Robert Merry, an independent stone consultant and project manager who ran his own company for 17 years and now also runs training courses on project management, gives his personal slant on the stone industry this month.

C-I-O-B

Its fun to be in the C-I-O-B

(Sung to the tune of YMCA by the Village People).

Yes. I’m in. It’s official. Robert Merry MCIOB – Member of the Chartered Institute of Building.

I thank you… I thank you. You can sit down now.

I know! I can hardly believe it myself. After 18 months of hard slog, six hours of exams, eight thousand words of assignments, a two thousand word application, an interview and finally… ahhh…

A split decision! Two members of the panel were in agreement. The third wasn’t.

“Not enough building experience. Not enough building knowledge. I have agreed to let you in but you must go away and study – roof trusses, double skin insulated walls, deep strip (mass fill) foundations!”

“Of course,” I said. “Thank you.” The chair said she was satisfied I wouldn’t run off and start building a tower block tomorrow. The CIOB was a ‘broad church’ and I was welcomed as a new member.

The split decision put the kybosh on the whole thing for me.

Either I’m in or I’m not. It’s not a boxing match result.

MC: “The winner and new member of the CIOB, by a split decision (crowd groans in shock) in the red corner… ”referee holds up an arm “Robert (Stone Man) Merry!!”

Two thirds of the crowd rise to their feet cheering, one third start throwing programmes in the ring. Someone shouts: “I wouldn’t let him build my garden shed, mate.”

Am I flawed or is the system flawed?

I passed the exams. There were two professional reviews of my CV, job description and organogram (it’s under control now, thanks for asking). One was at the beginning of the process and one at the end, just before the final interview.

Is modern contracting really about knowing how to build something or how to manage the process? Has anybody asked a main contractor in the past 20 years if they can borrow a hammer?

I was visiting a site a short while ago off Oxford Street. I locked my bike to a railing and the key snapped off in the lock. No problem, I thought. I’m on a building site, I’ll ask the main contractor’s site manager if he has some tools I can borrow.

“Don’t ask me! I’m not a builder,” he laughed. “ We’ll see if one of the subbies can help.”

Now, if I needed internet access… no problem. Only glad to help. Plug it in here.

Building companies do not build; they manage. They manage the process of arranging for the specialist subcontractors to work with other specialist subcontractors to build the building… in the right order.

That’s why contracts contain so many warranties, clauses and terms. The builder needs to manage the risk – the risk being that they can’t do it themselves and they have to pay someone else to do it for them; the

sub-contractor.

Of course, a good manager should have experience of the task they are managing. Buildings are complex and require the skills of many. No one person knows how to do everything. Least of all me.

I am very proud of having been accepted into the CIOB. I have learnt a great deal about the process of building along the way. Roof trusses and deep strip (mass fill) foundations are important. One goes on the top and one goes on the bottom. It’s just a question or remembering which one is which before I start that tower block.

It’s not necessarily knowing how they fit together that counts, it’s understanding how to manage the process that is as important. Isn’t it?

All together now, 1, 2, 3, 4

C-I-O-B

It’s fun to be in the C-I-O-B……

Robert Merry, MCIOB, ran his own stone company for 17 years and is now an independent Stone Consultant and Project Manager. He also delivers training programmes on all aspects of Estimating and Project Management – details and dates are on his website.
Tel: 0207 502 6353 / 07771 997621