What does professionalism mean for 2021?

We are one month into 2021 and there is plenty of opportunity for it to be better than last year. Better in terms of your clients, business, and the planet.

Professionalism is a term we all know. But what does it actually look like for property and construction in 2021? For us, there are a few words that come to mind. Responsibility. Safety. User-centric. Ethics.

Learning from 2020

The Grenfell Inquiry was a massive part of 2020. It would have made the headlines more had it been a less chaotic year. The key lesson to be learnt from this tragedy is about responsibility. Whose responsibility should it have been to follow up on the design team’s recommendations and the safety of materials used?

From the start, projects are designed with the end user in mind. Designers, consultants, and advisors focus on this from the beginning, intending to deliver an excellent final product for the end-user. But in this situation, something went wrong.

Was Grenfell a design failure or a process failure? Was time and money well spent on ensuring that the construction followed the design intent safely? Were corners cut? For complex projects like these, there are myriad ways you can trip up.

Safety is everyone’s responsibility. The inquiry has served as a shake-up for the industry, prompting fresh conversations about reputation, professionalism, and ethics. And it is a valuable lesson for us all to take into consideration this year.

Accountability

Is this not why professional bodies exist? They should be there to hold everyone to account and ensure safety is at the top of the agenda. That is why they have as much of a place on the construction site as any contractor.

More than that, they serve as a Rosetta Stone for the industry. Resources such as the BSRIA job book and RIBA plan of works exist to bring everyone together and speaking the same language.

Take the advice of your consultants and be wary of value engineering. Yes, budgets are tight everywhere – especially as COVID-19 continues – but quality pays for itself later. Safety and building responsibly are what matters, above all else.

The climate crisis

Changing our relationship with energy and materials is unavoidable. But who bears the burden of upgrading and retrofitting our current building stock to meet new targets? A task that is very difficult in a Victorian-built school building, for example.

The UK’s Green Deal works at the individual homeowner or tenant level. But this year, we ask who is responsible for bringing older public buildings and large-scale developments up to par? How do we balance our respect for heritage and the environment while also carrying out high quality retro-fits?

Put simply, professionalism is about living up to the expectations of the job. This year, those expectations are loud and clear: trust, reliability, responsibility, and ethics. Will you be the change we need to see in 2021?

At GLD Technical Consulting, our building services create spaces that not only maximise comfort and efficiency, but are fundamentally safe and fit for purpose. To find out more, get in touch on 01942 889 535.

We are one month into 2021 and there is plenty of opportunity for it to be better than last year. Better in terms of your clients, business, and the planet.

Professionalism is a term we all know. But what does it actuallylook likefor property and construction in 2021? For us, there are a few words that come to mind. Responsibility. Safety. User-centric. Ethics.

Learning from 2020

The Grenfell Inquiry was a massive part of 2020. It would have made the headlines more had it been a less chaotic year. The key lesson to be learnt from this tragedy is about responsibility. Whose responsibility should it have been to follow up on the design team’s recommendations and the safety of materials used?

From the start, projects are designed with the end user in mind. Designers, consultants, and advisors focus on this from the beginning, intending to deliver an excellent final product for the end-user. But in this situation, something went wrong.

Was Grenfell a design failure or a process failure? Was time and money well spent on ensuring that the construction followed the design intent safely? Were corners cut? For complex projects like these, there are myriad ways you can trip up.

Safety is everyone’s responsibility. The inquiry has served as a shake-up for the industry, prompting fresh conversations about reputation, professionalism, and ethics. And it is a valuable lesson for us all to take into consideration this year.

Accountability

Is this not why professional bodies exist? They should be there to hold everyone to account and ensure safety is at the top of the agenda. That is why they have as much of a place on the construction site as any contractor.

More than that, they serve as a Rosetta Stone for the industry. Resources such as the BSRIA job book and RIBA plan of works exist to bring everyone together and speaking the same language.

Take the advice of your consultants and be wary of value engineering. Yes, budgets are tight everywhere – especially as COVID-19 continues – but quality pays for itself later. Safety and building responsibly are what matters, above all else.

The climate crisis

Changing our relationship with energy and materials is unavoidable. But who bears the burden of upgrading and retrofitting our current building stock to meet new targets? A task that is very difficult in a Victorian-built school building, for example.

The UK’s Green Deal works at the individual homeowner or tenant level. But this year, we ask who is responsible for bringing older public buildings and large-scale developments up to par? How do we balance our respect for heritage and the environment while also carrying out high quality retro-fits?

Put simply, professionalism is about living up to the expectations of the job. This year, those expectations are loud and clear: trust, reliability, responsibility, and ethics. Will you be the change we need to see in 2021?

At GLD Technical Consulting, our building services create spaces that not only maximise comfort and efficiency, but are fundamentally safe and fit for purpose. To find out more, get in touch on 01942 889 535.