The CIB was founded in 1953 as Conseil International du Bâtiment and renamed as the International Council for Research and Innovation in Building and Construction in 1998. Eleven founding members were present at the meeting in Geneva, seventeen countries were represented, and subsequently 36 institutes came together to establish CIB as an NGO to focus on supporting post-war development, with three fields of activity: experimental research studies, the application of the results of research, and documentation.
The shared confident belief was that research had the capability to come up with solutions to many of the problems which beset Europe and the world at that time, with international co-operation in building research, studies and documentation regarded as an instrument for promoting a more rapid and cheaper rate of construction.
“New materials, new forms of structure and new methods of construction have come from advances in science and technology; their adoption has been, and is being, stimulated by the economic pressures on the industry to raise its productivity and to keep pace with the rate of advance of other industries … We can learn by the mutual interchange of knowledge between different countries and different people…”
Dr. Frederick Measham Lea, CIB President 1959-62
Now celebrating its 70th year, the agenda for change may have evolved, with the latest development being CIB’s explicit alignment with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, but the underlying and enduring value of CIB remains the same.
To mark its 70th anniversary CIB is planning to publish a commemorative brochure in September, and to highlight the achievements and future ambitions of CIB at various conferences and webinars during the year.
“It is a great honour to be the 26th CIB President and even more so as we celebrate our 70th anniversary. I look forward to attending events and to meeting as many members as possible during the year.”
Professor Makarand Hastak, Purdue University, CIB President 2022-2025
Events
A list of events which will mark the 70th anniversary is as follows, to be included in this list please contact the CIB secretariat:
- CIB President’s seminar series in partnership with Purdue University
- Social housing research events: seminar with international speakers, open Living Lab and Smart House open event. 28 March 2023, University of Huddersfield, UK
- CIB W070 Conference: Facilities Management and Maintenance. 8-12 May 2023, Trondheim, Norway
- CIB W099/W123 Conference: Digital Transformation of Health and Safety in Construction. 21-22 June 2023, Porto, Portugal
- The joint 2023 European Conference on Computing in Construction and the 40th CIB W78 Conference on IT in Construction, 10 – 12 July 2023, Crete, Greece.
- ÉMI 60th anniversary event, Budapest, 29 September 2023, Budapest, Hungary
- 16th International Conference on Durability of Building Materials and Components (XVI DBMC). 10-13 October 2023, Beijing, China
- CIB W122 Accelerating Smart City and Sustainable Environment Development through PPP, 11 October 2023, online
- CIB W121 Skills & Innovation Challenges in Construction and the Built Environment, 15 November 2023, Leeds, UK
- Green smart urban futures: From prevention to protection in a climate change world, 29 November, Hanoi University of Mining and Geology, Hanoi, Vietnam
- CIB TG124 Net Zero Carbon Forum, 27 November 2020, Auckland, New Zealand (in association with AUBEA)
Slides and other information
A short slide deck to communicate the key points of CIB’s 70th anniversary is available to download here, this will be updated throughout the year.
A history of CIB’s first 40 years is available here as well as a copy of the 50th anniversary publication. You can also see the roll of honour of CIB’s Presidents and Director Generals/CEOs.