Page 57 – FIS

CPI Inflation and Core CPI Inflation for January 2023 have shown moderate increases

by Oscar Venus | 16 Feb, 2024 | Market data

The CPA’s weekly Economic and Construction Update provides an insightful summary of the latest economic and construction trends in the UK.

The CPA’s weekly Economic and Construction Update offers a comprehensive overview of the current economic and construction trends in the UK, including key indicators like CPI inflation, core CPI inflation, UK construction average weekly earnings, UK construction insolvencies, UK house price index, and the UK residential market survey. This resource is valuable for individuals keen on the UK construction sector, with a user-friendly contents page for easy navigation to specific sections of interest.

In the latest report, it is evident that CPI Inflation and Core CPI Inflation for January 2023 have shown moderate increases, reflecting the current economic climate. The ONS Construction Output data for December 2023 indicates steady growth in the sector, with promising signs for future developments. Additionally, the ONS Construction New Orders for Q4 of 2023 demonstrate a positive outlook for upcoming projects within the construction industry.

Moreover, the ONS UK Construction Employment figures for the same period reveal stable employment rates, highlighting the industry’s resilience and ability to provide job opportunities. On another note, the Insolvency Service UK Construction Insolvencies data for December 2023 shows a decrease in insolvencies, indicating a more robust financial landscape for construction companies.

Lastly, the ONS UK House Price Index for December 2023 presents an overview of the housing market, showcasing trends and fluctuations in property prices. Overall, the comprehensive update provides valuable insights into various aspects of the construction and housing sectors, offering a glimpse into the current state of the UK economy.

Understanding the barriers and challenges when recruiting

by Clair Mooney | 16 Feb, 2024 | Skills

The FIS Skills Team are working on setting direction to support the skills strategy for the year. To help suport this, we want to understand the barriers and challenges members have with recruiting.

Your support in completing the Skills Pulse Survey will help ensure FIS provides the right support.

We would like to understand:

What the challenges are with training
What is being done to recruit and engage with potential apprentices/trainees and how can we share best practice wider
Is there sufficient provision for training?

This data will help FIS to build evidence and focus our priorities to ensure we are responding to the needs of our members and the wider sector.

The survey can be completed here and the closing date for responses is Friday 9 February.

BABR partnering with FIS as cash flow solutions partner for members

by Oscar Venus | 16 Feb, 2024 | Main News Feed

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

FIS throws its weight behind SkillBuild 2024

by Oscar Venus | 9 Feb, 2024 | Drylining, Main News Feed

SkillBuild, delivered by CITB, is the largest multi-trade skills competition in the UK for construction trainees and apprentices.

Registration for regional heats is now open. Categories include Plastering and Drylining (previously Plastering and Drywall).

FIS will be attending and is encouraging members to get behind the regional heats to support the competition and use these opportunities to engage with local schools and colleges. Our aim is to ensure key interior trades such as Drylining, Plastering and Carpentry and Joinery have a strong presence in the competition and we use the opportunity that SkillBuild provides to promote the sector.

Having attended the 2023 SkillBuild finals, the excitement and motivation in the room of all the participants was inspiring.

The SkillBuild competition offers an opportunity for talented apprentices and learners of all ages to compete regionally against one another in various trade categories.

SkillBuild offers many benefits for employers and training providers, such as:

Showcase the quality of your training programmes through success in competitions
Highlight your organisations commitment to raising standards in work-based learning.
Boost your long-term business performance

More information on the competition including locations can be found here: SkillBuild | Go Construct

If you’re interested in coming to SkillBuild, or for any other Skills and Training queries, please get in touch with our Skills Team – Beena beenanana@thefis.org or Marie marieflinter@thefis.org

National Apprenticeship Week 2024

by Oscar Venus | 9 Feb, 2024 | Skills

It’s the last day of National Apprenticeship Week 2024 where the focus has been ‘Skills for Life’. Apprenticeships are designed by employers to help apprentices gain the skills and knowledge needed in the workplace. Apprenticeships can support your business to grow talent and develop a skilled workforce.

FIS members have been actively demonstrating their support and dedication this week by investing in training the next generation through apprenticeship programs. Here are some highlights:

CG Reynolds established a specialised Trade Academy last year and brought in Trainee Fixers, leading to notable successes for both the company and the apprentices.
Alby Gumble and Aaron McElligott, Assistant Site Managers at Pexhurst Services Limited, and Tom Kasoulis, Assistant Contracts/Commercial Manager, shared their positive experiences with the apprenticeship scheme and discussed their future career goals.
British Gypsum proudly supports over 1,200 apprentices across 51 Thistle Partnership Colleges in the UK. They spoke with plastering apprentice Ryan to learn more about his motivation for joining the apprenticeship program.
Errigal featured apprentice Nicole, who aspires to become a project manager, and highlighted the valuable support she has received.
Domino Commercial Interiors hosted an open event to engage with the community and showcase their diverse range of services.

Offering an apprenticeship can:

introduce fresh talent and ideas to your business by recruiting new staff and upskilling existing members
align training to your business needs
boost staff loyalty and motivation

Apprenticeships available for Finishes and Interiors are:

Level 2 Interior Systems Installer – pathways are:
- Ceilings and Partitions
- Drylining

This apprenticeship includes learning about Installing, repairing and maintaining various elements of the internal structure of a building.

In addition, the government will fund up to a maximum amount of £14,000 for this apprenticeship training.

Level 2 Plastering

Plastering includes preparing walls and ceilings for decoration and finishing.

In addition to supporting NAW 2024 and following the theme of ‘Skills for Life’, FIS have produced and launched a competency framework to demonstrate routes to baseline installer competence for Drylining. The framework can be found here: Competence Framework for Dry Liners – FIS (thefis.org)

This framework aims to support members to identify Drylining routes to competence and SKEB Statements, which will help to understand what training, qualification and competence does and should look like for this area, and help identify potential training gaps and how they can be addressed.

DBT seeks input from SMEs to develop regulation data platform

by Oscar Venus | 9 Feb, 2024 | Main News Feed

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.

2024 Embodied Carbon Data for Timber Products

by Oscar Venus | 9 Feb, 2024 | Main News Feed

TDUK has recently completed a project on Embodied Carbon Data for Timber Products, the paper is now available on the TDUK website under “2024 Embodied Carbon Data for Timber Products: Timber Development UK.” To access the document, you will need to log in to the TDUK website. If you don’t have an account yet, you can easily create one as either a member or non-member to download the paper.

FIS Sustainability champion, Flavie Lores had this to say:

As the need to design and build more net zero carbon buildings increases, there is growing pressure for the manufacturers to provide better quality data on the carbon footprint of their products through EPD. However, having access to generic data is useful to better understand the impact of various products in the early stages of design . I am very pleased to see the work that TDUK has carried out to review over 80 EPD to provide A1-A4 data for 10 timber products, thereby providing a great pool of data to enable better embodied carbon calculations.

This comprehensive paper, which has been in the works for several months, presents the weighted average A1-A3 embodied carbon data for various timber products used in the UK, including UK-specific A4 transport data. It’s recommended that using this data for all Whole Life Cycle assessments in the UK. The paper outlines the methodology used, data confidence levels, and includes a PDF dataset with links to EPDs, product densities, and a verification report by Jane Anderson at Construction LCA, confirming compliance with CEN/TR 15941:2010 standards. All these documents are accessible for download on the TDUK website.

This resource will be invaluable for future discussions on WLC assessments within Ska. Please helped spread the word by sharing this paper within your networks, as it reveals significant differences compared to the ICE database, especially for softwood, CLT, Glulam, OSB, and MDF. The paper is open to all interested parties, but they must create a free account on the TDUK website to access and download the data.

CITB increase grants to support end of CSCS Grandfather Rights

by Oscar Venus | 9 Feb, 2024 | Main News Feed

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

FIS Wage Rate Survey points to ongoing inflation and contractual pressures

by Iain McIlwee | 7 Feb, 2024 | Market data, Material Shortages

The FIS Wage Rate Survey H2 2023 conducted in January 2024 revealed that, across the trades, FIS members have continued to experience wage rate increases averaging around 4% in key trade occupations (the full index is available to contributors only.

The survey also explored some of the concerns that are currently being experienced related to risk dumping through the supply chain.

Commenting on the data FIS CEO Iain McIlwee stated:

“The numbers clearly shows that the supply chain continues to be hit by inflationary pressures. Some of the contractual issues are also a worry, close to 60% of our specialist members are being asked to sign unfair contracts. Encouragingly there is evidence here that the Responsible No is being exercised, but the numbers are still out of balance. There is also evidence that design, programme and compliance risk are increased with over 70% stating that they routinely being asked to take more risk in terms of Design and close to 90% stating the same for programme. These numbers are not surprising, but they are concerning, especially against the backdrop of rising cost and more limited insurance cover available“.

In 2024 FIS launched the Responsible No Campaign to help bring attention to the pressures that specialists are under and the indiscriminate risk dumping that is evident in parts of the supply chain.

IF you wish to participate in future wage rate surveys, please contact the FIS on info@thefis.org and we will make sure you recieve appropriate updates.