Consulting Engineers South Africa (Cesa) 
reports that its contribution to the Department of Public Works’ National Construction Week (NCW) is through a Job Shadow Week initiative.

The fourth annual NCW, which started on Monday, 
July 27, and ends on Sunday, August 2, aims to highlight the importance of construction in our day-to-day life.

Cesa CEO Graham Pirie 
explains that Job Shadow Week exposes learners to the field of engineering, particularly consulting engineering. The initiative encourages consulting firms across the country to approach schools to talk about engineering and showcase consulting in the actual environment by taking learners to a construction site. Cesa has started a competition in which firms can compete to create the most distinctive 
experience for learners.

Job Shadow Week also aims to help learners become aware of the need to improve in 
mathematics and science. He says that the initiative, which is about four years old, has received 
increased interest in the competition over time.

“It is Cesa’s contribution 
towards placing consulting firms and consulting engineering on the map,” says Pirie.

In another initiative, the body 
also runs the Young Professional Forum aimed at engineers who are under the age of 35 working for about 460 member firms and who are given the opportunity to be involved in Cesa.

Job Shadow Week is also a Young Professionals Forum 
initiative, providing management of the event and speaking to students at schools, as younger engineers relate better to 
learners.

Meanwhile, he explains that the huge demand for skills 
development in the industry has resulted in Cesa creating a virtual School of Consulting Engineering. The school runs 55 courses focused on business learning material, rather than technical subjects.

“Cesa is also developing 13 modules that will become the ‘A to Z’ of consulting engineering and, hopefully, in the future will become a postgraduate qualification for consulting engineers. It has been a successful venture for Cesa,” says Pirie.

The school has experienced a slight decrease in student numbers owing to the current economic pressures, but Cesa has taken additional office space, close to its Johannesburg offices, 
as a permanent presence for the school. All courses are con-
tinuous professional development accredited.

Further, Cesa has created a section 21 company, the Project Development & Facilitation Alliance, which has a memorandum of understanding with the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs and has been designated 
an implementation agent by the Department of Water and Environmental Affairs.

Pirie explains that the company 
has become an extension of government, using the resources of Cesa members to unblock the challenges in the public sector with regard to infrastructure 
delivery and efficiency.

Cesa is ISO 9001:2000 compliant, which certifies that formalised business processes are being applied. The organisation completed its sector charter, the Construction Industry Charter, in June this year, after five years of negotiation. It places emphasis on other industry partners, 
including clients, to ensure that the charter becomes part of the way the industry conducts business.

Cesa is involved in briefing clients and members on an effective procurement model that works, and is compiling a guideline in this regard.

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