Get Ready for Change Now – Hackitt’s Clear Warning for Construction

Get Ready for Change Now – Hackitt’s Clear Warning for Construction

Dame Judith Hackitt, who is advising government on setting up its new Building Safety Regulator, has recently set out her views on the future of construction which contain clear messages for all those ready to play a part in understanding future policies across the sector. CARES fully support’s Dame Judith’s comments and recommends that her views are shared as widely as possible.

Delivering the 25th Anniversary Lecture to mark the formation of UKAS, Dame Judith spelled out the urgent need for cultural and behavioural change. In her presentation, she warned, simply, that:

“Old ‘Business as Usual’ will not come back – those who change and adjust proactively will be the ones who survive and thrive.”

Dame Judith’s comments in relation to the role of the new Regulator, which will begin to operate within HSE in ‘Shadow mode’ in 2021, are particularly timely given her work on the need for radical reform in building regulations and fire safety following the Grenfell Tower tragedy. All her recommendations were accepted by government and form key elements of forthcoming legislation.

One of her key messages in the UKAS lecture was the need for construction to learn from other sectors, particularly in the adoption of technology which will accelerate much-needed change. She said: “Competence and quality assurance must become part of the new culture.” Collaboration and data sharing across the supply chain is critical with participants needing to be “ready and able to provide data and performance accreditation.”

Dame Judith added: “Every one of us has to change.” This meant the sector needed to be ready for a fundamental “reset” and construction needed to adopt new technology swiftly which “requires a digital approach – this sector must catch up with what is commonplace in other sectors.”

To hear Dame Judith’s insightful analysis of the changes now imminent across construction please follow this link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2Sdc2204tE&feature=youtu.be