INDUSTRY COMMENT It’s been a pleasure – BCIA President W
As his two-year term as BCIA President nears its end, Graeme Rees reflects on the progress made by the organisation during his tenure
elcome to my February 2024 column, which will be my last as BCIA President. Thinking back to my first official engagement as BCIA President, at the 2022 BCIA
Awards, we were all still fairly tentative about meeting in large groups. Things have, thankfully, improved since then and I consider myself extremely fortunate to have presided over a period without interruptions allowing us to make some significant, collective steps forward. In October 2022 we welcomed Catherine
Walker as our first ever full-time Executive Officer. As the BCIA’s Management Committee consists of volunteers, this additional capacity has made a step change in delivering greater service to our members.
Skills development and raising standards and competence levels continue to be a significant part of our role in supporting the growth of the industry. In 2021 the BEMS Controls Engineer Apprenticeship was launched and it has since welcomed more than 165 apprentices, while more than 500 delegates annually are undertaking BCIA technical training courses. The establishment of the Young Engineers Network has also added a crucial source of engagement for younger engineers entering and progressing in the industry.
One of our biggest challenges has been to establish a way to help retain valuable people with extensive skills for the good of the industry. Last year the BCIA leveraged its position to work with the Electrotechnical Certification Scheme (ECS) to develop a suite of BEMS sector competency cards. An experienced worker
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assessment pilot is also underway, meaning that an accessible and effective solution for experienced workers to be able to obtain ECS gold cards is just around the corner. Another important development has been the BCIA’s Corporate Plan, it is our blueprint which sets out the goals for the organisation and outlines how we will achieve our collective vision and have the greatest possible impact not only for the Association, but for the industry and importantly our members.
Fit for the future
With the membership total at an all-time high of 160 there is a greater need for robust structures and governance. It was for this reason I led the BCIA through incorporation to become a Company Limited by Guarantee, reviewed all of our procedures and policies and put in place a group structure for the Association and our training company. As an association we are fit for the future and in the strongest place possible to build our role further. The increasing levels of member engagement has been extremely pleasing to witness. This was perhaps nowhere more evident than at the 2023 BCIA awards, with a record number of nominations received and almost 600 people from the industry joining the evening to recognise and celebrate the deserving people, companies and innovations that took away awards on the evening.
It’s not all about the glory of course. As I have mentioned above the BCIA relies on its volunteers and it is only their passion and commitment to the industry they are a part of
that will support our success as an organisation. It is hoped that further engagement will be boosted by the recent launch of our Inspired Leaders Programme, a specially designed industry-centric leadership training programme through which delegates will benefit from understanding of the challenges and opportunities of leading within the BEMS industry. With a general election not far away it is more important than ever that the BCIA continues to set out a clear policy position for a new government. We have made great strides, with a clear call for Class A Building Controls Systems to be more clearly specified in the Future Building Standard through Part L and Part F amendments for new build premises. However, there continues to be a gap in mandating controls within the retrofit space - so our work in 2024 will champion this - both with policymakers and through raising awareness of the benefits with end-user and intermediary audiences. On a final note, I would like to thank everybody who has taken the time to read this column these past two years. I hope it has provided an interesting, informative and enjoyable read for you all. It’s been a pleasure!
One of the biggest challenges has been to establish a way to retain valuable people with extensive skills.
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