Scottish Traditional Building Skills Audit Scoping ... - Historic Scotland

Introduction
Traditionally constructed dwellings, generally classified as those dating to before
1919, make up approximately 20% (446,000 dwellings in all) of Scotland’s building
stock 1 . The Scottish construction Industry generates £12 billion 2 of turnover (at
basic prices), and represents over 7% of the Scottish economy in terms of gross
domestic product at basic prices.
The provision and availability of appropriate skills and knowledge are fundamental
to effectively caring for the built environment. Repair, maintenance and
improvement accounts for approximately 46% of the total construction industry
output, of which one third relates directly to pre 1919 buildings (accounting for
approximately £1.2 billion). However, many of the skills and techniques required to
repair and maintain pre 1919 buildings differ considerably from those applied to
new buildings and it is generally felt that there is a widespread shortage of
tradespeople with a knowledge of these specific skills in Scotland. This is becoming
an increasingly serious issue for the welfare of such buildings and their occupants,
and carries considerable public health and safety implications. A number of recent
reports have highlighted this issue, including the National Heritage Training
Group’s 2007 report Skills Needs Analysis of The Built Heritage Sector in Scotland
which states in its conclusion that “A great need exists to re-establish a base-line
of general knowledge and understanding of conservation and restoration across all
participants, from craft to professional level in the conservation, repair,
maintenance and improvement sector.”
1 The Scottish Housing Conditions Survey
(SHCS) 2002, taken from the National
Heritage Training Group’s 2007 report Skills
Needs Analysis of The Built Heritage Sector
in Scotland 2007
2 Annual Business Inquiry, 2006, taken from
the National Heritage Training Group’s 2007
report Skills Needs Analysis of The Built
Heritage Sector in Scotland 2007
It is widely believed that current building craft skills training is aimed
predominantly at new-build techniques, resulting in tradespeople that do not have
a knowledge of the maintenance and repair techniques that are appropriate for
traditionally constructed buildings. This lack of understanding results in a
widespread application of inappropriate repair techniques to traditional buildings
which in many cases causes further damage to the building fabric. The
implications of this are serious; the issue of inappropriate repair techniques was
highlighted in 2000 by the tragic Ryan’s Bar incident in Edinburgh which resulted
in a fatality. Research was subsequently initiated by the Scottish Executive
Development Department which resulted in the production of a report – Risks to
Public Safety from Falling Masonry and Other Materials - Report of Skills &
Training Working Party.
Scottish Traditional Building Skills Audit Scoping Exercise
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