A year of progress
In an end of year message to members, BCIA President Graeme Rees reflects on some key steps forward made by the organisation in 2023 and looks ahead to exciting developments in 2024.
2023 has passed by in the blink of an eye for the association and, I know, for many of our members too.
It’s been a tremendously busy year with an ever-increasing demand for building controls solutions, with more organisations placing a welcome focus on their corporate footprint, reducing energy consumption and providing healthy and productive work environments for their occupants. The earlier challenges associated with product supply due to component shortages have now abated and it feels like the industry is in a good place, with strong growth prospects forecast at over 10% per annum.
So, as the UK prepares for a general election, it’s hard to see a scenario where the industry is impacted by the usual volatility in the economy this national political event inevitably creates. That said, market whispers suggest a potential softening for 2024 in the levels of new build construction but with a potential uplift in renovations of existing buildings. Therefore, it is more important than ever that the BCIA continues to set out a clear policy position for a new Government. We have made great strides, with a clear call for Class A Building Controls Systems to be more clearly specified in the Future Building Standard through Part L and Part F amendments for new build premises. However, there continues to be a gap in mandating controls within the retrofit space – so our work in 2024 will champion this – both with policymakers and through raising awareness of the benefits with end-user and intermediary audiences.
Driving up industry standards
Notably, skills development continues to be a significant part of our role in supporting the growth of the industry. With over 165 apprentices on the BEMS Controls Engineer Apprenticeship, more than 500 delegates undertaking BCIA technical training courses and the newly launched BCIA Inspired Leaders Programme commencing in January, driving up industry standards and supporting employers to invest in their workforce is a strategic responsibility that we continue to invest in.
We have leveraged our position to work with the Electrotechnical Certification Scheme (ECS) to develop a suite of BEMS sector competency cards that better reflect the needs of the industry and one of the key challenges facing our workers – experienced worker assessments – is on a clear path for 2024. The experienced worker assessment pilot is underway and we are delighted that Group Horizon will launch an accessible and effective solution for experienced workers to be able to obtain gold cards early in the New Year. It was a challenge that all construction related industries faced, with the BCIA leading the charge for our sector and prioritising the development of a scheme that will remove barriers and help retain valuable people with extensive skills for the good of the Building Controls industry.
The BCIA has made great progress over the past 12 months, in no small part thanks to the commitment of the existing Working Groups together with the addition of the Young Engineers Network. We hope you enjoy viewing our short presentation that highlights some of these achievements and the plans for 2024. We genuinely couldn’t deliver what we do without the support of our Working Group and Young Engineers Network members and are hugely grateful to the many volunteers that give time and expertise to moving forward initiatives for the benefit of our 160+ member companies.
Recognising talent and innovation
The 2023 BCIA Awards received a record number of nominations and almost 600 people from the industry joined the evening to recognise and celebrate the deserving people, companies and innovations that took away awards on the evening. Next year will see us move to a new venue, The Eastside Rooms in central Birmingham, where we can continue to welcome more guests and deliver a quality event fitting for the industry
The BCIA continues to be a proud member of the Federation of Environmental Trade Associations (FETA) and the work they undertake on our behalf at the UK and European level in key areas such as skills, policy and regulatory affairs and government relations.
May I take this opportunity to thank you for your ongoing support for the BCIA. We wish everyone in your organisation all the very best for Christmas and the New Year and look forward to working with you in 2024.