The CIOB – the
Chartered Institute of Building – was joined at a parliamentary reception by a
number of MPs and senior industry figures to launch our report “Improving
Quality in the Built Environment”.
The event, hosted by
Eddie Hughes MP, heard about the outcomes of the CIOB's Construction
Quality Commission, set up to identify what promotes or prevents delivery
of quality in construction and what steps are needed to bring about change.
Opening proceedings
was Eddie Hughes, MP for Walsall North and someone who has spent time in the
industry. He commented that 30 years ago industry standards were somewhat
different but we have now reached a point where a culture of “health and safety
is the way we work” and firmly embedded within the sector. He called for those
present to support the CIOB’s work, adding: “I want to see that same cultural
shift with regard to construction quality.”
Paul Nash FCIOB,
Chairman of the Commission, opened his remarks by saying: “Quality, or rather
the failure of quality, is arguably the most important issue facing the
construction industry today.”
He then outlined
what the CIOB report focusses on: “Our research identified … an underlying
cultural issue in the industry. Quality was being sacrificed to achieve
targets.” Nash, a CIOB Past President, then spoke of one of the key outcomes of
the Commission’s work, the forthcoming Code of Quality Practice: “Today we are
announcing the launch of a consultation on the Code.”
The intention behind
this is to set standards for the industry to achieve and “provide practitioners
with the tools and processes needed to deliver quality on construction
projects.” He concluded by saying: “There is never an excuse for poor quality.”
The CIOB’s
Construction Quality Commission was launched in early 2017 in response to a
report into defects that led to the closure of a number of Edinburgh schools.
It was given a new impetus following the tragic Grenfell Tower fire.
The Commission, led
by a group of the CIOB’s Past Presidents, worked with members and other
industry organisations to identify the main issues with regard to quality in
construction. To find out more about the work undertaken by the Commission,
have a look at the report that was launched at the parliamentary reception: Improving Quality in the Built Environment
