FIS has today issued the first part of the FIS Manifesto, A Blueprint for Better Construction: Delivering Change in the Finishes and Interiors Sector.

This document, the first in a series of three policy documents sets down FIS views on near- and long-term policy levers that will support transformation in the sector.  The Manifesto draws heavily on recent research with the University of Reading on Procurement and Contracting, It is less focussed on the macro-economic picture than the Chancellor’s Budget, instead zoning in on the pressing business challenges which beset the specialist construction sector set against four key headings.

• Public Sector Procurement reform led by a more ambitious Construction Playbook.  This needs to be backed by a consistent effort to measure outcomes.
• Eliminate unreasonable risk transfer by enforcing standard form contracts that are aligned with supply chain insurance.
• Revisit the Construction Act to simplify payment, reform retention and extend enforcement powers.
• UK Construction Products Marking rules must be aligned to those for other products to support investment in new testing.

Commenting on the launch of this document, FIS President Philip Brown stated:

“This document draws together a lot of work that the FIS team has been doing through our daily engagement with members.  For an organisation to have a strong voice, it must carry a strong mandate and this is what we are seeking here.  We have a unique opportunity with Building Regulatory Change and an awakening on Sustainability already adding momentum to transformation.  Now is the time to rally the construction voice, to unite our community around a number of key simple statements.  The main focus is Policy levers, but it should complement our “Empowering the Responsible No” campaign highlighting areas where clients, including Government have unreasonable and damaging expectations that are ultimately undermining the sector.”

FIS CEO Iain McIlwee added:

“This Manifesto draws together the key challenges and policy levers that identified through our research and wider engagement with members.  The essence of this document is simple, but we do not underestimate the scale of the challenge.

My hope in setting these points down with explanation and specificity that we are moving beyond the who and why and starting to get into the what, when and how.  We will be encouraging members to engage with their local representatives to carry this points forward and will be sharing with officials and politicians as well as colleagues from across construction to ensure our next Government are clear of the actions they need to take to unlock the full potential of our sector and the broader construction industry.”

The manifesto is available to download here

The Government has published a document listing amendments to Volumes 1 and 2 of Approved Document B which will come into effect in September 2026.

These amendments principally concern:

• Threshold for the provision of a second staircase in blocks of flats with a storey 18m or more in height.
• Evacuation shafts are introduced to support the provision of evacuation lifts.
• Changes to provisions for fire doorsets.
• New terminology including definitions for evacuation shaft, evacuation lift lobby, interlocked stair and storey exit.
• Provisions for horizontal escape and vertical escape separated as per the structure of Volume 2.

The 2019 edition incorporating the 2020 and 2022 amendments will continue to apply where a building notice or an initial notice has been given to, or a building control approval application with full plans made to, the relevant authority before 30 September 2026 and either the building work to which it relates:

1. has started and is sufficiently progressed before that day; or
2. is started and is sufficiently progressed within the period of 18 months beginning on that day

You can view the amendments at the link below:

Fire safety: Approved Document B

FIS will publish further detailed guidance on these changes in the coming months.

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FIS has been working on a number of fronts looking at how we support the “Responsible No”. As part of this work we have been breaking down the design development process and looking at irreconcilable details.  We are looking for member feedback on an outline paper that we have prepared “A Defined Design Development Process”.

This paper looks at the design development process and allocation of responsibility to trade contractors within the context of Contractors Design Portion (CDP).

The transfer of liability in complex amendments to standard form contracts and expectations associated with design development is commonplace.  Concern centres on procurement processes (see Figure 1) that give trade contractors little or no time to address design at tender stage and don’t allow for early supply chain engagement and encourage or foster collaboration between specialist contractors.

Increasingly specialist contractors are finding themselves responsible for the compliance of details that they did not design but are presented in contract as their liability.  This paper starts to explore how this should be co-ordinated more effectively through a more consistent and consultative design development centred on a standardise approach to creating a Design Responsibility Matrix (DRM).

We would appreciate feedback on this document using this form. Please email to info@thefis.org by 22 April 2024.