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CIOB looks to close construction sector skills gap in five-year plan
30 January 2023
THE CHARTERED Institute of Building (CIOB) has launched its new five-year plan, which focuses on quality and safety, environmental sustainability and an overriding desire to close the construction industry’s skills gap.

The plan is effectively the organisation’s roadmap through until 2028 and aims to make modern professionalism in construction management widely aspired to and, increasingly, a reality across the industry. Trustees and CIOB members from across the globe were involved in shaping the plan, which centres on the key issues facing the users and creators of the built environment.
Caroline Gumble, CEO at the CIOB, explained: “To me, this is much more than a simple document. Rather, it’s the roadmap for the journey the CIOB will take over the next five years and beyond in leading the way to make positive change for the creators of our built environment.”
Gumble continued: “It’s my ambition that this plan drives delivery on what we all want from this important industry: high standards of quality and safety, improvements in sustainability and closing the skills gap. As the home for built environment professionals, the CIOB must support our members in making that possible. It was incredibly important to me that members had an input as, in many ways, it’s our members who will bring this document to life.”
Key themes
The key themes outlined in the document are focused around environmental sustainability, quality and safety and addressing the skills gap.
The construction industry needs to operate in a way that ensures its environmental impact is minimal and contributes towards a sustainable future. Ultimately, it’s all about designing, creating, maintaining and recycling to deliver a built environment that society can live with, use and enjoy.
The CIOB will:
*equip CIOB members (both individuals and companies) with the knowledge and skills to manage and deliver the construction process in environmentally sustainable ways
*embed environmental sustainability into relevant learning programmes across schools, colleges and universities
*support industry and stakeholders in building the case for change through environmentally sustainable activities and metrics
Quality and safety
Good quality buildings and infrastructure promote health, safety and well-being, as well as delivering social, cultural, environmental and economic benefits. The safety of the built environment should be so fundamental that it can be taken for granted, but recent years have shown that this isn’t always the case.
The CIOB will:
*bring about a culture change in the industry that ensures quality and building safety are at the heart of everything and never sacrificed for profit
*become the leading provider of education, training and standards in quality and building safety in the built environment on a global basis
Skills gap
The industry must increase productivity to match other mainstream sectors, in turn ensuring that the built environment is fit for changing societal needs and what is a growing population.
Most worldwide construction markets are reporting a skilled labour shortage. The lack of a representative workforce in the sector significantly reduces the available talent pool.
The CIOB will:
*contribute tangibly to reducing the industry skills shortage across priority skills by 2028
*help the industry bring in people from a diverse range of backgrounds who would not have joined without the CIOB’s actions
*improve the perception and reality of working in the construction industry by championing diversity, inclusion and worker welfare
*facilitate smooth and motivating routes within the industry to continually develop the skills of modern professional construction management.
*The full CIOB plan covering the next five years can be found online here- Cheshire fire crew downgrade decision overturned
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