A review of key issues affecting the future of electrical contracting has been published by the Electrical Contractors’ Association (ECA), NICEIC and Elecsa.
‘2021 Vision – the 2016-17 Review’ is the midway update to the‘2021 Vision’ report, produced by the ECA and NICEIC back in 2011. The latest review considers 30 key issues and predictions made five years ago. The review uses a ‘red, amber, green’ system, with supporting narrative.
In addition to reflecting on the current status of the many predictions and issues, the review also highlights some major developments since 2011, notably:
•the UK’s ‘Brexit’ decision
•digitisation of industry processes, including Building Information Modelling (BIM)
•the increasing role of ‘Very big data’ and the ‘Internet of Things’.
ECA CEO Steve Bratt and Certsure CEO Emma Clancy commented: “With the UK decision to leave the EU, it could be argued that the policy road to 2021 has never looked so uncertain. Even so, many of the predictions and issues highlighted in our original report are still highly relevant today, and to the future of our industry.
“In addition to policy and commercial factors, the industry is highly technology driven, and there is an increasing array of opportunities for electrical and diversified specialist contractors.
“Whether we are considering policy or technology, the next five years promise to be very interesting indeed, and we look forward to working together to help shape the future of our industry.”
When ‘2021 Vision’ was written in 2011, the industry was still recovering from one of the worst economic recessions ever. As such, one of the key aims of the 2021 Vision was to “help the electrical contractor to see past short term survival, and prepare for the next stage of their business development”.
Since then, the ECA and Electrical Safety First have worked together to create Certsure, which owns the NICEIC and Elecsa certification brands.
The new ‘2021 Vision – The 2016-17 Review’ document is freely available on the ECA and NICEIC websites.