Full corporate members (MCIOBs) and fellows (FCIOBs) of the CIOB will be able to describe themselves as Chartered Construction Managers from March next year.
The new designation can be used as an alternative to or in addition to the term “Chartered Builder”, meaning that individuals can use both descriptions and choose the most appropriate according to circumstances, for example in tender documents or corporate websites.
[Edited January 20th 2014 – the CIOB has now made a revision to the above information. Members will have to choose whether to use the new designation or continue to use the term “Chartered Builder”. It will not be possible for one individual to use both terms.]
Members interested in taking up the new designation should register their interest in advance with the CIOB, in order to officially join the new Register of Chartered Construction Managers.
The term “Chartered Builder” has been in use since 1980, when the CIOB gained its Royal Charter. The new designation was officially sanctioned in October by the Privy Council, the government body that regulates certain public institutions.
The CIOB says that “Chartered Construction Manager” reflects the breadth and complexity of careers within the built environment sector, and signals the influence that professional construction managers have within, and beyond, the built environment.
“Securing Chartered Construction Manager is an important milestone for the Institute and its global membership. We expect that this internationally recognised title will attract a generation of newcomers to the sector, inspired by the variety of exciting roles on offer.”
Chris Blythe, CIOB chief executive
On a website page asking Chartered Construction Managers to “stand up and be counted”, it adds: “As a CIOB member you could be working with BIM or setting strategies for carbon reduction. You might be on site, but you could equally be sitting at head office, supervising teams and setting corporate strategy. And you could be working at any point within the life cycle of a structure, from inception to recycling.”
Chris Blythe, chief executive at the CIOB, said: “We are delighted that construction management has received the external recognition and validation that it so richly deserves. The title Chartered Construction Manager reflects the professionalism of our members and the influence they have on the built environment sector.
“Acting as an interface between disciplines and trades, professional construction managers are pivotal team players. Their contribution is critical to the successful outcome, as well as the quality and sustainability of any completed building.
“Securing Chartered Construction Manager is an important milestone for the Institute and its global membership. We expect that this internationally recognised title will attract a generation of newcomers to the sector, inspired by the variety of exciting roles on offer.”
Members commenting on a LinkedIn discussion thread welcomed the arrival of “Chartered Construction Managers”.
Miltiades Agathou MCIOB said that it would be “more in line with our era”, while Lee Carty MCIOB said that it would align better with his experience than Chartered Builder.
Consultant Nicholas Everett MCIOB said the term sounded “more up to date and more inclusive than Chartered Builder” while Alan Smith ICIOB commented that “there are benefits to both titles. Being called one or the other gives a different impression to people not in the industry.”
The new designation also brings CIOB into line with long-running trends in academia and industry. The Higher Education sector increasingly describes built environment degrees as “construction management” courses, opening up career options that go beyond the construction process to encompass design, carbon reduction, costing, procurement or strategic business development.
The process of expanding the designations available to existing members and potential members began in 2009, when PPCIOB Professor Li Shirong and PPCIOB John Bale began work to set out a new broader definition of the construction manager’s role.
Full corporate CIOB members (MCIOBs) and fellows (FCIOBs) who would like to use Chartered Construction Manager are invited to register their interest by visiting www.ciob.org.
