Sneak peek at CABE’s Built Environment Wales conference

CABE’s Built Environment series returns for 2024 with an impressive line-up. Here’s a little of what you can expect of June’s technical conference in Wales.

Expert panels will discuss four key aspects currently facing the industry. These are: government reform and regulatory changes, delivering for society, industry reform and use of technology.

Government reform and regulatory changes

Interim CABE CEO Richard Harral will chair this session on the purpose and progress of regulatory reform. The line-up will feature Mark Tambini FCABE, Head of Building Regulations Policy at the Welsh government, and Joanne Larner, Head of Building Safety Programme at the Welsh government.

There will be an opportunity to ask questions of the speakers at the conclusion of each session.

Delivering for society

The session looks at the need for effective risk management ensuring fire and structural safety while delivering higher energy efficiency and lower embodied carbon.

Chris O’Regan, Associate Director at Mason Navarro Pledge, brings technical insight, safety and efficiency to the discussion. He will be alongside Business Sprinkler Alliance’s Iain Cox in a session chaired by John Littlewood, Cardiff Metropolitan University’s Professor of Sustainable and Resilient Buildings.

In a recent issue of Building Engineer, O’Regan shares his extensive technical knowledge of the problems of using structural steelwork in domestic refurbishments. He advocates for a structural engineer to be consulted on early architectural plans so they might “propose adjustments to minimise the structural alterations and potentially reduce the quantity of steelwork needed. Not only does this save material, but it also saves embodied carbon, health and safety risks, programme and cost.”

Industry reform and changing business models

Finishes and Interiors Sector’s Iain McIlwee and King’s College London’s Darya Bahram will discuss how adversarial contractual models damage value for the construction sector and how collaboration can be realised. Bahram has written a great deal on the topic of collaborative procurement and contracting, the most recent being for Architecture Today.

She says: “We have established, through an unfortunate loss of life at Grenfell, that we need to have a closer working relationship between team members from different disciplines, which should include the early contractor involvement and supply chain engagement.

“It is important to share the importance of this change in mindset with CABE’s diverse membership and demonstrate that there are already examples of how a collaborative ecosystem can deliver better, greener, faster and safer buildings.”

Use of technology

Session speaker David Churcher MBE has been involved on BSI’s technical committee ‘Competence in the built environment’. He has also been instrumental in writing the ISO standards that set out whole-life processes for managing project and asset information, and involved in the technical oversight of the UK BIM Framework. His expertise in information management – specifically to support better project delivery, better handover to facilitate operations and better maintenance and management of built assets – is invaluable.

He says: “I am pleased to have the opportunity to speak to CABE members, and to non-members, about the importance of everyone involved in project delivery and asset management having access to accurate, complete and clear information.

“Technology is a key enabler, but it is crucial that technology is designed and used to support human-centric outcomes rather than being an end in itself.” 

Don’t miss out on Built Environment Wales on 20 June in Cardiff.
Book your place here.

Image credit | Dominic Lipinski