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Nine leading construction bodies have joined together to call for united action between industry and government to address skills pinch-points such as the dearth of supervisors, operatives and quantity surveyors. The organisations – Association for Consultancy & Engineering, Build UK, Civil Engineering Contractors Association, Construction Plant-hire Association, Construction Prod ... more
Demand for builders means that homeowners must plan up to seven months ahead if they want a successful home improvement project, according to new research by the Federation of Master Builders (FMB). Existing research from the FMB revealed that consumers should expect to wait at least four months’ for a quality builder to be available. However, the FMB’s latest research reveals ... more
The Home Office has launched the public test phase of the EU settlement scheme, before its full launch on 29 March 2019. EU nationals who have the following can now start to use the EU settlement scheme to secure their residence rights: · An email address · A current EU passport · & ... more
Technologies including virtual reality (VR) and mobile elevating work platform (MEWP) simulators will soon be enhancing operator training, though not likely to replace practical testing in the foreseeable future, according to a comprehensive eXtended Reality (XR) strategy paper published by the International Powered Access Federation (IPAF). Last year, the trade body led an industry-wide ... more
Cherry pickers in Gloucester and Leeds have been no strangers to adventure in the past few weeks after two models were commandeered, once by criminals and once by the crime-fighters trying to apprehend a thief who had got himself into a tight spot. Gloucester Live reported that earlier this month a group of youths took a cherry picker for an illicit spin around Quedgeley Retail Park, an out-of-to ... more
Apprenticeship starts are falling because of the Apprenticeship Levy, which needs to be made more flexible, according to the Federation of Master Builders (FMB). The FMB’s reaction is in response to statistics published in December by the Department for Education, which show that there has been a 24% fall in apprenticeship starts for the 2017/18 academic year compared with figures fr ... more
The Construction Plant-hire Association (CPA) has announced that it will hold a number of open meetings to discuss the future of card schemes in 2019. This comes after delegates at a CPA-organised Training of Plant in Construction (TOPIC) event held in April 2018 discussed the interface of plant-based card schemes and construction sector employers. The driver for discussion was the announcement ... more
The CITB has announced its intention to sign an enabling partner agreement with SSCL (Shared Services Connected Ltd), which will see the company take over a number of key activities on behalf of the trade body. This new partnership comes as part of CITB’s Vision 2020 programme of reform to better meet the demands of the British construction industry. CITB will take on a more strateg ... more
The Strategic Forum Plant Safety Group (SFPSG), chaired by the Construction Plant-hire Association (CPA), has launched a refreshed version of the ‘Medical Fitness to Operate Construction Plant - Good Practice Guide’. The 52-page Good Practice Guide has primarily been revised to take into account the Data Protection Act 2018, which incorporates the European General Data Protecti ... more
The Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy select committee has published ‘Small businesses and productivity’, a report which identifies the huge damage that late payment is inflicting on small business. Rachel Reeves, chair of the committee, said: “Many SMEs are placed in a stranglehold by larger companies deliberately paying late and ruthlessly taking advantage of the ... more
