GMIT announces New MSc in Built Environment Regulation (CABE accredited) in response to industry demand

Career prospects for students in the GMIT Building and Civil Engineering Department got a huge boost recently with the announcement that the Chartered Association of Building Engineers (CABE) has accredited undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in the GMIT Department including the new MSc in Built Environment Regulation.

CABE has its origins in the function of building control, the process whereby construction work is regularly checked and inspected to ensure it complies with the building regulations. Ireland has recently suffered several high-profile and costly building control failures such as Priory Hall, Longboat Quay, and the Pyrite and Mica failures. The need for professional and robust systems of building regulation compliance and competence therein as defined in the regulations is now widely understood and supported within government and by built environment professions.

GMIT first engaged with CABE in 2016, when the Department of Building and Civil Engineering began an application to have several of its built environment programmes accredited by CABE. The applications was successful and in early 2017 accreditation was awarded to seven GMIT programmes by the then President of CABE, Ben Bradford, a leading international expert in fire safety in buildings.

Irene Hayden, lecturer and programme Chair, GMIT Dept of Building & Civil Engineering, says: “CABE Accreditation of our degree programmes offers a pathway for GMIT graduates to achieve chartered status in their chosen profession once they have built up sufficient practical expertise in the workplace. CABE offer several internationally recognised engineering designations, up to and including Chartered Engineer, and provide an additional chartered designation in the environmental field. CABE are one of five professional bodies stated in the Irish Building Control Acts, whereby suitably chartered CABE members can act in the role of assigned certifier in verifying construction work complies with building regulations”.

Professor Graham Heaslip, Head of the GMIT School of Engineering, says “There is a global skills shortage in construction and engineering. It is essential that graduates entering the industry can prove that they are competent individuals. Having an accredited programme provides industry with the reassurance that an objective evaluation and approval of the engineering and construction programmes has taken place. This ensures that the programmes meet international standards, the needs of the engineering and construction profession, and broader responsibilities to society, environment, and the economy”.

Dr Martin Taggart, lecturer in the GMIT Department of Building and Civil Engineering, has worked as the academic partnership coordinator for GMIT with CABE since 2017: “I am delighted to see that the quality of our built environment programmes at GMIT has again been recognised with ten programmes now accredited by CABE. All GMIT undergraduate programmes in the GMIT Dept of Building and Civil Engineering have been accredited by the professional bodies relevant to their individual professions for many years, including by The Royal Institute of Architects of Ireland (RIAI); The Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB); The Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland (SCSI); Engineers Ireland (EI), and The Chartered Institute of Architectural Technologists (CIAT). The addition of the CABE accreditations means that the department now hold accreditations from all of the professional bodies, whose chartered members are authorised to become statutory certifiers of building regulation compliance.”

Mary Rogers, Head of Department of Building and Civil Engineering, GMIT, says: “We are delighted to have achieved ongoing CABE accreditation for the BSc (Hons) and BSc Architectural Technology including Higher Certificate (HC), BEng (Hons) and BEng Civil Engineering (including HC), the BSc (Hons) and BSc Construction Management (including HC) and the BSc (Hons) and BSc Quantity Surveying and Construction Economics (including HC). These programmes are going from strength to strength and our graduates are highly sought-after in industry”.

The recently launched MSc in Built Environment Regulation, including the Post Graduate Diploma, Post Graduate Certificate and the Certificate in Fire Safety, is also the newest postgraduate programme to be accredited by CABE in the Republic of Ireland. Dr Martin Taggart adds: “Our new MSc in Built Environment Regulation is a much-needed programme and the first of its kind in Ireland. The programme fills a large gap in an area of expertise that grows every more complex and specialised”.

Applications close for the MSc in Built Environment Regulation (including the Post Graduate Diploma, Post Graduate Certificate and the Certificate in Fire Safety) on 27 May 2022.

For further information, please contact irene.hayden@gmit.ie.