8 HERITAGE CONTRACTORS AND CONSERVATORS Ideally, all work to listed and traditionally constructed buildings would be overseen by heritage professionals. In practice, however, even where a building is listed and the work is specified by a heritage professional, owners will often reduce their cost by requiring a contractor to carry out the work to the specification of the professional without any oversight. Furthermore, even where work is supervised by the heritage professional, the contractor will be expected to make decisions as the work proceeds. Having a skilled specialist workforce is therefore essential. Three bodies offer conservationaccreditation for contractors and conservators: the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB), the Institute for Conservation (Icon) and the National Federation of Roofing Contractors (NFRC). Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) – 14 CIOB launched its Building Conservation Certification Scheme in 2017 and it currently has 33 members. Members with appropriate qualifications and experience can now be certified at three levels: Registered (19 members) – professionals with some experience and knowledge in the area of heritage and conservation; Proficient (6 members) – professionals with significant experience of traditional buildings including listed buildings and scheduled monuments; and Certified (8 members) – experts in the field with a deep understanding of the significance and historic value of buildings and the philosophy of building conservation. Institute for Conservation (Icon) – 140 Icon offers a mentoring programme for members seeking accreditation and a system for assessing its members against established standards. Currently it has 762 accredited conservators and specialists in a wide range of fields from museum collections to building materials, their fittings and their finishes. Icon’s website includes a ‘find a conservator’ directory with 140 entries for firms or individuals offering conservation services of relevance to historic buildings and their contents. Specialisms currently include, for example, architectural paint research (6 companies), ceramics (11), decorative surfaces (16), furniture (9), gilding (13), sculpture (19) and stained glass (7). National Federation of Roofing Contractors (NFRC) – 58 NFRC’s National Heritage Roofing Contractors Register scheme identifies, assesses and accredits companies and individuals that have the required skills, knowledge and experience in the historic and vernacular systems of clay tile, slate, stone, shingle or metal roofing in the UK. The register is endorsed by Historic England, Cadw, the Environment and Heritage Service for Northern Ireland, Historic Environment Scotland, the National Heritage Training Group, and the Construction Industry Training Board. There are over 350,000 construction companies in Great Britain (ONS figures based on VAT/PAYE-registration). Since approximately two per cent of buildings are listed, it would seem appropriate to have at least 7,000 specialist contractors specialising in their maintenance and repair. However, with less than 250 companies accredited to carry out conservation and repair work, it is clear that there is either a substantial shortage in skills, or that there is an extremely low level of take-up of accreditation among building contractors. Possible causes of the latter might be that there is a lack of awareness of the need to demonstrate skill through accreditation, and plenty of available work for skilled conservators whether qualified or not. Stonemasonry students at Tyntesfield: opportunities for training are often integrated into National Trust restoration projects.
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