Construction Industry Council launches “Essential Principle Guide”

CIC Launches ‘Essential Principles Guide’ for creating an accessible and inclusive environment.

The Construction Industry Council (CIC) has officially launched their “Essential Principles Guide”, for Built Environment Professionals, on creating an accessible and inclusive environment. Tony Burton, Deputy Chair of CIC and Partner at Gardiner and Theobald. It was endorsed by Penny Mordaunt MP, Minister for Disabled People during an evening reception.

The guide contains six principles as suggested by the Office of Disability users, which will guide, support and motivate when making decisions for clients, employers and society which affect the achievement of an inclusive environment.

The 6 essential principle are as follows:

1. Contribute to building an inclusive society now and in the future
2. Apply professional and responsible judgement and take a leadership role
3. Apply and integrate the principles of inclusive design from the outset of a project
4. Do more than just comply with legislation and codes
5. Seek multiple views to solve accessibility and inclusivity challenges
6. Acquire the skills, knowledge, understanding and confidence to make inclusion the norm not the exception

The guide is an initiative that emerged from the Built Environment Professional Education Project – a government project now being taken forward by the CIC and into industry.

The aim is to generate a shift change in how inclusive design skills are taught in the UK, with professionals receiving mandatory, quality teaching about inclusive design so that they can help create inclusive building, places and spaces for future generations.

BEPE Project Board Chair Paul Morrell said: “As we contemplate the many possible futures of the industry, a good question to ask is, what would an industry that we can be proud of look like? How would it behave? And what regard would it have for those it works for, and those who work for it?  Just one answer to that question is that it would always have in its mind the whole idea of accessibility: of welcoming the greatest possible number of people, in all the many guises we come in, into our buildings and our businesses, and designing into both whatever accommodations may be necessary to make them feel at home. To do that, all we have to do is first to care; then to know what to do; and then just do it. These are challenges of attitude, academics and action, and rising to all of those challenges would be to achieve real BuildAbility.”

Tony Burton, partner of Gardiner & Theobald who generously sponsored the guide commented: “G&T is delighted to support this important initiative which has the potential to positively influence the built environment for many years to come. By embracing these six principles for achieving an inclusive environment the construction and property industry can achieve the same impressive levels of accessibility we saw in London 2012.”

We are pleased to announce that CIC has also signed up to be Disability Confident, the Government is committed to halving the disability employment gap and construction industry employers have a crucial role to play in this.

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