Introducing the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB)

The CIOB is the world’s largest and most influential professional body for construction management and leadership. We have a Charter to promote the science and practice of building and construction for the benefit of society, and we have been doing that since 1834.

With nearly 1,500 members in Northern Ireland, our members have led some of the country’s most high-profile projects, including Belfast’s iconic Custom House, and Titanic Quarter as well as thousands of smaller commercial and residential schemes in both the public and private sectors. On the education front, we accredit nine university courses in Northern Ireland across several institutions. To reflect our growing influence, we now have a dedicated policy and research function for Ireland.

Policy output

This policy resource allowed us, in collaboration with our members, to write our first ever manifesto for Northern Ireland, addressing what we believe should be the key priorities for the future Northern Ireland Assembly in advance of the 2022 election. We called on the future Northern Ireland Government to:

• create a stable policy environment for the construction sector;
• ringfence funding for the development of an A-Level in construction; and
• develop a national retrofit strategy.

Furthermore, as part of the CIOB’s sustainability agenda, we recently published a policy paper: ‘Flipping the Green switch; a case for deferring stamp duty on residential retrofit in Ireland’, which has been met with an enthusiastic response from our stakeholders.

Collaboration

Collaboration is central to our work, and we regularly engage with the Government, our sister bodies and trade groups, and present our policy work through public speaking engagements. We have worked with the Department of Finance to achieve recognition for CIOB members in public procurement processes. We sit on a range of government and industry fora, including the Northern Ireland Construction Group, and we recently sat on the Northern Ireland Building Safety Expert Group as one of three industry representatives. We also sit on the All-Party Group on Construction, and the Heritage Skills Reference group for Northern Ireland. On the social policy front, we have worked with the Northern Ireland Equality Commission, and we sit on Aware Northern Ireland’s steering group.

Conclusion

The last two years have seen the launch of a Skills Strategy for Northern Ireland, a Housing Supply Strategy, a Programme for Government Framework, a Climate Change Act, and a series of reforms to public procurement, all of which directly impact the built environment. The CIOB has contributed to each of these initiatives through consultation responses and direct engagement with public bodies. After years of global upheaval, 2023 is the time to drive each of these policy areas forward, and to equip Northern Ireland for the challenges that will face its built environment for the remainder of this decade.

Jospeh Kilroy, Policy and Public Affairs Manager for Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland

E: jkilroy@ciob.org.uk