools for the Job' which was delivered to an invited audience on 6 May 2004.
1. Contractual arrangements
The shift over the last 20 years towards a purely cost-driven approach in selecting professional practices for any given project has been at the expense of selection on the basis of ability and performance.Manly welcomed the recent swing away from price-only based contracts and called for a move towards the integrated team approach which links the clients,designers,constructors,specialists and manufacturers in a determination to work and succeed together. As Manly said:"What is abundantly clear is that the lowest price selection rarely produces value for money,either in terms of the quality of the service or product,or the final bill paid."
2. Sustainable development
Despite the Government's lead in promoting sustainable construction, the building services industry itself has to take its share of the responsibility.There should be a move away from procurement based solely on initial capital cost:equipment selection should take account of energy consumption and maintenance costs over the lifetime of the equipment.
However,engineers need the knowledge of the operational cost of products and systems in order to influence their selection at the design stage.
3. Innovation and off-site fabrication
Off-site fabrication (OSF)is far from new but is rapidly growing in importance.Engineers must improve their knowledge of OSF so that they can provide input to the architect at the concept stage.Manly said: "The real lesson however is that for OSF to be of real benefit,it must form a fundamental part of the integrated and co- ordinated design strategy for the building - another reason for the engineer to be involved at the concept stage."
4. Resources and competence
There is a continuing decline in the experience and competence of much of the building services workforce.He sighted Four main concerns for building services industry qualifications not meeting the needs of students or in many cases employers,the lack of practical and commercial knowledge by designers and the need for engineers to have 'soft' skills including team working and PR.
He proposed the development of courses and training programmes appropriate to the needs of the industry and welcomed the formation of SummitSkills(the new Sector Skills Council for the building services industry)who must take the initiative regarding vocational qualifications and work-based learning.
In conclusion,Manly said of his proposals:
"I suspect that,as with most things in life,on their own they will have little effect,but with a co-ordinated and concerted effort,if all of these actions were implemented,I believe we would start to reduce the general decline in workforce competence.
We may even acquire the necessary skills and understanding to develop successful team working at both design and delivery stages, sufficient technical and commercial knowledge to justify the case for energy-efficient buildings,and designs that lend themselves to off-site manufacture and pre-assembly."
