The British Board of Agrément, the independent construction products certification body, has appointed Hardy Giesler as its new chief executive
Hardy Giesler, who will replace Claire Curtis-Thomas, has more than 30 years’ experience in the infrastructure sector around the globe, including stints with London Underground, Energis Communications and HIS, as well as global mining specialist Anglo American.
He was also a board member of Tarmac Building Products and, as managing director of Tarmac Topblock, initiated a strategic review leading to a £25m investment programme.
“I am excited about joining the British Board of Agrément as CEO, leading a team of highly skilled and capable people to provide leadership in the construction sector,” Hardy Giesler said.
Based in Watford, Hertfordshire, the BBA was established as the Agrément Board in 1966 by the government to provide a single-source supplier for the UK construction certification sector.
Since then, it has issued over 6,000 certificates for construction products and systems.
UK-China construction products collaboration
In November 2019, the Chinese Construction Metal Structure Association (CCMSA) was hosted by the British Constructional Steel Association (BCSA) during their visit to the UK, which included meetings with the British Board of Agrément and Imperial College London.
The BBA and CCMSA discussed further exchange and co-operation on steel standards and building product certification. CCMSA members expressed their wish to establish a professional relationship with the BBA and to work together to better understand how China certificates products.
Association spokesman from CCMSA, Shi Yongjiu, said: “We had an extremely successful technical visit to the UK. Every group member now has a much better understanding of the building product certificates in the UK and learned a lot from BBA practices.
“I sincerely wish that the exchange between the BBA and CCMSA will be further expanded and look forward to collaborating on products certifications.”
