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  • Writer's pictureDigital Twin Skills Academy CIC
    • Aug 18
    • 7 min read

DTSA founder appointed to 2nd term on CITB England Nation Council




 

“…… By law, (since the 6th April 2024) the industry has no choice but to upskill and embrace this ‘new’ regulatory landscape. The Building Safety Act 2022, adopts an unapologetic focus on compliance through digital solutions …” _ Dr Bola Abisogun OBE

 

 



 

Post via Dr Abisogun OBE on LinkedIn _ posted 18.07.24 

 


Upon graduating in July 1994, Dr Abisogun, was an observer and immediate (post-grad) recipient of Sir Michael Latham’s work; commonly referred to as the Latham Report, which was also published in July 1994.





 


Now some, 30+ years later he is celebrating a well-documented career in the UK construction industry, with a renewed focus on improving the sector (and his profession!) through the use of data-driven, technology solutions.

 

A potted history of a 30yr career; July 1994 – July 2024





 

A brief overview of the influences, during Dr Abisogun’s career journey

 

Latham proposed that the client should be at the core of the construction process and that the industry should move away from its adversarial structure, adopting a more integrated approach with greater partnering and teamwork.

 



 

Titled ‘Constructing the Team’, proclaimed an array of detailed recommendations within the report, some of which are set out below:

 

  • Interrelated documentation, clearly defining roles

 

The Latham report refers to 'partnering' and includes the concept of teamwork between supplier and client, in a process of total continuous improvement. It required openness between the parties, ready acceptance of new ideas, trust and perceived mutual benefit.

Latham suggested that if the full range of measures described in the report were adopted, savings of 30% could be achieved over five years.

 

 




Credit: Building Magazine [July 2024]

 

 

Four (4) years later, Sir John Eagan penned what was titled ‘Rethinking Construction’ and later became known as the Egan Report was born, which was an extension of and spoke to the same, but similar, narrative from Sir Michael Latham.

 



 

Informed by experiences in other industries (notably manufacturing), the Task Force report endorsed much of the progressive thinking already under way, and sought to improve performance through eliminating waste or non-value-adding activities from the construction process.[1] It identified five key drivers of change:

 

  • committed leadership

  • a focus on the customer

  • integrated processes and teams

  • a quality driven agenda, and

  • commitment to people.

 

Having put the client's needs at the very heart of the process, it advocated an integrated project process based around four key elements:

 

 

 

 

In the presence of the well documented efforts of both Latham and Egan, a further exemplary report was written some eighteen (18) years in 2016, by Mark Farmer, and titled Modernise or Die / the Farmer Review.

 

 



Original post by CITB on LinkedIn _ launched 18.07.24

 

 

The solutions, according to Farmer, lie in the need to better align the requirements of construction firms and the businesses who hire them.

 

 



 

 

The review sets out 10 headline recommendations (most of which were previously considered by Latham and Egan):

 

 

 



Credit: Dr Mark Farmer, Modernise or Die / the Farmer Review.


 

Expanding on these recommendations, Farmer said:

“If you buy a new car, you expect it to have been built in a factory to exacting standards, to be delivered on time, to an agreed price and to a predetermined quality. This needs to happen more in construction, so that the investors, developers or building owners hiring construction firms increasingly dictate the use of modern methods of delivery and invest appropriately in the skills agenda to grow this part of the industry. There are more similarities between manufacturing and construction than many people are led to believe and this perception needs to change, starting in the housing market.”

 








2023 'industry skills' review

In July 2023, the Department for Education launched a review of CITB and ECITB, [28] to be led by (Dr) Mark Farmer.[29] The review is set to be published by the end of summer 2024.[30]

 

 

 

Spanning a period of some thirty years, and in direct recognition of the Grenfell Tower Tragedy [which took place on 14thJune 2017] the question being asked by many across the industry today [in July 2024] and following the end of the transition period which began on the 6th April 2024, is “has the industry suitably prepared and upskilled for a new legislative landscape? .....”





Fundamentally, the new regulatory regime gives residents and homeowners more rights, powers, and protections, whilst simultaneously imposing an obligation on the industry to ‘do better’. At the DTSA, we are committed to embracing the ‘spirit of the Act’ and ensuring that the UK construction sector, with approximately three million individual contributors, adheres to a ‘digitally enabled’, chronological, evidence-based process of continuous improvement. This same process must be capable of withstanding ‘third party’ scrutiny, including any ask of the newly created Building Safety Regulator.

 

 








Summary

The golden thread is both the information that allows you to understand a building and the steps needed to keep both the building and people safe, now and in the future.



Full definition

1. The golden thread will hold the information that those responsible for the building require to:

 

  • show that the building was compliant with applicable building regulations during its construction and provide evidence of meeting the requirements of the new building control route throughout the design and construction and refurbishment of a building

  • identify, understand, manage, and mitigate building safety risks in order to prevent or reduce the severity of the consequences of fire spread or structural collapse throughout the life cycle of a building

 



 

2. The information stored in the golden thread will be reviewed and managed so that the information retained, at all times, achieves these purposes;

 

3. The golden thread covers both the information and documents, and the information management processes (or steps) used to support building safety;






4. The golden thread information should be stored as structured digital information. It will be stored, managed, maintained, and retained in line with the golden thread principles (see below). The government will specify digital standards which will provide guidance on how the principles can be met;

 




  

5. The golden thread information management approach will apply through design, construction, occupation, refurbishment, and ongoing management of buildings. It supports the wider changes in the regime to promote a culture of building safety;

 

6. Building safety should be taken to include the fire and structural safety of a building and the safety of all the people in or in the vicinity of a building (including emergency responders);

 





7. Many people will need to access the golden thread to update and share golden thread information throughout a building’s lifecycle, including but not limited to building managers, architects, contractors, and many others. Information from the golden thread will also need to be shared by the Accountable Person with other relevant people including residents and emergency responders.

 

 




 


Relevant links to the CITB Media Campaign _ Building Safety Act 2022

 

As an industry, let’s aim do the right thing and avoid another #GrenfellTragedy ⚠️ 

 

Original post by CITB on LinkedIn _ launched 18.07.24

 

And the full post via the CITB website _ launched 18.07.24

 

And the five (5) videos, posted on YouTube _ launched 18.07.24

 

 

 





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