Caroline Gumble on quality

Caroline Gumble CIOB

Let’s embed a culture of quality

As an industry, we need to go beyond the bare minimum and seek out the highest possible standards, says Caroline Gumble

As covered on page six, we recently

published the CIOB Guide to Quality Management in Construction: Site Production and Assembly. Most CM readers will be aware that the CIOB has made improving quality in construction a priority in recent years. Our president, Mark Beard, made it the theme of his presidential year, backing the CIOB in maintaining quality in construction as an area of focus.

His quote, when launching the guide, was that “members are the standard-bearers for quality in the industry. The vast majority of building work that takes place is of high quality, but our customers have a right to expect more. Regrettably, many parts of our industry are stuck in old ways of working, and for this reason, I urge members to champion the new guide, to embed it into

“My hope is that by embracing this new guide to quality management, we can and will achieve better”

your businesses and help everyone in our industry rediscover the pride in doing the job right first time.”

As a call to action to members – and the wider construction community – I echo Mark’s comment. We can’t embed a culture of quality within the industry unless we all raise the issue and share the resources and knowledge we have.

As an industry, we need to go beyond the bare minimum and seek out the highest possible quality standards. My hope is that by embracing this new guide, we can and will achieve better.

This guide promotes an approach to quality management that begins by identifying issues that impact on quality on site, assessing their likelihood and impact, and proposing practical measures that can be taken to either mitigate or remove them. It is intended as a practical guide for use by practitioners working collaboratively throughout the construction supply chain.

I want to take this opportunity to thank all those who contributed to the work, including Roger Flanagan and Carol Jewell, the authors, and Paul Nash, who has led the CIOB Quality Implementation Group so effectively.

Many thanks also to Beard and the Wates Group as their support has allowed us to offer this publication free of charge to members. And thank you to our members for their generosity.

For the launch of the guide, we suggested that members could show their support for this important piece of work by donating to the CIOB Benevolent Fund, which directly assists members in difficult times. Many of you have done so and I’m very grateful. Thank you. ●

Caroline Gumble is CEO of the CIOB.

Finding construction’s future leaders

Innovators from other industries can teach us how to become more sustainable, says Malcolm Clarke

The traditional construction industry business model has been broken for decades and we need to make positive changes that deliver real value for all: clients, designers, contractors, supply chain and end-users. To do this, we require leaders that will take our businesses to new levels that are sustainable.

At Baxall Construction, we are working with the Innovative Future Leaders Programme (IFLP) to develop our managers, with a view to them being able to take senior leadership roles in the running of Baxall.

IFLP gives our leadership candidates another perspective from both inside and outside the built environment. They learn from expert sessions delivered by some world-leading innovators, from government, technology, retail, sport and beyond, as well as from the construction industry. Candidates take a business challenge to the programme, so Baxall gains valuable, innovative solutions to integrate into our own organisation.

Our first candidate, Andrew Baldwin, a preconstruction manager, has gained insight and knowledge from other candidates, as well as top-class presenters and facilitators, and gained confidence in his own leadership style.

The carbon neutral agenda is Andrew’s business challenge – the right thing to be taking on from a moral standpoint – and we believe it is increasingly a differentiator. We have taken up the challenge of how we can deliver a better product for our customers, that is also safer and healthier for the users of our buildings, as well as minimising the effect on the environment. Andrew is leading an application to the government’s Innovate UK fund, in partnership with the University of Kent on a Knowledge Transfer Partnership, with the aim of supporting our vision of a sustainable product delivery business model.

The obvious benefit Andrew is gaining has encouraged us to put forward two further candidates for the IFLP. Each will have a different business challenge to address and we believe this will enhance both their personal development but also contribute to the Baxall business.

Malcolm Clarke is managing director of Baxall Construction.