Third quarter highlights

by Clair Mooney | 18 Oct, 2023 | Main News Feed

The FIS team have been hard at work and achieved some brilliant results across our Technical, Business Development, Sustainability. Skills and Training, and Lobbying efforts. Here’s a short look back at Q3 of 2023

Key technical work

Reviewed raft of newly published secondary regulations and launched the FIS simple overview of theBuilding Safety Act and Wider Building Regulation Reform
Ran fire walls and penetrations webinar co-ordinated with the Passive Fire Knowledge Group
Ran promotional campaign on fire walls and fire labels to Tier 1 Contractors
Key technical guidance issued covering: Reporting non-confirming installations; Top 10 risks to avoid when procuring and installing fire resistant drylining and Plastering to floor level with applied skirting

Business support and guidance

FIS community strengthened by record number of applications
Launched new new risk management offering via a webinar

Lobbying and representation

FIS responds on behalf of its members to:
the Morrell and Day Report (recommendations to improve and strengthen the testing regime forconstruction products),
the Industry Training Board Review
the proposed changes to taxation of umbrella workers
the Government consultation on addressing carbon leakage risk to support decarbonisation.
the Procurement Bill
FIS declares support for the new Quality Charter in Scotland calling for better procurement andcontinues to support the Conflict Avoidance Coalition across the UK.
FIS CEO Iain McIlwee invited to join expert panel of the Home Builders Skills Partnership looking atsupply chain relationships.
FIS lobbying success on Late Payment with new measures on value, disputed invoices and retention tobe included in the Duty to Report

Skills and training

Collaboration with Skills Development Scotland, CITB and Scottish members on the review anddevelopment of existing apprenticeships in ceilings and partitions, providing a structure for any futurereview and development of apprenticeships and vocational qualifications.
FIS supported the launch of the new Rockfon Training facility.
Finalised the Drylining Competency Plan and started work on developing SKEB statements for all coretrades and supporting roles.
Collaboration with DWP to develop material which aims to upskill DWP staff and showcase theopportunities available in our sector.
Exploratory work with Prisons and DWP (Dept for Work and Pensions) in preparation for a pilot withBuild UK Open Doors programme in 2024.

Key Events

Scottish Awards Lunch – celebrating the scottish sector
Hosted working groups for steel framed systems and partitions
FIS Birmingham event featuring expert speakers from the Deeley Group, the world of Risk Managementand Insurance as well as a lived experience mental health presentation that silenced the room
Delivered webinars covering risk when selecting fire walls and penetrations, flexi-job apprenticeshipsand managing organisational risk

Sustainability

FIS published a new pre fit-out audit standard to support a common approach to managing strip-outto deliver optimum net zero results.
FIS Schools Research conducted with Class of Your Own fed into the City of London Skills for aSustainable Skyline Taskgroup work. FIS continues to support this ongoing project looking at theneed to upgrade offices across the City.

Download this document here

FIS launch guide to Digital Information Management

by Clair Mooney | 17 Oct, 2023 | Building Safety Act

FIS has today launched new guidance – Introduction to the Golden Thread and Digital Information Plans – to help businesses in the finishes and interiors sector get to grips with all the jargon and new regulations associated with the golden thread and digitalisation of construction.

A recent FIS Digitalisation Survey found that 60% of contractors and 44% of product manufacturers and suppliers do not understand what is needed to meet Digital/Golden Thread Requirements in the Building Regulations. In light of these findings, this new FIS guide has been designed to help product suppliers and contractors operating in the finishes and interiors sector cut through the complex terminology and begin to form their own digital plan of work. It draws on published information and principles set down in a myriad of technical and information standards and aligns this to the requirements set down in the Building Safety Act and wider reform of Construction Regulations.

The new guidance provides an overview of the Building Safety Act 2022, the golden thread of information and the new regulatory framework. There is an emphasis on Stage 4 (Technical Design) and Stage 5 (Construction Information) of the RIBA Plan of Work. The guide brings clarity to digitalisation, the new common data environment (CDE) responsibilities and explains how to manage product data and what is needed in order to create a digital information plan. It also explores BIM, digital twins and the role of artificial intelligence.

Commenting on the guide, Iain McIlwee, Chief Executive of the FIS said:

“At the heart of this document is the principle that no one company and no one solution will or should deliver the golden thread alone. It is inherently a collaborative process that should ensure essential information is shared effectively and understood thoroughly. This is the responsibility of all in the supply chain.”

We hope that this new FIS guidance brings clarity and provides an understanding of what is required for companies to form their own digital plan of work.”

You can download the Introduction to the Golden Thread and Digital Information Plans at https://www.thefis.org/knowledge-hub/digital-toolkit/

Scottish Government publishes Scottish Social Housing Tender Price Index quarterly report

by Clair Mooney | 16 Oct, 2023 | Main News Feed

The Scottish Government has published the Scottish Social Housing Tender Price Index (SSHTPI) quarterly report. The report measures the movement in construction costs of social housing in Scotland and is based on analysing the construction costs in accepted tenders for affordable housing. Having fallen over the previous two quarters, tender prices for social housing in Scotland in April to June 2023-24, as measured by the SSHTPI, rose 1.3% compared with the previous quarter and 6.9% compared with the same quarter in 2022-23. Underlying construction costs of labour, materials, and plant rose 0.7% quarter-on-quarter in the same period and by 2.8% compared with the same quarter a year earlier. The latest data for housing starts in Scotland are nearly 40% down on the same period a year earlier, when 647 social houses were started, and private sector starts were down 23%. Alongside the SSHTPI, a general description of the index has been published.

NHP Market Update

by Clair Mooney | 12 Oct, 2023 | Main News Feed

The New Hospital Programme is holding an Autumn Market Update on Thursday 9 November from 11:00am to 5:00pm in London and online.

The market briefing will be a chance for Industry to hear about Programme developments and its approach to delivery with further details to be shared around key strategic areas of the Hospital 2.0 standardised design approach, the Programme Digital Strategy, and the overarching Commercial approach.

You can register your interest here, with in‐person places limited to one per organisation.

Review of Shortage Occupations List

by Clair Mooney | 12 Oct, 2023 | Skills

The Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) has recommended to Government that just eight occupations across the whole economy should be on the Shortage Occupations List (SOL) going forward, including three in construction (bricklayers and masons; roofers, roof tilers and slaters; and construction and building trades not elsewhere classified).

The reason cited is:

“Whilst respondents provided evidence of shortage, there was insufficient evidence provided by stakeholders about measures that had been taken to try to attract more workers. The occupation is of clear public value but attempts to fill the shortages should be made by the industry with the tools available, such as efforts to increase direct employment, creating attractive terms and conditions and benefits packages, and using the existing SW route. Only if these attempts are made but do not solve shortages, should the SOL be considered as a next step.”

However, the MAC is calling on Government to confirm whether or not the Skilled Worker route should be expanded to include low‐wage RQF 3 occupations in order to determine the future of the SOL.

In what would be a significant change of policy, the MAC proposes that the SOL should be either abolished or heavily reformed if Government does not support such occupations being included, in order to meet the demand for labour whilst ensuring that low‐wage workers are protected. The CLC is currently considering its response to the MAC report.

Commenting on the recommendations FIS CEO stated:

“At this stage these are only recommendations and I hope that Government show a bit of pragmatism and leadership. The reality is that they have only just, in August!, added key trades like Dry Lining and Plastering to the Shortage List following consultation at the start of the year. We are moving in to farcical terriotory here, not much is going to have changed in six weeks!!

It is true that there are serious shortfalls in construction training, but they are not limited to construction. Apprenticeship targets have been missed then removed across the economy as employers are being stifled by educational policy that just isn’t fit for purpose – the fact Government have trousered £4.3 billion of unclaimed apprenticeship levy is testament to this.

This is compounded in construction by procurement practices that only encourage shortermism and don’t reward vital things like investment in training. It would be more helpful for MAC to focus on the shortages and needs and Government look inward to encourage reform in education and support for training or as construction picks up the rapant wage rate inflation in wake of cronic shortages will mean construction works and vital investment in the UK will be jeopardised.”

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Funding available for NVQ Levels 2 and 3

by Clair Mooney | 12 Oct, 2023 | Skills

FIS Training Provider member DMR has a suite of funding available for FIS members in Greater Manchester, Greater London and England.

Greater Manchester: Greater Manchester Combined Authority Funding
NVQ Level 2 & 3 in Drylining, Joinery, Fitted Interiors, Passive Fire Protection and more.
Greater London: Mayor of London Funding
NVQ Level 2 & 3 for Insulation and Retrofit Firms.
England: Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) Funding
Fully funded NVQ 2 & 3 in Insulation. Funding covers all Insulation and Retrofit trades and is available to eligible firms in England including those seeking PAS 2030 certification for ECO4 work.

For more information and the terms and conditions that apply to these funding options, please contact Marie Flinter on 07799 903103 or email marieflinter@thefis.org

Guidance for contractors carrying out a pre fit-out audit

by Clair Mooney | 12 Oct, 2023 | Sustainability

According to Defra, the construction industry is responsible for 68 million tonnes of construction and demolition wastes each year. While 92% of those wastes are recovered, that still leaves 5 million tonnes going to landfill. It is also understood that most of construction and demolition wastes are crushed and used in low value applications. Products installed in buildings, in particular, in fit out projects, are often taken out of buildings before the end of their useful life because, for example, a new tenants moves in. this generates large amount of unnecessary wastes.

As the pressure on the sector is growing to reduce its environmental impact, there is a need to identify products before the building is stripped out – this can be done through a visual audit which can identify type, quantities and locations of the products.

To support this, FIS has published a document, based on the CIWM pre-redevelopment audit protocol, to guide contractors through the best practice approach of carrying pre-fitout audit. The document explains who is best placed to do it, why it is important, when is best to do it and what the audit should contain.

Pre Fit Out Audit

The pre fit-out audit guide builds on the CIWM pre-redevelopment audit protocol to provide a specific best practice approach for the fit-out sector. This document should be used in conjunction with the table of platforms that have been identified to divert wastes from landfill/incineration. It was developed by the FIS sustainability leadership group.

Find out more

FIS launches contract review service

by Clair Mooney | 11 Oct, 2023 | Main News Feed

As part of our service offering, FIS provide a contract, QS and legal helpline service. Demand for this helpline has increased in recent months and concerns have been highlighted related to the level of risk (particularly around design and delay associated with the new regulatory environment) being passed through the supply chain. In response to this we have identified the need to introduce a new FIS Contract Review Service.

Unlike the helpline, which reacts to member enquiries once a problem has been identified, the contract review service provides pro-active support that will seek to identity onerous contract clauses before work starts, thus seeking to avoid contract issues further down the line.

The subsidised service will be staffed by a panel of four experts, and it will be the member’s choice as to which panel member they choose. The starting price will be £450 for an initial review and written summary and an additional £150 if a virtual meeting is required to go through the contract in more detail. Prices will be tiered around size of contract.

The panel will use the collective wisdom generated through this work to isolate trends, identify onerous clauses and update on the state of the contractual market for regular reporting purposes. They will offer guidance to FIS and its membership, through a series of advisory articles. This work builds on our ongoing commitment to support the RICS Conflict Avoidance Process (more details in our Legal and Contractual Toolkit) .

Speaking of the new service, FIS Chief Executive Iain McIlwee said:

“This new service has been developed in response to the procurement research we did earlier in the year that identified that specialist contractors often find themselves under significant pressure to sign amended forms of contracts in the absence of any legal advice. We have been monitoring this closely and continue to see unacceptable risk transfer through heavily amended standard form contracts. If anything, this practice seems to be getting worse and it is increasingly hard to understand how unwieldy schedules of amendments are sneaking risk through. This is being too readily accepted as normal behaviour, so much so that companies are at times not even reading the contacts. We have to ensure that businesses and individuals understand and manage the risks that they are signing up to.

This new contract review service is designed to bring a bit of structure to how we respond, ensuring our members have access to the best possible advice in their negotiation of and management of contract and at least understand and can mitigate any risks that they are contracted to. This forms part of our wider work in supporting the Conflict Avoidance Pledge. Conflict management starts before the contract is signed and sometimes we need to be ready with an informed and responsible “no”. Through this service we will be working with the reviewers to monitor contractual trends and ensure that we are responding effectively to them as a community.”

You can find out more about the Contract review service at the FIS Regional Meeting in Manchester on 28 November and via our dedicated webpage here

Publication of new fire safety guidance

by Clair Mooney | 10 Oct, 2023 | Building Safety Act

The Home Office have published two new pieces of fire safety guidance.

Fire Safety Order: enforcement and sanctions for non-compliance

The guide explains how the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (as amended) (FSO) is enforced and advises of the sanctions that are available to Enforcing Authorities if you fail to comply with this legislation.

More information can be found here.

A guide for persons with duties under fire safety legislation

This guidance will help you to find out whether you are a Responsible Person or Duty Holder under the FSO and what responsibilities you have for fire safety. More information about this can be found here.