A new guide that helps business owners understand the needs of its workforce and help plan safe working spaces that enable social distancing and help companies work effectively during the COVID-19 pandemic has been published today.

Entitled “How Business Owners Can Use Partitioning and Ironmongery to Help Manage Social Distancing” it has been created by two of Britain’s leading construction interior trade organisations – the Guild of Architectural Ironmongers (GAI) and the Finishes and Interior Sector (FIS).

The guide, which calls for changes to the style and layout of traditional open plan offices and other workspaces as a result of the pandemic, provides practical guidance to help business owners understand key considerations they need to make when adapting their workplaces. It aims to provide advice as to how to create the correct solution, addressing the issue of DIY screens that all too often fail to perform properly and can have unforeseen consequences with lighting, ventilation and even escape routes.

The GAI and FIS call the process re-cellularisation – the opposite to creating open plan spaces – and is intended to provide cellular space where social distancing can be provided, where teams can collaborate, and where individuals can find safe concentrated spaces when they are in the office.

“Within less than a year, Covid-19 has impacted every aspect of our lives. We’ve already seen big changes to the way that buildings operate, such as one way systems, and workplaces will need to continue to be responsive as new Government advice is released,” said Douglas Masterson, Technical Manager at the GAI. “Businesses need to protect staff, adhere to social distancing and maintain high standards of hygiene without compromising safety and security.

“This guide will be useful to employers who are looking for proactive solutions. It will help them to identify where measures should be implemented and the types of products that can deliver a safe and secure working environment.”

Cellularisation, as explained in the guide, is the creation of spaces using partitioning, raises several questions which include:

• What are my needs?
• What else should I consider?
• How do I select a partition system?
• What are my ironmongery requirements and can I introduce a touch free or antimicrobial solution?
• Will I need to control the doors through hold open devices or door automation?
• Is there a part that access control and electronic locking can play?
• How do I organise the installation?

Performance considerations, including fire resistance of the partitioning and doors, reducing sound transmission and privacy, also must be considered along with the need for increased ventilation which has a substantial impact on reducing viral infections between occupants.

The guide also shows ways in which new partitions can look by using solid, glazed, part glazed and double glazed elevations, and adding blinds or manifestation which can reinforce a corporate identity or add images of outdoor landscapes to the space.

Joe Cilia, Technical Director at FIS, added, “We wanted to produce an accessible and useful guide that can be used by any business to understand how to approach the issue. The flow chart that we produced with the GAI is easy to follow and ensures that any unknown unknowns are dealt with.”

The guide discusses all aspects of partitioning and how employers can sub-divide working space to protect staff, including using the right ironmongery and how to reduce infection via touch points.

The guide can be downloaded from www.thefis.org or  www.gai.org.uk/IndustryUpdates

This year, after speaking to the Prescribed Organisations and some employers, CITB decided that it was inappropriate to run the Consensus process when the external environment was so unstable and uncertain.  Their expectation is that, although some COVID-related uncertainty will remain, the external environment will be sufficiently stable to run the Consensus process next year.  The final decision will be taken by the CITB Board in February 2021 and before doing so they will seek views from the Prescribed Organisations, which are made up of several trade federations, as well as analysing other economic and industry insights to inform their recommendations to the Board.

In the meantime, CITB has been setting up the Levy Strategy Committee of employers and experts to recommend new Levy Proposals and support a longer term review of the Levy.  The committee met for the first time in November, but there is one vacancy for an independent member that isn’t employed by a Levy-registered employer.  If you have extensive experience of the industry and you work in an organisation that isn’t a CITB registered employer, please consider joining

The Government is proposing changes to the Construction Industry Scheme (CIS) to be introduced from April 2021.

These include giving HMRC the power to amend CIS deductions in the event of errors or omissions and requiring businesses to apply the CIS when construction expenditure exceeds £3 million over the preceding 12 months. Exemptions to CIS deductions will also be limited going forward and there will be penalties for providing false information.

Proposed revisions in detail

CIS set-off amendment power

Some sub-contractor companies are entitled to set CIS deductions suffered in-year against their employer liabilities as provided by section 62(3) FA04 and regulation 56 S.I. 2005/2045. Where, upon challenge from HMRC, the sub-contractor employer cannot provide satisfactory evidence to support the CIS deductions claimed, and when asked the employer does not amend the CIS entry on their EPS within a certain timeframe, HMRC will instead amend the CIS deduction figure claimed on an EPS. The HMRC amendment will match the CIS deductions sum supported by any evidence held by or provided to HMRC.

HMRC will remove the claim altogether where there is no evidence of any CIS deductions in respect of that company or where the employer is not entitled to set-off in this way. The employer liabilities will be recalculated following the amendment. Where HMRC has to amend the CIS credit claimed on an EPS, the employer may also be prevented from making further CIS set-offs in the same tax year. HMRC’s new powers to amend set-off claims and prevent further set-off claims will be decisions subject to review and appeal, unless the claimant is not a sub-contractor company suffering deductions under the CIS. The new powers will be contained in amendments to section 62 FA04, and the operative detail will be contained in regulations by way of amendments to S.I. 2005/2045.

Cost of materials

The current rule regarding the cost of materials to be taken into account by a contractor when operating the CIS on a payment to a sub-contractor is set out at section 61(1) FA04. This provision must be read with the definitions of a “construction contract” at section 57 FA04 and of a “contract payment” at section 60 FA04. The newly substituted provisions of section 61 FA04 will clarify that, on making a contract payment to a sub-contractor, the contractor must deduct a sum from the payment which is equal to the relevant percentage of the net payment. In calculating the net payment, the contractor must work out the amount of the contract payment less deductible materials costs. A materials cost will only be deductible if it represents the direct cost of materials purchased by a sub-contractor in respect of that particular contract. The change to these provisions will ensure that it is clear that only the sub-contractor directly purchasing materials to fulfil their own contract with their contractor is entitled to a reduction to account for materials costs from the gross contract payment before the CIS deduction is calculated.

Deemed contractors

Section 59 FA04 sets out the rules for bringing deemed contractors into the CIS. The general rule to determine whether a non-construction business has to operate the CIS is found at section 59(1)(l) FA04. It requires a turnover threshold for expenditure on construction operations to be met, and that the business reviews this expenditure at the end of each period of account. If average annual expenditure on construction operations exceeds £1 million in each of the last 3 years, the business has to operate CIS on any construction expenditure from the start of the next period of account. When average expenditure is less than £1 million in each of three successive years the business no longer has to operate the CIS on construction expenditure: see section 59(3) FA04. The new rules will require a business to monitor construction expenditure more regularly. When the cumulative expenditure on construction operations exceeds £3million within the previous 12 month period, the business will have to register for the CIS as a contractor (if not already registered) and begin operating the CIS on their next payment to a sub-contractor for construction operations. Deemed contractors will be able to stop operating the CIS when expenditure on construction operations falls below £3m within the previous 12 month period, or when no further payments on construction operations (including retention or management/administration payments) are expected to be made under that or any other construction contract.

CIS registration penalty

HMRC can penalise a person for providing false information when registering for payment under deduction under the CIS or for GPS (section 72 FA04). This penalty applies only to the individual or business to whom the registration applies. The scope of this penalty will be expanded to apply to a wider group of individuals or companies who are able to exercise influence or control over a person who is registering for the CIS, this will include agents, directors, company secretaries, or anyone HMRC believes is in a position to exercise influence and control over the business and/or the person making the CIS registration.

Such persons will be liable to a penalty in two circumstances:

• where they themselves make a false statement or furnish a false document for the purpose of enabling another individual or business to be registered or
• where they encourage an individual or business to make a false statement or furnish a false document for the purpose of enabling themselves to be registered for the CIS

The changes to primary legislation to deliver this measure will be published for consultation alongise this TIIN.

If you have any feedback or concerns, please send your comments to iainmcilwee@thefis.org.