Page 34 - Regional Employment & Skills Plan

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The under-representation of women remains a priority for the construction sector in Wales as it does in the UK. Currently, women account for 11% of employment in the sector, compared with 13% for the UK as a whole. In Wales, nine in ten women employed in construction work are in non-manual off-site roles.
The National Status Quo research (2012) established from employers and industry stakeholders that the following professional occupations and associated skills/knowledge needs need to be urgently addressed in order for the UK to meet the requirements of the EU 2020 energy efficiency targets:
• Energy Advisor/Assessor (wide-ranging skills and knowledge needs)
• Architects (low carbon design skills; whole life costing)
• Planners (understanding of energy efficiency targets)
• Civil engineers (understanding of low carbon materials and installation processes;
knowledge of energy efficiency targets)
• Surveyors (understanding of energy efficiency targets and impacts of energy efficiency
measures – or lack of them)
• Site supervisors (understanding of the processes and quality standard of completed
work needed to meet low carbon requirements).
Research carried out to inform the 2011 BRE report ‘Delivering Low Carbon Skills Wales – Low Carbon New Build Learning Project’ identified the following intermediate skills issues associated with core construction trades:
• Understanding of sustainability issues;
• Understanding of specific requirements of legislation;
• Understanding of the planning stage around orientation effects;
• Implications of the effect of one technology or solution on other areas of design and build;
• Understanding of how people will live in their houses and therefore how to design for that.
Specific skills issues around sustainability were found to include:
• Air-tightness requirements;
• Benefits of particular micro-renewable technologies and how to install and integrate them
with other elements;
• Quality requirements to meet the code, and;
• How each trade affects adherence to the code.
In addition, small builders struggle to cope with cost and time for training, don’t have the capacity to bring in experts and local specialists can be rare. Opportunities for improvement, as identified by the Status Quo research, might include sustainability education for trades; more knowledge-sharing from completed schemes; creating champions within businesses; creation of knowledge around fabric first solutions; and creating standard details for achieving the desired levels.
Construction Wales Innovation Centre
The development of the Construction Wales Innovation Centre (CWIC) with CITB and UWTSD is a significant development to support the construction sector within the region. The national centre will provide state of the art facilities to support the development of construction professionals. Construction is due to begin towards the end of 2016 with a view to opening to businesses and learners in 2018.71
71 http://www.citb.co.uk/news-events/wales/citb-establishes-landmark-construction-wales-innovation-centre-with-uwtsd/
Regional Employment & Skills Plan South West & Mid Wales Aspirational Economy