The Future of Professionalism 2025 - 2030?

In May 2016, I had the honour of being inaugurated at the House of Lords, as the President of the Chartered Association of Building Engineers (CABE). The focus during my tenure was to support and elevate our profession, ensuring that competency, collaboration, and accountability remained at the heart of everything we do. At the time I was hugely inspired by the topic of Global Responsibility pioneered by EWB UK and presented on this topic in China, Malaysia, Australia and New Zealand. I'd just turned 40 and signed myself up to the London Marathon running for Action Against Hunger UK and Engineers without Borders (nailed it in 4.5 hrs). Happy times! Would love to do it again...if I could spare the time to train.

Becoming President and Chair of the Board at CABE was an incredibly rewarding experience, and an opportunity to drive positive change in the built environment. I'll be eternally grateful to Michael Wadood for his support and encouragement. It is the people—dedicated professionals working every day to raise standards—who make this industry what it is, and I was grateful for the opportunity to learn from others and support that mission.

It was in April 2015 that the first addition of the Collaboration for Change Report was published by The Edge, a multi-disciplinary, campaigning built-environment think tank.

Recent events in my profession caused me to draft a post on the topic of professionalism

This triggered a number of conversations and I found myself mentioning to a number of people the relevancy of this report and impact on me a decade ago. The key theme of professionalism and duty to the public interest is something I mention to every new hire that joins BB7 in my welcome address.

The Executive Summary is really well written and I would like to share an extract of the 2nd Edition (2020) here:

"It is clear that institutions continue to perform a valuable role, chiefly in setting standards of competence and conduct for members, setting standards and frameworks for education, regulating members, improving the standing of members in the market (particularly internationally), providing industry leadership and aspiring to serve the public interest.

They also confer on their members a badge of membership/status that should demonstrate that they have attained an entry level of competence and will be bound by a code of conduct, as well as providing fellowship and collegiate support. They have also shown themselves to be adaptable, and there is every reason to believe that they will continue to be so.

However, the standing and perceived value of the professions is being challenged, with detractors seeing in their conduct and practice a tendency towards protectionism, resistance to change, the reinforcement of silos and the preservation of hierarchies. There is also a risk that the institutions lose control of the very things that are claimed to differentiate their members from those lacking a professional designation: quality control and oversight of educational standards; a transparent and enforced code of ethics; a defined duty to serve the public interest; the development and dissemination of a relevant body of knowledge; and a demonstration of leadership on some of the great issues that reach across the whole of the built environment. It is one of the conclusions of the Commission that the threats and pressures for change that the professions face, if not yet existential, are real and profound, and demand change".

In the final paragraph it closes with "This is, however, balanced by an equally powerful conviction that there is an opportunity for the professions to find a new position for themselves that captures the best of the values of their past, while being relevant to 21st century circumstances and the challenges we face, and valuable to both their members and society".

The criteria for the professions was clearly articulated by Lord Benson in a House of Lords debate in 1992, as summarised below:

1. The profession must be controlled by a governing body, which in professional matters directs the behaviour of its members, with those members subordinating their private interests in favour of support for the governing body.
2. The governing body must set adequate standards of education as a condition of entry and thereafter ensure that members obtain an acceptable standard of professional competence and continue training and education throughout their professional life.
3. The governing body must set the ethical rules and professional standards higher than those established by the general law, to be observed by the members.
4. Those rules and standards should be designed for the benefit of the public and not for the private advantage of the members.
5. The governing body must take disciplinary action, if necessary expulsion from membership, should the rules and standards it lays down not be observed, or should a member be guilty of bad professional work.
6. Work is often reserved to a profession by statute - not because it was for the advantage of the member, but because of the protection of the public, it should be carried out only by persons with the requisite training, standards and disciplines.
7. The governing body must satisfy itself that there is fair and open competition in the practice of the profession so that the public are not at risk of being exploited. It follows that members in practice must give information to the public about their experience, competence, capacity to do the work and the fees payable.
8. The members of the profession, whether in practice or in employment, must be independent in thought and outlook. They must not allow themselves to be put under the control or dominance of any persons or organisation that could impair that independence.
9. In its specific field of learning, a profession must give leadership to the public it serves.

Source: Lord Benson, Criteria for a group to be considered a profession, Hansard (Lords) 8 July 1992, 1206-1207.

The relevance of these discussions today is more critical than ever. As the built environment faces mounting challenges—from regulatory scrutiny and safety concerns to the evolving role of professional institutions—the need for competency, accountability, and ethical leadership has never been more pressing.

The principles outlined in Collaboration for Change and Lord Benson’s criteria for a profession serve as a stark reminder of the responsibility we bear.

Institutions must set and uphold high standards, protect the public interest, and demonstrate leadership in addressing industry-wide issues.

We all need to show leadership.

However, if they fail to evolve and reinforce their purpose, they risk diminishing their own influence and value.

The future of professionalism 2025 > 2030?

Now is the time for the Built Environment professions to redefine their role, not just by safeguarding tradition but by actively shaping a modern, accountable, and forward-thinking industry—one that meets the expectations of society and the demands of an ever-changing built environment. Imagine what we could achieve if we broke down silos, embraced true collaboration, and deepened our understanding of what it truly means to be a professional.

We have the power to raise standards, drive meaningful change, and shape a safer, more secure, and resilient built environment.

Ben Bradford - Chief Executive Officer for and on behalf of BB7

bbseven.com

Here's a picture of me El-Presidente (carrying a little less timber due to marathon training), looking a little younger back in 2016. The point is.. professionalism is still just as relevant today in 2025 as it was back then. We have a duty to serve the public interest and the work to keep raising standards continues. The quality of a profession is in the standard we set for ourselves.

Link to The Edge Report: https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5cc0112bb91449446cbd2a16/t/5ecf983501658b7cb875741e/1590663224573/CollaborationForChange_Book_Ed2-Final.pdf