There was a good mix of people from design, contracting, manufacturing and insurance, and consequently UKCMB received many useful comments, criticisms and new ideas. Many thanks to all those who attended! We had divided the two days into four modules (two on each day) as follows:
- Building moisture physics (given by Valentina Marincioni)
- History of moisture in buildings and occupancy (Nick Heath)
- Moisture risk assessment (Valentina Marincioni)
- Moisture in construction and practice (Bob Prewitt)
Each module also contained a number of exercises and, in this pilot, plenty of time for discussion and feedback.
Overall the pilot was considered to be a success. The following were some of the main points raised by the discussions:
- Background reading of basic texts is necessary. Foremost among these should be the BSI White Paper on Moisture in Buildings and BS 31000: 2018 on risk management. There should also be a glossary of terms, and all presentations should use the same terms.
- The presentations need to be linked more closely, so that overlap is reduced and important themes are taken through all modules.
- Probably the history and occupancy module should come first, and then moisture physics.
- The main challenge of this course is to provide a coherent and robust way to undertake moisture risk assessment and actions for mitigating risk, considering the practical limitations of time, money and knowledge in most construction situations. More work needs to be done in this area.
We now plan to revise the presentations and also to assemble all pre-course study material, with a view to running another course in mid-summer. We are particularly looking for trainers, so anyone who would like to be a trainer should attend if possible. You need to attend and pass the course to be able to train others. We will also support you during your first presentations to others. And of course you get paid!
We will also be developing an on-line course and starting to discuss the use of the course with professional, contracting and certification bodies. We are looking to embed this course in other CPD programmes, broader courses and college curriculums. Anyone interested to use this course should contact Peter Rickaby (who is in charge of the training) at UKCMB.
It should be remembered that this is really an introductory course albeit with tests and excises that need to be completed correctly for the receipt of a certificate. Further more detailed professional and site courses will be developed in the future.