NEWS
insideindustry
BSRIA has launched its Inspiring Tomorrow’s Engineers publication which was written by workplace student: Emma Hardacre. This report considers engineering careers over a wide selection of industries and how to choose the appropriate career path and entry route suitable for individual interests and skills. The work was carried out as part of BSRIA’s INSPIRE project which works with local schools, national and local politicians and the media to promote STEM and change its perceptions. Choosing the right engineering path is a “daunting process” and one that must be made “early on” before selecting exam options, college courses or apprenticeships. The publication highlights specifics on the myriad of careers in engineering, especially those related to Building Services: BSRIA’s main body of work. The report offers a cross section of information on the main responsibilities, entry routes, salary ranges and career progression opportunities for each vocation. We need to shout about
engineering! Indeed: it is the responsibility of BSRIA members, industry and government to attract, inspire and engage the next generation of engineers. Building services changes lives, saves the planet and bring communities together. INSPIRE raised the question of why are STEM subjects important? What does engineering mean for you? Why does technology matter? There is one answer to those three questions which is quite simply “everything”. History has shown that those who pursue
thermal efficiency over the life time of the building. It will mean that the performance of the building can be monitored throughout its whole life time and any adjustments or repairs needed can be made before they threaten the integrity of the buildings structure and ability to function.
science arguably make the biggest impact to the world: incredible minds give us incredible ideas we once might have thought of as unbelievable but are now rooted in our society. In this respect BSRIA is delighted to be celebrating the 2018 Year of Engineering and will be running a series of events and careers days with local schools and colleges. This national campaign is designed to increase awareness and understanding of what engineers do among young people aged seven to 16, their parents and teachers.
Ms Hardacre researched roles from architect to civil engineer, environmental adviser, geotechnical contractor, acoustical engineer, lift and escalator engineer to structural engineering technician. She also had a glimpse into the future and did some crystal ball gazing: ■ BIM: on the construction site, not just in the design phase – currently BIM managers/technicians are only found in the design phase. The idea is to extend this into the construction phase as well to make the whole process smoother and more coherent.
■ Smart Buildings – fitting sensors into the structure of the building to monitor things like strain and
■ Artificial intelligence – will humans be replaced by machines to complete a task? New machines could be brought in to create designs, survey sites and complete construction tasks.
■ Wellbeing – will there be a greater focus on what buildings can do for the wellbeing of its occupants? Will there be engineers employed/trained solely for this purpose?
■ Soft landings: a smoother handover process – as it stands, there is no real hand over process between the engineers and contractors responsible for constructing the building and the facilities managers and tenants who take on the building after completion. This leads to a lack of understanding as to how to utilise the buildings functions and ensure it is properly maintained.
The Labour Frontbench Business Team has referred to the abuse linked to the practice of cash retentions in the construction industry as “scandalous”. Speaking on behalf of the Labour
Business Team, Bill Esterson MP said he was appalled by the statistics recently released as part of the research carried out by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS):
“Over a three year period, the
industry – primarily SMEs – has lost £700m worth of retention monies because of upstream insolvencies. For an industry (that mainly comprises SMEs) to regularly haemorrhage this amount of cash is truly shocking. It amounts to a massive drag on a key sector which, at the same time, is being encouraged by this Government to invest in cutting-edge digital and manufacturing technologies.” Bill Esterson was speaking following
the news that Peter Aldous MP has laid a Private Member’s Bill to require all cash retentions to be lodged in a retention deposit scheme. The first reading of this Bill will be on 09 January 2018.
Professor Rudi Klein, chief executive of the Specialist Engineering Contractors’ (SEC) Group, which has been campaigning over many years for statutory protection of retention monies, is delighted with the emerging support from all parties for this measure.
He added: “There is now a real
urgency to address this issue in light of the precarious financial position of some of the top UK contractors. If any one of these was to fail, thousands of SMEs will lose their retentions and, in the process, many will not be able to survive.”
Professor Klein estimates that
Carillion alone approximately holds a quarter of a billion of retentions which are either outstanding or due for release. Trade organisations across the
industry and their member firms are now speaking to their MPs to garner support for legislative action.
12 January 2018
www.acr-news.com
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