This article is aimed at those commissioning professional services for Building Conservation. It may also be useful for practitioners seeking more information on current and likely future trends in accreditation and training.

Of the total output of the Construction Industry, 50% is now concerned with repair and maintenance of the existing stock, and this amounts to an expenditure of £30 billion per annum. The skills required for these processes are essentially different from those of new build. It is therefore essential that clients have some signposts on what skills to ask for and how to obtain them.

Currently a number of the professional institutions that are concerned with building conservation have developed or are considering the development of an accreditation system for their members who have the relevant skills in this field. Almost all such systems are concerned with professionals competent as general practitioners but who have also the necessary experience and knowledge required for maintenance of buildings of special historic value.

There is now a common method of assessment, agreed by most these institutions. It provides a potential client with reliable guidance in terms of competence for building conservation. The aim is not to create an elite class of specialists in building conservation, rather to establish a reliable baseline. From this, an intelligent client will be expected to carry out further enquiries from a shortlist of registered candidates in order to select the most suitable for their particular circumstances.

An essential foundation for the common method of assessment is a sufficiently rigorous method of testing to ensure consistent judgement of performance. This must apply not only to competencies within a discipline but also facilitate comparison between disciplines.

A candidate for any of the specialist registers is required to submit evidence of completed work (the most usual is a summary of 5 recent projects), along with an analysis of the range and value of the experience that it demonstrates in relation to the ICOMOS Guidelines for Education and Training.

Panels comprising professional peers and informed lay people are then required to judge the evidence provided, in a way that is systematic and auditable. The criteria for this assessment are made public and are available to the candidates in advance of their application to aid in the preparation of their submissions. There will also be a reference obtained from a candidate’s client.

For some years now, there have been registers up and running for architects and surveyors. These have been operated by the Royal Incorporation of Architects Scotland (RIAS), the Architects Accredited in Building Conservation (AABC) and the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS). They have evolved over time and been recently reviewed with the aim of improving their consistency with the common method. For structural and civil engineers the first edition of a register, drawing heavily on the common method, has been published recently.

The Institution of Historic Building Conservation (IHBC) has a more general list of those working in the conservation sector.

Under consideration are registers for Mechanical and Electrical Engineers (through CIBSE) and Chartered Builders (Building Site Managers through CIOB).

To qualify for registration a person needs to understand the principles of conservation, the methods of investigation, the wider social and financial issues (including legislation) as well as being able to implement and manage a conservation scheme. Thus there is a need to demonstrate a significant knowledge base to underpin the practical experience. Formal academic or vocational qualifications are considered as valuable components of any application.

Evidence of relevant continuing professional development (CPD) is essential for all applications, as it will be in due course for renewals. However, there is currently a bewildering variety of academic and practical training courses and events. There are also a number of distance learning mechanisms under development.

As a part of the agreement between the professions, a common framework of skills has been developed. This evolved through the efforts of Universities with a track record in building conservation, with the specific aim of developing training modules to complement the requirements of the registers. The aim is to provide practitioners and students with a map for judging their own training needs and for judging any training on offer. Addresses are provided below for access to the common framework and for some of the education and training currently on offer.

A significant factor in the drive for improvement in the quality of conservation work through registration has come from national departments and agencies. Historic Scotland initiated the development of the common framework in cooperation with English Heritage. Both have given advanced warning of the need for work grant aided by them to be managed by competent (registered) professionals. Through their joint funding with English Heritage of the Repair Grants to Places of Worship scheme, the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) has also endorsed the need for suitably qualified and experienced building professionals. English Heritage have announced that the lead professional adviser on all new grant offers made after the beginning of December 2003 must be either an architect or chartered building surveyor accredited in building conservation. Historic Scotland