The new CEO of the Chartered Institute of Building, Dr Victoria Hills, looks forward to what 2026 holds for the built environment
I took up my post as the Chartered Institute of Building’s CEO just a few weeks ago but having come from the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI), I’ve been fortunate to work in collaboration with CIOB (and others) for many years. So, although my look ahead comes when I’m relatively new in post, my thoughts on what the built environment could face this year come from long experience of the sector and of working alongside CIOB.
Much of CIOB’s work since 2023 has been guided by our corporate plan. When it was published my predecessor noted it was: “the roadmap for the journey CIOB will take over the next five years”. This has proved to be true and the themes in it have been the big issues shaping much of the industry’s decision-making and long-term planning. It is also where we set out our ambition to drive “modern professionalism” and we will continue to make significant progress in this regard.
Quality and safety
One of our three key themes is pushing quality and safety as a priority and these are clearly critical industry-wide issues. Many people will be keeping an eye on government-level policy developments, such as the recently published Single Construction Regulator Prospectus, outlining proposals to reduce fragmentation in how the construction sector is regulated. There will also be a further call for evidence to understand the role of the professions in driving change, expected in the spring.
We also still await the results of a number of important government consultations that we responded to in 2025.
Closer to home, we are adjusting our CPD policy to further ensure the competence of our current members and fellows and those on the path to chartered membership. Our CPD policy is regularly reviewed to ensure it is fit-for-purpose in a constantly evolving industry and the focus on reflective practice and clarity about the required hours should provide more consistency and ease of recording for our members.
Sustainability
The second of our headline themes is environmental sustainability in the built environment. It is vital we continue to help improve sustainability and promote efforts to push to net zero, not least because more sustainable construction offers ways to deliver on the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and provides huge opportunities for innovation and economic growth, including significant job creation.
In policy terms, we are waiting on the outcome of the Future Homes Standard, reforms to the EPC system and Biodiversity Net Gain. These outcomes will have a big impact on housebuilding, so the decisions the government makes will play a big role in them meeting (or not meeting) their new homes target, along with other ambitions on infrastructure.
Skills gap
Our third theme is the skills gap, with the goal of helping the industry compete for and retain talent. This is an ongoing issue and has been for more than a decade now. However, the World Economic Forum Future of Jobs report, published in January, offers a note of optimism – it predicts that, of the “frontline job roles” they look at, construction workers are among those predicted to see the largest growth in absolute terms of volume. Construction workers are listed alongside farmworkers and food processing workers, reinforcing how critical the built environment sector is in driving economic growth.
As one element of our work in this area, CIOB has recently recommitted to the B.E. Inclusive partnership, which brings together nine built environment bodies to collaborate on diversity and inclusion and tackle under-representation. The new agreement takes us all the way to 2030 and it’s significant that so many organisations, representing so many people from our sector, want to reconfirm their support for an inclusive and welcoming industry.
I also want to note that 2026 will be when we kick off development of CIOB’s next corporate plan, in consultation with our members. Our ambition is to ensure we are perfectly placed to grasp all the opportunities that look set to come our way. It is inevitable that it will reflect developments in digital construction and the use of AI but the themes mentioned above are still so important and we will carefully consider how to address them in the context of an ever-changing environment.
Away from our policy work and ongoing efforts to deliver on our public interest mission, it’s easy to look forward to and get excited about specific dates in CIOB’s calendar as I will be attending many of them for the first time with my CIOB hat on.
Our annual conservation conference is now confirmed for 23 April in a new London venue. This year we will be focussing on “Delivery, Skills & Value in Conservation” as our theme.
We are also looking forward to attending UKREiiF in Leeds in May to engage with our sister professional bodies, industry partners and some of our members.
Later this year we will also attend some of the UK’s party conferences to talk to local, regional and national politicians and policymakers.
I must take this opportunity to thank CIOB members and fellows, including our Members’ Forum delegates and some our training partner companies – those I’ve met so far have been very welcoming and their ideas for the future have reinforced that I am delighted to continue working in the built environment sector as there’s so much opportunity for improved collaboration and coordination.
The construction industry has a critical role to play, both domestically and globally, in delivering economic growth, whilst also delivering the sustainable development goals, and the work of CIOB and its members will sit at the heart of this.
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