I read a post today pointing out that there are still too many companies that are unready or unwilling to change the culture of the Construction Industry to ensure that we never see the likes of the Grenfell disaster again. It saddened me and brought to mind the comment a very large product manufacturer made in open forum at a talk I took part in recently. Said manufacturer declared, “The Industry will never change!”
Those readers who know me will be unsurprised to hear that my response was equally blunt and unequivocally supported the aims of the Building Safety Act.
I know that it often feels like we are trying to turn an oceangoing ship in the company car park when we think about changing a whole culture, but we must all (almost belligerently) do what is right.
Leaving the naysayers in our wake feels like the easiest approach for us all; I know this feeling well, as in my weaker moments I have almost succumbed to it myself. However, we need to spread the positivity of doing things right and by showing what is possible, bring the doubters with us on the journey.
If we demonstrate that by always constructing in accordance with the functional requirements of Building Regulations and making sure that our colleagues and partners are correctly trained to carry out their duties, we will have fewer defects, fewer unexpected costs and far fewer unhappy customers. All of these are good for the balance sheet, as well as society at large.
The Principal Contractors, Specialist Subcontractors, Consultants, Material Distributors and Manufacturers must work together to see each other’s points of view, respect each other, watch each other for missteps and help correct them, and above all consider the people who are going to occupy the buildings we all construct. This is all we’ve ever been asked to do and anyone that has been in the Industry for any length of time will identify themselves as already doing this on a day to day basis. You, dear reader are probably amongst them, so be proud of that and infect those around you with that same ethos.
Together we CAN make the change. All it takes is a little effort. Who’s with me?
The safety of our approximately 45,000 global colleagues is core to our commitment to be a great employer. Well done, team! #ProudToBeITW