Following the theme of adding modern skills to a bricklayer’s basic training, this week’s featured competency and the latest subject of our YouTube video series is installing brick slip systems. This area of competence is both highly innovative and – potentially – slightly controversial when viewed from a traditional brickwork perspective. I’ll explain…
Past, Present And Future Of Bricklaying
On a very simplistic level, brickwork is all about the art of laying 1 on 2 and the skill of a mason to achieve a desired facade aesthetic that complies with the building regulations of the day. In short, bricklaying is a craft, something that takes years to master and a trade that should not be underestimated in terms of its importance to the UK construction industry.
Of course, all of the above is true. And, sadly, there is currently a shortfall of skilled tradespeople in the UK, with CITB‘s Construction Skills Network (CSN) forecast estimating that almost 45,000 additional operatives per year will be required between now and 2027 to cope with the volume of construction projects, with private housing, infrastructure and repair & maintenance being the major areas of predicted demand.
That means the industry needs to grow by 225,000 skilled individuals in the next 4 years, taking into account the knock-on effects of Brexit, an ageing workforce and other influencing factors. When you look at private housing as one of the key growth sectors and brick being the primary facade of choice, it’s clear that qualified bricklayers are a particular area of focus as far as retraining and upskilling are concerned.
Facing The Issue And Adopting Modern Methods
Of course, The ABC Assessment Centre’s short course bricklayer training programme is one of the key initiatives being backed by the industry in response to this need for personnel, but it’s worth noting that this is not the only solution being invested in.
As building technologies advance, engineers and other creative brains are coming up with new and ingenious ways to put buildings together – broadly labelled MMC (Modern Methods of Construction) – which are aimed at making the construction process more efficient by, in many cases, being prefabricated and arriving to site ready to install.
The obvious and large-scale example of this is modular build, however there are many other solutions that today’s building products manufacturers are bringing to market which provide an alternative to traditional site work – again, with a view to improving the critical path in terms of programme, upholding levels of compliance in terms of quality and alleviating staffing pressures faced by subcontractors.
And brick slip systems are one of these.
Installing Brick Slip Systems: Changes Over Time
On a domestic level, brick slips have long been used in conjunction with external wall insulation to achieve a brick facade in the process of “overcladding” and are also quite popular for internal wall finishes to give the impression of exposed brickwork.
The use of resin-bonded brick slips was developed to include a backing rail for easier alignment and faster install, with some systems also incorporating polyurethane (PUR) insulation to lower the building’s overall U-Value (thermal performance rating).
These systems have been commonplace for brickwork contractors over the past few decades, however new solutions for “high-risk” category projects have led manufacturers to invest in solutions for high-rise projects that are tested for load resistance, wind and fire performance and are third party accredited through the British Board of Agrement (BBA).
Such systems do not use any adhesives and feature mechanically-fixed brick slips, and therefore are A1 or A2-s1-d0 rated to comply with Approved Document B. These are the newest and most innovative solutions for installing brick slip systems; however there is currently no accredited training to give operatives a tangible competency certificate, above and beyond product CPDs.
This is where The ABC Assessment Centre’s training programme comes in. We work together with product manufacturers to deliver competence-based training against the CITB standard, allowing operatives to demonstrate their status as approved product installers.
Installing Brick Slip Systems Through The ABC Assessment Centre
A common misconception about areas of MMC is that, since the component products are premanufactured under factory conditions and sent to site, set-out drawings provided for their exact location and the correct fixings supplied, then your labour requires less training to install it.
However, this is not the case – in fact, the opposite is true. As with all procedures, installing brick slip systems will only be as effective as the worst operative installing them. All operatives should be aware of regulations determining which kinds of systems are permissable to use and how they fix to the building substrate, as well as the product specifications and exact installation instructions relating to each system.
This is exactly why The ABC Assessment Centre developed and wrote a short course standard for Brick Slip Systems, which we have delivered against in partnership with ACS and Vision Construction to accredit approved installers.
Check out the full course description as well as a list of the topics covered in the Course Details tab by clicking on the button below:
Next In YouTube Channel Video Series
One thing we’ve done in recent times to add to our programme of 16 short courses is to create “How To” install videos for each of the practical skills. This way, we can supplement our excellent face-to-face training with top quality video content available 24/7 from any mobile device, tablet or computer.
To give Specialist Brickwork Contractors, Further Education Colleges, Main Contractors, Designers, Specifiers, Manufacturers and Suppliers a glimpse into how the launch of our YouTube channel could be valuable to their business and individuals’ professional development, we’ve created teaser videos to accompany the long-format install guides.
The next in our series of videos is – yes, you guessed it – how to correctly install a panelised brick slip system to manufacturer’s specifications. Filmed on our patented training frames and featuring our very own Centre Manager Simon Livett and Brickwork Trainer/NVQ Assessor Ian Mitchell, we’re really happy with the finished result below…
If you like what you see, why not like the video and subscribe to the channel for all future content! Simply click the button below to go to our YouTube channel:
How Do I Get Access To The ABC Assessment Centre YouTube Channel?
The channel will have 2 types of subscription – basic and paid. Basic subscription will give you access to the promotional “How To” install videos as well as other content we’ll upload intermittently, while the paid subscription will be based on an annual fee to receive all the long-format videos and exclusive content we add over the course of the year.
