Chief Operating Officer Jackie Macaulay on keeping up CABE’s standards

It is good to take this opportunity to give you an update on the operational side of CABE and the work we are doing to ensure your Association is run to the highest corporate governance standards and that our ISO 9001 accreditation is continuously maintained.

The two independent committees used as the oversight for corporate governance, over and above the CABE Board, are the Membership & Professional Standards Committee and the Professional Conduct Committee. The Engineering Council also audits our procedures on all matters relating to the registrations of CEng, IEng and EngTech.

We can report that, during the lockdown periods, no staff were furloughed and IT systems were enabled to allow staff to work from home. This ensured CABE continued to provide as many services to members as possible, communication with members and the publication of Building Engineer being our highest priorities. During this period, we also ensured the wellbeing of staff was looked after, with the implementation of the Anxiety UK partnership aligned to the CABE Benevolent Fund.

Now we are looking to the future and the next steps in support for our members. The UK industry is going through significant change with information from the Health and Safety Executive and government on exactly what that means for members being scarce, at least until the Building Safety Bill is passed. However, what is very clear is that there will be a requirement to prove professional competence, and it will be vital in England and Wales that certain professional roles will need to gain registration to prove this competence. In response to the upcoming changes, we will be working on three key projects for 2022:

The development of our current competency framework to meet Flex 8670 and UK-SPEC 4. It will provide clear and concise guidance on the competencies required at each grade of membership, and enable structured professional development to Chartered Member status and the proven competency levels expected.

The implementation of a modern digital competency management system that will allow members to create a digital professional logbook that clearly demonstrates competency levels, details of training programmes completed and CPD records. This logbook will be able to be used on a continuous basis to keep professional standing up to date.

The development of specialist technical sections to enable those who require proof of enhanced competency levels, and additional registrations can provide proven evidence of the level of professional competence members are working at.

CABE believes these developments will be key to supporting the requirements of HSE and the new Building Safety Regulations in England and Wales. They will benefit all members by virtue of CABE membership being recognised at the highest levels.

CABE is driven to deliver the best for members and works continuously to ensure its profile and influence in the industry and across government gives us a voice to support our members.

As Chief Operating Officer, my work is dedicated to ensuring members have complete confidence in our governance standards, our financial probity, and that our corporate processes and procedures are always up to date and fulfil all appropriate auditing requirements. We are very proud of both the heritage of our Association and its continued growth for the future.

Jackie Macaulay Chief Operations Officer

Image credit | Sam-Kerr