BABR, a long-established cash flow solutions business, is delighted to join the FIS as their trusted Finance Partner.  Members will benefit from a dedicated helpline, where free, no obligation support and guidance will be available for your financial quandaries.

Working with the FIS and its members, BABR will inform and educate with insightful content on financial topics for SpecFinish trade magazine and in webinars run at regular intervals through 2024, the first of which is planned for 17^th April 2024 – Webinar: Risk to Resilience – cashflow, funding and recovery options – FIS (thefis.org)

Find out more about BABR here

The Smarter Regulation Directorate in the Department for Business and Trade is currently developing an online platform that hopes to publish UK regulation data in one place and in a machine-readable format. We hope that this will help support regulatory compliance in the construction sector by making that data easier to find, search through and for innovative companies to create new compliance solutions to help businesses. Please find attached a brochure for further detail.

They are looking for any UK companies working within the construction sector, of any size, to participate in a study. They are particularly keen to hear from SMEs.

As part of this product development, they are keen to understand more about the companies in the construction sector including asking:

1.      More about your organisation and what you do

2.      How you access and comply with UK regulation

3.      Whether you would use their platform or third party compliance solutions (theirs will provide a brief demonstration)

The team are hoping to conduct 5-10 virtual user research interviews over the course of 1 hour in February and March.

Alternatively, if you wish to do a written survey, you can access and complete it here: https://forms.office.com/e/k8cbu5eyEf

Please be assured that the session will be recorded solely for research purposes. All personal and commercial information, including your identity, will be anonymised and will remain confidential.

If you are interested, please reach out to them on OpenRegulation@businessandtrade.gov.uk.

Here is a YouTube video, demoing the product: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DedKWKc_B_Y, and in addition, attached is a pdf of a brochure, for further info.

The Construction Skills Certificate Scheme (CSCS) deadline of 31 December 2024 for all Industry Accreditation (IA) cardholders (also known as ‘Grandfather Rights’) is fast approaching.  After this date IA cards will no longer be accepted on site.  CSCS advises that:

• All IA cards issued from 1 January 2020 will expire on 31 December 2024 and cannot be replaced using industry accreditation.
• This is to meet industry requirements, which state that all construction industry card schemes must operate with nationally recognised qualifications in place for all occupations.
• Tailored guidance has been developed to help cardholders replace their IA cards, depending on their occupations and qualifications, while a list of FAQs is also available.
• Those requiring a qualification do not need to attend college and enhanced CITB grants are available to support CITB-registered employers achieve recognised qualifications.

To support construction workers in obtaining the required qualification to transition from an IA card to an appropriate CSCS card, CITB has increased the grants for specific supervision and management NVQs/SVQs.​

The CITB increased grants are as follows:

• Specific Supervision NVQ Diplomas/SVQs now £1,250
• Specific Management NVQ Diplomas/SVQs now £1,500

Supervision – CITB Registered Members who are up to date with their Levy can claim on Completion of the Qualification: £1,250​

Level3/SCQF Level 6 in Built Environment Design

Level3/SCQF Level 6 in Construction Contracting Operations (any subcategory)​

Level3/SCQF Level 6 in Occupational work Supervision (Construction)

Level3/SCQF Level 6 in Site Inspection​

Level 3 in Surveying, Property and Maintenance

Level 4/SCQF Level 7 in Construction Site Supervision​

Management – CITB Registered Members who are up to date with their Levy can claim on Completion of the Qualification: £1,500

Level 6/SCQF Level 10 in Construction Site Management​

Level 6/SCQF Level 9 in Built Environment Design Management

Level 6/SCQF Level 9 in Construction Contracting Operations Management (any subcategory)​

Level 6 in Senior Site Inspection​

Level 7/SCQF Level 11 in Construction Senior Management​

FIS works with a number of training providers to help deliver NVQs/SVQs, which can be found in the FIS Membership Directory here. If you have any questions or need assistance please contact marieflinter@thefis.org