The Continuing Professional Development (CPD) programme has been designed by RIBA to update its members on Construction Industrial developments. Polypipe Civils, a major division of the Polypipe Group, is one of many companies that offer seminars (held in the offices of Architects) on a variety of specialised subjects to help RIBA achieve this aim. All RIBA members are expected to attend a number of these seminars annually.

The most recent of the Polypipe Civils seminars was held in the Chelmsford office of WS Atkins plc, a company whose consultancy services are respected worldwide. Entitled 'Rainwater Harvesting in the Sustainable Environment' and conducted by Chris Brewster, Environmental Product Manager and Andrew Cullum, Technical Specialist, the seminar covered all aspects of the subject including the fast increasing need for water conservation, the concept of rainwater harvesting and methods of achieving water-use savings in domestic, industrial, commercial and agricultural situations.

The presentation, fully illustrated by slides and designed by a company whose Eco-Vat Systems are at the forefront in this field, was very well received by the audience of architects and provoked a lively and intelligent 'Question & Answer Session' that clearly demonstrated the value of such seminars. In addition to the subject of Rainwater Harvesting, Polypipe Civils are also running a CPD seminar on the WIS 4-35-01 Specification, the practical benefits of the products to the new standard and the design of new integrated systems using them.

19th March 2003