Professional overview
Dan has recently retired from his role as a Director of Arup, having worked for the firm for 35 years. Arup is one of the world’s leading independent built-environment engineering and consultancy firms, employing over 18,000 people in 34 different countries.
He is a strong advocate for process improvement and embracing new digital modelling and automation techniques in the engineering and construction of buildings. He has been a part of the BSRIA BG6 Steering Committee since 2011 and has run training on a variety of topics including the implementation of Building Information Modelling and contract responsibilities for building services engineers for over 15 years.
He has developed and delivered the Introduction to BSRIA BG6 A Design Framework for Building Services course for the since 2022.
Why did you become a trainer?
Although I have been over 35 years working in engineering consultancy, during that time I have really enjoyed the opportunity to engage and share learning with others. I have really enjoyed the interaction with people through running a variety of courses over the years – stimulating people to speak up and share their own experience and opinions enriches the learning experience for all, me included! After retiring from my main occupation, continuing with running the training was an easy choice due to the enjoyment it brings and the flexibility it offers.
Why did you get involved in training on BG 6?
I decided to get involved in training people on how to use BG 6 because of my deep understanding of the framework, having been a member of the BG 6 Steering Committee since 2011 and having been actively involved in its development and implementation.
BG 6/2018 and the associated training is really important because it helps everyone on a project understand their roles and how they interrelate, enabling them to better understand and meet expectations of them as they work together through the design, build, operate cycle of a facility. Developing deep understanding of the Guide mitigates the potential for disputes and I genuinely believe leads to higher quality results whilst maintaining better relationships amongst the team.
What do you enjoy most about training?
I enjoy the training sessions most when users discover something new about the Guide that will help them in their day-to-day role. This combined with people speaking up and sharing their real-world experience and views enhances everyone’s learning and makes the course really enjoyable to deliver.
How would you describe your teaching style?
I am a meticulous planner, but I like to think I leave plenty of space for interaction and discussion. I hope my sessions are ‘formal’ enough to ensure the required material is delivered, but ‘informal’ enough for people to feel comfortable in speaking-up. So ‘planned informality’ might best describe the style I try to achieve.
What would you say is the top takeaway from your course?
Top takeaways are when I am able to highlight areas of the Guide which help people with some very common and very serious day-to-day problems in the transition of design responsibilities on projects.