Mark Priestman has more than 20 years’ experience in the natural stone sector. He plays an active role in the development and delivery of training in this specialist environment. Along with his father, David Priestman, he runs a training consultancy whose mantra is: Qualify the Workforce!
My initial ‘executive summary’ for you to my report on the recent Construction Skills Network report is that 2012 was really bad and 2013 is going to be tough, too.
I have to admit to shaking my head and concluding that the network must be the new home of the unofficial ministry for the painfully obvious!
My lament is that while honest appraisal of the state of affairs is necessary, I am increasingly concerned that we are talking ourselves deeper into the hole. The last thing an A&E patient wants to be told is that the outlook is bleak. As humans we thrive on the all important “It’s going to get better soon!” Revival is always the product of confidence and confidence is dependant on hope staying alive.
I am happy to state emphatically though that the report was not all grim reading. On closer examination it appears the Network was confident that three parts of the construction industry should secure reasonably consistent growth.
I was happy about this as the natural stone sector is well geared to represent itself in the likely ‘growth zones’ of Private House Building, Repair & Maintenance and Industrial Contracts.
So my revised ‘executive summary’ might, on reflection, read more like this: In 2013 it is likely the headlines will continue to report dull news for the construction industry as a whole. But since we are not ‘the construction industry as a whole’, if we focus our operation on the most likely areas of stability, this is another storm we could be well placed to weather.
It seems our market place is increasingly about working smarter. It could also be about knowing what our strengths are and shouting about them a little louder. When tendering for business are we getting the following messages across, I wonder?
That Natural Stone as a construction resource has among the best sustainability credentials. President Kennedy (that’s Iain of the Stone Federation not J.F. of America) has penned an excellent blog on this very subject at: www.stonenews.co.uk/tag/sustainability-building-stone-realstone-rainscreen.
Our sector offers a highly competent workforce. Very occasionally I find something on the internet that becomes a extremely useful reference. This is especially the case when the source is authoritative. Better yet – regulatory.
As you are perhaps aware, in Britain the Construction Design & Management (CDM) Regulations dictate that workers on site (whether operative, supervisor, heritage skilled, professional or management) must be ‘competent’.
The link below from the Health & Safety Executive provides as good a definition as any of what constitutes competency. Happily, it endorses NVQs and CSCS cards as good methods of establishing competency. You might wish to quote the definition in future tender submissions to bolster your firm’s ability to meet contract needs? It is at: www.hse.gov.uk/constructi
on/cdm/faq/competence.htm.
The UK Construction Group is simultaneously toughening up its site audit checks to ensure all operatives plus any workers performing any type of supervisory role are correctly carded. Surely this is a call for action to make sure your business holds and can declare on tenders its participation in the ‘Committed to CSCS’ programme.
The natural stone sector is well respected within the heritage construction skills sector. Why is this important? Well the Heritage sector fits neatly into one of the Construction Skills Network’s prophesied areas of likely consistent growth – ‘Repair & Maintenance.’
If, as a firm, you can boast Heritage NVQ and CSCS credentials then you can further position yourself strongly within this ‘growth zone.’
With news that the National heritage Training Group is energetically working with English Heritage, Historic Scotland and Cadw to make stronger its Memorandum of Understanding, reinforcing its no compromise stance on all workers holding not only a CSCS Heritage card but the right CSCS Heritage card, a firm’s compliance to this standard ought to invoke further banging of drums when lauding its workforce’s key selling points.
No one said it wouldn’t be tough – but as a sector we remain a long way from being out for the count!
Mark Priestman is a Partner at Priestman Associates LLP, a leading façade preservation project consultancy. From stonemasonry and heritage skills through to Site Supervision and Conservation Management, the partnership is trusted by the leading brands of the sector as an NVQ provider for experienced, upskiller and apprentice workers.