Save the date for our regional meeting in Scotland on 25 April. More details and information on how to book will be available soon.
Thanks to our Headline Sponsor
You are invited to join us at our specialist Industry Day for the home builders and high-rise residential sector on 30 May in Hemel Hempstead.
This event will look at the trends and prospects in the housebuilding and residential sector, the new compliance landscape and organisational competence and managing design responsibility. There will also be an opportunity to take a tour of the BSI testing facility.
10.00 Trends and prospects in the housebuilding residential sector
10.30 The Building Safety Act: What we now know and understand, pinch points, challenges and learning outcomes
11:30 Break
12.00 The Building Safety Act: Competence and the Golden Thread of information
12:45 Lunch
13.30 Tour of BSI testing facility
14:15 Innovation – showcasing new products in the sector
14.30 Improving quality in the sector
15.00 Managing a design responsibility matrix
15.45 Using FIS resources
16.00 Close
The day is contractor focussed and designed to give you tangible outcomes to help you to start the process (or check that you are on the right track). We hope you can join us.
Followed by networking and drinks
15:30 Welcome: Iain McIlwee, FIS Chief Executive
The FIS Product, Process and People Quality Framework – FIS Technical Director, Joe Cilia
An introduction to the Building Safety Act, the new expectations of Building Control and managing compliance including the Golden Thread and re-introducing the FIS PPP Quality Framework in the context of key technical issues FIS is encountering
Planning and Prospects in the Midlands Region: A Main Contractors view – Eleanor Deeley, MRICS Joint Managing Director, Deeley Group Ltd
An insight into the opportunities and challenges of working in the Midlands Region
Insurance and risk control in the finishes and interiors sector, Construction Shield
Insurance provider ConstructionShield talking about selecting the right level of cover and pitfalls to avoid.
Open Panel Q&A & Discussion Forum
A mental Health lived experience presentation – Liam Colebrook, Business Development Director, SIG
A discussion around Liam’s battle with mental Health from Plasterer to board room….
Followed by optional networking drinks
Joint Managing Director, Deeley Group
I’m Eleanor Deeley, Joint Managing Director at the Deeley Group, a construction, and development company based in Coventry, with projects across the Midlands. We deliver projects across all sectors from residential and care to industrial and mixed-use projects.
I have 20 years of experience in the property industry working in large corporates advising developers, landowners and institutions and now taking my own advice!
Business Development Director – Fixings, SIG
He has a passion for mental health and its impact on those affected with a specific interest in mental health within the construction industry. He is involved with a number of charities in this sector sharing his lived experience to raise awareness.
Comedian, best-selling author, R4 regular, speaker and advocate for human rights
Shaparak established herself as one of the UK’s finest comedians with her sell-out Edinburgh show, Asylum Speaker. Despite the basis for the show being her experiences as a child refugee fleeing Iran and terrorists attempting to murder her father, Shaparak’s sensitive yet witty exploration of these events created an instant comedy smash hit. It also led to the publication of her childhood memoirs, A Beginner’s Guide To Acting English, her best-selling literary debut, described by the Scotsman as ‘filled with laughter, wonder and compassion’. Shaparak went on to publish her first novel, Nina Is Not Ok, which was described by the Telegraph as ‘moving, funny and shocking’ and received tremendous acclaim from critics and readers alike. She is also the author of Scatter Brain published by Penguin in 2023 and described by Sara Pascoe as, “hilarious, unflinching, wise.”
Shaparak’s career has taken her to all corners of the globe. She has appeared on countless TV & Radio shows, including: Live at the Apollo, Michael McIntyre’s Comedy Roadshow, I’m a Celebrity: Get Me Out of Here, Mock The Week, 8 Out Of 10 Cats, MasterChef, Have I Got News For You, QI, Pointless Celebrities, Question Time and Just a Minute, as well as her own show, Shaparak Talk.
Our guest speaker is impressionist, actor and stand-up comedian Alistair McGowan.
CoTrain – Flexi-Job Apprenticeships allow you to train for short periods without the employment and training provider commitment
Mark Pope of Co-Train will present what Flexi Jobs Apprenticeships are and how they can provide support for host contractors, apprentices and showcase the benefits of using CoTrain
Key areas Mark will be covering are:
Programme Director, CoTrain
Mark completed an electrical apprenticeship in the early/mid 1980’s. He then went onto work in the Electronics industry for 15 years where many of the skills he learnt in construction were still relevant at home and abroad. He returned to the construction industry via CITB as an Apprenticeship Officer for 15 years until he decided CoTrain was an exciting project to help engage with new entrants into our industry. He is passionate about training the next generation correctly and expects everything he does or says should benefit the apprentice or the industry in some way. Collaboration is key as it only works if CoTrain can partner with good training providers and even better construction companies and their talented workforce. He firmly believes that only together can we make that real difference to individuals and the industry.
This one-hour webinar designed to help contractors and subcontractors improve their management of building contracts. A panel of experts from the CICV, and FIS CEO Iain McIlwee will give advice on a range of best practice, including tender qualifications, payment schedules, variations, retentions, contract amendments, fluctuations and conflict avoidance.
The session will also include a Q&A.
The webinar follows a CICV survey on cashflow and payments in the industry which can be downloaded here: bit.ly/CICV-paysurvey
The CICV also created a Best Practice Guide to address some of the issues raised in the survey, which can be dowloaded here: bit.ly/CICV-BPG
Event sponsor
You are invited to join us at our specialist Industry Day for the housebuilding and residential sector on 28 June in London.
This event will look at the trends and prospects in the housebuilding and residential sector, the new compliance landscape and managing quality and reducing re-work.
Market Overview and New Compliance Landscape
10.30 Trends and Prospects in the housebuilding residential sector – David O’Leary, Executive Director, Home Builders Federation
11.00 The Building Safety Act: The Changing Regulatory Landscape – Iain McIlwee, FIS Chief Executive
11:30 Break
11:45 Common issues in finishes and interiors and preparing for the Building Safety Act: Insights from an Inspector – Lewis Taylor, Technical Specialist Standards, Innovation and Research , NHBC
12:15 Managing Fire Safety in Drywall – Will Pitt, Technical Leader – MEICA Systems, Laing O’Rourke Europe, Paul McSoley, Technical Compliance Director, MAC
13:00 Lunch
Quality, Productivity and Safety
13.30 Managing Quality: Introducing changes to BS8000-8 – Joe Cilia, FIS Technical Director
14:00 Reducing re-work and improving productivity (interactive session) (competence, preconstruction and procurement)
15.00 Unravelling the Golden Thread and aligning to CDM – Russell Smith, Director for London, Project Four Safety Solutions Ltd
The day is contractor focussed and designed to give you tangible outcomes to help you to start the process (or check that you are on the right track). We hope you can join us.
NHBC
Lewis started his career in the construction industry over 20 years ago in building and environmental acoustics, before working for TRADA as a specialist in timber and timber construction systems. Lewis recently joined NHBC as technical specialist in the Standards, Innovation and Research team, and is responsible for reviewing and maintaining a number of Standards chapters including Chapter 9 – Finishes.
Laing O'Rourke
Will is currently Technical Leader at Laing O’Rourke with responsibly for specialist functions including the fire technical assurance team. He is also Chair of the Building Engineering Services Association (BESA) technical committee.
A Chartered Engineer and CIBSE Fellow, Will has approaching 30 years’ experience in engineering design, management, and construction.
His work in national technical roles coupled with his role as Chair of BESA technical committee has given him a deep understanding of many of the more complex and overlooked issues associated with building engineering. He has also contributed to several industry technical guides and publications and co-led various collaborative projects with organisations including BESA, BSRIA, FIS and ASFP.
Most recently, Will co-chaired the working group responsible for developing the best practice guide to passive fire stopping of service penetrations and is a founding member of the Passive Fire Knowledge Group (PFKG).
Project Four Safety Solutions
Russell Smith is a s Director at Project Four Safety. As a CDM Principal Designer, Russell works on a range of complex projects in supporting Architecture practice, Tier 1 contractors and developers with CDM compliance and project delivery, with an increasing focus on changes stemming from the Building Safety Act.
Prior to joining Project Four, Russell was Director of CDM for a multidiscipline consultancy delivering CDM services across the UK. Russell has delivered CDM services across a range of sectors, having delivered on some of London’s noteworthy projects across commercial office, super prime, and high-rise residential.
Mace
Paul is a chartered engineer and has worked within construction for over 25 years from an Apprentice, Specialist Systems Project Manager, MEP Project Leader, Technical MEP Leader, and a Design Leader for all disciplines on major projects and more recently in a technical compliance director role within a major UK construction business.
He has been an active participant within the industry linking together the fire compliance problems of walls, structure, dampers, fire rated duct work etc into a system approach. He has also been part of various technical committees for several years and has a drive and passion to support the wider industry through steering committees, technical leadership, and knowledge shares. He is an advocate of passing on his expertise and experience on matters such as public health, water systems, fire testing standards & systems compliance, energy & carbon, contracts, construction procurement & delivery, commissioning, handover and is always happy to help.
Futurebuild provides the stage for inspiring ideas, innovative solutions and knowledge sharing to drive sustainable construction and help us reach our goal of net zero.
Your free ticket will give you access to over 400 brands, never seen before innovations, the world-class conference programme and inspirational seminar content curated by over 90 industry partners.
Futurebuild is taking a stand for a better built environment and we want you to join us. By getting involved you will drive positive change for your industry, whilst connecting with like-minded people and the innovations that will propel the industry towards a more sustainable future.
On 9 March at 13:30, FIS Technical Director Joe Cilia will be delivering a session on the recently published Site Guidance for Drylining.
The new site guide aims to improve efficiency by up to 17% where additional waste is being generated each year on projects because of a lack of information at the start of a project. The guide will also help the delivery team to understand the process required at each stage to ensure compliancy which is the cornerstone of the building safety Act.
To attend this session, reserve your place here
We have event and award sponsorship opportunities available, placing your company name in front of more than 180 individuals from the sector.
This is Me – I am a Go Construct STEM Ambassador is a fantastic initiative created by STEMFirst, the STEM Ambassador Hub for Lancashire and Cumbria, and endorsed across the UK by STEM Learning.
Via a 1 hour virtual training session, STEMFirst take STEM Ambassadors through how to prepare a simple, impactful and memorable two slide presentation to showcase who they are as a STEM Ambassador. This resource is personal to YOU, and once prepared will save you time, help develop your confidence and ability to get active , and can be used again and again.
STEMFirst will take you through slide content, key components for a punchy two minute talk and how to talk about yourself in a simple, impactful way. We will show you how you can easily get STEM-active and showcase your own story. We will then illustrate how to ‘OFFER’ these talks via the STEM Ambassador website and highlight why this is such a step change to the way previous STEM Ambassador support has been requested by schools and youth organisations.
The session will also:
Reducing the waste generated by the fit out process from both the removal of products/components and the installation is one of the key challenges the construction sector has to address if we are to achieve net zero carbon targets and a reduction in waste. Fit-outs are often carried out under strict time pressures which frequently means that opportunities to reuse or recycle materials are not taken, and which can lead to a substantial increase in carbon footprint.
The LINK project, funded by Innovate UK, has the aim of dramatically reducing the amount of waste produced by fit-outs by using artificial intelligence and machine learning to rapidly identify materials and products for reuse, and connect those who wish to dispose of materials to those who wish to use them, keeping these materials in circulation, a key facet of the circular economy. It aims to develop a rapid listing mobile app, and engage with all parts of the supply chain to revolutionise reuse in fit-outs, and ultimately for construction as a whole.
This event is the first of a series of industry workshops for the project and seeks to engage with stakeholders from across the fit-out and interiors sector. We will explore some of the challenges and opportunities provided by digital technology and aim to identify the key drivers and critical success factors in developing technology which enables reuse to become the norm, rather than the exception. The event is open to designers, clients, manufacturers, contractors and all those involved with promoting and encouraging reuse, and those who simply want to find out more.
Registration is free and the programme details are below:
2pm Introduction and Welcome
Sustainability for Finishes and Interiors
Iain Mcilwee, CEO / Flavie Lowres, Sustainability Champion – Finishes and Interiors Sector (FIS)
Avoiding Waste in the Fit-Out Process
Dr Katherine Adams, Technical Director – Reusefully
Specifying Reused Products – the Vision
Rachel Hoolahan, Associate – Orms
Introduction to the LINK project – using AI to revolutionise reuse
Prof Hafiz Alaka, Director, Big Data Tech and Innovation Lab – University of Hertfordshire
Discussion Group 1
What are the key information needs to facilitate reuse in fit-outs?
Discussion Group 2
Who is going to drive this and how?
Summary Session and Discussion
Key points from the discussions
3.30pm – Close and Next Steps
Agenda
In partnership with Skills Development Network, this webinar will introduce the Education Landscape resources.
Delivered by the Strategic Development Network and funded by the Gatsby Charitable Foundation, the objective is to help SMEs better understand the education sector, and see how working with education partners can benefit their business. To do this a Guide and set of resources have been produced, along with an established network of business partners who use these across their work and support for SMEs.
Launched in June 2022, the resources were developed in partnership with the Confederation of British Industry, Federation of Small Businesses, Institute of Directors, Careers and Enterprise Company, and the British Chambers of Commerce.
This webinar will explain the resources which are free and readily available for FIS members.
The Building Safety Act imposes a legal requirement on Principal Designers, Principal Contractors and anyone carrying out any design or building work to be competent. It also places a duty on those who appoint companies and individuals to work on a project to take “reasonable steps” to ensure that the people they appoint meet this requirement.
A Competency Management Plan will be essential to evidencing that competency is being managed, you have the appropriate competency frameworks in place and can demonstrate this at the relevant Gateways so that Building Control can allow project(s) to proceed. Moving forwards companies are going to need to do more to monitor, manage and demonstrate both individual and organisational competence. Building Control will be empowered to ask for proof that the plan is being delivered at any stage in a project.
This webinar will introduce the content of this FIS Guide to Creating a Competency Management Plan and outline the many tools available to employers.
11:30 – Prior to the meeting there is an optional tour of the BE-ST Facility. If you wish to join us for the tour please indicate this when booking.
12:45 – Registration and refreshments
13:00 – Welcome
13:05 – FIS Introduction
13:15 – Performance and Prospects for the Scottish Construction Sector, Tom Hall, Chief Economist Barbour ABI
13:35 – CITB Update – Training development and support in Scotland
13:50 – Comfort break
14:00 – A new Compliance Landscape – Building Standards and Fire Safety – Stephen Garvin, Scottish Building Standards
14:30 – 15:30 Improving the Supply Chains Commercial and Contractual Management of Building Contracts and launching the FIS Scotland Contracts
Workshop hosted by Len Bunton, Bunton Consulting and Karyn Watt, Anderson Strathern
15:30 – 16:00 – Open discussion and close.
4.30pm Networking Drinks at Red Burn Farm
