The inside track about the CIOB Client Group

The CIOB Client Group does what it says on the tin. It’s a group of CIOB members who work for clients, and whose aims are to share best practice within the UK and internationally. It also has links to bodies such as Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and the Construction Leadership Council (CLC), and in that way is quite an influential body.

As a member of the CIOB Client Group, you can hear about latest innovations and best practice in the construction industry. It also gives you the opportunity to benchmark your approach with fellow client members.

Clients really do have an influence on construction behaviours – if you have a contractual client, you’ll get a contractual supplier.

A good client uses a collaborative approach. As a client, we want to build an asset safely, on time, with great quality and within budget, and good contractors want exactly the same thing. By working together, you’re more likely to achieve the right outcome. It’s an approach that’s been advocated as the right way forward for decades. We’re seeing a slow but gradual shift to this important way of working.

As a client, be wary of classic mistakes, such as making cost king – trying to get a project as cheap as you can is a recipe for disaster.

One of the strengths of being part of the CIOB client group is that we look at latest innovations, discuss them, get presentations on them and also learn what experience other clients have found with such innovations, as well as the benefits and shortfalls.

Finally, professional qualifications are key to clients. For some qualifications you just pay the fee and gain membership, but professional qualifications need to be worked for and that really shows the dedication of the individual. This is a key way of demonstrating competency of suppliers for me.  Somebody who spends time and effort to improve themselves and wants to demonstrate that they have met a standard with their peers - that’s the sort of person you’d want working on a project with you.

You can find a wealth of information about the professional qualifications that the CIOB offers here https://www.ciob.org/individual-membership.