113 Architecture questions - Why is ongoing training important?
Why is ongoing training important?
Our working world is characterised by constant change. In the past, it was enough to apply your primary professional qualification to your work, consult an architect or hire a consultant.
Today, the demands on an industry, on individual employees and on companies are more diverse and extensive. Each individual is required to adapt and expand his or her qualifications in the course of his or her professional life. Many sectors, including of course the liberal professions and architecture in particular, place high demands on themselves.
Digitalisation in particular is radically changing our working environment.
In the past, the image of a building was conveyed in abstract form on the drawing board using plans, but nowadays the idea is transformed directly into a complex, virtual model. It is important to keep pace with these changes. Lifelong learning is becoming a necessity rather than a voluntary activity.
In the civil engineering profession, ongoing training is a must. According to the Civil Engineers Act, it is even the duty of a civil engineer to research the state of the art in the specialist area of their licence and to undergo continuous further training. However, it is not only further training in our specialist field, architecture, that is a prerequisite for successful business, but knowledge in other specialist fields is also advantageous, or even necessary, in order to fulfil the demands placed on architects as all-rounders. Building technology, landscape planning or façade greening, construction and property management, building physics, sustainability and future trends are just some of the topics in which architects must acquire basic knowledge and undergo further training.
Further training is a necessity for a successful company. Whereas in the past the focus was increasingly on having good advertising or a good address, today the focus is much more on efficiency, up-to-dateness and flexibility. This can only be achieved through solid training programmes. No industry is undergoing such change as architecture. This is particularly evident in the amendments to building regulations and building laws. Since 2000, 32 provincial law gazettes have been published on the Vienna Building Code and a large number of standards have been adapted, amended and changed. Legal developments resulting from European directives and regulations play just as important a role as the ever-increasing influence of ecological trends. In-depth knowledge of the current legal situation is both a prerequisite and an incentive to solve the challenges that arise in a modern, targeted and flexible way. This task can only be accomplished through ongoing training. Gaps in knowledge or outdated knowledge would be fatal and cost time, resources and ultimately also reputation.
Internal and external further education and training are not just a task for us, but the standard we set for our work, so that we can deliver the best results for our customers and clients.
