100 years of CABE

CABE turns 100 years old this year. To mark this milestone, Building Engineer takes a look back at the journal through the years.

We look back through the annals of the journal from 2015 and 2005 to see what the hot topics of the day were, what was facing the industry and how CABE’s professional membership responded.

Building Engineer January 2015

President Michael Wadood welcomed members to CABE’s 90th year and notes with pride that CABE is setting standards of competency and professionalism: “When I became Vice President I engaged with Regional Committees requesting them to establish ‘Centres of Excellence’ within their regions. Now, as President, I’m asking Regional Committees to share CPD knowledge with other professional bodies, which would not only develop professionals but also ensure the raising of standards within the built environment.”

ABE becomes CABE

It is noteworthy that the Association of Building Engineers (ABE) officially became the Chartered Association of Building Engineers in January 2014, something that was commented on by Chief Executive John Hooper in his 2015 New Year welcome: “What a successful year it was, with the introduction of the designation ‘Chartered Building Engineer’ giving the President and myself repetitive strain injury signing about 15,000 new member and chartered certificates; this has been a lengthy process with the last certificates leaving HQ in the run-up to Christmas.” Alongside the chartered status, the journal included the annual reports and accounts, setting a January tradition for their inclusion – please see page 42 of this issue.

Professional standards

Hooper also talks about raising professional standards and how CABE is leading the way: “As the industry struggles to meet the challenges of increasing workloads and limited resources, in terms of skilled professionals, it is pleasing to note that our training courses and seminars are reaching more individuals year on year, and in recent months the introduction of monthly webinars has meant that more members have been able to participate in development activity without the need to spend significant time out of the office. While we have always been actively involved and often considered to be punching above our weight, it is encouraging now that, as a Chartered Association of Building Engineers, our views and expertise are being called upon to help shape the future of the sector and that building engineering is recognised as a profession, with leading organisations now describing their work as building engineering.”

Features in the issue

Articles cover: building with timber, building with concrete, prefab building units, communication in project management and building information modelling. Against a backdrop of a general election year in the UK, there are comments on political strategies for housing. One article notes: “You’ll hear a lot about the UK’s housing crisis over the coming months. Sky-high prices, soaring demand and constricted supply have all taken their toll on the residential market, and the issue is ripe for political wrangling as we approach election time.” It goes on to say “a perfect storm [is] brewing that is fundamentally altering the way we build residential property in the UK. In short, the factors at play are: the desperate need for new housing, combined with a shortage of development-approved land in the right areas, is driving development upwards once more and necessitating construction on ‘tight’ sites with limited access; a chronic shortage of labour in certain trades has put pressure on project delivery times and staffing levels; and ever-tougher building regulations mean contractors and specifiers are facing greater challenges … With development on green belt land unlikely to ramp up any time soon, more efficient use of existing brownfield and infill sites will become a key component of the UK’s housing delivery plan.” This all sounds very familiar – especially if you read the current issue’s feature on planning and policy on page 34.

Building Engineer January 2005

ABE President Chris Dawson welcomes members to the year ahead by discussing the launch of Scottish Building Standards Agency: “From 1 May there will be a completely new set of building standards in Scotland … Under the new regime the Agency ‘approves’ bodies to carry out the building regulatory function in Scotland. For the next five years all the Scottish local authorities have been given that approved status.”

Features in the issue

Articles cover: the introduction of Home Information Packs, supply shortages in copper and steel (from competition as well as demands on imports to China and rising costs of materials), building with precast reinforced concrete and making contaminated land suitable for building: “Everyone agrees that the UK needs more housing … derelict and so-called brownfield land is being considered for redevelopment. Indeed, such reuse of brownfield sites has been a particular target of central government policy.” It’s interesting that making better use of brownfield land was a hot topic 20 years ago.

The idea of clearly defined roles and responsibilities are also emerging – in a news item on the Association for Specialist Fire Protection there is mention of a ‘Responsible Person’ “upon whom the onus of building fire safety is to be placed [and] will need to have a risk assessment carried out annually. In order to do this, they will need to find a ‘competent person’”.

Meanwhile, the feature on the introduction of Home Information packs notes: “The concept of a Home Inspector has come from Article 9 of the Directive 2002/91/EC that requires Member States ensure qualified and independent personnel carry out the certification of buildings. The proposed UK certification scheme will ensure only suitably trained inspectors prepare the Home Condition Report. All people including 2,500 current surveyors will … be required to pass a test set to the NVQ Level 4 occupational standards … The National Qualification Authority has given the green light for the Awarding Body for the Built Environment to award certification to centres to run certified courses. These include ABE, Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, Chartered Institute of Building, and Surveyors and Valuers Accreditation. The home inspector will be a government-licensed inspector for a period of, say, three years and will need to reapply for their licence again after that time. It is estimated that there will be a requirement for 7,000-10,000 home inspectors when the scheme is in full operation after 2007.”