Behind the Built Environment

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Behind the Built Environment, a podcast from BESA where we delve into the latest industry news in the building engineering services sector. Join us for insightful discussions and exclusive interviews with leading industry experts, as we explore the trends and innovations shaping the future of the built environment and what impact they will have on you and your business. Find us at https://www.thebesa.com/

  1. 1d ago

    Safety First: Ethical Practice in the Built Environment (LIVE)

    In this special episode of Behind The Built Environment, we share Dr Barbara Lane’s keynote, “Safety First: Ethical Practice in the Built Environment”, recorded at the BESA Annual Conference on 22 October 2026.  Barbara is Chair of the Building Advisory Committee at the Building Safety Regulator and a Chartered Engineer with Engineers Ireland. Drawing on three decades of experience across design, construction and maintenance, including eight years as an expert to the Grenfell Tower Inquiry, she examines the industry’s responsibility to protect people and rebuild public trust. Her keynote explores why building safety depends on ethical practice, practical competence and collaboration throughout a building’s life. She explains why the lessons from Grenfell extend far beyond cladding, and why design, installation, commissioning, maintenance and ongoing management must be understood as interconnected parts of delivering a safe building.   This episode covers: • Why protecting people and acting in the public interest must underpin decisions across the built environment• What the Grenfell Tower Inquiry revealed about failures in design, construction, maintenance and information sharing• Why fire safety depends on the performance of the whole building and its interconnected systems• The importance of smoke ventilation, fire doors, dampers and effective maintenance• Why a fire strategy must be reflected in how a completed building actually performs• How clear records and communication help people understand, operate and maintain safety-critical systems• What ethical practice means, including honesty, integrity, accuracy, rigour and accountability• Why professionals must recognise the limits of their competence and challenge assumptions• How procurement decisions, limited budgets and unrealistic timescales can undermine safe outcomes• Why building safety responsibilities extend beyond new higher-risk buildings• The need to consider residents who cannot evacuate independently• How overheating, an ageing population and emerging risks are changing the demands placed on buildings• Why everyone involved in the building lifecycle has a role in raising standards and restoring trust.  The keynote is followed by questions from BESA Chief Executive David Frise and conference delegates, covering leadership accountability, procurement practices, raising safety concerns and the practical barriers to industry change. Behind The Built Environment is the official podcast of BESA (Building Engineering Services Association). We dive into the regulations, challenges, people and innovations shaping the future of UK construction and building engineering. https://www.thebesa.com/behind-the-built-environment

    Safety First: Ethical Practice in the Built Environment (LIVE)

  2. Oct 21

    Building Standards And The Reality Of Construction

    Building standards set out what good looks like. Delivering better buildings depends on how those standards are understood, applied and supported by practical competence. In this episode of Behind The Built Environment, David Frise, Chief Executive of BESA, speaks with Ant Burd, Director at BSI Standards. Ant explains how standards are developed, how they support building regulations and why contractors, residents and the wider supply chain should help shape them. The conversation explores the gap between good paperwork and sound judgement, the pressures created by cost-driven procurement, and the importance of collaboration in delivering safer, more sustainable buildings.   This episode covers: * The status of standards and when regulations or contracts give them greater authority * How contractors and other stakeholders can contribute to standards development * Resolving conflicting standards before design and construction begin * Building safety responsibilities and the changes still needed following Grenfell * Practical competence, experience and the limits of qualifications * Making standards easier for smaller contractors to find and use * AI, human judgement and the future of machine-readable standards The discussion also considers how standards can support energy performance through design, commissioning and everyday operation. As technology changes how technical information is accessed, Ant highlights the continuing need for trusted sources, competent people and shared responsibility for the buildings the industry delivers.

    Building Standards And The Reality Of Construction

  3. Oct 1

    Designing for Failure, Safety and the Future

    In this episode of Behind the Built Environment, David Frise, Chief Executive of BESA, speaks with Dave Cooper MBE, President of CIBSE and a lift and escalator engineer with more than four decades of experience across engineering, safety, education, standards and expert witness work. Dave explains how an apprenticeship on the railway led him into the highly specialised world of lift engineering, and why collaboration between different engineering disciplines is essential to delivering better buildings. The conversation explores why lifts should be considered much earlier in the design process, how technology and AI could help predict failures, and why designing and maintaining buildings around whole-life value is so important. This episode covers: • Why lifts and escalators are critical to modern buildings and the growth of cities• How collaboration between engineers, consultants, architects and contractors can deliver better buildings• Why clients need to consider vertical transportation at the earliest stages of a project• How AI and machine learning could improve lift performance and predict failures before they happen• The difference between designing for failure and managing failure• Why maintenance should move from reactive repairs towards anticipating when components need replacing• How value engineering can become a false economy when capital cost takes priority over whole-life cost• Why product selection and installation quality both matter to long-term performance• The importance of designing buildings for resilience and future requirements• What competence really means beyond qualifications, including knowledge, skills and behaviours• Why the industry faces a skills shortage and needs to make building engineering careers more attractive to young people• The role of apprenticeships and combining practical experience with academic qualifications• Why engineers need both specialist expertise and a broader understanding of the built environment• The challenge of making technical standards accessible to the engineers working at the coalface   Dave also discusses his research into escalator safety, including the role of human behaviour and the need to challenge assumptions about why accidents happen. He argues that better engineering decisions require a clearer understanding of how buildings and their systems are actually used.   [00:00] - Introduction & Dave Cooper's Career[01:00] - Quick-Fire Questions[03:45] - Lift Engineering & Collaboration[07:30] - The History and Importance of Lifts[10:30] - Designing Lifts for Modern Buildings[13:30] - AI, Technology & Predictive Systems[17:30] - Safety, Accidents & Human Behaviour[21:00] - Failure, Maintenance & Reliability[24:00] - Value Engineering & Whole-Life Cost[28:00] - Future-Proofing Buildings[31:00] - Competence, Skills & Qualifications[35:00] - Attracting the Next Generation of Engineers[38:00] - Specialism vs the Bigger Picture[40:00] - Dave's Career Legacy & Standards[42:00] - "King for a Day" & Outro   Behind The Built Environment is the official podcast of BESA (Building Engineering Services Association). We dive into the regulations, challenges, people and innovations shaping the future of UK construction and building engineering.

    Designing for Failure, Safety and the Future

  4. Aug 27

    Construction Cannot Reform While Lowest Price Still Wins

    Construction cannot improve quality, productivity, and building safety while commercial models continue to reward the lowest price, push risk down the supply chain, and encourage short-term decision-making.   In this episode of Behind the Built Environment, David Frise, Chief Executive of BESA, speaks with Paul Beeston, Partner and Head of Industry and Service Insight at RLB, who has more than 25 years of experience across the built environment and has recently joined the Construction Leadership Council board to lead work on reforming construction’s business models.   Paul argues that construction’s commercial model is not fundamentally broken, but that decades-old procurement practices are increasingly struggling in a market where clients expect more from their supply chains. At the same time, businesses face greater volatility, risk and pressure.   The conversation explores how better governance, smarter procurement, and fairer risk allocation could build stronger businesses and deliver better project outcomes.   This episode covers:   Why good governance starts with strong client leadership, clear decision-making and transparencyWhy lowest-price procurement can undermine quality and create the wrong behaviours from the outsetHow risk is pushed down the supply chain and what sensible risk allocation should look likeThe case for earlier and more open engagement with contractors and specialist subcontractorsWhy retentions should be abolished and the potential unintended consequences of replacing them with bondsHow the Building Safety Act is changing attitudes towards quality, competence and accountabilityWhy right-first-time delivery can provide clients with better protection than relying on contractual or financial securityThe challenge of measuring construction productivity without losing sight of quality, social value and workforce outcomesWhy whole-life value and building performance need to carry more weight in procurement decisionsHow data, AI, partnering and new commercial models could reshape construction over the next five years  Paul also challenges one of construction’s most persistent habits: treating price as the easiest definition of value. With RLB research showing that 40% of procurement activity is still selected purely on price, meaningful reform will require clients and the wider industry to look beyond capital cost and understand the long-term outcomes they are actually buying.   Ultimately, the episode asks whether construction can create a commercial environment where every part of the supply chain understands the value it contributes and how that contribution connects to better outcomes for clients, businesses and society.

    Construction Cannot Reform While Lowest Price Still Wins

  5. Aug 6

    Installers Face New Rules as Self Certification Schemes Are Reformed

    Self-certification schemes sit at the heart of millions of building projects. Still, proposed reforms could bring greater scrutiny to how installers demonstrate competence, notify work and comply with building regulations. In this episode of Behind The Built Environment, David Frise, Chief Executive of BESA, speaks with Mussa Awaleh, Head of Self-certification Schemes and Reform of Building Regulatory Guidance at the Building Safety Regulator. Mussa explains how the schemes, renamed from competent person schemes to self-certification schemes, support the building regulatory system and why their purpose, assessment and oversight are under review. The proposed reforms could affect installers, contractors and scheme operators as expectations around competence, accountability and consumer protection continue to rise. This episode covers: What prompted the change from competent person schemes to self-certification schemesHow installer competence should be assessed, revalidated and maintainedThe responsibility to notify controlled building workThe roles of the Building Safety Regulator, MHCLG and UKASEnforcement action against non-compliant contractorsHow a single construction regulator could reshape industry oversightWith more than 130,000 registered businesses operating across these schemes, reform could have significant consequences for the building services sector. The discussion also considers procurement risk, the Warm Homes Plan and the culture change needed alongside regulatory reform.

    Installers Face New Rules as Self Certification Schemes Are Reformed

  6. Jul 23 ·  Bonus

    Thermal Insulation Can No Longer Mark Its Own Homework

    The thermal insulation sector can no longer rely on self-certification to prove that work is safe, effective and properly installed. In this episode of Behind The Built Environment Extra, BESA Chief Executive David Frise speaks with Marion Marsland, Chief Executive of TICA, and Helen Anderson, Deputy Chief Executive of TICA, about proposals for a third-party accredited competence assessment standard for thermal insulation contractors. TICA is proposing an independently accredited standard combining a business review with a technical audit of completed work. It would verify that contractors select the right products, use competent people and follow correct installation methods. The discussion examines why paperwork alone cannot prove competence and how credible assessment can challenge poor performance while helping contractors improve. This episode explores: • Why competence must be demonstrated through evidence and technical assessment • How independent audits could assess thermal insulation workmanship on site • Why trade associations cannot credibly mark their own homework • How poor insulation workmanship creates energy, carbon and safety risks • What the Building Safety Act means for specialist contractor competence • How aligned assessment standards could strengthen the wider supply chain • Whether verified competence can help contractors secure better quality work With energy costs, net-zero targets, and safety placing greater scrutiny on insulation, the discussion considers how credible assessment could raise standards, reduce risk, and establish thermal insulation as a skilled discipline. Learn more about the BESA Competence Assessment Standard and independent audit process. https://www.thebesa.com/besa-membership/competence-assessment-standard-audit Behind The Built Environment is the official podcast of BESA (Building Engineering Services Association). We examine the regulations, challenges and innovations shaping the future of UK construction and building services engineering. https://www.thebesa.com/behind-the-built-environment #ThermalInsulation #ConstructionCompetence #BuildingSafetyAct #EnergyEfficiency #BESA

    Thermal Insulation Can No Longer Mark Its Own Homework

  7. Jul 2

    The Construction Skills Crisis Is A Capacity Problem

    Construction’s skills crisis may be less about attracting new people and more about the industry’s inability to absorb, develop and make effective use of them.  In this episode of Behind the Built Environment, David Frise, Chief Executive of BESA, speaks with Mark Farmer, founder of CAST Consultancy and author of the landmark Modernise or Die report.  Almost ten years after the report was published, Mark reflects on how much construction has genuinely changed and why its traditional labour model continues to struggle. The conversation challenges the assumption that the industry simply has a shortage of people and argues that it has an absorption problem, a competence problem and, ultimately, a capacity problem.  This episode covers: • Why does construction have an absorption issue rather than an attraction issue• The three Cs of capability, competency and capacity, and how they interact• Whether the Building Safety Act is driving genuine change or only a thin layer of compliance• Gateway 2 and the case for earlier collaboration between design and construction• Procurement, trust and the debate around cash retentions• Digital competency passporting and raising standards across the supply chain• Why doing the job properly should cost less, not more As the Building Safety Act continues to reshape expectations around competence and accountability, the industry faces a choice between genuine cultural change and box-ticking compliance. This episode explains why capacity, rather than headcount alone, is the measure that matters, and what needs to change across procurement, regulation, and training to close the gap.

    The Construction Skills Crisis Is A Capacity Problem

  8. Jun 4

    Modern Life Runs On An Industry Nobody Notices

    Refrigeration and cooling underpin almost everything modern life depends on, yet the sector remains largely invisible to the public, policymakers and even many of the organisations that rely on it. In this episode of Behind the Built Environment, David Frise, Chief Executive of BESA, speaks with Stephen Gill, technical advisor to REFCOM, past president of the Institute of Refrigeration and founder of World Refrigeration Day. Stephen brings decades of experience across engineering, contracting, design consultancy, policy and international advisory work. The conversation explores why a sector central to food security, healthcare, data, communications, and comfort continues to undervalue itself, and what that means as major regulatory and technical changes approach. This episode covers: Why refrigeration and cooling remain hidden in plain sight despite underpinning daily lifeThe case for treating cooling as critical national infrastructureThe HFC phase-down and the risk of divergence between the UK and the EUThe difference between competence and basic compliance, and why both matterHow contractors should advise clients on ageing equipment and asset riskConscious inclusion and making space for neurodiverse talentDyslexia, disclosure and the gap between education and the workplaceAs the UK moves towards a steeper HFC phase-down, contractors and clients face complex decisions on equipment, refrigerants and long-term asset risk. Poor information, weak asset registers and outdated assumptions could leave many exposed to avoidable cost and disruption. The discussion sets out how the sector can move beyond minimum compliance towards genuine competence, trusted advice and greater confidence in the value it brings to society.

    Modern Life Runs On An Industry Nobody Notices
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Behind the Built Environment, a podcast from BESA where we delve into the latest industry news in the building engineering services sector. Join us for insightful discussions and exclusive interviews with leading industry experts, as we explore the trends and innovations shaping the future of the built environment and what impact they will have on you and your business. Find us at https://www.thebesa.com/

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