by Clair Mooney | 21 Nov, 2019 | Main News Feed
The Construction Industry Advisory Committee (CONIAC) is looking for individuals to join its Supporting Small Employers working group.
The Health and Safety Executive is supported by a range of advisory committees and industry groups. These bodies may be concerned with health and safety in a particular industry or sector or with particular hazards present across a range of industry sectors. One such group is the Construction Industry Advisory Committee.
If you have a passion for improving the health, safety and wellbeing performance of the construction industry; work for a small/medium company and think you could make a difference and are willing to try; then you could be the person CONIAC is looking for.
Small and medium sized construction companies face particular health, safety and wellbeing (HS&W) challenges. The Supporting Small Employers Working Group (SSE WG) is tasked with both understanding these challenges and for proposing ways by which small companies can better manage HS&W risks faced by their workers.
To help further the work of the SSE WG individuals are being sought who would be willing to participate in the work of this group. The WG will benefit from hearing first-hand experience of the challenges small companies are facing and how those challenges are being met. The expectation is to attend four meetings a year and to undertake the reading and preparation required for these meetings; meetings are generally held in central London.
To get more information and to express and interest please contact one of the following Working Group members
GrenTipper grentipper@hotmail.com
Ade Ige Adebayo.ige@hse.gov.uk
Kevin Fear kevin.fear@citb.co.uk
by Oscar Venus | 19 Nov, 2019 | Main News Feed
In the next 12 months there are not one, but two, major changes for construction.
- The new off-payroll working rules come into force for medium and large companies but the changes which result will impact on people working through their own limited companies, so some small companies will feel the heat too. These new rules come into force on 1 April 2020.
- Reverse charge VAT starts from 1 October 2020 and put in the simplest terms, will mean that no VAT registered construction business working for another VAT registered construction business will be paid VAT. (Of course it is more complicated than that!)
BUT you must know what the dull and dusty terms ‘off-payroll’ and ‘reverse charge’ mean or your business will be vulnerable to running up huge tax bills.
All construction businesses would be well advised to learn about them both. FIS members can read the update from JTC newsline November 2019.
by Oscar Venus | 19 Nov, 2019 | Main News Feed
FIS is delighted to announce the new Chair of the FIS Skills Board, Operations Director at Stortford Interiors (UK) Paul Leach
Paul will take up his two year non-executive role this month and will ensure that the views of the FIS membership are fairly represented through the Board and that our skills work is steered by and meets the needs of the wider membership.
FIS Sector Skills Engagement Manager Amanda Scott and FIS Chief Executive Iain McIlwee will confer with the Chair on matters such as:
- Future direction and sign off on skills and training plans
- Sign off on bid development and submissions on behalf of FIS
- Sign off official funding agreements on behalf of FIS
Paul, a natural skills champion, has a deep understanding of the FIS skills strategy and has been at the forefront of FIS skills development including key collaborations in the construction of the Trailblazer Interior Systems Installer Apprenticeship, 22 new FIS Sector Skills modules, Project Futures and is a champion of skills competency in his organisation and the wider sector.
We are excited to be working with Paul and will capitalise and utilise his depth of talent, skills commitment, technical knowledge, competency and vast experience in our sector.
FIS Sector Skills Engagement Manager, Amanda Scott
With an eye on developing skills throughout the sector and helping others achieve competency in their roles, I am excited to be assisting and working with the FIS Skills Board and its members to achieve this, whilst putting something back into the industry that has served me so well over the last 42 years.
FIS Skills Board Chair, Paul Leach
by Oscar Venus | 19 Nov, 2019 | Main News Feed
A contractor in London has been banned from carrying out housing works until the Grenfell Inquiry rules on whether it contributed to the fire.
London mayor Sadiq Khan made the decision to ban Rydon Construction Ltd (RCL), alongside 12 other companies, from carrying out works on public high-rise housing in the area.
The Labour mayor signed an order asserting it was not in the public interest to allow the company to bid for works until the public inquiry “has reported on the extent to which any Rydon group companies or employee contributed to causing or exacerbating the Grenfell Tower fire”.
Rydon was the main contractor for the £10 million Grenfell Tower refurbishment work.
Grenfell United, which represents survivors and bereaved families, said: “The government needs to stop hiding behind red tape, apply common sense and take Rydon off this list.
“If the mayor can do it to keep Londoners safe, the prime minister should do it for the rest of the country. Rydon should not be allowed to work on high-rise blocks until the investigations into how the refurbishment of Grenfell went so badly wrong is complete.”
Pressure has been mounting on Rydon with the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities & Local Government taking to twitter with the statement “I understand why survivors and bereaved do not want to see public contracts awarded to the main contractor for the Grenfell Tower refurb until we have the full results of the inquiry. The contractor should not bid for further work until we know the truth”.
by Oscar Venus | 19 Nov, 2019 | Main News Feed
FIS has continued its partnership with UK Construction Week Summits, in which its members and partners can save over £100 discount off the cost of attending the summits.
The partnership with UK Construction Week has gone from strength to strength over the last four years due to the synergies between the events UK Construction Week delivers and the projects, issues and subject matters that FIS is passionate about such as quality, wellbeing and mental health in construction that they wish to raise awareness, standards and educate the industry about.
The construction industry is changing fast and the pace of change is accelerating, certainly faster that I have witnessed. It is vital that we continue to step back and reflect on this change and these summits are a valuable reflection point. In this we must accept that this is not just the digital age, but the age of transparency. Critical to a positive change in culture and profound change in our outputs is collaboration. We must embrace every opportunity to learn from one another and be seeking opportunities to exchange knowledge and discuss innovation and so the industry can move forward together.
Iain McIlwee, FIS Chief Executive
UK Construction Week, Event Director, Nathan Garnett said “we set up UK Construction Summits because we could see major topics in the industry that require in depth knowledge sharing. We are delighted to partner with FIS as we feel a number of these topics are ones that FIS members also face as day to day challenges, such as staying ahead of the agenda on quality and understanding the complexities around wellbeing for the construction work force. The FIS support on these events by sharing their expertise will enhance our content and deliver more benefits for FIS delegates.”
All the Construction Summits will take place at CentrEd at the ExCel in London on the following dates:
- Marketing in Construction Summit – 12 February 2020
- Belonging in Construction Summit – 13 February 2020
- Wellbeing in Construction Summit – 30 June 2020
- Quality in Construction Summit – 1 July 2020
- UK Construction Week Tradeshow – 6 – 8 October 2020 at the NEC in Birmingham.
FIS members and partners can save over £100 by quoting FIS149 to get the special discount for just £149+VAT. Click here for more information and to book your tickets https://summits.ukconstructionweek.com/
by Oscar Venus | 19 Nov, 2019 | Main News Feed
Views are being sought on the structure of apprenticeship frameworks.
