Building on the success of CABE

This is my first message since my appointment as CEO was announced at the presidential inauguration in May.

The inauguration is a wonderful celebration of all that is good about the CABE family, with the handover of the role of President between members who devote four years to their role in senior management. There were awards for distinguished service to the Association (well done to Dr Gavin Dunn and Ken Ewing) and for lifetime public service (well done Dennis Davis), and a celebration for members who have reached the fantastic milestone of 50 years of membership.

It is an important reminder every year that the Association belongs to its members – that we are all part of a longer tradition of professional excellence and service in the public interest. It is an event where a passion for all that CABE stands for shines through.

I take on the role of CEO with this in mind. CABE has gone from strength to strength in recent years and my job is to build on that success. I am determined that CABE will remain a friendly Association where members can contact and engage with real people at HQ who can help them access services and support. I put a high value on the relationships we build with our members and that will not change.

Change however, is clearly happening in the use of AI across society and industry. We will shortly be launching a project to evaluate how this can be used to improve our services and add value for members as part of our commitment to continuous improvement.

I also have three key areas of focus:

• competence standards: we will continue to develop new versions of our core competence framework to enable members to demonstrate higher levels of competence relevant to their work. This will build on our existing HRB and CBICAS registration schemes and align with further development of specialist technical sections, underpinned by the launch of a cutting-edge competence management
• training and development: we will invest and partner to deliver a wider range of gap-filling training in key areas to enable members to deliver excellence in building engineering services. This will focus on capability to meet or exceed key building standards and legislative requirements in each of our core jurisdictions, spanning health, safety, welfare, sustainability and equity; and

• engagement and information: we will explore new ways to communicate more effectively through digital and face-to-face events and by building a more consistent CPD network across our regions and chapters. This will include taking forward our regional strategy, but also exploring how a wider range of digital channels can serve a younger generation of building engineers.

To support us in this work, we are looking to recruit a new Membership Director to help develop services that make a meaningful impact on our members’ day-to-day working lives. We are very keen to speak to existing members interested in this role who know and understand our values and have an appetite to get out and about representing CABE in the UK, Ireland and internationally.

Finally, I must announce that Jackie Macaulay will be stepping down as CABE Chief Operating Officer in August. Jackie has dedicated six years to the Association, establishing strong governance and introducing the Membership and Professional Standards Committee – a committee that has not only raised standards across CABE, but also underpins the quality ideals that CABE members and the CABE team embody every day.

I and the CABE team thank Jackie for all her support and guidance, and wish her success for the future.

Richard Harral Chief Executive Officer

Image credit | Samm Kerr