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The National Federation of Roofing Contractors (NFRC) has announced the shortlist for this year’s UK Roofing Awards. Now entering its 12th year, the UK Roofing Awards continues to shine as the industry’s most prestigious ceremony, showcasing the very best projects from across the roofing industry in 14 discipline categories. Winners will be announced at a gala awards luncheon, ... more
More than 60,000 experienced construction workers will no longer be able to renew their skills cards under the “Grandfather Rights” system. The Construction Skills Certification Scheme (CSCS) has confirmed it will be phasing out the Grandfather Rights scheme from 2020 and abolishing it completely from 2024. Officially known as Industry Accreditation, the scheme allowed worke ... more
The National Federation of Builders (NFB) has warned that leaving the EU without a withdrawal agreement could potentially cripple the construction industry. It has suggested that leaving the EU without well-defined transitional arrangements will leave the construction industry worse off than the financial crisis of 2008, which saw the industry losing more than 250,000 skilled workers. Issues hig ... more
The Construction Plant-hire Association (CPA) has announced that this year’s CPA Conference will take place on Thursday 17th October 2019 at the Heart of England Conference and Events Centre in Fillongley near Coventry. The CPA Conference is a one-day event organised by the CPA, the leading trade association for the plant hire sector in the UK. Speakers at previous events have incl ... more
The Federation of Master Builders (FMB) has issued a statement suggesting that the Apprenticeship Levy is exacerbating the construction skills shortage and must be reformed urgently. This comes after the latest statistics published by the Department for Education showed that the number of new construction apprenticeship starts for January 2019 has fallen to 950 compared with 1,216 the prev ... more
A fifth member of a forgery gang responsible for making and supplying false identity documents including Construction Skills Certificate Scheme (CSCS) cards has been jailed for six years. Ukrainian national Oleksandr Sukhoviy, 39, was arrested in October 2018 following an investigation into what was dubbed an ‘industrial scale’ forgery factory in Stratford in East London. Following t ... more
An industry-led working group is developing a trailblazer apprenticeship at Level 2 for the occupation of Construction Plant Operative and is seeking feedback from employers. The working group has already developed the duties for the occupation, along with the outline of the requisite knowledge, skills and behaviours that form the basis for the training programme and assessment process. Ho ... more
The Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) has announced a boost in funding to help employers take on construction apprentices. From April, CITB’s attendance grants to employers will increase to £2,500 per year, while achievement grants will rise to £3,500 for companies whose apprentice successfully completes their training. This is an overall funding increase from ... more
Dubai played host to the crème-de-la-crème of the powered access industry last month, when almost 350 industry professionals gathered to honour the winners of this year’s International Awards for Powered Access (IAPAs). Jointly organised by Access International and IPAF, the IAPAs celebrate best practice and excellence in the powered access industry, and this was the fir ... more
This time six years ago, we were commissioned by Newcastle Citizen’s Advice Bureau for a very unusual task: dressing up the city centre’s Earl Grey monument in a 40ft scarf. The organisation wanted to dress Earl Grey up in the 40 ft. knitted scarf to help publicise their work providing free and confidential advice in the city. The scarf, in CAB’s brand colours of blue and y ... more
