COTAC HISTORY

1.   HISTORY
COTAC was originally formed in 1959 by a group drawn from a number of amenity societies who were concerned by the poor  quality of repairs to bomb damaged churches. As a result COTAC was influential in helping to set up a number of post graduate courses in the conservation of historic buildings for architects only. Until the 1980's all the courses with which COTAC was concerned were graduate or postgraduate.  With the advent of NVQ's in 1986, however, COTAC has taken a more active role in the work of standards and accreditation. It was commissioned by the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) to develop N/SVQ's for crafts at level 3 and the Construction Industry Standing Conference (CISC) for technical and professionals at levels 4 & 5

When COTAC was founded there only about 58,000 individual buildings protected by law but since then this number has greatly increased. In particular the Civic Amenities Act 1967 has greatly extended protection to whole areas worthy of conservation. There are now some 8,000 acres protected and some 1.3 million buildings. About 2.5% of the country's building stock is subject to some form of statutory control.

Caring for this built heritage - ensuring that repairs are correctly undertaken with appropriate materials and techniques and that adaptations are sensitively carried out has called for further training and education not only for architects but also for surveyors, engineers, planners, and those concerned with the control of work at both national and local government levels. COTAC has therefore, both directly and indirectly encouraged the development of graduate and postgraduate education to meet this increased requirement.

2.   CRAFTSMEN and WOMEN
Even if there were enough fully trained and competent professionals to specify, design, oversee, and control all the work that has to be done to keep the country’s heritage in use and good repair, that would not be enough. Work on historic buildings demands highly skilled craftspeople in all the traditional building trades: carpenters and joiners, bricklayers, masons, plumbers, plasterers, and blacksmiths. They must have not only the full range of their trades’ manual skills but also a knowledge of vernacular building techniques and materials, and an understanding of the philosophy of building conservation. In the past, these skills and knowledge were developed through apprenticeship and a wide experience. Sadly, in recent years, the effect of labour-only subcontracting and the widespread use of modern materials and techniques have produced tradesmen who are both deficient in craft skills and with little or no understanding of historic vernacular building. COTAC has therefore sought to remedy these deficiencies by stimulating and supporting maintenance and conservation training for craftsmen. As a result there are courses of study at a number of colleges of further education at NVQ Level 3 and Diploma Level, which are now producing the highly skilled and properly educated craftsmen that the nation needs.