HVCA says government is hindering progress

The Department of Trade & Industry (DTI) has come under fire from the Heating and Ventilating Contractors' Association's (HVCA) new president Mike McCloskey.

Making his inaugural address at the HVCA's annual dinner in London last week, McCloskey said that working with the government has been challenging.

"As anyone who has had dealings with the government will realise this has been neither an easy nor a straightforward undertaking.

"There have been times when our sponsoring department - the Department of Trade and Industry - has not been listening as carefully or as sympathetically as we would have liked.

"And the fact that the construction portfolio has been held by five different ministers in five years has meant that our key messages have had to be spelt out again and again. But I can assure you that we shall never give up."

McCloskey went on to outline the key goals for the HVCA going forward. These are: creating a better construction industry and built environment; a better deal for members; and a better outcome for clients.

"A well-managed and profitable industry is crucial to the long-term survival, prosperity and well-being of the entire construction process.

"Much of our time, effort and resources, therefore, will continue to be directed at the creation, maintenance and delivery of a just and equitable culture - a culture in which all participants in the construction process are treated with fairness and respect - and in which everyone is equipped to operate at the very peak of their performance."

[Contract Journal, 19 July 2006, p. 4]