{"id":494398,"date":"2024-02-27T07:00:19","date_gmt":"2024-02-27T07:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.constructionnews.co.uk\/?p=494398"},"modified":"2024-02-26T16:29:43","modified_gmt":"2024-02-26T16:29:43","slug":"meet-the-new-wave-of-building-inspectors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.constructionnews.co.uk\/sections\/long-reads\/interviews\/meet-the-new-wave-of-building-inspectors-27-02-2024\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet the new wave of building inspectors"},"content":{"rendered":"

The new system for registering building-control inspectors comes into force in April. Earlier this month, <\/b><\/span><\/em>CN <\/b><\/span>revealed worries that there will not be enough qualified staff<\/a> to deal with applications.<\/b><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Today,<\/em> CN <\/b><\/span>talks to two apprentices and an experienced inspector about how they\u2019re preparing for the change.<\/b><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Ezra McKenzie, apprentice, Buckinghamshire Council<\/span><\/h3>\n

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Having originally wanted to enter the police force, Ezra McKenzie ended up taking a psychology degree and working as a therapist in the NHS. However, while there were many aspects of the job that he enjoyed, he soon realised that it wasn\u2019t the career he wanted.<\/p>\n

After a while, McKenzie found himself working in construction recruitment and realised that most people he spoke to on a day-to-day basis loved their jobs. He was interested, started looking into the industry and stumbled on Local Authority Building Control\u2019s (LABC\u2019s) pilot programme to bring new trainees into the industry.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t know anything about [building control], but as I was reading about it, it just started to tick off all of the aspects that I had liked in different job roles,\u201d says McKenzie. \u201cYou go out on site; you can work from home or you can work in the office; you work as part of a team but you\u2019re also working independently. And because it\u2019s an apprenticeship, not only are there career prospects, it\u2019s also got that mentorship aspect.\u201d<\/p>\n

McKenzie has completed his first year of the LABC programme and is working for Buckinghamshire Council. It\u2019s safe to say he feels he made a good decision. \u201cI\u2019m with the council, shadowing them and working with them, but I\u2019m also getting the support from LABC\u2019s staff,\u201d he says. \u201cI\u2019ve had a lot of encouragement and a lot of input. I\u2019m really enjoying it \u2013 it seems perfect for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dean Pickles, team leader, Calderdale Council<\/span><\/h3>\n

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With years of experience as a practising building inspector, Dean Pickles is in two minds about the new qualifications regime. On the one hand, he believes in promoting safety; on the other, he\u2019s not convinced about the way the regime is being assessed.<\/p>\n

\u201cI suppose I\u2019m torn in a way,\u201d says Pickles. \u201cI understand what they\u2019re trying to do, but I think it\u2019s just the way in which it has been brought in that I think is frustrating. [For] most of us, I think [it\u2019s a case of] you\u2019ve gone into building control because you\u2019re not that academic; you\u2019re not really used to doing tests and exams.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Nevertheless, Pickles decided to engage with the programme to carry on working in an area he clearly loves. It has its challenges, though. \u201cFor me, it\u2019s about how you write stuff in a way that [the examiners can] get the things they want from it, like my management skills and things like that.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s hard for me to write in such a manner that I\u2019m getting across\u2026 things like dealing with the regulations or interpreting the regulations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Not everyone is willing to put themselves through the hassle and Pickles says he is concerned that the sector will have lost a lot of talent by April: \u201cI was talking to a colleague [from another authority] and he said that they have three people in their late 50s, and all of them are going.\u201d<\/p>\n

Amy Gittins, apprentice, Gateshead Council<\/span><\/h3>\n

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Amy Gittins originally wanted to be an architect but after two years of study at Northumbria University she decided that the profession wasn\u2019t for her.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just wasn\u2019t enjoying it at all,\u201d she recalls. \u201cI wanted to move on into building surveying but I didn\u2019t really know what building control was. And then I was just looking at different apprenticeships and the LABC one came up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gittins soon realised that building control was something she could get her teeth into. \u201cIt sounds really boring, but I really like the legislation,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had one module at uni that was about applying the legislation and the regulations to different projects, and I loved doing that. So, when I knew that\u2019s what building control was like, I knew I would really enjoy it because I enjoy problem solving and helping people fix the issues with their projects.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gittins applied to the LABC programme and has completed her first year working with Gateshead Council, where she says she is learning a lot and thoroughly enjoying herself. \u201cI also like the way it is structured and the fact that it\u2019s so varied,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve had jobs where I\u2019ve been at a desk all day and it just doesn\u2019t work for me at all. I like to be out and about, talking to different people and helping them.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The new system for registering building-control inspectors comes into force in April. Earlier this month, CN revealed worries that there will not be enough qualified staff to deal with applications. Today, CN talks to two apprentices and an experienced inspector about how they\u2019re preparing for the change.   Ezra McKenzie, apprentice, Buckinghamshire Council Having originally …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":51440,"featured_media":494477,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ep_exclude_from_search":false},"categories":[570],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n