by Clair Mooney | 6 Sep, 2018 | Main News Feed
The #BuildersBrew campaign aims to highlight the issue of mental health and encourage people to talk about this difficult subject area over a mug of tea or coffee. Mental health affects us all at some point in our lives and we are encouraging people to take positive proactive action to support each other and talk about it. We want people to share images of their #BuildersBrew, a photo of themselves with their mug of tea or coffee talking about mental health.
To support and raise awareness of such an important subject area we have teamed up with Digital College and UK Construction Week to offer you the opportunity to book in for a free mental health course; An Awareness of Mental Wellbeing in the Workplace. This will take place at a breakfast briefing from 9:00 – 10:00 at UK Construction Week exhibition at the NEC on 10 October, which is also World Mental Health Day. Breakfast will provided with a builders brew and you will receive your course certificate later in the morning.
The course is designed to provide an introduction to Mental Wellbeing in the Workplace. As well as explaining what is meant by the terms “Mental Health” and “Wellbeing”, the course aims to raise awareness of common mental health issues and provides suggestions of what to do if/when working life is affected by a manageable mental health condition, such as stress, anxiety, low mood and depression.
Register in advance to book your free course place by emailing yasminkauser@thefis.org
by Clair Mooney | 3 Sep, 2018 | Main News Feed
#iBuiltThis2018 is an image led campaign which aims to celebrate the skills and talent within the construction industry, and showcase projects people have built in relation to the built environment.
FIS chief executive Iain McIlwee said “The exclusive line-up on the judging panel consists of industry leaders, advocates and educators who are backing this campaign. The diversity the judging panel bring demonstrate how collaboration across the industry can help us to reach out to a wider audience and present construction as an attractive industry, full of opportunity and diversity of careers for young people and new entrants.
This year’s judging panel:
Amanda Clack – Executive Director, Head of Strategic Consulting at CBRE
Steve Coley – FIS immediate past president
Mark Farmer – industry advocate and Founding Director and CEO of Cast Consultancy
John Hughes – President of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS)
Carwyn Jones – the winner of the #iBuiltThis2017 – 19 years and over age category
Kathryn Lennon-Johnson – Founder and Director of Built Environment Skills in Schools (BESS)
Fred Mills – Co-Founder and Managing Director of The B1M channel
Wyn Prichard – Director of Construction Skills from the NPTC group of colleges in Wales
Brendan Williams – CEO of Building Heroes
The #iBuiltThis2018 campaign is designed to get young people, the construction industry and the public to participate and show how proud they are of their contribution to the UK built environment in a fun, exciting and light-hearted way. We would like to showcase construction as the exciting and diverse sector it is with its huge breadth of disciplines and career opportunities to help attract new entrants. The competition will run for three weeks, submission is open from 3 September and closes on 23 September. Winners will be announced at the #iBuiltThis2018 awards ceremony at UK Construction Week on 9 October by TV personality and architect George Clarke. The finalists will also have their images streamed at the exhibition. The prizes will be awarded in November 2018.
The competition will be judged on the best creative picture and best response to the question asked within each age category. The public vote will make up 50% of the overall scores. The remaining 50% of the scores will be ranked in order by the judging panel.
Nathan Garnett, Event Director of UK Construction Week said “We love hosting the #iBuiltThis2018 competition at UK Construction Week because it works so well with our ambition to engage the wider community in the sector and inspire people to build something, share their achievement and get young people imagining what they could do in the sector. It was fantastic to see the social media engagement last year and we expect that to increase this year as the competition has such widespread support”.
The support for this campaign has been phenomenal across the industry with an impressive list of partners and sponsors that keeps growing by the day.
Amanda Clack, Executive Director, Head of Strategic Consulting at CBRE said “I am passionate about attracting top talent into the built environment sector, which very much starts with the next generation. I was delighted to be part of the inaugural #iBuiltThis2017 campaign last year, and again this year, as I believe showcasing people taking pride in what they have built, through social media particularly, is a great way of attracting the next generation. I am really excited to see what people submit this year as part of this competition”.
This competition was designed for the industry by the industry to change perceptions and work collaboratively and in doing so, we would encourage everybody to enter the competition and showcase their skills www.thefis.org/skills-hub/i-built-this-2018/
by Clair Mooney | 31 Aug, 2018 | Main News Feed
The awards aim to promote and encourage high levels of craftsmanship in the fit out sector. All contracts entered are visited by two award judges; the architect or interior designer of the winning contracts will also receive an award. The Awards are open to any FIS member with contractual responsibility for the project. Contracts must have been completed between 1 November 2017 and 31 October 2018.
Winners are announced and presented at the FIS Awards Lunch at the Dorchester Hotel in June.
The winners of the 2018 Contractors Awards were announced at the Awards Lunch on Tuesday 5 June. Visit our Events page to read more and see the list of winners here.
by Clair Mooney | 31 Aug, 2018 | Main News Feed
Following the Grenfell fire tragedy, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) began investigating the fire door industry, specifically regarding composite doors. They identified a number of composite doors that failed to meet the 30-minute fire door requirement, outlined in Approved Document B. All doors identified have been withdrawn from the market. The MHCLG has written to building control bodies highlighting the need for fire doors to be tested from both sides, in both configurations (i.e both directions of opening), in order to comply with Approved Document B. To this end the MHCLG has produced Advice Note 16 stating that:
“Flat entrance fire doors should have test evidence demonstrating they meet the performance requirement in the Building Regulations guidance for fire resistance and smoke control from both sides.” Advice Note 16 can be found here.
However, the production of this advice has led to some confusion within the industry, leading to delay in delivery or return of deliveries as contractors are asking them to comply with this new testing regime. The MHCLG published Advice Note 17 on 28 August, updating its initial advice in Advice Note 16, clarifying that the advice given relates to composite doors only.
We are taking steps to clarify this note given systemic issues have so far been identified in the composite door industry only. This advice note, therefore, provides further detail to Building Control Bodies, test laboratories and suppliers of the particular importance of testing composite doors on both sides and confirms that this advice applies to composite doors only.”
Advice Note 17 can be found here.
by Clair Mooney | 2 Aug, 2018 | Main News Feed
Our flagship #iBuiltThis2018 campaign will be back by popular industry demand later this September. You have the summer holiday period to get your entries ready for when the submissions open on 3 September.
The competition is image led and run completely on social media for a period of three weeks. Entry will open on 3 September and the closing date is 23 September. WInners will be revealed at the #iBuiltThis2018 awards ceremony at the UK Construction Week Exhibition on 9 October 2018.
The format will stay the same as last year where the submission categories were divided into three age groups – 13 and under; 14 to 18; and 19 and over.
The winners of last year’s competition were announced by Channel 4 TV presenter George Clarke at UK Construction Week (UKCW) in October 2017:
- 13 and under: Kendrick Long – New three little pigs, a mix of gardening materials, chopsticks and Lego bricks. He won a family package to Legoland, and Brendan Williams, CEO of category sponsor Building Heroes collected the award on his behalf at UKCW
- 14-18: Emily Ash, representing Brooklands College, Surrey – wall and cavity synoptic testing. She won an iPhone 8, and Jenny Herdman from sponsor Home Builders Federation accepted the award
- 19 and over: Carwyn Jones – Dragon’s Eye cabin. He won an overnight stay at the iconic London St.Pancras hotel, plus a trip on the London Eye (Colin Teagle from sponsor Silver Trowel co-presented the award to Carwyn)
- Judges award for excellence: Frankie Bicker – Lime and fibrous plastering restoration at the Royal Academy of Arts. He won a GoPro camera, and Lydia Sharples from category sponsor Nevill Long collected the award.
Entrants must share a selfie of themselves with the image of the completed project they have built, or helped to build, using the hashtag #iBuiltThis2018 on the FIS social media platforms of Instagram and Twitter or alternatively they will be able to enter by visiting our website.
We expect the competition to be bigger and better than last year, we had phenomenal participation and support by industry with 22 partners, 8 sponsors, 11.7M social media reach and other channels, 34,000 engagement at UK Construction Week and 3,000 members of the public voted outside of the construction sector.
We have a great line-up of very high-profile judges for the competition along with some brilliant prizes. So get your entries ready now!
Detailed information will be available on our website in the coming weeks. www.thefis.org/skills-hub/i-built-this-2018/
by Clair Mooney | 2 Aug, 2018 | Main News Feed
FIS technical director Joe Cilia considers the key points from the review into Building Regulations and Fire Safety commissioned by government following the tragic fire at Grenfell Tower last year.
Independent Review of Building Regulations and Fire Safety and PPP
Since the fire at Grenfell Tower and the interim report, FIS has been working with its members to address the issues of providing clear digital evidence of compliance and competence through an initiative called Product Process People (PPP). This is a process to evidence compliance by saving copies of test reports, product delivery notes and site images to show correct installation. Together with copies of the operatives’ CSCS cards with relevant training recorded in the same file, this will provide current evidence of competency.
by Clair Mooney | 2 Aug, 2018 | CSCS, Drylining, Main News Feed
FIS has introduced two offers to help drylining operatives upgrade to the Blue Skilled Worker CSCS card, an essential replacement for the expired CRO cards which cannot be renewed.
20% discount
The first offer is a 20% discount off the full price of upgrading their current CRO card in the drylining trade to a Blue Skilled Worker CSCS card for £995 + VAT. The old CRO cards are expiring and will not be renewed which means operatives need to upgrade to a Blue Skilled Worker CSCS card in drylining. This will include registration, paperwork, onsite assessment and NVQ level 2 completion which will enable them to become qualified in drylining and invest in their future. The Blue Skilled Worker CSCS card is valid for five years.
Updgrade in two days for £300 + VAT
The second offer is a fast track route for experienced drylining finishers to upgrade from their current CRO card to a Blue Skilled Worker CSCS card in two days for £300 + VAT. Operatives only spend one day away from site to gain their qualification and get the Blue Skilled Worker CSCS card. This an opportunity for operatives to turn their experience into a qualification so they can work on site.
This is a part of the Fit-out Futures programme which aims to get a carded workforce, this a brilliant opportunity for FIS members to get their operatives upgraded to the Blue Skilled Workers CSCS card and get them qualified and on site.
For more information click here or email CSCScards@thefis.org
by Clair Mooney | 1 Aug, 2018 | Main News Feed
James Brokenshire (Secretary of State for Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government) provides an update on the work the Government is undertaking in response to the Grenfell tragedy and broader building safety work.
Grenfell Update:Written statement – HCWS890
by Clair Mooney | 30 Jul, 2018 | Main News Feed
FIS has published a statement regarding what constitutes performance compliancy in drywall systems.
Click here to read the statement – Ensuring system compliancy in drywall systems
