FIS secures CITB funding to support specialist upskilling across the finishes and interiors sector

by alexgrover | 7 Oct, 2026 | Employment, Main News Feed, Skills

FIS has successfully been awarded funding through the Construction Industry Training Board’s (CITB) new Specialist Upskilling Fund, supporting efforts to address skills shortages and improve access to high-quality training across the fit-out, drylining and plastering sector.

FIS is one of 11 organisations selected by CITB following a strong response to its call for applications. The Specialist Upskilling Fund has been established to help remove barriers to training in specialist areas of construction and increase access to sector-specific competence training and NVQ achievement.

For FIS members, this provides an opportunity for us to work with employers and training providers to strengthen the skills pipeline across our sector, helping businesses identify any skills gaps, develop their workforce and ensure that workers have the competence required to meet the changing demands of the industry.

FIS will be offering support to members in accessing cost-effective, high-quality training and guidance, with a particular focus on supporting progression towards recognised sector-specific qualifications.

Beena Nana, Head of Skills and Training at FIS said:

“This is a fantastic opportunity to help FIS members address skills gaps, strengthen their workforce and support progression towards recognised qualifications. By improving access to high quality, sector specific training, we can help build a more skilled and competent workforce for the future of our industry.”

The CITB Specialist Upskilling Fund will support a range of specialist construction sectors, with successful applicants also including organisations representing civils and infrastructure, heritage, plant hire, retrofit, roofing, shopfitting, tunnelling and drilling, wood occupations and contract flooring.

Julia Stevens, Director of Industry Delivery at CITB, said:

“We’re pleased to share the successful applicants that have been awarded funding through our Specialist Upskilling Fund.

“We remain committed to providing sector-specific skills investment to ensure that support is available to construction employers to help develop their businesses and train their teams.”

FIS members are invited to contact Marie Flinter who will be able to provide further information on this programme.

FIS response to HSE consultation on PPE and Limb (b) Workers

by Clair Mooney | 6 Oct, 2026 | Health and Safety, Main News Feed

FIS has now submitted its formal response to the HSE consultation on the effectiveness of the Personal Protective Equipment at Work (Amendment) Regulations 2022, including the extension of PPE requirements to “Limb (b) workers”.

The issue has been a longstanding concern for sector, with members highlighting uncertainty around the application of the regulations, responsibility for providing PPE, differing interpretations across the industry, worker-owned PPE and the practical challenges of compliance.

Our response draws on feedback from members and calls for clearer, construction-specific guidance to ensure the regulations are applied consistently and proportionately and we will continue to engage with HSE on the next steps and future guidance. You can read the full response here.

FIS would like to thank members who shared their experiences and contributed to the response.

Health and Safety Toolkit

It is a core objective of FIS to help reduce risk and create a healthier and safer construction environment for all. Our H&S Toolkit aims to support our members work in this area.

Access the Health and Safety Toolkit here

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FIS Project Reuse Scheme working to deliver sustainable circularity from Rathbone Place to Broadgate

by Clair Mooney | 5 Oct, 2026 | Main News Feed, Sustainability

In a major step forward for the circular economy in commercial fit-out, the FIS Project Reuse Scheme is supporting the reuse of high-quality ceiling tiles and luminaires from Rathbone Place to Broadgate, two landmark London developments.

The initiative sees Ambit, part of the Workplace Futures Group, carefully strip out and recover bespoke SAS ceiling tiles and LedLuk luminaires during its refurbishment works at Rathbone Place.

Video footage is being captured to document the different phases of the project – comprising the identification of suitable products for reuse, strip-out, preparation, and transfer of the materials and re-installation.

In our second video in the series, Strip-Out and Preparation, the project has now moved into the careful removal and transfer of materials. The products have now been stripped out and transported to their new home in Broadgate Tower, whilst preserving their quality.

The next step in the project is important in demonstrating what reuse can look like in commercial fit-out projects and how it works in practice. Part 2 of the Project Reuse journey can be viewed at https://vimeo.com/fisorg/stripout-prep

As this reuse journey continues, we will bring you more footage of the project focussing on the re-installation in Broadgate. You can keep up to date with the project at www.thefis.org/project-reuse-case-study

Hattie Emerson, Project Manager for Project Reuse said:

“This case study provides a transparent, real-world view of how reuse can be achieved safely, efficiently, and collaboratively across live projects, demonstrating how design, logistics, and sustainability can align across multiple organisations.”

FIS Sustainability Hub

Visit our Sustainability Hub where we look at some of the key actions that you can take and also some of the wider sector initiatives that can support your business in setting a sustainability strategy.

Find out more

FIS launches Fire Engineering Advisory Service to strengthen competence and reduce risk across the sector

by Clair Mooney | 30 Sep, 2026 | Main News Feed, Member Benefits, Membership, Technical

FIS is pleased to launched a new Fire Engineering Advisory Service, providing members with early, structured access to specialist fire engineering advice to help manage increasing regulatory, contractual and professional risk. Built on the proven model of the FIS Legal Helpline, the service creates a controlled gateway to competent expertise, enabling members to make informed decisions and access the best possible advice in a structured way to assist with legacy or live design issues.

A structured response to growing industry risk

The service has been developed in response to mounting pressures on specialist contractors, including the transfer of design responsibility, ambiguity in compliance expectations, inconsistent use of test evidence and challenges surrounding legacy projects.

At its core is a Fire Engineering Advisory Helpline, offering members:

A single point of access for fire engineering queries
Early-stage advice to clarify technical and regulatory risk
Guidance on responsibility boundaries and decision-making
A structured route to further assessment where required

The helpline is time-bound and advisory, supporting risk triage. Where issues require further input, members can progress in a clear and controlled way to additional structured, discounted support packages such as fire engineering assessments, technical reviews and, where justified, bespoke fire testing. All such services are contracted directly between the member and provider, ensuring clarity of responsibility, liability and professional scope.

Delivered with expert support and future flexibility

The service launches with PartB as delivery partner, who bring multidisciplinary fire engineering expertise and specialist materials engineering capability to the service. Beyond individual enquiries, the service will also act as a source of sector-wide intelligence, helping to identify recurring technical challenges and, where appropriate, collaborative approaches to testing and evidence generation.

Iain McIlwee, Chief Executive of FIS, said:

“Our members are increasingly being drawn into the design process and asked to make complex fire safety decisions without clear boundaries, information or adequate support. This service is about putting structure, clarity into that process – by creating a trusted gateway to competent advice. In doing this we are helping members manage risk effectively, supporting responsible decision making and at the same time building a stronger evidence base for the whole sector. Through a consolidated approach we hope to avoid repetition and ensure that critical time and resource are not wasted dealing with the same issues across multiple projects. It also gives us a strong platform to support collective intervention if appropriate.”

Andy Gordon, Director of Fire, PartB added:

“We are seeing increasing demand across the sector for clear, proportionate fire engineering input at the right time in the decision-making process. Too often, specialist contractors designers and product suppliers are expected to interpret complex fire requirements without a clear line of sight to the appropriate level of expertise. This service creates a structured route to competent advice, helping members understand risk early and make better-informed decisions, while ensuring that more detailed input is properly scoped and delivered under the right professional frameworks.”

Availability

This service is available to members with immediate effect, and more information is available here. Further details will be shared at the FIS Conference on 22 October.

For further information or for any questions please email info@thefis.org or call us on 0121 707 0077.

Addressing a broken design process

by Clair Mooney | 29 Sep, 2026 | Main News Feed, Technical

FIS has been working with contractors in membership to better understand how the failures of the design process and the way in which design responsibility is novated presents unreasonable levels of risk to the specialist drylining contractor. When the design of drylining packages land with the specialist subcontractor with no controls placed on the scope of the package or competence requirements, the contractor will often be asked to take on risks that cannot be adequately priced or managed. Working with members of our Drylining Working Group, FIS has been working on a number of interventions that provide meaningful controls in these circumstances:

We have been working on improving the coverage of our quality control checklists to include design and tender stages that help members follow a more robust process. These checklists are available on the FIS website and are being regularly updated.
In Summer this year, we published a comprehensive competence framework for Drylining design engineers that makes it easier for contractors appointing design expertise (either in-house or using consultants) to demonstrate competence and place further controls on the exposure to design risk.
Design code of practice documents are in advanced draft both for the drylining design package and separately for the overall fit-out process. These documents will provide much needed standardisation to the design process that includes the need for a design responsibility matrix, including critical timelines for appointment, gateways that ensure risks are managed at crucial points throughout RIBA stages 3 and 4 that are typically overlooked and controls to highlight process and further reduce risk around complex design interfaces that are not normally understood by principal designers.

This subject is explored in more detail in this article in SpecFinish.

All of this work is drawn from an FIS Consultation with members on Design Challenges and a paper written in 2024 and ongoing work with the CQIC up in Scotland focussed on understanding limitations in contract awards containing Contractor Design Portions.

Government updates Approved Document B with 2029 fire safety amendments

by Clair Mooney | 28 Sep, 2026 | Main News Feed, Technical

Volumes 1 and 2 of Approved Document B were republished this week by Government to include 2029 amendments.

Changes are based on the response to consultations on sprinklers in care homes; removal of national classifications and second staircases from 2022 to 2024, and the more recent consultation that concluded in July this year.

Withdrawal of the outdated national classes for reaction to fire (BS 476) is already concluded and the subsequent withdrawal of the remaining BS 476 fire testing standards for fire resistance will be concluded in September of 2029 ending a long period of dual specification.

The latest versions of Approved Document B can be accessed and downloaded using the links below:

Volume 1: Dwellings

Volume 2: Buildings other than dwellings

Summary of 2029 amendments

If you have any questions about these changes and how they might impact your business, please contact our Technical Director jamesparlour@thefis.org