by Oscar Venus | 21 Mar, 2024 | Market data
Monthly Construction Update for January
- Construction output is projected to have declined by 0.9% in the three months leading up to January 2024, primarily due to a drop in new work by 4.5%, while repair and maintenance saw an increase of 4.0%.
- The decline in the three-month period was driven by reductions in infrastructure new work and private housing new work, which decreased by 9.3% and 5.2% respectively. Conversely, non-housing repair and maintenance, and private housing repair and maintenance saw positive growth of 3.2% and 3.3%.
- January 2024 witnessed a 1.1% rise in monthly construction output in volume terms, following three consecutive monthly declines, with a recorded value of £15,422 million for January 2024.
- The monthly output increase stemmed from growth in both new work (1.1%) and repair and maintenance (1.2%).
- Across sectors, six out of nine sectors experienced an upturn in January 2024. The primary contributors to this monthly rise were private new housing and non-housing repair and maintenance, showing increases of 2.6% and 1.9% respectively.
Read the full report here.
Download the ONS Construction update here.
by Oscar Venus | 21 Mar, 2024 | Market data, Material Shortages
Delivered as part of the Government’s Transforming Construction programme, the Product Platform Rulebook is a shining example of what can be achieved when government and industry come together to drive change. The Rulebook remains one of the Construction Innovation Hub’s most influential outputs and forms a key enabler for the Infrastructure and Projects Authority’s (IPA) Transforming Infrastructure Performance (TIP) agenda. Given such potential, it is critical that government and industry find ways to continue this impact now that the Hub’s initial funded period has now concluded.
In this spirit, we are delighted to announce that the Construction Leadership Council will be taking over the reins of the Product Platform Rulebook in 2024 thanks to our new Industrialised Construction workstream. This work will see the Rulebook revised and re-released in the form of a new ‘Platform Playbook’, setting out a clear path to the adoption of platform approaches for social infrastructure delivery. The group is chaired by Ron Lang, former Chief Technical Officer of the Hub and now Regional Director at AtkinsRéalis.
“The Product Platform Rulebook and the concepts it contains present a logical path to a more industrialised, more productive construction sector. But this work is far from complete, and we continue to learn through our collective experiences of applying these concepts in practice. I am delighted to have the opportunity to lead the next step in its development through the CLC and thank my industry peers for continuing to commit their time and expertise for the collective benefit of our sector.”
The decision to pass the Rulebook over to the CLC for update has been warmly welcomed by leading figures within the former Construction Innovation Hub. The Hub’s Programme Director, Keith Waller, believes the Rulebook still has a powerful role to play going forwards:
“Yet another of the Hub’s output has found a new home to drive forward its legacy. Given that our analysis identified that the adoption of platform approaches in construction could unlock long term productivity gains of up to £7.8bn per annum, I am delighted the CLC will now be using its convening power to ensure these benefits can be achieved.”
Steven Yeomans, former Hub programme lead and now Chief Engineer for Construction at the Manufacturing Technology Centre believes the planned update shows what can be achieved through continuing collaboration:
“As the former lead partner of the Hub, we’ll continue to support this ongoing, transformative work through our participation in the CLC’s Industrialised Construction workstream. In doing so, we can enable the construction sector to address performance and productivity challenges.”
The new Platform playbook is expected to be published for comment in November with a series of supporting activities being planned for 2024. For more information, please contact ron.lang@atkinsrealis.com
by Oscar Venus | 21 Mar, 2024 | Employment
The Construction Industry Joint Council (CIJC) has released an updated Promulgation Notice to account for the rises in the National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage starting from April 1st. The General Operative rate will be raised to £11.44 per hour, and the Apprentice rate for 19 to 20-year-olds will be increased to £8.60 per hour.
by Oscar Venus | 21 Mar, 2024 | Building Safety Act, Health and Safety
HSE Director of Building Safety, Philip White, has officially announced in a public letter to the industry an extension to the deadline for experienced Building Inspectors in England to finish their competence assessment. Qualified Building Inspectors must meet the following criteria and will now have until July 6 to complete their assessment:
- Current Building Inspectors
- Register as a Class 1 Registered Building Inspector (RBI) by April 6
- Undergoing competency assessment by an approved scheme by April 6
- Not informed by an approved scheme of failing the competency assessment twice
Building Inspectors meeting these conditions can continue their building control duties for the RBI class they are assessed for until July 6, by which they must upgrade their registration to Class 2, 3, or 4. The transitional arrangements are now part of the Code of Conduct for RBIs, and as of March 14, 3,261 Building Inspectors had applied for registration.
The Welsh Government has stated that Building Inspectors in Wales must register by April 6 and now have until September 30 to complete their registration.
by Oscar Venus | 15 Mar, 2024 | Skills
Attention FIS Members in Greater Manchester,
Are you interested in NVQ L2 training for your employees or LOSC? DMR, an FIS Approved Training Provider, offers fully funded courses.
- Candidates must be over 19 years old with 2 to 3 years of experience in the relevant trade for the NVQ they choose.
- Candidates must have a Greater Manchester residential postcode.
This qualification will help your employees obtain their Blue Skilled Worker CSCS Card. Keep in mind that grandfather rights will end by the close of 2024.
The Construction Leadership Council is implementing Industry Accreditation changes by 31 December 2024 to ensure a competent and correctly carded workforce.
by Oscar Venus | 15 Mar, 2024 | Fairness, Inclusivity and Respect (FIR), Skills
The ‘Fit-Out Futures’ group is a new network being launched by FIS to encourage and empower change by capturing and enhancing the thoughts, ideas and energy of the rising stars and those from diverse backgrounds within the sector. The Group will operate as a dynamic network that connects those from diverse backgrounds and younger people working in the community to share experience and add their insight into the work of FIS.
The group will be a platform for action; looking to harness ideas to help us evolve and ensure that we project a sector that is modern, responsive, inclusive and attractive to work in. Ultimately the programme will be determined by the group, but initially FIS Team will organise a number of meetings and events (physical and online) throughout the year. Anyone wishing to be part of the Fit-Out Futures network should contact Greg Greves via email greg@thefis.org or call 0121 707 0077.
How the network will work:
How will we get things going
To kick things off we will host an initial round table meeting, drawing together key individuals from across the supply chain. The aim of this meeting will be to introduce the concept of the Working Group and give those joining an opportunity to raise your ideas for shaping the future with like-minded people intent on making a difference.
Group Objectives:
- Create a network that connect those from diverse backgrounds and help individuals improve their networks
- To help promote and amplify positive initiatives and get the weight of FIS behind them
- Ensure all voices in our community are heard and FIS activity reflects their needs
- To be custodians of the FIS Respect Policy and ensure FIS events are designed to support all in the community
- Tap into new perspectives to confront challenges and drive change
- Harness ideas to support sector recruitment, school and college engagement etc
by Oscar Venus | 15 Mar, 2024 | Contractual and Legal
Director of Building Safety for HSE, Philip White, has today written to the Building Control industry outlining new transitional arrangements for the registration of building control inspectors in England.
The Building Safety Regulator has listened to the concerns raised by the profession, including the potential impact on the construction industry if there are not enough inspectors registered to practice by the legal deadline.
It is crucial these concerns are balanced with the requirement for BSR to implement the Building Safety Act, 2022 and the need to raise standards in the profession; it is also important to remember that these changes were introduced in the wake of the Grenfell Tower tragedy.
A competence assessment extension period of 13 weeks will be introduced from 6 April to 6 July 2024 to enable those who meet specific criteria to continue to operate. This is not an opportunity to delay completing registration as an RBI and there will be no extension to these arrangements.
BSR has seen a positive response to the changes among the profession and it is encouraging to see a large number of people already engaging with the process. As of today (14 March) 3,261 professionals have started their applications to register.
In line with BSR’s enforcement policy statement and the principles of proportionate regulation, BSR will target its regulatory activity at those who present the greatest risk, particularly those who are not engaging with the new regulatory regime.
Open letter to Building Control professionals – March 24
Letter from the Director of Building Safety to industry:
Dear colleague,
As you will be aware, a number of concerns have been expressed by the building control profession about whether enough building control professionals will be registered as RBIs by 6 April.
I understand those concerns and have been working with colleagues in BSR and across government to consider what we can do to support the profession. To that end, the decision has been taken to implement a competence assessment extension period for those meeting set criteria.
Professionals who are not registered by 6 April will not benefit from the extension period and will not be able to continue to work on regulated building control activities.
Experienced building control professionals who are not trainees but have not yet completed a competence assessment will have the scope of their registration temporarily extended provided they meet the following criteria:
Temporary Class 1 Registration Extension Criteria:
- They are an existing building control professional;
- They are registered as a Class 1 RBI by 6 April 2024;
- They are enrolled in, and in the process of having their competency assessed through, one of the BSR approved competency assessment schemes by 6 April 2024. These are: cbuilde.com, www.thebscf.org, www.ttd-education.org; and
- A scheme provider has not told them that they have not passed their competency assessment for a second time
Those who meet the above criteria will be allowed a period of 13 weeks from 6 April 2024 to 6 July 2024 to complete their competency assessment and upgrade their registration to Class 2 or 3 (and 4, if applicable).
During this period, the scope of their registration will be temporarily extended, and they can continue to undertake building control work for the class of RBI for which they are undertaking a competency assessment.
Those who meet the criteria but do not successfully complete a competency assessment and upgrade their registration class by 6 July will not be able to continue to undertake regulated building control activities.
More detail on the transitional arrangements can be found here: https://www.hse.gov.uk/building-safety/building-control/codes-standards.htm
This must not be seen as an opportunity to delay – there will be no extension to these arrangements. From 6 July 2024 any professionals who have not completed a competency assessment and upgraded their registration class will only be able to undertake work under supervision.
We expect employers to support staff going through the assessment process by ensuring they have time to complete the assessment process and providing assistance and support to help them to succeed.
I encourage everyone who has not yet done so to register with BSR and enrol with one of the competency assessment schemes as soon as possible.
Philip White
Director of Building Safety, HSE
by Oscar Venus | 15 Mar, 2024 | Main News Feed
FIS has partnered with Barbour ABI to extend its reach, educate and take our content directly to specifiers and building designers. This also enables members to extend their presence on Barbour ABI through the FIS Specialist Interiors Hub and access discounts on core services available from Barbour ABI. FIS regularly shares content from its online platform SpecFinish which is added to the Specialist Interiors Hub.
by Clair Mooney | 14 Mar, 2024 | Market data
It was a weak end to 2023 and a subdued start to 2024 for firms operating throughout the construction supply chain, according to the CPA Q4 2023 Trade Survey.
Trade surveys for the fourth quarter of 2023 indicated that it was the worst quarterly performance since the first half of 2020, when activity was disrupted by lockdowns at the height of the pandemic, with declines in workloads for chartered surveyors and SME building contractors, and falls in sales for both heavy and light side product manufacturers.
There are still some areas of growth, however, and workloads growth reported by civil engineering contractors confirms that infrastructure continued to provide activity, a pocket of growth also identified by chartered surveyors, alongside public non-housing. Outside of these sectors, however, the constituent surveys point to little near-term pickup in the first half of 2024.
Falls in new enquiries were reported across SME contractors’ main sectors of focus of house building, commercial/industrial and RM&I, which mirrors the official ONS data on construction output, which has shown a notable decline since the second half of last year, and new orders, which have declined since the end of 2022. For product manufacturers, sales are expected to fall in 2024, whilst for chartered surveyors expectations of growing workloads were again restricted to infrastructure and public non-housing.
A stark downshift in the housing market, reluctance among homeowners to commit to large improvements spending and lower volumes of large commercial and industrial projects in the pipeline mean that demand is increasingly being flagged as a primary constraint or concern for activity over the coming 12 months, particularly when this combines with flatlining economic growth, a step-change to higher interest rates and financing costs, and continued uncertainty over input inflation as the Red Sea transport diversions continue.
