From coffee house meetings to a royal charter: 190 years of the CIOB

The story goes that a group of Master Builders began holding regular meetings in a coffee house on Ludgate Hill in London (not far from the CIOB’s current London office).

We believe that the first ever meeting related to contract conditions - which I’m sure won’t be a surprise to anyone in the industry - but their main concern soon became an impending strike by construction workers, potentially halting work across the city and beyond.

The Builders’ Society formed from these meetings with 18 founding members. One of those founders was Sir Samuel Morton-Peto, who started his working life as an apprentice and a joiner, part of the fine tradition of starting a career on the tools. He went on to play a part in creating some of London’s most iconic landmarks – he was involved in rebuilding the Lyceum Theatre, after it had been damaged by fire in 1830, and the construction of Nelson’s Column and the Houses of Parliament. In his later working life he became an MP, a charity trustee, and mentor to young men starting their careers in construction.

I was heartened to read of his approach to his profession and the thought and care with which he undertook his various roles. It made me reflect that the values and ethics we hold, over and above the exacting standards of our membership grades, have been present since the very inception of the Institute.

Sir Samuel’s career also reflects how the Institute has been a global organisation from the very beginning. During the Crimean War, he and his partners helped to construct the railway between Balaklava and Sevastopol, helping the war effort by transporting supplies to troops on the front line. It was for this work that he received his baronetcy.

It was not long after the formation of the Builders’ Society that members began to share their expertise, influencing and contributing to proposed legislation on subjects from conciliation boards to traffic management, employer liability and new forms of contract.

One of the next milestones for us came in 1884, when the Builders’ Society was incorporated and became the Institute of Builders, with a stated purpose "to promote excellence in the construction of buildings and just and honourable practice in the conduct of business". I like to think that we have held true to that to this day – and plan to do so for many more years to come.

Moving into the 20th century, one of the bits of our history – which may not get much attention but feels important as it reflects more of the reality of our sector – is the awarding of our first Honorary Fellowship to Sir Thomas Bennett. Not a well-known name outside of architectural and construction circles, he was responsible for the development of Crawley and Stevenage as New Towns and helped develop the master plan from which other new towns were created. These achievements are not something that get mentioned when talking about iconic landmarks or record-breaking structures but the reality is that this work created homes and communities for tens of thousands of people, something our current members do day in, day out.

I also found it interesting that Sir Thomas was a member of more than one professional institute, something that we encourage as it feeds into cross-sector collaboration and strengthens our efforts to “promote excellence”.

Expanding membership

Another important milestone came in the 1960s - Barbara Wells was admitted as the very first female member of the CIOB in 1968, helping to blaze a trail for some of the incredible women who have come into CIOB membership over the years.

The 1970s saw the official launch of our first overseas Hub in Hong Kong. To this day, they are our largest international group of members and the Hong Kong Hub celebrated their 50th anniversary last year.

Our first female President was appointed in 2009: Professor Li Shirong, who sadly died in 2017, a highly accomplished, determined and dedicated construction academic who held the distinction of being both our first non-British and first female president.

While I am reluctant to skip over so many of our developments and achievements, it’s important to reflect on one of the most significant milestones for CIOB. This came in 1980, when we gained our much-valued royal charter to become the Chartered Institute of Building. I have always seen this as hugely important in moving us forward as an organisation and further establishing our public interest remit and our responsibilities to the public. I am very clear that we serve the public benefit and do not act as a trade association or a “club” for our members.

I do, however, believe that we are a community and joined together in our purpose to promote excellence and deliver a high quality built environment, for those creating it and those living in it. For my part, I recognise that I am a custodian of this organisation – it has had purpose and influence for nearly two centuries and, I hope, is a force for good in an important industry. It will continue after my tenure here and be present for many more years to come, supporting and serving the built environment and those who create it.