by Clair Mooney | 13 Jul, 2023 | Main News Feed
The Cabinet Office is consulting on the secondary legislation required to implement the new public procurement regime set out in the Procurement Bill, including the financial thresholds that will mean contracts need to comply with the regime. The deadline for responses is Friday 28 July.
This is a technical consultation, split into two parts. This first part of the consultation refers predominantly to areas of the Bill which require lists, calculations or further definitions to be used in practice. Questions seek to understand to what extent the draft secondary legislation provisions implement the policy intent as established in the Bill.
The closing date for Part 1 of the consultation is 28 July 2023.
Part 2 of the consultation is expected to launch in July 2023.
by Clair Mooney | 13 Jul, 2023 | Main News Feed
The FIS team have been hard at work and achieved some brilliant results across out Technical, Business Development, Skills and Training, and Lobbying efforts. Here’s a short look back at Q2 of 2023
Key technical work
- Update to workmanship on construction site standards – design and installation of drylining systems (the working group for BS8000 Part 8 was chaired by Technical Director)
- Working with Imperial college and the Steel Construction Institute testing the impact of building
- FIS announces updated vetting process aligned to Common Assessment standard
- Surveyed drylining and ceiling market for Autumn report
Business support and guidance
Lobbying and representation
- FIS invited to join the new Home Building Skills Partnership Sector Panel (chaired by Matthew Pratt, CEO Redrow)
- FIS responds to consultation on measuring embodied carbon and carbon leakage
- FIS met with senior members of Build UK and the Bank of England on a roundtable discussion on prospects and forecasts for UK construction (with input from the FIS Q1 State of Trade survey)
- FIS joins the RICS Conflict Avoidance Coalition Steering Group
- FIS responds to Government consultation on payment and retention overhaul
- FIS responds to RICS consultation on Whole Life Carbon Assessment for the Built Environment
- FIS takes a lead role in the new HSE campaign about the hidden dangers associated with asbestos
Skills and training
Key Events
- Contractors Awards Lunch – record attendance
- Industry Days – Commercial Fit-Out and D&B and Housebuilding
- Scottish regional event
- FIS Technical team active at a number of workshops / events at Clerkenwell Design Week
- FIS supported the Construction Industry’s ‘Inspiring Change’ Conference and Awards
- FIS Technical Director delivered a speech at the Fire Safety Event at the NEC
Download this document Q2 2023
by Clair Mooney | 12 Jul, 2023 | Building Safety Act, Main News Feed
Ahead of the next phase of the building safety regime coming into effect from 1 October, Build UK has updated its guide and timeline to reflect the regulations and supporting guidance that have recently been published. Changes in the July 2023 version of the guide, which is supported by the CLC, include:
- Clarifying the definition of a Higher‐Risk Building
- A link to the guidance on Key Building Information (KBI), which can now be submitted as part of the registration process for High‐Rise Residential Buildings
- Updated information on the new building control framework
- New guidance on Planning Gateway One and confirmation that hospitals and care homes are excluded from the requirements
- An updated link to guidance on the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order.
To ensure businesses across the supply chain are aware of their responsibilities under the new regime, Build UK is sharing its guide through Building Magazine. In an article published yesterday, Build UK Chief Executive Suzannah Nichol explained: “We believe that helping the whole supply chain to see the bigger picture will make it easier for everyone to understand where they fit in and what their responsibilities are…No one company or organisation can do this alone. We talk a lot about collaboration and this really does need a combined effort from Team Construction.”
by Clair Mooney | 29 Jun, 2023 | Main News Feed
The CIJC has agreed new pay rates effective from Monday 10 July. There is a 6% increase in pay (8% for general operatives), as well as increases in travel and subsistence allowances and sick pay. There will be further increases from 1 January 2024 and the rates should be read in conjunction with the Working Rule Agreement and Holiday Entitlement 2023.
by Clair Mooney | 29 Jun, 2023 | Main News Feed
Earlier this month, JCT announced that the next update to its suite of contracts will be the JCT 2024 Edition.
Digital working will continue to be a main feature of the JCT suite with JCT 2024, which will be published exclusively via JCT’s Construct subscription service, as well as On Demand digital and traditional hardcopy.
The main features of JCT 2024 include updates and changes corresponding with the following workstreams:
- Modernising and streamlining – including adoption of gender neutral language, and increased flexibility around the use of electronic notices.
- New for JCT 2024 – the introduction of a new contract family, JCT Target Cost Contract (TCC), comprising main contract, sub-contract, and guide.
- Legislative changes – major updates in relation to the Building Safety Act, Termination accounting and payment provisions reflecting the Construction Act, new insolvency grounds reflecting the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020.
- Future proofing – including changes to reflect the objectives of the Construction Playbook, and the incorporation of previously optional supplemental provisions relating to Collaborative Working, and Sustainable Development and Environmental Considerations, into the main document.
More information is available here
by Clair Mooney | 28 Jun, 2023 | Main News Feed
Television presenter and award-winning designer Anna Campbell-Jones will be the star guest at this year’s Green Home Festival, which is again being organised by the Construction Industry Collective Voice (CICV), of which FIS is a key member.
The co-host and judge of hit BBC Scotland show Scotland’s Home of the Year will be a guest speaker at the second week-long event, which starts in 50 days as part of the official Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
Anna will discuss low-carbon living as part of the Ingredients for a Greener Kitchen show on the first day of the free festival, which will host 11 in-person and virtual sessions from 14-18 August to help consumers on the journey to net zero.
The interior designer – who won Scottish Influencer of the Year last October – said:
“I am delighted to be taking part in this year’s Green Home Festival and to be able to help raise the profile of eco-friendly living for consumers across Scotland.
“Finding greener ways of designing, decorating and renewing our homes will be vital for us all going forward and creating more low-carbon kitchens will be a key part of that.
“In particular, I feel passionately that the era of ‘fast fashion’ for interiors must come to an end. Kitchens are a significant contributor to unrecyclable landfill and I’m going to talk about alternative approaches to the concept of what we mean by ‘getting a new kitchen’.”
Anna starred in the grand finale of Scotland’s Home of the Year on Monday night (26 June), and also won the interiors and design award at the inaugural Scottish Influencer Awards in Glasgow in October 2022.
She will now star alongside experts from Scottish Water, plumbing body SNIPEF, electrical trade association SELECT and James Alan Construction, who will all share their first-hand knowledge and advise on what to consider when planning and renovating a kitchen.
Festival co-organiser Gordon Nelson, Scotland Director of the Federation of Master Builders (FMB) said:
“We are delighted to welcome Anna to this year’s Green Home Festival and look forward to hearing her invaluable input and expertise on greener living.
“Like all our shows, Ingredients for a Greener Kitchen will deliver a wealth of practical advice, focusing on the vital areas that can make kitchens eco-friendly – water efficiency, electrical efficiency and sustainably sourced materials and units.”
Other Green Home Festival shows to be delivered during the week include green garden rooms and offices, making retrofit projects eco-friendly, the potential of microwave heating, converting churches, and how the home of the future will be powered.
The event will also include a dedicated heat pump day, with experts hosting two separate shows to advise on how to reduce bills, access grants and install the new technology, as well as the options for hybrid heating.
Plus the experts from Built Environment – Smarter Transformation will host an in-person show on the advantages of community heat networks and an online webinar that will advise what consumers can do to reduce both their energy consumption and energy bills.
Mr Nelson added: “With 50 days to go, and with all the events now confirmed, the second Green Home Festival is shaping up to be as big a success as last year’s inaugural event.
“With a strong focus on accessing funding and saving money, our experts will offer practical demonstrations of low-carbon technology that consumers can put into action as we move towards becoming a net zero nation.”
The Green Home Festival is the latest in a string of practical and constructive initiatives launched by the CICV since its creation as the Construction Industry Coronavirus (CICV) Forum in March 2020.
Made up of 28 trade associations, professional services bodies and companies, including FIS, it has maintained a steady supply of information and practical advice to the sector as well as carrying out surveys, producing animations and posters, hosting webinars and maintaining close dialogue with Scottish Government ministers.
- Tickets for all Green Home Festival events are free and can be reserved here. The series finale of Scotland’s Home of the Year can be viewed again here.
