News


More academies set for London


Building Lives, an innovative training organisation established by London contractor Lakehouse, is set to open three more academies by the end of the year, as more local authorities start leveraging their construction spend to provide training and employment for local people. New academies are due to be open by Christmas in the London boroughs of Tower Hamlets, Southwark and Camden. Four academies are already in operation, with six others planned for 2014 elsewhere in London, including Richmond and Croydon. Each academy trains 50 individuals at a time. “We can’t roll them out quick enough,” said Building Lives founder, Steve Rawlings. The academies have pioneered a model whereby


an apprentice gains a Level 2 NVQ in 18 months rather than two years. Young people are also guaranteed an apprenticeship with a contractor, which Rawlings says sets Building Lives apart from other contractor-led training centres. Trainees initially complete an NVQ1 in 10 weeks


and for the second part of their apprenticeship work on site two days a week for a variety of “partner” contractors delivering council contracts. Building Lives, a registered social enterprise and


Community Interest Company, also targets hard-to- reach and under-represented groups, including the homeless, women, and young offenders. Around 200 people have completed the 18-month apprenticeship, which is part-funded by the CITB.


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Level 7 NVQ gets fast-track to chartership Anyone holding or studying for an Edexcel Level 7 NVQ Diploma in Construction Senior Management will no longer need to take a professional competence assessment to complete the CIOB’s Professional Review process and become chartered, the CIOB announced.


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barrier breaker, the business builder, the globe trotter In our regular series, a surveyor, an entrepreneur and a risk-taking safety


Steve Rawlings set up Building Lives in 2010 and plans to set up more academies around London


Rawlings has been running Building Lives as a subsidiary of his construction fi rm, Lakehouse, where he is still he chief executive, but the two entities are in the process of being separated. Rawlings, who started as an apprentice roofer himself 40 years ago, set up the fi rst one in 2010 in partnership with a social landlord, college and homeless persons charity after discovering that 47% of people living in social housing lived in families that had experienced three generations of unemployment. “The fi rst academy proved very successful and


we realised we had a model that really was helping to build the lives of lots of people,” said Rawlings. Building Lives is now looking for £750,000 in funding to provide cash to extend the concept across more authorities.


App aims to inspire young generation


An interactive smartphone app designed to take visitors on an engineering tour of the King’s Cross development in London could soon be adapted for use on other construction schemes or areas of the industry, said the app’s developer the Association for Consultancy and `Engineering (ACE). ACE Trails is a free app, created to celebrate


the association’s centenary, which guides users around the King’s Cross area, highlighting the innovative solutions devised by engineers to help create some of the most technologically advanced buildings in the UK. Developed with input from sponsors including


Kier, Arup, Taylor Woodrow and EC Harris, it includes location-based facts from engineers who worked on projects, 15 streamed videos,


computer-generated images and photographs describing a range of engineering expertise. The iPhone and Android app was developed to


inspire school children and students into a career in engineering, but ACE is now looking to port the location-based video and technology into other apps suitable for other projects and other areas of engineering and construction. ACE project manager Jane Calvert-Lee told CM:


“We will certainly be rolling it out into other areas of the industry, the software platform we have created is easily replicated and could apply to many other project schemes involving engineering or construction. “It enables us to embed photographs, videos


and computer generated models into maps, which can also be played independently on YouTube.”


offi cer have vastly different stories to tell about their careers to date.


CIOB to move from Ascot headquarters After more than 40 years, the CIOB is moving from its head offi ce in Ascot to modern offi ce accommodation in Bracknell. As part of the move the CIOB will also set up a representative offi ce in London, bringing itself alongside its sister institutes in the construction sector and other industry infl uencers.


SME contractors set to gain from changes to EU procurement law Reforms to the EU Procurement Directive set out a range of measures intended to streamline project prequalifi cation and tendering, reduce bureaucracy and open up contracts to smaller fi rms. The Cabinet Offi ce expects the Directive to be in its fi nal form by early 2013, with the UK version of the law coming into force by mid-2014.


Designers should take the heat on “Walkie Scorchie”, say CIBSE members


The Walkie Talkie’s “death ray” that melted part of a Jaguar car parked on the street below should have been identifi ed during early stages of design, said experts. The 37-storey skyscraper is being built at 20 Fenchurch Street in London. Its south-facing concave glass facade refl ected a dazzling beam of sunlight that blinded passers-by and damaged vehicles. Engineers commenting on a Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE)


discussion forum claimed the issue could have been avoided entirely if solar refl ection had been analysed properly during design. “It seems almost inconceivable that this


wouldn’t have been checked during design,” said one engineer.


Did you miss these stories? The CM team updates www.construction- manager.co.uk every Friday. We’re planning more regular updates


and new features soon. If you have any new stories, blogs, or other ideas that would interest CIOB members, please email elaine@atompublishing.co.uk


CONSTRUCTION MANAGER | OCTOBER 2013 | 5


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