| Industry | Construction, Built Environment, Civil Engineering |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1960 |
| Headquarters | London, Old Street |
| Number of locations | United Kingdom, Scotland and Hong Kong |
| Products | Collaborative research, consultation and dissemination |
| Services | Consensus building, development of guidance and assisting implementation through training, workshops and seminars |
| Website | http://www.ciria.org |
CIRIA is a member-based research and information organisation dedicated to improvement in all aspects of the construction industry.[1] Members include representatives from all parts of the supply chains of the modern built environment, covering building and civil engineering as well as transport and utilities infrastructure. CIRIA is a not-for-profit company, with all membership subscriptions, earnings and external funding being invested back into industrial and public seminar events, training courses and research assignments with the overall goal:
"To champion performance in construction and to improve the quality, efficiency and safety of the modern built environment."CIRIA Mission Statement Annual Review 2008[2]
In 2008, over 70 projects were run, nearly 130 events organised, 12 books published[3] and almost 60 theme-based training courses delivered to top industry stakeholders.
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The Construction Industry Research and Information Association was founded in London in 1960. In recent times the organisations' name has been shortened to CIRIA. Today, CIRIA is now known solely by its abbreviated name. CIRIA's mission is to improve the performance of those in the construction and related industries. CIRIA now has offices in London, Scotland and Hong Kong.[4]
The Scottish offices of CIRIA[5] were officially opened for business on 4 October 2005 by Nigel Griffiths, MP, and are based at the University of Dundee.
CIRIA’s research spans the market sectors of buildings and facilities, water and sustainability, environment, civil and ground engineering, process and management, and technology. Working both within and across these market sectors, the themes of work cover a wide remit related to construction including: technical issues, legislation, regulation, training, management and economics. While much of the work benefits from public sector funding, CIRIA also maintains ‘club-funded’ projects aimed at building understanding between contributors in key areas of concern.[6] Many of CIRIA's research projects and activities culminate in the publishing of guidance documents, many of which have been adopted as the standard for excellence in their respective areas.[7] The outputs of research projects have also taken the form of training seminars and workshops.
CIRIA provides a range of training courses. Each course is based on a CIRIA area of expertise and an accompanying CIRIA publication, where applicable, is distributed to course delegates . All courses are certified for Continuing Professional Development (CPD) and the content is continuously updated to reflect industry and legislative changes.
The training modules are designed for all levels of knowledge from less experienced professionals fairly new to construction through to professionals who have extensive knowledge and experience.
In 2010 CIRIA launched the UK's first online training course in contaminated land.[8]
CIRIA manages a number of Learning Networks, including The Construction Productivity Network (CPN) and the Construction Industry Environmental Forum (CIEF). They are events-based networks, and between them provide around 70 workshops and seminars each year across the UK. The seminars involve industry-practitioner speakers and the transmission of event summaries to all registered members of the networks.[9]
CIRIA also manages a number of more focused networks including:
From 2003 to August 2007, CIRIA also managed the Network for Construction Collaboration Technology Providers, before it moved to become a member grouping within Constructing Excellence.
CIRIA’s owners include representatives from all parts of the supply chains of the modern built environment, covering building and civil engineering as well as transport and utilities infrastructure. CIRIA is led by a member-wide council. Bill Healy was appointed as CEO in 2007.[10] Membership of CIRIA’s Executive Board currently comprises:
CIRIA staff also play a supporting role in the following CIRIA partnerships:
CIRIA also manages a number of project and membership related web sites.