The building services industry is undergoing a paradigm shift, as it strives to improve the energy efficiency of new and existing buildings and make them inherently safer.
This change is being driven by two factors: the government’s target to reach net zero by 2050 and the introduction, in April 2022, of the Building Safety Act.
As a result, and after consultation with CPD Panel members and other CIBSE groups, CIBSE has decided that from January 2024, all CIBSE Licentiates, Associates, Members and Fellow will be required to undertake and reflect on two mandatory semi-structured activities, one on sustainability and one on building safety.
Semi-structured activities include supplier webinars, CIBSE events, or internal company presentations. This will help focus learning and development on these two key industry issues, ensuring building services engineers deliver more efficient building designs and stay informed on the latest technology and techniques in building safety. This will not only improve engineers’ competence, but will also be beneficial to our clients and, ultimately, the future occupants of the buildings we design.
CPD can be carried out under many guises, and activities include structured courses, semi-structured webinars, mentoring, reading, or simply learning on the job.
CIBSE members must abide by the CIBSE Code of Conduct, which includes recording their CPD activities in a log. The easiest way to do this is by using CIBSE’s online tool mycareerpath, but it can also be done on a spreadsheet.
The activities undertaken each year should be planned around development objectives, and often the easiest way to set these objectives is to base them on your company’s internal development reviews.