Chartered Institute of Building

Building a Legacy Programme Has Been Launched

Building a Legacy, a flagship news-style programme revealing how the construction industry is key to delivering forward looking, sustainable infrastructure for this and future generations, has been launched by ITN Productions, in partnership with the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB). Presented by national newsreader Natasha Kaplinsky, ‘Building a Legacy’ explores

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Latest Issue
Issue 326 : Mar 2025

Chartered Institute of Building

Building a Legacy Programme Has Been Launched

Building a Legacy, a flagship news-style programme revealing how the construction industry is key to delivering forward looking, sustainable infrastructure for this and future generations, has been launched by ITN Productions, in partnership with the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB). Presented by national newsreader Natasha Kaplinsky, ‘Building a Legacy’ explores the meaning of sustainable construction, highlights the vital role that sustainable buildings play in securing long-term environmental and social viability and hears from the masterminds behind some of the country’s most iconic structures and cutting-edge digital design technologies. “We’re were delighted to partner once again with the Chartered Institute of Building to produce a programme exploring the extraordinary role that the Construction Manager plays in the lives of us all. We hope the content can be used to share remarkable stories, highlight new innovations and look at the next generation of construction professionals,” said Elizabeth Fisher-Robins, Head of Industry News, ITN Productions. Drawing upon ITN’s 60-year heritage and expertise in storytelling, the news-style programme combines interviews and reports with sponsored editorial profiles from leading organisations: Sir Robert McAlpine, Bluebeam, Allplan and Coins Global. In an interview, Chris Blythe, Chief Executive of the CIOB, highlights how the organisation supports the success of the industry and champions the role of the Construction Manager as a key driving force in building sustainability. “Buildings are about improving people’s quality of life – they are far more than just bricks and mortar. And construction managers are key as they not only help connect the people who work in the building with those who will use the building, they connect with the local community. The shaping of the built environment plays a big part in shaping communities and working with ITN Productions has given us a great opportunity to showcase that,” said Chris Blythe, Chief Executive, CIOB.

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British and migrant workers at risk of exploitation on UK construction sites, says CIOB

The Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) is urging UK contractors to face up to the significant human rights risks in their supply chains, with the launch of a new report that finds both British and foreign workers at risk of exploitation. Construction and the Modern Slavery Act, tackling exploitation in the UK is published as the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA) and National Crime Agency (NCA) jointly lead a national enforcement campaign involving police forces and other agencies aimed at tackling labour exploitation. NCA analysis has identified construction as one of the most common sectors for labour exploitation in the UK. Criticising the industry’s slow response to the Modern Slavery Act, CIOB’s report highlights the aggressive business models that are creating an environment for unethical procurement and recruitment practices, and the systemic auditing failures that are allowing criminals to infiltrate major projects undetected. Problems are set at the top of supply chains with lowest cost tendering, abuse of the retentions system and late payment pricing out ethical practice. The situation is creating an imbalance of power that leaves all nationalities vulnerable to exploitation. Illegal activities such as blacklisting are also believed to be continuing, despite recent high profile court cases. Major contractors in construction typically have long and fragmented supply chains, with little visibility beyond tiers one or two. They are also heavily reliant on temporary migrant labour, a significant indicator of risk. Nevertheless, the report found examples of complacency and disbelief that major projects were vulnerable to criminal infiltration and human trafficking. This contrasted with incidents of modern slavery being found on major UK infrastructure programmes, PFI hospital projects, power plants, recycling centres, renovation projects, demolition sites and local authority schemes. The report highlights: How industry is conflating immigration checks with modern slavery checks. This is ineffective because many people trapped in modern slavery have a legitimate right to work in the UK. Severe weaknesses in commercial auditing models, with auditors disincentivised to report problems to the police. Poor transparency in supply chain reporting standards, with many eligible companies failing to produce a modern slavery report in the first annual reporting cycle. A significant number of published statements do not follow minimum legal requirements, including being visible on the company homepage and being signed off by a board director. A tendency for companies to water down their modern slavery statements to remove mention of risk, against the spirit of the Modern Slavery Act. Examples of sharp practice, with major players defaulting to legal compliance exercises that push responsibility onto their less well-resourced suppliers. This is also against the spirit of the legislation. Construction and the Modern Slavery Act includes interviews with a number of leaders and influencers, including: Independent anti-slavery commissioner Kevin Hyland OBE The late Paul Broadbent, former chief executive of the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA) Leading barrister Caroline Haughey QC Chief constable for Devon and Cornwall Police and national policing lead for modern slavery Shaun Sawyer Justine Currell, executive director of Unseen and the Modern Slavery Helpline The report explores the legal, investor and social pressures for driving change. It also highlights examples of industry best practice as well as platforms for information sharing, such as the GLAA’s construction forum.  Strategies for rehabilitating survivors of slavery are included through the Co-op Group’s Bright Future programme. CIOB is calling for a new industry narrative: asking contractors to acknowledge that every supply chain is at risk and collaborate more widely to combat crime. It is launching a Routemap to Fair Business which sets out steps for raising standards for all workers and suppliers, encouraging a more proactive approach to tackling systemic issues. Chris Blythe OBE, chief executive at the CIOB said: “It’s time to get real about the challenges facing UK construction. Contrary to public perceptions, modern slavery is not confined to small illegal operators. Criminals are attracted to big business because of the greater profits that they can earn. Unscrupulous labour providers, operating in the grey area of the law, are also creating misery for thousands of British and foreign workers. “We need to change the conversation that we have with clients, our peers and the media. Suppliers and labour agencies should be rewarded for finding and reporting problems, contractors need to promote fairer business models and clients need to be more explicit about their ethical expectations. This goes to the heart of professional leadership. We need to empower everyone working in this industry to act, share and collaborate for the greater good.” Independent anti-slavery commissioner Kevin Hyland OBE said: “The construction sector is recognised around the world as one of the highest risk industries for workers to be exploited in forced labour. It is therefore crucial that construction companies take meaningful action to prevent this crime from taking place within their operations and to ensure that anyone working in the sector within the UK or abroad are protected from abuse. “This new report from the CIOB builds on its previous good work highlighting the issue. It provides clear ways for responsible companies to tackle slavery and ensure their labour supply is protected. I hope to see many construction businesses taking up its recommendations and making real changes, so that it can set an example to other high risk sectors.” Roger Bannister, interim chief executive of the GLAA, said: “There are huge profits to be made for those unscrupulous enough to exploit vulnerable workers and the building industry is extremely lucrative for them. We have carried out operations targeting those who traffic migrant workers into the UK and then force them to work on construction sites, often with false IDs. “The protocol we developed in the autumn with the construction industry was a step in the right direction with some big names committing themselves to share information and play their part in tackling exploitation. We’d like to see more companies put their name to it and work with the GLAA in helping eradicate slavery altogether.” Andrew Wallis OBE, CEO of anti-slavery charity Unseen, which operates the Modern

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Chartered Institute of Building Aiming to Promote the Science and Practice of Building in New Ways

The Chartered Institute of Building is globally the most influential professional management body for construction. With an aim to promote the science and practice of building in a way that is beneficial to society by was of a Royal Charter. Established in 1834, the members of the Chartered Institute work in order to provide development, conservation and improvement within the built environment. The Institute also accredits degrees as well as other educational courses and training as a seal for competence and professionalism. The widely recognised and respected institute has appointed a new Managing Director. Terry Watts will report to the Chief Executive of the Chartered Institute of Building Chris Blyth. Terry Watts has a large amount of experience in the skills, construction supply-chain and technology sectors. Watts’ experience also covers small and large business change management. Terry will starts in the newly created position of Managing Director position this month. Terry Watts’ roles will include promoting the Chartered Institute’s influence within the construction sector, as well as promoting the improvement of standards, skills and professionalism within this industry. The Chartered Institute of Building has created this new Managing Director role in order to accommodate the growth of the institute and the increased breadth of the CIOB’s influence within construction as well as improving standards, skills and professionalism within the growing sector. Terry has joined the CIOB as Managing Director following the set up and running of Proskills, of which he was the CEO. Proskills is the Sector Skills Council for the construction supply chain. More recently Terry Watts has had a variety of different roles including Principle of City of Oxford College, the Group International Business Director for a major training company that works in India, Vietnam and Egypt. Terry started his career at IBM and worked for several years with technology start-ups. Watts has a broad range of managing skills from many different roles and will also offer skills to help with CIOB’s change, project and marketing aspects.

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CIOB and Stronger Together Join Forces to Battle Modern Slavery

A new toolkit has been compiled and set up by two leading organizations in order to address and amend the issue of modern slavery in the United Kingdom and the rest of the world. The Chartered Institute of Building (also known as the CIOB) has worked incredibly hard over time with Stronger Together in order to bring businesses in the building and construction industry to the attention of figuring out new ways to solve this very real problem in the 21st Century. With an approximate amount of 45 million people (and many more that have slipped under the radar of human rights organizations or are simply too well hidden by evil individuals in power) guessed to be currently subjected to modern slavery all over the globe, there is no doubt that companies and enterprises in the building and construction industry will want to read the report and find out the different things that they can do in order to tackle this problem that in a supposedly progressive liberal society is a shock to the system and an indication of our failure to tackle this barbaric issue. What this new kit will provide to building and construction firms that seek it out is UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights that has been approved by the United Nations themselves. It is adamantly clear that the issues of human rights are very much alive today and it is the responsibility of businesses with a revenue of over £36 million to explain to the government what they are doing to address issues of human rights in the workplace, according to the 2015 UK Modern Slavery Act. The report itself was instigated based on the findings of an earlier report commissioned by CIOB known as “Building a fairer system.” This report found shocking amounts of evidence that showed the many aspects of modern slavery to which workers around the United Kingdom were being subjected.

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