With the application window for the Spring 2020 Professional Review session with the ICE opening in January, those planning to apply will no doubt be planning for it already.  This will include plenty of revision and refresher reading as well as preparing for your interview. As a long-standing reviewer for the ICE, our Dr Andy Goodwin reminds you of his 6 top tips to help you prepare below:

• Read your draft Professional Report again and again, and get others to read it too (they will read what it actually says and read between the lines…)
• Ensure your report addresses all of the required attributes in a well-balanced way; try marking in the margins of a draft which attribute each paragraph relates to and tally them up
• Practice your presentation, to yourself and others, to ensure when under pressure you stay within the time limit
• Read through your quarterly reports and other records of your experience, to refresh your memory and identify good examples of how you have achieved each sub-attribute
• Revise your knowledge and understanding of all things civils related
• Practice your interview skills

As you prepare you may find some gaps in your understanding, or feel you are in need of some refresher training.  If so, we offer a wide range of courses may assist you.  Our top recommendations are:

• Two half-day courses on The ICE Professional Review – Overview and Preparation, and The Professional Report, on 15 October (discount for both courses) 
• Commercial and Contractual Awareness on 19 November
• Two half-day courses on the CDM Regulations 2015 on 3 December (discount for both courses) 
• The ICE Professional Review – Preparing for the Written Exercise on 10 December

If any of these courses are of interest then please contact us for details or to make a booking.  Equally, if you want to know what other courses may assist you then feel free to contact us.

As regular readers know, we have a regular section on CPD in our newsletters, with links to follow-up information.  They are useful for anyone but those in this post are especially useful for graduates pursuing professional registration with the ICE with the Spring 2019 session imminent: Leadership in HSW – One of the sub-attributes that must be demonstrated to be successful at a Chartered Professional Review with the ICE relates to leading continuous improvement in health, safety and welfare.  Examples should be drawn from your own experience, but it is a good idea to keep up to date with what others are doing.  A good reference point is the Considerate Constructors Best Practice Hub which may be found here. Quality Management – Quality management is more than quality assurance or quality control, as discussed in an article on total quality management published on the Designing Buildings Wiki in December 2018.  It is worth a read – just follow this link. Managing Diversity – Diversity should come up at every professional review, whether it be for IEng or CEng.  It is always good to read around this topic before your review, and to relate what you read to what you see at work.  There are numerous articles and books on the subject. but one that is worth reading was published in 2013.  It particularly relates to the public sector.  It can be downloaded from here. If you want to see other CPD ideas, you can look back at previous newsletters by following this link.

With the application window for the Spring 2019 Professional Review session with the ICE now closed, we wish all candidates every success.  By this stage you will be in the final stages of your preparations, which will include revision and refresher reading as well as preparing for your interview. As a long-standing reviewer for the ICE, our Dr Andy Goodwin provides his 6 top tips to help you prepare below:

• Read your draft Professional Report again and again, and get others to read it too (they will read what it actually says…)
• Ensure your report addresses all of the required attributes in a well-balanced way; try marking in the margins of a draft which attribute each paragraph relates too and tally them up
• Practice your presentation, to yourself and others, to ensure when under pressure you stay within the time limit
• Read through your quarterly reports and other records of your experience, to refresh your memory and identify good examples of how you have achieved each sub-attribute
• Revise your knowledge and understanding of all things civils related
• Practice your interview skills

As you prepare you may find some gaps in your understanding, or feel you are in need of some refresher training.  If so, we offer a wide range of courses may assist you.  Our top recommendations are:

• The ICE Professional Review – Preparing for the Interview on 19 February and 5 March; each course is strictly limited to a maximum of 4 delegates, to maximise your learning opportunities
• Essentials of Project Management on 7 February
• Commercial and Contractual Awareness on 7 March
• Two half-day courses on the CDM Regulations 2015 on 12 March

If any of these courses are of interest then please contact us for details or to make a booking.  Equally, if you want to know what other courses may assist you then feel free to contact us.

As regular readers know, we have a section on CPD in most of our newsletters, with links to follow-up information.  As a new idea, we are going to start to capture also some broad news items that affect the industry and ourselves.  We found the following news snippets and links useful and we hope you agree. British Standards and Brexit  – This is a common topic on our courses so the recent statement from BSI that they will continue as a member of ISO, IEC, CEN and CENELEC is likely to be of interest to many.  They went on to state “UK stakeholders have overwhelmingly expressed their support for the UK to remain committed to the adoption of international and European standards as the national standard, used as today.”  More information on what this means can be found by using this link, and their February 2018 standards position statement can be read here. Planning Update – The revised National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) has recently been updated and on 1 October 2018 new Regulations will come into force regarding pre-commencement conditions.  A Quick Guide on the changes has been prepared by Lithos Consulting, who we thank for their permission to circulate their guide. BIM Update – The first two international standards relating to the organization of information about construction works are to published in late 2018.  They are BS EN ISO 19650–1 (concepts and principles) and BS EN ISO 19650-2 (information management in delivery).  These standards will supersede BS 1192 (principles) and PAS 1192 part 2 (capital/delivery phase) respectively. An update that should help answer some of the questions on the UK transition can be found here. Health Safety and Welfare – Though industry magazines regularly carry HSW news, we find it useful to keep an eye too on the latest HSE press releases.  There were numerous construction related posts just in July and August, which highlight that we as an industry need to keep emphasising and focusing on HSW throughout a project. If you want to register to receive our newsletter, just follow this link and enter a few details.  Rest assured we will protect your privacy.

Our programme of courses that were designed to help candidates prepare for their professional review in the Autumn 2018 session are now complete.  Now the focus moves on to supporting prospective candidates for the Spring 2019 session.  This includes the following courses:

• The ICE Professional Review – Preparing for the Written Exercise on 22 November
• The ICE Professional Review – Overview and Preparation on 4 December
• Mock interview courses in early 2019 (dates TBC) 

If any course is of interest then please contact us for details and / or to make a booking.  Equally, if you want to know what other courses may assist you then feel free to contact us.

We have a regular section on CPD in our newsletters, with links to follow-up information.  They are useful for anyone but are especially useful for graduates pursuing professional registration with the ICE.   In the latest newsletter (to be issued shortly) we provided two CPD ideas: NEC4 – The NEC form of contract was born out of the Latham and Egan reports.  It went on to become the form of contract recommended by the ICE, replacing the ICE 7th Conditions of Contract.  It emphasised a collaborative approach and provided a range of forms for different risk sharing approaches.  NEC3 has now been replaced by NEC4 and graduates sitting their review ought to be aware now of the main changes.  A good starting point may be found here. Sustainable Development – Some time ago, in 2008, Constructing Excellence “recognised the need for a ‘Plain English Guide to Sustainable Construction’ after a large number of comments from their membership about the lack of clear, concise information on the subject.”  They have produced a useful guide that we recommend graduates read as a starter.  There have been developments since of course, as covered in previous newsletters. If you want to see other CPD ideas, you can look back at previous newsletters by following this link.

We are often asked what courses we recommend for those preparing for their professional review with the Institution of Civil Engineers.  The answer is it depends on the delegate, as each candidate has a different range of experience and different strengths / weaknesses.  We have a range of courses available that address aspects of the professional review, and other that address common areas of weakness at review such as management and contracts.  A summary of the courses we commonly suggest to candidates may be found here.  If any course is of interest then please contact us for details and / or to make a booking.