THE Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) has revealed the impact of the pandemic and new legislation on the organisation’s academy training courses.
Demand for building conservation learning soared between 2018 and 2021 due to the demand for conservation and retrofit, with attendee numbers peaking at 159 for a single year.
Meanwhile, the impact of Covid-19 sparked a ‘drastic’ uptake in the number of people registering for JCT Contracts courses with a 135% increase in enrolments between 2020 and 2021.
CIOB said it believes this is a direct result of the pressure put on contracts by the pandemic and that the increased take-up shows how clients and contractors do not want to be caught out by delays and associated costs again should a similar situation arise in future.
The body has also seen an increased demand in building safety-related courses since the introduction of the Building Safety Act in 2021. Between 2022 and 2023, interest in CIOB’s Fire Safety and Building Safety Courses spiked, with booking numbers increasing by 18 and 28% respectively.
Adrian Montague, director of academy at CIOB, said, “In recent years we have seen a gradual decline in our more generic course offerings, most likely due to a reduction in training budgets. However, since the introduction of the Building Safety Act in 2022, there has been a real increase in demand for building safety-related courses. That increase in uptake prompted us to work closely with Equans to develop a new e-learning course and fill the obvious void in the kind of training available for built environment professionals.
“I am sure this course will be of great benefit to everyone in the construction sector as it covers all the essential elements of the legislation.”
CIOB’s Academy was launched in 2016 and is designed to help both experienced and aspiring built environment professionals demonstrate competence and excellence. Course topics on offer range from building conservation to fire safety and JCT (Joint Contracts Tribunal) Contracts.
