Hansom is right (25 March, page 19) that the CIOB has better things to do than worry about a definition of construction management; and we鈥檙e doing them

But that doesn鈥檛 mean that we should leave unchallenged a narrow and outdated view of the roles our members undertake in the management of projects and organisations throughout the world. The reality of that work is exciting and challenging, and it took a Chinese CIOB president (Professor Li Shirong) to suggest that we should abandon British understatement and tell people about it. The purpose of the exercise is not self-aggrandisement: it will help us to explain the challenge of a construction management career to school-leavers and provide an agenda for the continuing development of the repertoire of knowledge and skills our members deploy in the interests of industry and society.

John Bale, former CIOB president

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