As those of you who are our regular customers and/or readers of these blogs will be aware, both Michelle Tuxford and Rhys Taylor have for some years both been corporate members of The Association of Building Engineers (ABE). What you may not be aware of is that on 10 July 2013, the ABE’s petition to Her Majesty the Queen for a Royal Charter, was granted at a meeting of the Privy Council, attended by The Rt Hon Nick Clegg (Lord President), The Rt Hon Michael Gove, The Rt Hon Lord McNally and the Rt Hon George Osborne, recognising the 88-year history of the ABE and its contribution to Building Engineering in raising standards, sharing knowledge and developing professionals.
Taylor Tuxford Associates is therefore very pleased and proud to announce that as from 1st January 2014 the Association of Building Engineers will henceforth be known as The Chartered Association of Building Engineers (CABE). Moreover, as the CABE is now an Affiliate of the Engineering Council, Michelle and Rhys now additionally have the professional status of Chartered Building Engineers (CBuildE).
 |
| Royal Charter |
Looking through the history of the Association, we should like to paraphrase a few relevant extracts from the December 2013 edition of the “Building Engineer” Journal:
“...In the late 19th and early 20th Centuries it was rare for professionals operating in different spheres to meet and network in the modern sense; indeed, many working in the industry were fiercely defensive of their own profession and sought to establish themselves as the leaders in the industry. Against this background, the need for closer co-operation between architects and surveyors was increasingly recognised…as a result, the Incorporated Association of Architects and Surveyors (IAAS) was formed on 25 September 1925.
“…Although credited by many as the founder of the Association it was not until 1930 that Sir Edwin Lutyens, probably the best-known architect of the time, joined the IAAS. The following year he became President, a post he held until 1938.
“…The role of members and their expertise and skills had begun to change by the 1970s and at the beginning of that decade the Association introduced an Engineering Surveyors section…by the beginning of the 1980s the balance of membership had shifted with over 70% specialising in Building Technology, a trend which continued over the following years and the change in expertise and practice, combined with a need for greater recognition outside of the UK led to the change of name in 1993 to “The Association of Building Engineers”
Rhys Taylor joined the former ABE as a Corporate Member in 2001 and was awarded “Fellow” Status on 17th September 2004. He was subsequently elected to the national ruling Council of the ABE in 2005 and elected as President of the ABE in May 2008, a role in which he was honoured to serve for one year. Rhys is currently part-way through a one-year co-opted appointment onto the Board of Directors of the Association, having been invited to provide specific experience and input to the Board’s meetings.
Michelle Tuxford gained Corporate Membership of the ABE on 14th February 2008 and has for the past four years served as an elected member of the Yorkshire and Humber Regional Committee of the ABE. Michelle has just completed her second year as the Y&H Regional Secretary and will continue in that role going forwards as the Regional Secretary for the CABE.
As a Past President, Rhys was honoured to receive an invitation to attend the formal presentation of the Royal Charter and Seal to the Association by His Royal Highness the Duke of Gloucester. The ceremony, which took place at Gray’s Inn, London on 6th December, was opened by the CABE’s Patron Lord Lytton and President Stanley Barker-McGuire, who welcomed guests including Sir David Brewer, Lord Lieutenant of Greater London and Dr Peter Bonfield, Group Chief Executive of the Building Research Establishment (BRE).
 |
| CABE patron, Lord Lytton |
The CABE’s Chief Executive Dr John Hooper said in his speech that “…Today, the granting of Charters is comparatively rare to years gone by and the Association had to meet stringent requirements, demonstrating its solid record of achievement, the calibre of its members and its role in educating building engineering professionals.
The reception was thoroughly enjoyable and Rhys had the opportunity to meet up with a number of old friends and colleagues from both within the Association and elsewhere, including Past Presidents Chris Dawson, Dave Phythian, Diane Marshall, Beryl Menzies, Steve Barker, Pat Reddin, Arwel Griffith, Ken Blount, David Smith, John Humphries and Michael Cassidy, amongst others. He also had a long discussion with Malcolm Lelliott, President of the Faculty of Party Wall Surveyors and somewhat shorter discussions with Graham Watts and Paul Everall OBE, Chief Executives respectively, of the Construction Industry Council (CIC) and Local Authority Building Control (LABC).
By far the most enjoyable bit for Rhys, however, was having the opportunity to meet all of the CABE HQ Staff (otherwise than in the HQ Office building). It was a really good move on the part of the Management Team to allow them all the opportunity to go down to London and enjoy the experience.
 |
| Attentive audience |
 |
| HRH The Duke of Gloucester |
The Directors of Taylor Tuxford Associates are very proud of the company’s connections with the Chartered Association of Building Engineers and look forward to many more years working as members of the CABE in providing Chartered Building Engineer services to our Clients, both within the Yorkshire & Humber Region and beyond, in the fields of :-
Architectural Design
Structural Design
Structural Engineer’s Inspections / Reports
Party Wall Act matters
Boundary Disputes
Technical Expert Witness Services
More photographs taken on the day can be found on our facebook page by clicking on the following link: -
Taylor Tuxford on Facebook
