ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½

Graduates in anything from physics to fine art will be able to achieve a professional diploma after three years and full membership after four – all the while employed by construction firms.

The CIOB made the commitment to a fast-track conversion route back in March. In October it kicks off when 12 non-cognate graduates will pilot the programme, starting with a couple of basic training sessions, possibly to be held at the CITB's National Construction College at Bircham Newton.

Over the following three years the graduates will complete 10 residential modules each lasting a week. Distance learning may be involved.

The CIOB's deputy chief executive Michael Brown predicted that in time the non-cognate route would boost the number of graduates entering the industry.

"The traditional routes will still be there, but they are not producing enough, and they seem unable to bring in women. This could be a great new source," he said.

Major contractors used to convert non-cognates for generations (think of Laing, who put the finishing touches on the CIOB's immediate past-president Stuart Henderson when he was fresh from doing an MA at Trinity College, Dublin). But that know-how and willingness is largely lost, which is why the CIOB has initiated a solid definition of what you have to do to convert a historian, mathematician, accountant or biologist into a chartered builder without turning a silk purse into a sow's ear.

The answer turned out to be fairly straightforward. Drawing on the CIOB's Education Framework, the course of study will address three main areas.

First will be technology: the way buildings are put together and the way materials behave. Second will be management technique, including applied economics. Finally, they'll need to learn the construction context – in other words, the way the industry works and how it is changing.

An important detail still to be worked out is where the graduates will come from. Because it's a pilot, the 12 have more or less already been identified from among companies participating in the steering group set up to create the programme. Willmott Dixon and Balfour Beatty are prominent among them.

Who will teach them? At the pilot phase, the two universities sitting on the steering group seem most likely to provide the teaching elements. They are Anglia Polytechnic University (APU) and the University of Central Lancashire. But Professor Mike Kanter of APU insists that doesn't mean it will be an exclusive club. The CIOB is seeking wide participation in providing the taught component of the qualification.

If you're a contractor and feel this may be a great way to inject new talent into your company, beware. The CIOB's Michael Brown, warned that companies would have to cough up serious resources to accommodate the non-cognates. First, of course, is money. The steering group wants to keep costs to a minimum but companies can expect to pay about as much as they would in supporting an undergraduate through a construction management degree. It's not clear yet whether, or by how much, the CITB is prepared to help through grants.

But money is only the start, and in some ways the easiest to supply. Companies will also have to provide a proper learning environment, including a mentor, and be ready to train the graduate in any specific operational roles they have in mind for him or her.

The traditional routes will still be There, but they are not producing enough, and they seem unable to bring in women

Michael Brown, deputy CE, CIOB

But Brown gave assurances that the programme should produce people perfectly capable of earning their keep within the first year.

Mike Kanter was more optimistic.

"I think they'd be worth having around from day one, really," he said. " They should be able to answer letters, purchase things for the office and support the people they are shadowing by doing some research, for instance. If they can't do these things, as graduates, they're in trouble anyway."

Spreading the net
Some in the industry believe non-cognates can help in the management skills crisis. CIOB chief executive Chris Blythe asks why the industry should recruit from a small pool of around 2000 construction graduates when it could be fishing in a much wider pool of, say, business studies graduates? In 2001, 23,600 applicants were accepted to business studies courses. Unlike building studies, more applied than were accepted.

The CITB is also ready to look outside the current pool of construction graduates. But director of training strategy Sheila Hoile says the industry should rethink what it has to offer young, ambitious people.

"Why not pitch it to business graduates like this: spend some time in our industry and learn some real management skills," says Hoile. "Whether they stay depends on what employers offer them."

But does industry want non-cognates? Some major contractors like the idea and will welcome the CIOB's initiative.

"There are many graduates who don't even consider the industry simply because they know nothing about it, and others who are put off because they see their degrees as barriers to entry," said Chris Jones, head of training at HBG Construction.

Points to prove
At Bovis, learning and development manager Mirka Staskova said a fast-track conversion course is essential for the industry. Bovis has hired a few non-cognates in the past but they've got to be pretty passionate about making a career in construction because the way it is now, they spend five years getting a construction management degree on day release, after spending three or four years on their first degree. That's nearly as long as it takes to become a doctor.

Two years ago training and development consultant Tricia Sharpe conducted research on the topic for the Construction Industry Council. Of the companies she interviewed who employed non-cognate graduates, most were pleased.

"They got a lot out of it," she said. "Mostly in terms of their lateral thinking, and their levels of motivation, because there was an element of them being grateful for having been given the chance."

But some companies don't like the idea of opening the doors to non-cognates. Interserve Project Services hires 15 construction management graduates per year and is generally satisfied with them. Training officer Michael Moore says recruiting non-cognates is risky.