Cruising for Points with CPD Solutions

CPD Solutions set sail on Friday 10th November 2017 aboard P&O's Pacific Aria for their 'Cruising for Points' seminar.  Onboard were the team from Visual Approvals, as the major sponsor, looking forward to a long weekend of interactive sessions, networking and some fun!

To launch the weekend, Michelle Meek, Manager of CPD Solutions organised a Welcome Cocktail party for delegates, sponsors, partners and families.

The Oasis deck was the perfect setting to meet old friends and make new connections. Although the weather did it’s best to dampen our spirits, the mood was uplifting.

Day to Day Certification

Saturday morning kicked off with Darren Ho, Director of BCCS Law. Darren’s presentation focused on one of the seminar's key themes ‘Day to Day Certification, Closing Old Files and Managing the Associated Risk’. Following this, Mark Catchpole facilitated a lively Q&A session where certifiers could discuss their legal and liability questions directly with Darren. Andre Chevallier-Knospe, who you know from Visual Approvals, spoke to the importance of maintaining access to all your historical files, preferably in an electronic format. He re-iterated that certification software systems should be backwards compatible to support older versions of documentation in case the need arises.

The afternoon saw Chris White, Manager of the State Fire Safety Unit for QFES encourage certifiers to just “pick up the phone” and give his team a call, improving communication methods. The day wound up with John Wilson discussing accuracy when completing mandated forms and subsequent legislation updates.

Upon conclusion of a very comprehensive day, a leisurely group dinner followed in the Italian restaurant Angelo’s.

A Day in Port

Sunday dawned with the sun shining and those touring Fraser Island were off to an early start. With so many activities to do on board, it was difficult to decide what to do. The evening theme was Gatsby giving everyone the opportunity to dress up for dinner, dancing and a live show!

Fire and Other Burning Issues

After a late night, thankfully Monday morning saw John Southwell from Structerre launch the day’s proceedings. An engaging speaker, John immediately captured the delegate’s attention with his logical and scientific approach to Forensic Engineering.

The remainder of the day centred on the other major theme of the seminar 'Fire', including combustible cladding & certificates of conformity. An interactive forum rounded out the afternoon where the topics were varied and the debate free-flowing.

Conclusion

Although we attend as a sponsor, the quality and depth of knowledge shared throughout the weekend were exceedingly valuable, furthering our understanding and appreciation of the challenges faced by building certifiers and the industry as a whole.

Congratulations to Michelle, Mark Catchpole, John Wilson and the entire CPD Solutions team for their organisation and smooth sailing of the inaugural ‘Cruising for Points’ seminar.

We are proud to be a major sponsor of CPD Solutions and we look forward to embarking on another adventure with you, next year!