SPRA CEO Cathie Clarke attended the second of two Industry Response Group’s ‘Raising the Bar’ conferences along with Sarah Spink, CEO of LRWA. Both organisations have been fully involved with Working Group 2 (Installers) and Working Group 12 (products) and we were keen to listen to the summaries from all the working groups and hear about next steps. There was lots of information on proposed new structures and standards which is to be welcomed.
Cathie took the opportunity to congratulate the group on report recommendations R29 (that confirms Level 2 qualifications, CSCS card scheme and accredited third party certification of companies including CPD) and R31 (calling for a robust review of card checking processes and raising awareness of CSCS in the domestic sector). However, she highlighted that lots of the presentations stated that their recommendations required real teeth. CC highlighted her own experiences in the heritage sector where the intention to only allow qualified, carded operatives on site had collapsed as the requirement for qualified and certified installers was not compulsory. She insisted that a sensible conversation with the government on ensuring that any new standards and protocols are adhered to must take place to ensure all this time and effort is not wasted. Changing culture does not just lie with the industry but with government too.
Dame Judith Hackitt presented at the first Conference which set out the proposals within the Raising the Bar report. In her keynote address, Dame Judith highlighted the need for industry to work together to ensure competence issues within the supply chain are addressed. Building magazine attended and reported on the comments made by Dame Judith, noting the “widespread culture of indifference”.
The 2nd conference was recorded and the video will be made available to CPA members next week. This is to give further explanation to Raising the Bar, which is out for consultation. SPRA members will be able to access the video from the SPRA website.
The CSG is looking for the response to Raising the Bar – comments can be made here until 31 October https://consultations.rics.org/consult.ti/Raisingthebar/consultationHome
The Full Report and accompanying Annexes can be downloaded here;
Raising the Bar Interim Report http://cic.org.uk/admin/resources/raising-the-barinterimfinal-1.pdf
Raising the Bar Executive Summary http://cic.org.uk/admin/resources/executive-summaryraising-the-barinterimfinal.pdf
Raising the Bar Appendix A (Working Group 1-3): http://cic.org.uk/admin/resources/raising-the-barappendix-a-working-group-1-3.pdf
Raising the Bar Appendix A (Working Group 4-12): http://cic.org.uk/admin/resources/raising-the-barappendix-a-working-group-4-12.pdf
Raising the Bar Appendix B – Building Safety Coordinator http://cic.org.uk/admin/resources/raising-the-barappendix-b.pdf
Source: SPRA, CPA, BuildUK, CIC