That mindset has transformed the way buildings are designed, commissioned and maintained. Yet it has rarely been applied to the industry itself.
For all the attention given to building performance, there is remarkably little understanding of how the people behind those buildings develop their skills throughout their careers.
From a Business Issue to an Industry Issue
The conversation around training has changed. A decade ago, training was often viewed as an employee benefit or a competitive advantage offered by forward-thinking employers. Today, it has become a strategic issue. As projects become more technically demanding and experienced engineers remain in short supply, the ability to develop talent is becoming just as important as the ability to recruit it.
Despite the importance of that challenge, there is very little independent evidence describing what training and development actually looks like across the UK BMS sector.
- We know companies invest in development.
- We know manufacturers deliver training programmes.
- We know apprenticeships, mentoring, online learning and practical site experience all contribute to an engineer’s development.
What we don’t know is how those experiences combine to shape a successful career.
Engineers develop in different ways. For some, the greatest learning comes from commissioning complex systems on live projects. Others attribute their development to experienced mentors who invested time in sharing their knowledge. Many point to manufacturer training as the foundation of their technical expertise, while others have largely learnt through problem-solving on site.
None of these experiences are unusual. In fact, they are probably all true. The difficulty is that they have never been brought together to create a broader understanding of how engineers develop across the industry.
Instead, conversations about training are often shaped by individual experience. One employer believes more manufacturer courses are needed. Another prioritises site exposure. Someone else argues that mentoring is becoming a lost skill. Each perspective has value, but none provides a complete picture on its own.
Understanding the Bigger Picture
For a profession that places such importance on evidence, this remains a significant blind spot.
Training influences almost every challenge the sector faces. It affects recruitment because engineers increasingly compare employers on development opportunities as much as salary. It affects retention because people are less likely to remain where they feel their careers have stalled. It affects project delivery because technical capability ultimately determines the quality of engineering delivered on site. It affects innovation because new technologies can only be adopted successfully when engineers have the knowledge and confidence to implement them.
Despite its importance, there is still no clear picture of how BMS professionals develop throughout their careers. Without that understanding, employers, manufacturers and engineers are left to draw conclusions from individual experiences rather than evidence gathered from across the industry.
A clearer understanding of how engineers learn, where development opportunities are strongest, and where the greatest barriers exist would provide a stronger foundation for future investment in training and professional development.
Building the Industry’s First Benchmark
As a specialist recruitment business focused exclusively on BMS and Smart Buildings, these are conversations we have every day. What has been missing is an independent benchmark built from the experiences of the people working within the industry.
That is the purpose of the UK BMS Training Survey. Click HERE
The survey brings together the experiences of BMS professionals from across the UK to establish the industry’s first independent benchmark of training and development. By understanding where engineers learn, the barriers they face and the areas in which they want to develop, it aims to provide evidence that employers, manufacturers and the wider BMS community can use to make better-informed decisions.
If you work in the UK BMS industry, we’d encourage you to take part. The survey takes just two to three minutes to complete, is multiple-choice, is completely anonymous, and every response contributes to building the first independent benchmark of training and development for the UK BMS industry.
Take part in the UK BMS Training Survey HERE