Consultants start to adapt

It is two years since Terry Wyatt as CIBSE president urged the building-services industry to ‘Adapt or die’ — or find itself out-of-date and unwanted. He was particularly concerned with the role of and future of consulting engineers, for which he saw much of their traditional workload disappearing. His thoughts and ideas certainly grabbed attention at the time. Now indications are coming through that change is indeed taking place. According to a recent survey (reported opposite), 32% of consulting engineers expect their role to change significantly in the next five years. Most of the rest, 65% of the total, do not expect to see their role changing significantly. The positive news is more important than the negative. Nearly a third of consulting engineers being prepared for change is more than just a catalyst; it has the potential to be a driving force. Those that are not part of that driving force and do not get caught up by it will find themselves at the wrong end of ‘Adapt or die’.