After receiving Royal Assent on 28 April 2022 the Building Safety Bill is now available for scrutiny.
FIS will continue to look at how the Bill will impact our community and will keep members up-to-date with developments. We have prepared an initial summary of the key implications that you can access here.
FIS is committed to supporting our members with compliance and ensuring the Bill supports a better safety and a more collaborative approach to procurement.
Developers in Scotland will be banned from using combustible cladding on high‐rise buildings from 1 June, following the introduction of new building standards legislation. Since 2005, new cladding systems on high‐rise blocks of flats have either had to use non‐combustible materials or pass a large‐scale fire test. However, the new legislation removes the option of the fire test, prohibiting such materials from being used on domestic and other high‐risk buildings above 11 metres. The highest risk metal composite cladding material will be banned from all new buildings whatever their height, with replacement cladding also required to meet the new standards.
FIS has reviewed the proposals and note that Cavity Trays that caused some disruption in England and Wales are in the list of exemptions and consistent with the work we did with Scottish Government on buildings greater than 18 m.
Scottish Procurement Policy Note (SPPN) 02/2022 will also be introduced from 1 June, which sets out how public sector bodies are to embed prompt payment performance in the supply chain through procurement processes. Suppliers will have to pay 95% of valid invoices on time, or provide an improvement plan, otherwise they will not be selected to bid.
This is without doubt the biggest shake-up of Building Regulations since they were introduced in 1666, placing new demands on competence in the workforce, product selection and documenting process (e.g. digital record keeping) on all in the supply chain.
FIS is committed to supporting our members with compliance and ensuring the Bill supports a better safety and a more collaborative approach to procurement.
This is a landmark day for construction and we have prepared an initial summary of the key implications that you can access below
In light of recent Parliamentary discussions on the use of retentions in construction, Build UK, of which FIS is a member, along with other members of the CLC met with Construction Minister Lee Rowley to discuss how the Government and industry can work together on this issue, building on the work previously undertaken by Build UK through its Roadmap to Zero Retentions.
With any legislation on retentions unlikely during this Parliament, Build UK will be reviewing the milestones in its roadmap over the coming months, including the Minimum Standards on Retentions and the table of public sector retention policies.
Dame Judith Hackitt has also made the case for removing retentions, stating that they are ‘totally inconsistent with collaborative procurement’. Speaking earlier this month at the launch of the Guidance on Collaborative Procurement for Design and Construction to Support Building Safety, she outlined how “suppliers assume they will never receive their retention payments…so therefore from the outset of projects with retentions involved they are looking for other ways to cut costs, cut corners and save money in whatever way possible”.
Read the FIS Position Paper on Retentions which FIS advocates are an archaic way to manage quality and no longer fit for purpose. They undermine a positive culture in construction and engender a lack of trust.
Cladding remediation update
The latest figures published by DLUHC show that, of the 483 high‐rise residential buildings identified to have unsafe ACM cladding:
The Building Safety Fund for the remediation of unsafe non‐ACM cladding systems received 2,827 registrations, 30% of which have now been invited to apply for funding, with 6% in the process of having their eligibility assessed.
Funding for cladding remediation
Michael Gove, Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, has reached an agreement with developers that will see them commit a minimum of £2 billion to fix fire‐safety issues with their own buildings. To date, 36 of the UK’s largest homebuilders have pledged to fix all buildings over 11 metres that they have played a role in developing over the last 30 years, and Gove has urged other developers to sign up, stating that those who refuse to do so could be prevented from building and selling new homes in the future. Alongside this, the Government has confirmed plans to extend the Building Safety Levy to be paid by developers on all new residential buildings in England, which is expected to raise up to £3 billion over the next decade to support remediation works.
Gove has also written to the product manufacturing sector, expressing his disappointment at its failure to make a public funding commitment and reiterating that the Government will do ‘whatever it takes’ to make sure they are held to account through the powers established in the Building Safety Bill.
RICS updates EWS1 Forms
RICS has updated its EWS1 form to confirm that all assessments of external walls should now be carried out in accordance with PAS 9980. Whilst the Government has stated that buildings below 18 metres do not require an ESW1 form to be completed, RICS guidance continues to advise lenders to ask for EWS1 forms on buildings of six storeys or fewer where ACM, MCM or HPL panels are present.
The Construction Products Association has formally responded to Secretary of State Michael Gove regarding the building safety and cladding remediations.
On 13 April 2022, the Minister for DLUHC wrote a letter addressed to CPA Chief Executive Peter Caplehorn bring to a close current talks around the remediation of building safety and cladding. In the letter, the Minster acknowledges the work undertaken by CPA and its members and the reasons as to why the remediation works is a lot more challenging than his original letter outlined.
After several months of discussions between DLUHC and members of the construction products and housebuilders sectors Mr Caplehorn expressed his professional disappointment that an agreement has not been reached. In the letter sent today to the Minister, he has highlighted where further clarity is required from the Government over lack of details for the work required. Additionally, Mr Caplehorn has stated that many Construction Product Association members have voluntarily agreed to pay for any costs because of defects from their own funds as part of the House Builder’s Remediation programme.
Mr Caplehorn said:
“Our members do understand the urgency of finding a solution and have been working hard with us to try to find a suitable formula. We should stress however that many are troubled by the lack of detail in terms of scope and definitions for the work and the lack of support from valuers, insurers, and the mortgage sectors.”
Additionally, the CPA has politely asked the Government to refer to the recommendations from the Select Committee report, most notably these three points:
1. To establish a clearer understanding at the building level to avert further confusion and delay for leaseholders
2. Involve other sectors of the industry in the discussion because in the design, procurement, construction, and maintenance of any building there will have been a complex set of interactions leading to the final built asset.
3. The CPA have long advocated (prior to these specific discussions with DLUHC) that a wider remit of works must be considered – beyond simply cladding and insulation – to ensure that every one of the buildings in question is made fully safe for leaseholders. If this entire discussion around funding is to gain the support it requires, then both the Government and industry must be doing all they can to ensure that all building safety defects are addressed in any remediation programme.
The CPA also feel it is wrong for the Minister to characterise the position of those highlighted in his letter as making “excuses” and “not taking action”, as our members and other manufactures have been proactive in their approach to come to an amicable solution with this situation.
Finally, the CPA and the stakeholders involved are keen to learn on the proposals that Government would like to put forward as we await their response. In the meantime, we will carry on working on the reform and cultural change in the industry to benefit the homes of the future in a safer environment.
