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New report urges industry to act now on skills training to meet smart meter deadline

The UK government’s energy policy requires suppliers to install smart meters in the homes of all domestic customers and small businesses by the end of 2020. But with less than four years to go, more than 48 million meters have yet to be installed.

To achieve the target, installation rates must increase fivefold from the current 200,000 a month to more than one million a month, but the industry has to address a drastic shortage of skilled installers, warns specialist training provider Develop Training Limited (DTL) in a new report.

Fundamental to meeting the deadline will be the availability of qualified meter installers, but the sector is already experiencing a chronic skills shortage. So fast, effective and accredited training programmes and initiatives are vital if suppliers are to boost installer numbers to meet their obligations and avoid penalties, says the DTL report.

DTL’s new whitepaper, ‘Smart Meters: training to meet the challenge of the UK rollout’, explores the issues relating to the UK smart meter rollout and the role training must play in helping to address them.

The report highlights that the shortage of suitably trained engineers is by far the biggest challenge facing an industry under pressure to meet the smart meter target. Research has shown that almost one in five domestic customers who arranged for a smart meter to be installed in their home experienced long delays because there were too few engineers available to carry out the work.

Steve Braund, Marketing Manager at DTL, explains: “Smart meters are an integral part of the UK’s plans to create a greener, safer and more reliable energy network, but the rollout programme is placing severe demands on the energy firms and their supply chain. Faced with the need to meet Government targets, industry must take urgent action to address the skills gaps of existing engineers and, more importantly, increase the number of qualified smart meter installers.

“Our smart meter report is the latest in a series of whitepapers DTL has published on a variety of topics, including electrical safety at work, confined spaces and legionella – all of which are freely available to download from our website.”

To download a free copy of the whitepaper, please click here.

DTL can provide specialist training at any one of its seven training bases nationwide, and can also deliver on-site solutions. Visit www.developtraining.co.uk for more information.

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Rinnai training courses for 2017

Rinnai UK’s 2017 training programme has been designed to cater for the growing number of engineers and specifiers looking to utilise the energy saving benefits of gas fired continuous flow water heaters.

Since the introduction of ErP last year, Rinnai has seen a massive increase in interest for its complete and comprehensive range of highly efficient A-rated continuous flow water heaters, and a commensurate surge in demand for training on the units. The company supplies models from the small domestic multi-point units to bespoke industrial hot water solutions.

The Rinnai training department has trained 66% more engineers than in the year preceding implementation. These have included bespoke courses designed to fit in with the modern time demands for professionals and the company has also seen a large increase in CPD modules all over the UK.

Rinnai’s series of tailor-made, flexible courses allow engineers the opportunity to obtain hands-on experience of the practical and energy saving benefits of continuous flow gas fired water heater technology.

The most popular course modules are ‘Understanding ACOP L8 and hot water system design’ and ‘System design incorporating continuous flow and renewables’.

Engineers courses have already been booked through until the first week of February at Rinnai’s dedicated Runcorn training facility and at various venues in the South of the country. Additional courses have been added that will take place on 9 and 23 February and 9 and 23 March at Runcorn, with more courses in the process of being added.

According to Rinnai training specialist Ian Jenkins: “The sizing course is extremely popular, certainly with the specifiers, and the L8 module is also proving to be in demand. We trained 22 British Gas engineers in August alone last year – this is the third time we have trained groups of their engineers.”

The hands-on training events are aimed primarily at engineers and facilities managers, covering both traditional and new technologies for commercial water heating, highlighting the considerable energy and monetary savings that can be achieved by the installation of a continuous flow hot water system.

Courses can be arranged to suit individual requirements either at Rinnai’s dedicated training facility at their Runcorn, Cheshire HQ or if preferred, Rinnai will take training to a customer’s workplace or other convenient venue.

The engineer training course line-up for 2017 includes nine modules: Rinnai product overview; Continuous flow and the future of water heating; Intermediate water heater; Continuous flow – Excellence in design; Service and fault diagnostics (Water heaters); Service and fault diagnostics (Energy saver warm air units); Understanding ACOP L8 and hot water system design; Maximising renewable gain in hot water design; and, Continuous flow as an innovative method of satisfying energy and regulatory demands.

CPD Roadshow courses are also available, designed by Jenkins for M&E consultants and specifiers, design and build engineers, facilities managers and gas contractors. These courses have already attracted praise from CIBSE. For example, it says of the CONTINUOUS FLOW WATER HEATING SYSTEM SIZING AND DESIGN course: “The course delivers what it outlines and is well constructed.”

For more information contact Ian Jenkins on +44 (0)1928 531 870 or email training@rinnaiuk.com.
For more details on RINNAI products visit www.rinnaiuk.com.
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Saint-Gobain Partners with UK-GBC for Industry Training Programme

Saint-Gobain UK and Ireland has teamed up with UK-GBC for its Learning and Development Programme. The partnership, which began in October, will continue throughout the rest of 2016 and into 2017, equipping the industry with the knowledge and skills to help create a more sustainable built environment.

Saint-Gobain and UK-GBC are working closely as part of the partnership to carefully plan the courses to provide the best information and skills necessary for built environment professionals, sustainability leaders and businesses to grow their understanding of sustainable building.

The partnership aims to achieve this through the delivery of a compelling message on sustainable buildings across 3 learning levels – awareness, understanding, and application.

Shenaaz Chenia, Director of Industry and Community Training for Saint-Gobain UK and Ireland, said: “The programme offers a broad range of skills to widen the industry’s understanding of the impact that creating sustainable buildings can have on the environment and the occupants. Partnering with UK-GBC is a great fit for us, as its goals to encourage and grow thought leadership on sustainability in the built environment, as well as the emphasis on comfort, health and wellbeing, perfectly match our vision for the industry.”

The next course in 2016 is:

Integrated Planning: Creating Sustainable Communities, Wednesday 30th November

Understand ways to engage stakeholders and plan sustainability at a community and citywide scale. Learn how environmental issues, planning policy and sustainability-focused tools can inform decision making at the planning stage. Find out more and register here.

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Rinnai training courses for September/November

More dates have been added to Rinnai UK’s 2016 training programme to cater for the increasing number of engineers and specifiers turning on to the energy saving benefits of gas fired continuous flow water heaters.

Rinnai has seen a massive increase in interest for its complete and comprehensive range of highly efficient ErP labelled A-rated continuous flow water heaters. The company supplies models from the smallest domestic unit to super-size industrial appliances, and since the introduction of energy labelling, demand from engineers for training on the Rinnai Infinity range has rocketed.

The demand has led Rinnai, which believes in making it easy for professionals to experience hands on training with its technologically advanced product, to schedule a new tranche of tailor-made, flexible courses that allow engineers the opportunity to explore at first hand the practical and energy saving benefits of continuous flow gas fired water heaters and to familiarise themselves with the technology.

Rinnai training specialist Ian Jenkins says: “Since ErP, enquires for Rinnai Infinity units have increased exponentially as the transparency of energy labelling allows specifiers and end users to compare products and make an informed choice. As a result of this surge in interest, so far this year we have trained 66% more engineers. These have included our bespoke courses designed to fit in with the modern time demands for professionals. We have also seen a large increase in CPD modules all over the UK.”

“The most popular course modules are ‘Understanding ACOP L8 and hot water system design’ and ‘System design incorporating continuous flow and renewables’,” says Jenkins.

The hands-on training events are aimed primarily at engineers and facilities managers, and cover both traditional and new technologies for commercial water heating and highlight the considerable energy and monetary savings that can be achieved by installation of a continuous flow hot water system.

Courses can be arranged to suit individual requirements either at Rinnai’s Runcorn, Cheshire HQ in the dedicated training facility or if preferred, Rinnai will take the module to the customer’s workplace or other venue convenient to delegates.

Since August and up to October Jenkins has organised a course every week for Gas engineers as well as catering for the needs of other customers and consultants in the private and public sectors.

The additional course dates announced by Rinnai for engineer training are:
27 September and 27 October, 24 November: ‘Service and fault diagnostics (Water heaters)’. These courses are open to engineers, are free, and available at Rinnai’s Runcorn HQ.

The comprehensive engineer training course line-up for 2016 includes nine modules: Rinnai product overview; Continuous flow and the future of water heating; Intermediate water heater; Continuous flow – Excellence in design; Service and fault diagnostics (Water heaters); Service and fault diagnostics (Energy saver warm air units); Understanding ACOP L8 and hot water system design; Maximising renewable gain in hot water design; and, Continuous flow as an innovative method of satisfying energy and regulatory demands.

CPD Roadshow courses are also available, designed by Jenkins for M&E consultants and specifiers, design and build engineers, facilities managers and gas contractors. These courses have already attracted praise from CIBSE. For example, it says of the CONTINUOUS FLOW WATER HEATING SYSTEM SIZING AND DESIGN course: “The course delivers what it outlines and is well constructed.”

“As demand for the A-rated Rinnai range continues to grow, our flexible training ensures key market personnel at all levels, nationwide training from our highly skilled team of technical experts, guaranteeing expertise with the products both for specification, system design and installation. The courses also ensure delegates will be up to speed with any changes in legislation and product developments,” says Chris Goggin, Rinnai UK Associate Director.

For more information contact Ian Jenkins on +44 (0)1928 531 870 or email ianjenkins@rinnaiuk.com.

For more details on RINNAI products visit www.rinnaiuk.com.
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Skills, not Brexit, the main threat to construction industry

Worsening skills shortages, rather than uncertainty over Brexit, are the main threat to the UK construction industry, according to leading recruitment company for the construction industry.

A number of commentators have suggested that the main threat to the industry is the knock on effects of Britain’s decision to leave the European Union. However, an analysis by the construction and rail recruitment specialist found that a lack of skills poses the biggest potential risk to future productivity.

Paul Payne, managing director of One Way, comments “While numerous people have suggested that Brexit presents challenges to the construction industry, the idea is actually a bit of a red herring and we’ve seen little change since the result except for some natural hesitation brought on by the ‘Armageddon scenarios’ being pumped into the market. We’re as busy now as we were before the referendum and the real issue – the crippling lack of skilled professionals in this country – is being overlooked because of all the noise around Brexit.

“Yes, the construction industry has benefited from being part of the EU as it has given the sector access to a lot of workers who have moved over and have filled lower skilled roles, however we’ve never seen any great influx of skilled professionals who can work as design managers or quantity surveyors, for example. These people are needed across the entire industry and in related fields like civil engineering and currently there are far, far too few of them. More robust and well prepared hiring firms like ourselves will always have the resources to be able to pluck individual experts from the EU regardless of changes to freedom of movement laws, but in reality there is no quick fix. The only solution is to focus on ‘growing our own’, for example, through targeting more apprentices and youngsters at school level as well as widening the scope of people who are potentially interested in working in the industry to include more women and professionals from diverse backgrounds. Even at the moment when there are a number of major projects being put on hold there simply aren’t enough people in the market to meet demand. Imagine what the situation will be like when the economy picks up and they’re given the green light. Ultimately, something needs to happen quickly as we’re rapidly approaching a breaking point where productivity will be affected.”

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We must make tackling the skills shortage a priority, urges industry

Construction professionals have stressed how despite the fallout following Brexit, we must focus our efforts on combatting the looming skills crisis by prioritising the introduction of new initiatives to attract workers into the various sectors that span the construction industry.

Thinking ahead

Chris Wood, CEO of Develop Training Limited, the UK’s leading training specialist in the utilities sector, commented “The skills shortage in the UK is a catastrophe waiting to happen, one that literally threatens to turn out Britain’s lights. A solution to the twin problems of a chronic skills shortage in our utilities industry and high youth unemployment is obvious – train young people to take the places of the ageing workforce, but it just isn’t happening at anything like the rate that it needs to be. The new PM and her Cabinet must make it a government priority to look into ways to correct this issue as a matter of extreme urgency.

“As householders and businesses in the UK wonder about a post-Brexit future, they should remember that the utilities sector is still facing a potentially devastating skills shortage. The sector is constantly on a recruitment drive but is simply not receiving the response it requires.

“We all need confidence that our lights will stay on, our heating will continue to keep our houses warm and our taps keep providing running water, but the day is fast approaching when there will simply not be enough workers to do these vital jobs.”

Home-grown talent

Brian Berry of the Federation of Master Builders has also echoed concerns post-Brexit regarding the retention of skilled EU workers and the training of new talent. Berry said “We need to ensure that we invest in our own home-grown talent through apprenticeship training. We need to train more construction apprentices so we are not overly reliant on migrant workers from Europe or further afield. That’s why it’s so important that the Government gets the funding framework right for apprenticeships – when you consider that this whole policy area is currently in flux, and then you add Brexit into the mix, it’s no exaggeration to say that a few wrong moves by the Government could result in the skills crisis becoming a skills catastrophe. The next few years will bring unprecedented challenges to the construction and house building sector, and it’s only through close collaboration between the Government and industry that we’ll be able to overcome them.”

Diversity

Skanska, who recently won the Judges’ Supreme Award and Diversity Champion of the Year Award, have suggested that we need ensure the culture of our industry is both inviting and nurturing in order to alleviate the shortage long-term.

Mike Putnam, President and CEO Skanska UK, said “We believe that a diverse and inclusive culture is key to creating a successful and sustainable business. It will help us to create teams where people think differently, while making them better placed to understand the needs of the communities in which we work.

“It is through the way that our people embrace diversity and create an open and welcoming environment that we are able to work collaboratively – with our customers, joint venture and supply chain partners.”

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Minecraft teaches students how to overcome common construction problems

More than 400,000 UK construction workers are set to retire between 2018 and 2023 creating an urgent need to attract a new generation of construction professionals.

‘Craft your Future’, developed by the Chartered Institute of Building, is a construction game aimed at 12-14 year olds that takes place in Minecraft. Through it young learners explore the methods and skills to become a construction manager, introducing them to a career in construction.

In a series of four freely available Minecraft Education Lessons, that can be downloaded by teachers anywhere and accessed via the Minecraft Education Platform, students encounter a variety of problems that reflect construction challenges in cities today. The lessons take place in Newtown, a specially created virtual city in Minecraft, to design, plan, collaborate and build solutions that develop a sustainable future for all its citizens. Exercises also include real life scenarios like the challenge of restoring Battersea Power Station.

Bridget Bartlett deputy chief executive at the CIOB said “Combining Minecraft and a thorough curriculum for the teacher makes for a unique and immersive experience and will help reveal why the industry is important and why a career in construction can be so rewarding. There are 70 million people playing Minecraft and just like Lego it has the capacity to inspire and attract a new wave of construction managers into an ever-increasing digital industry.

“What is exciting is that these young learners will not only have fun but also develop their communication, team working and mathematics skills; skills that construction has a high demand for. The lessons are designed to be teacher friendly and we hope construction employers will also want to use them in schools as they bid to switch the next generation onto a career in construction.”

Minecraft is being successfully used in schools to teach computer science programming, chemistry, physics, architecture and even introducing some of the world’s most famous artists to young people through games like Tate Worlds by the Tate.

Such is the impact of Minecraft Education in March 2015 it was announced by the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure that it will provide free licenses to over 200 schools (circa 50,000 school children), and 30 libraries in Northern Ireland to inspire creative writing and engage young people in city planning.

Working with The Gameworkshop from Denmark and the Danish Architecture Centre each CIOB lesson runs between 3 – 6 hours where groups of students usually in teams of 3 or 4 collaborate across the lessons. The lessons cover 4 areas of construction, maintenance, restoration, new build and refurbishment.

Speaking about the lessons Pia Rost Rasmussen from the Danish Architecture Centre said: “These lessons will teach young learners about the importance of architecture, building and city planning and inspire them to engage with the built environment – both as future professionals but foremost as citizens who have a role to play in how our common environment is shaped to fit society’s needs.”

Watch the backstory video below:

To read all the supporting information about the lessons please go to http://ciobmc.org.
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Exova BM TRADA offers free training on the importance of fire protection measures

Exova BM TRADA offers free training on the importance of fire protection measures.

Expert industry training provider, Exova BM TRADA, will be holding its next free ‘Fire Protection Measures – understanding your responsibilities’ training on 12 July at Sheffield Hallam University.

This popular event includes a number of short seminars over a half day which will provide participants with critical guidance on how to fulfil their obligations under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (RRFSO).

Under the legislation, the ‘Responsible Person’, which can include the building’s owner, the employer where they have control over the building or if not the employer, the person who has control of the premises, have a legal requirement to comply with RRFSO. This course covers why the RRFSO matters and what it means in practice for the responsible person. It also covers the importance of the risk assessment and of having a competent fire risk assessor, the role of third party certification and of the enforcing officer; and the legal obligations of the fire risk assessor.

The course will run on 12 July at Sheffield Hallam University, with breakfast provided.

The panel of experts providing the training are from senior roles across the fire safety profession, all with first-hand knowledge and experience of fire protection measures:

  • Simon Bailey is a senior fire protection consultant with extensive experience in assessment, testing and site surveys
  • Niall Rowan is the Association for Specialist Fire Protection’s technical officer and has over 30 years’ experience
  • Steve Skarratt heads the Fire Service College’s protection and prevention training
  • Carl May-Smith is a barrister with in-depth legal experience on the RRFSO, having advised fire authorities and other public bodies on the order
  • The Chief Fire Officers Association will also have one of its enforcement team leaders present, completing the panel of experts.

Exova BM TRADA runs additional courses throughout the year which can be offered in-house or within a client’s premises. Exova BM TRADA also provides management systems courses and general management training.

For more information on these and other courses, or to book a place, go to: http://www.exovabmtrada.com/en-gb/training or contact 01494 569 750 or courses@exova.com

Download the full Fire Protection Measures programme here: http://www.exovabmtrada.com/Uploads/MediaLibrary/BMTrada/Training-Brochures/Fire_Protection_Measures_2016.pdf

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Ecobuild joins forces with the Job Show to help meet construction industry skills gap

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In response to an industry-wide skills shortage, Ecobuild, the UK’s largest show dedicated to construction and energy, has launched a partnership with The Job Show™, the nationwide quality recruitment and careers event, to create a construction-focused job show which will run alongside Ecobuild on the last day of the show, 10th March at ExCeL London.

The Construction Job Show™ in partnership with Ecobuild has been designed to bring together employers of all sizes and disciplines with the very best would-be employees, and is built on The Job Show’s proven track record of uniting talented individuals with fantastic career opportunities, creating connections that benefit both parties.

For construction industry companies, the show gives them the opportunity to recruit their next generation of workers, ensuring they have the manpower – in terms of both capacity and competency – to meet growing, post-recession workloads and address any emerging skills shortages.

Jobseekers will be able to take in a wide variety of potential employment options and take their first steps to a career in fields as diverse as engineering and architecture, surveying to project management.

Martin Hurn, Ecobuild Event Director, said “With The Construction Job Show™ we have responded to industry demand to provide a dedicated space that will go some way to addressing the current skills shortage affecting the construction industry. With the recent news from Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) predicting an additional 232,000 job roles being created over the next five years, we believe this skills gap will be a core topic being discussed on day three of Ecobuild, which has a conference programme dedicated to Next Generation.

“The industry is changing at a pace never experienced before and as such there’s never been a wider range of opportunities available for those looking to embark on a career in construction across a wide range of disciplines.”

Victoria Clarke, Co-founder and Director of The Job Show™ said “We are delighted to launch The Construction Job Show™. As a dedicated ‘sector’ driven recruitment event we believe we can offer an excellent forum to showcase industry job roles as well as Apprenticeship and training opportunities for our generation of the future.

“With the increasing demand for new recruits across the construction industry, the timing of The Construction Job Show™ is excellent, being staged on the last day of Ecobuild, an event that already gathers the leading construction companies together.”

The Construction Job Show™ will be held in the South Gallery Rooms on the last day of Ecobuild 2016 on Thursday 10th March. For more information about the event or to book a stand space please click here or telephone Victoria on (01733) 555717 or mobile 07804 735856.

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Could offsite construction attract new home grown talent?

Ministers have today announced that they want the construction industry to focus efforts on attracting, developing and retaining home grown talent into the industry and remove barriers currently preventing more young people from entering the sector.

This involves looking at how companies recruit and train, but also at how adopting modern technologies and methods could help to keep our sector interesting, up-to-date and attractive to the next generation of budding construction professionals.

Housing Minister Brandon Lewis and Skills Minister Nick Boles have stressed that they want the construction industry to re-evaluate their current business models to see if there is enough attention being paid to recruitment. The ministers suggested that businesses should also consider other methods of construction – such as offsite manufacturing – to help diversify the industry.

The Construction Leadership Council has been called upon to review what skills the construction industry need to provide enough homes to meet national demand and tackle the housing crisis effectively.

The Council has asked Mark Farmer, of real estate and construction consultancy Cast, to identify actions that will help bring more workers to the industry.

Views are being sought on how to best train a workforce which has a high level of self-employment and bring about greater use of off-site construction. The review will also look at how the industry can introduce measures that encourage more investment and new ways of working.

Housing Minister Brandon Lewis said “The number of new homes is up 25% in the last year – and this is further proof we’ve got the country building again and delivering the homes the nation wants.”

“This means thousands of jobs are now up for grabs and we’re determined to make sure that there are enough skilled workers to get the job done.”

“Construction offers an exciting and rewarding career and we need to build a new generation of home grown talented, ambitious and highly skilled construction workers.”

Skills Minister Nick Boles commented “The government is committed to getting Britain building. We are investing in measures to cut red tape and increase the number of young people doing apprenticeships and traineeships to ensure we have a pipeline of skilled workers.”

“As leaders in the industry, the Council is best placed to advise on how to boost productivity in the sector and build the houses and infrastructure our nation needs.”

Mark Farmer, chief executive officer at Cast, added “I’m delighted to be asked to lead this review. The construction industry’s skills shortfall has been growing progressively and its ageing workforce now means affirmative action needs to be taken to avoid more acute issues in the future.”

“A healthy and robust construction sector is vital to underpinning the government’s commitment to delivering critical new housing and infrastructure projects. It will also ensure the unrivalled economic multiplier effect related to construction activity continues to play its part within the wider UK economy.”

“The industry needs to seize the opportunity to celebrate the vital contribution it makes and, in partnership with government and other key stakeholders, ensure it overcomes the current barriers to fulfilling its potential.”

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