BSI Appoints New Construction Policy Committee Chairman

Press Release - 8 March 2007

The British Standards Institution (BSI) today announced the appointment of Nick Terry as the new Chairman of its most senior construction committee, the Building and Civil Engineering Sector Policy & Strategy Committee (B/-).

Mr Terry has extensive construction experience as an architect, currently at Building Design Partnership, the biggest design practice in Europe with over a 1000 people worldwide, where he is Chairman of BDP South. He also serves as Chairman of the European Interoperability Centre, as the International Vice Chair of building SMART and as Chairman of the International Alliance for Interoperability. He is also a member of the Royal Institute of British Architects, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

The appointment of Nick Terry as the new Chairman of B/- will bring a new and refreshed approach to construction standardisation at BSI, extending the emphasis of standards beyond technical issues to include process issues of key strategic importance to the construction sector, and widening its policy remit to include standards relating to all aspects of the built environment. To reflect this broader scope, the committee will be renamed the Construction and Built Environment Sector Policy & Strategy Committee (CBE/-).

Reorganisation of the construction standards division

To complement the change in policy focus, the construction standards division will also be reorganised into seven core areas, with new advisory committees being formed to address design, structural engineering, building processes, construction products, M&E, infrastructure/water and facilities management.

Nick Terry commented, “I am delighted to have been asked to Chair this strategic BSI Construction Policy Committee and to oversee the restructuring of construction and engineering standards into a new portfolio which will address requirements for the whole of the built environment.”

“We have already mapped out our action plan for the future and will reorganise the technical committees to mirror the way the industry actually works. This will lead to a new generation of performance related standards which will improve innovation and competitiveness in the UK and overseas.”

Mike Low, Director of BSI British Standards says of the appointment: "We believe that Nick’s profound experience in the construction industry, especially in the interoperability area, will make a valuable contribution to BSI.”

Notes to the editor

Nick Terry will be making his first appearance as Chairman of the new BSI construction committee at MIPIM which is taking place in France from 13-15 March 2007.