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Furlough extended in light of new National Lockdown

Furlough extended in light of new National Lockdown

by | 1 Nov, 2020 | Insurance, Main News Feed

The PM has announced that, in line with the new National Lockdown announced on the 31st October, Furlough arrangements through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme will be extended “until December”.  Under the extended scheme, workers in any part of the UK who will be paid at least 80% of their salary up to £2,500 a month.  The flexibility of the current CJRS will be retained to allow employees to continue to work where they can.

Employers small or large, charitable or non-profit are eligible and because more businesses will need to close, they will now be asked to pay just National Insurance and Pensions contributions for their staff during the month of November – making this more generous than support currently on offer.

The proposed Job Support Scheme will not be introduced until after Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme ends.

Access the FIS COVID-19 Hub here.

National Lockdown, but Construction to carry on

National Lockdown, but Construction to carry on

by | 31 Oct, 2020 | Main News Feed

The Prime Minister today, 31st October, announced that from Thursday the country would return to National Lockdown in England for a period of 4 weeks.  The lockdown rules announced are less strict than those announced earlier in the year, but will see restrictions in place on non-essential travel and parts of retail and many hospitality and leisure businesses being forced to close.  However, in his speech the Prime Minister confirmed that the Construction and Manufacturing Sector would not be expected to stop working.   He also announced that the Furlough scheme would be extended into December, the Government will once more put in the full 80% of salary (up to the maximum of £2,500), with the employer only covering pension and national insurance contributions..

Lockdown plans will be set before Parliament this week with the intention of commencement on Thursday.

Commenting on the lockdown FIS CEO, Iain McIlwee stated “This is clearly a blow to National morale and will impact the economic recovery that we had started to see, however, at least the Prime Minister name checked construction and manufacturing so we have clarity as a sector about how to proceed and will not return to the uncertainty and chaos that the industry experienced at the outset of the first lockdown.”

You can access resources in the FIS COVID-19 H&S Hub to support social distancing at work and the FIS COVID-19 Hub should you require letters of authorisation to support hotel stays or travel requirements related to construction activities.

A full transcript of the Prime Minister’s speech and accompanying slides are available here.

Devolved Nations

Scotland now has five COVID protection levels in place, ranging from ‘Level 0 ‐ Nearly Normal’ to ‘Level 4 ‐ Lockdown’, and you can check the level for an area by entering the postcode.  

Wales is under its own ‘firebreak’ lockdown until Monday 9 November 00:01am.  Under this “firebreak” that was implemented from Friday 23 October:

  • Construction and manufacturing can continue, provided employers take all reasonable measures to mitigate the spread of coronavirus. This includes builders’ merchants, which can remain open.
  • In a last minute change to the guidance, work in people’s homes can continue, as long as both the worker and household members have no symptoms of coronavirus. If a member of the household is self‐isolating, works are not recommended except to repair faults posing a direct safety risk.
  • All accommodation providers are required to close, unless they are providing ‘specific services’ at the request of the Welsh Government or a local authority. This includes providing emergency accommodation for key workers, which include those responsible for the construction or maintenance of public service buildings.

Northern Ireland In Northern Ireland, a tighter lockdown has been implemented for four weeks, increasing restrictions on travel and gatherings.  Again construction sites are allowed to continue to operate in compliance with social-distancing measures. Border counties in the south such as Donegal, Monaghan and Cavan have seen their level of restrictions increase, meaning only essential workers should go to work; construction has been deemed as ‘essential’ and will be allowed to continue.  These restrictions are in place until Friday 13 November.

Urgent update regarding conformity marking of construction products from January 2021

Urgent update regarding conformity marking of construction products from January 2021

by | 30 Oct, 2020 | Main News Feed

As the UK leaves the EU on 1 January 2021 new rules come into force for construction products that are currently covered by the European Construction Regulation (CPR).  This requires products covered by a harmonised European Norm (hEN) to carry a CE mark when placed on the market. From January new rules in the UK require a new mark of conformity Assessment (UKCA) mark to be applied to products put on the market in the UK; Northern Ireland has separate rules where CE marking will be acceptable if the product comes from the EU or a UKNI mark for products coming from outside the EU which includes the UK.

Placing products in the UK market will require the Notified Body to be in the UK and in the EU where manufactures from the UK are exporting to the EU

To help, The Brexit working group of the Construction Leadership Council has published advice and information on the conformity marking of construction products

Read the full press Release here.

And the new guidance EU EXIT BUSINESS READINESS: CONFORMITY MARKING OF CONSTRUCTION PRODUCTS HERE

United Kingdom Conformity Assessment Mark (UKCA)

United Kingdom Conformity Assessment Mark (UKCA)

by | 30 Oct, 2020 | Main News Feed

From January 2021 Organizations putting their products on the market will be able to use the UKCA mark which replaces CE marking in the UK after a transitional period of 12 months until January 2022; This will require products to be handled by a UK notified body including Manufacturers importing products.

Products placed on the market in Northern Ireland will have to use a UKNI mark or CE mark if the product is imported from Europe.

All organisations placing construction products on the market in the UK where a harmonised European Norm (hEN) should check the UK Government website HERE for more information and guidance.

Fire safety in construction – roles and responsibilities

Fire safety in construction – roles and responsibilities

by | 30 Oct, 2020 | Main News Feed

The Construction Industry Advisory Committee (CONIAC) Managing Risk Well Working Group on fire has produced the Construction fire safety: Responsibility and competence matrix for fire safety in construction.

Hosted by the Construction Health & Safety Group (CHSG), the purpose of the matrix is to identify and outline the roles and the responsibilities of those involved in fire safety and prevention on construction projects.

The document sets out the minimum knowledge needed for each role and has been produced to support the construction industry in defining the skills, knowledge, training and experience needed by each of the duty holders’ roles.

Further information about CONIAC/CONIAN and its Working Groups is available from the CONIAN web community.

United Kingdom Conformity Assessment Mark (UKCA)

Guidance on the Movement of Goods and Materials into and Between GB and NI Published

by | 23 Oct, 2020 | Main News Feed

The Construction Leadership Council has published guidance on the movement of goods and materials into and between GB and NI in respect of the expiration of the transition period with the European Union at the end of the year.

The guidance offers an overview of the new customs regime, specific information concerning the trade of goods and materials between Great Britain and Northern Ireland as well as between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. The guide also includes an introduction to the new UK Global Tariff, touches on the interplay between movement of goods and materials and standards and alignment (which will be covered in a separate CLC publication), information on preparedness of the border as well information on shortage materials and other useful resources.

The guidance has been issued by the Movement of Goods and Materials Workstream (Product Availability Group) of the CLC BREXIT Working Group and comprises the third publication in a suite of business readiness advice that the group intends to publish ahead of 31 December 2020.

Access the guidance here.