The Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) and the Federation of Master Builders (FMB) have launched a new report to underpin a sector skills plan for retrofit.
The report – Energy Retrofit, Repair, Maintenance and Improvement of Homes in Great Britain: Towards a Sector Skills Strategy – was commissioned by CITB’s Repair, Maintenance and Improvement (RMI) Sector Skills Advisory Group.
It found that repair, maintenance and improvement of existing homes accounts for £41bn of total construction turnover, and sets out guiding principles for growing and progressing the RMI sector, with particular focus on competence, industry coordination and quality assurance.
Those principles underpin the new RMI (Retrofit) Sector Skills Plan, developed with the FMB, employers and industry stakeholders. The plan aims to streamline training initiatives and strengthen the skills, competence and confidence of the workforce delivering retrofit across the UK, while creating clearer standards for employers and workers to train towards.
CITB and the FMB said poorly executed retrofit can create significant risks for buildings and occupants, and that the plan puts quality at the centre of the skills agenda to help ensure the workforce can maximise the benefits of retrofit while minimising those risks.
They added that delivering retrofit at scale will depend heavily on having a skilled and competent workforce in place, as the industry faces growing pressure to deliver on housing, net zero and building safety commitments.
Tim Balcon, chief executive at CITB, said: “Delivering retrofit at the scale needed across the UK depends on having a workforce with the right skills, knowledge, and competence. The RMI Sector Skills Plan brings the industry together around a shared approach, helping to simplify what can often be a complex landscape and making it easier for businesses and individuals to access the support they need.
“This is also an important example of the change in how CITB is investing the levy. We are increasingly focused on backing training and skills interventions that deliver clear, measurable impact for industry – improving competence, productivity, and long-term workforce capability. Because this plan has been developed by industry, for industry, it is precisely the kind of targeted investment where the levy can deliver greater value: focusing collective effort on the skills that employers need most and helping to raise standards consistently across the retrofit workforce.”
Brian Berry, chief executive of the FMB, added: “The RMI sector is often treated as the Cinderella of the construction sector, but domestic RMI represents 20% of UK construction’s economic output. That is more than new housing and more than infrastructure.
“The research from the University of Oxford and Nottingham Trent University is arguably the most comprehensive overview of RMI skills and acts as a solid bedrock for the future direction of building industry funding into training. The bigger picture is that retrofit is no longer niche, it is just everyday RMI work, carried out by thousands of small, local builders on a daily basis. It is therefore time that we invest in the skills and competence outcomes that this sector deserves.”
The plan will now move into delivery, with industry partners working together to progress its key actions and ensure the sector has the skills, standards and support needed to deliver retrofit at scale.
Main image: Brian Berry, chief executive, FMB
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