Building News is an information portal for all professional building specifiers. Here you can find all of the latest construction news from around the UK and the rest of the world.

Labour to make climate change core part of school curriculum

Labour is announcing that climate change will be a core part of the curriculum from primary school onwards. The announcement comes on the same day that the UK Climate Strike Network hosts more school strikes across the country.

Under plans set out by Shadow Education Secretary Angela Rayner, the next Labour government will ensure all young people are educated about the ecological and social impact of climate change.

A review of the curriculum will also make certain that it focuses on the knowledge and skills that young people need in a world that will be increasingly shaped by climate change, particularly in renewable energy and green technology jobs.

Climate change adaptation and mitigation will drastically increase future demand for the knowledge and skills required for the green jobs of the future, with these skills severely underrepresented in the current curriculum.

As part of the review, an expert panel will consider how climate change and its impact are taught from primary school onwards.

One of the key demands of the climate school strikes is that the national curriculum is reformed to address the ecological crisis as an educational priority. Currently, teaching climate change is restricted to Chemistry and Geography in Key Stages 3 and 4.

Under the Conservatives, the curriculum has narrowed, with Michael Gove scrapping the last Labour government’s plans to start teaching children about the environment and climate change when they are in primary school.

Angela Rayner MP, Shadow Education Secretary, said “Today, young people are taking to the streets to send a  clear message to the government that climate change will be a fundamental and defining feature of their adult lives, and we must take the action needed to tackle it.

“We need to equip people with the knowledge to understand the enormous changes we face, and skills to work with the new green technologies that we must develop to deal with them.

“That must be part of a broad education and that prepares pupils for adult life. Climate change should be a core part of the school curriculum, and under a Labour government it will be.

“As well as teaching young people about the impact of climate change, their education must prepare them for the jobs of the future. As part of Labour’s Green Industrial Revolution to create 400,000 skilled jobs across the country, young people will be taught the skills they need.”

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Industry urges government to tackle concerns over poor-quality housing

The Town and Country Planning Association (TCPA) is calling for a new, ground-breaking piece of legislation to transform the quality of new homes in England.

The proposals would force ministers to make sure that all new housing meets ten quality, safety and placemaking ‘principles’, attributes the organisation claims collectively constitute a ‘decent’ home.

Principles put forward in the organisation’s draft ‘Healthy Homes Bill’ include a requirement that new housing is built to be safe from the risk of fire, includes adequate living space and is located within a short walk of children’s play spaces.

The call for this new legislation is a response to research the TCPA undertook with University College London (UCL), which in one case study found that, using permitted development rights, a developer had increased the number of flats in a building by 33% upon what was declared within their ‘prior approval’ application, potentially leading to overcrowding and preventing the local authority from planning to meet the needs of residents. In another example, researchers discovered a two-bed flat, again built using permitted development, having only one small window.

This announcement coincides with the centenary of the Housing and Town Planning Act 1919, a key piece of legislation which helped transform the quality and delivery of council housing, giving ordinary people a decent home.

Fiona Howie, chief executive of the TCPA, said “There is a need for more homes but it is essential that they are of a high quality. Too often that is not the case. The very worst examples we have seen have come through the deregulated conversion of old office blocks and storage facilities into housing units. The creation of these cramped and substandard housing units is even more scandalous given what we know about the impact of housing conditions on people’s health and well-being. Poor quality, badly designed housing damages people’s life chances.

“In the rush to build more homes quality and safety is being overlooked. Surely everyone should agree that is unacceptable? We have gone backwards over the last 100 years. The Healthy Homes Act will help make sure that new homes built today leave a positive legacy. We know there is cross party political support for new homes and we hope there will be cross party support for this vital piece of new legislation to help transform the kinds of homes and places we are creating now and for future generations.”

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Marley’s bespoke training supports tomorrow’s roofing generation

Marley has teamed up with Leeds College of Building to help support the next generation of roofers.

A unique one-day training course created and delivered by Marley provided an opportunity for 16 second and third year roofing apprentices to gain first-hand experience on how to compile accurate roofing estimates.

The course built upon existing construction skills developed by the students, and exposed them to the next level of training to enable them to complete a fully-fledged roof estimate.

David Cassell, Training Manager at Marley, delivered the course content. He comments: “As the construction industry continues to face an ongoing shortage of skills, including roofers, it is vital that we support the next generation coming into the sector, and providing training in areas such as roof estimating is a prime example of how we can help them build strong foundations for a career in construction.”

The training was based upon working through Marley’s comprehensive roof system, which includes tiles, underlays, battens, fixings, ventilation and dry fix solutions – all of which are tried and tested to work together seamlessly while also meeting current British Standards.

The course also covered roof constants so that the apprentices could calculate rafter, hip and valley lengths that couldn’t be measured. In addition, expert guidance was provided to students on best practice when examining roofs in plan view, using final project drawings.

With final measurements in place, by the end of the course the students were able to complete a final roof estimate using components from the Marley roof system.

David Cassell concludes: “There are many advantages to working with a complete roof system from a single manufacturer, which can ultimately help to make contractors lives easier. It enables quicker installation as the products are designed to work together, and contractors can be assured that all the components satisfy the required standards such as BS 5534 for slating and tiling.

“A complete roof system is also an ideal foundation from which accurate roof estimates can be created. I am confident that the roofing apprentices at Leeds College of Building will have gained a lot by attending this bespoke course, and going forward can utilise the knowledge they have gained for the benefit of their future careers.”

www.marley.co.uk
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Euroclad Group is delighted to announce their new Managing Director

Euroclad Group is delighted to announce the appointment of Aiveen Kearney as Managing Director. Aiveen will replace Simon Thomas who has elected to leave the company after 30 plus years.

Paul O’Gorman commented ‘On behalf of the Kingspan Group, I want to thank Simon for his considerable input and leadership into the business during the past 30 plus years and, in particular, since the acquisition by the Kingspan Group some 3 years ago. In addition, I want to wish Simon every success in his future career path over the coming years’

Aiveen will commence her role as Managing Director effective from 7th May, 2019. She joined the Joris Division some 15 months ago, prior to this worked in a range of senior roles for Holcim, a global building materials and aggregates company, in both Australia and USA.

We would like to wish Aiveen every success in her new role.

For further information please contact:
Euroclad Group
+44 (0) 2920 776677
feedback@eurocladgroup.com
www.eurocladgroup.com
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Boost economy now by cutting VAT on home improvements, experts urge

Industry experts The Federation of Master Builders (FMB) are calling for the Government to cut the VAT on home improvement work following official data from the ONS. The information shows that whilst there a rise in output has been observed over the first quarter of 2019, construction output actually decreased month-on-month by 1.9% and the repair and maintenance series fell to its lowest level since December 2018, experiencing a fall of 3.1% compared to the previous month.

Speaking about this, Brian Berry, Chief Executive of the Federation of Master Builders, said “It’s not at all surprising that construction output has dropped at the end of the first quarter of this year, given the unprecedented political uncertainty we’ve been facing. To get us through these turbulent times, the Government must be bold in its thinking when it comes to supporting the economy bucking any downward turn. One course of action would be to cut VAT on work in the home improvement and private domestic sectors from 20% to 5%”

“A cut in VAT would help stimulate demand from homeowners resulting in more work for the thousands of small to medium-sized construction companies which would help support local economies and increase training opportunities. This is all the more important given that the FMB’s own State of Trade Survey for Q1 2019 saw the first dip in workloads for small builders in six years.”

“Cutting VAT would also be an important step to help encourage more retrofits of our existing buildings to make them more energy efficient and deliver a cut in carbon emissions.”

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Boost for housing market as Japan’s biggest housebuilder moves into UK

Japan’s biggest housebuilder will move into the UK housing market with immediate effect after striking a multi-million pound deal that will see it work with Homes England and Urban Splash to deliver thousands of new homes across England.

Sekisui House, one of the world’s leading housebuilders, are pioneers of modern methods of construction, where homes are built in factories and then shipped out to sites.

The £90m deal, which has been facilitated by lead real estate and financial advisor JLL, comprises a total new investment of £55m into regeneration company Urban Splash’s ‘House’ development business. It provides a significant boost to the UK’s modular housing industry and will help to speed up production of much-needed new homes.

Sekisui House have invested £22m of new equity, with £30m of equity and debt funding coming from the Government’s Home Building Fund, administered through Homes England.

Experienced entrepreneur Noel McKee, founder of We Buy Any Car, has also made a sizeable investment in the new partnership and will take an incremental c 5% stake.

Yoshihiro Nakai, President and Representative Director of Sekisui House Ltd said “We are extremely pleased to be able to work together with Homes England and Urban Splash to establish our operations and help to create outstanding communities in the UK.

“Using modern methods of construction to build high quality homes with short build times is one of our company’s great strengths. Our technology and know-how can help resolve pressing social issues in the UK, and I want to see us play our part effective immediately. These operations can also help bring vitality to UK regions, and we will work to make the strongest connections with the local communities.”

‘House’ is expected to deliver thousands of homes across England using modern methods of construction.

Minister of State for Housing, Kit Malthouse MP, added “Sekisui House bring with them a proven track record in harnessing the modern methods of construction that are transforming home building.

“Backed by Government investment, this announcement will support our urgent mission to deliver more, better and faster home construction to ensure a new generation can realise the dream of home ownership.”

Homes England, the government’s housing accelerator, has been instrumental in providing significant financial support and expertise to the new partnership as well as providing assurance to the investors.

Sir Edward Lister, Chair of Homes England, commented “When Homes England launched last year we said we’d disrupt the housing market to increase the pace of construction. By helping bring one of the world’s largest and most innovative housebuilders to UK shores, we’re putting our money where our mouth is.

“By creating a more diverse landscape – where smaller builders such as Urban Splash get a stronger foothold – we’re rebuilding the building industry; driving up quality and improving consumer choice.”

Tom Bloxham MBE, Chairman of Urban Splash, concluded “We believe that there is a real opportunity in the UK housebuilding industry. We hope to leverage our 25 years of place-making experience and our recent investments into modular housing by bringing in new partners; having looked far and wide we chose Sekisui House from Japan because of the company’s unrivalled global experience in modular construction and shared values and philosophy that we are making homes not units, and a joint belief in the need for a green future.

“We are also proud to partner with Homes England – part of the UK Government – because of their commitment to modular and desire to grow capacity in the UK housing business.

“We are incredibly excited about the accelerated production of much-needed homes and evolving traditional practices as we embrace the benefits of innovative offsite construction. I hope it will establish us as the housing partner of choice for landowners – both public and private.”

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EQUITONE are excited to launch their brand new RIBA-approved CPD; The principles and design of rainscreen facades

This presentation covers:

An understanding of how to make the correct design and specification decisions when choosing rainscreen cladding.

The concept of fibre cement rainscreen cladding.

An overview of the benefits to the structure and the fixing systems and some of the typical details used in these systems.

An understanding of the types of facade materials available.

EQUITONERegister for your free CPD today to gain your credits. For convenience, CPDs can be held at your offices.
www.equitonefacade.co.uk/request-a-cpd/

 

RIBA LOGO

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Changing places disabled toilets to be made madatory in new buildings

New, or majorly refurbished, large buildings used by the public must have Changing Places toilets for severely disabled people, under government proposals announced over the weekend.

The proposals are expected to add the toilets to more than 150 new buildings a year, including shopping centres, supermarkets, cinemas, stadiums and arts venues.

Changing Places toilets are larger accessible toilets for severely disabled people, with equipment such as hoists, curtains, adult-sized changing benches and enough space for carers.

There are over 1,300 Changing Places toilets in the UK, up from just 140 in 2007, but more are needed to support the more than a quarter of a million people who need them in the UK.

Without access to these toilets, it can be challenging for people to enjoy daily activities.

CPtoilet

Local Government Minister, Rishi Sunak MP, said “Everyone should have the freedom to enjoy days out in dignity and comfort. For severely disabled people, this is made very difficult because there are not enough Changing Places toilets.

“We’ve made some progress, but I’m determined to increase the number of these life-enhancing facilities, so people are given the dignity they deserve.

“I’m pleased so many people will be helped by this major change.”

Catherine Woodhead, Chief Executive of Muscular Dystrophy UK, which co-chairs the Changing Places Consortium, said “People living with disabilities go to work, visit shops and enjoy days out with friends just like everyone else. But a lack of Changing Places toilets make these seemingly simple tasks a challenge. Too often, we hear stories of people not leaving their homes, having to be changed on dirty toilet floors or even having surgery because there are not enough facilities.

“The government’s consultation on making Changing Places toilets mandatory in new, large public buildings is hugely encouraging. Along with our fantastic campaigners, we have long pushed for changes to legislation, and now we are one step closer to that being reality.

What is a Changing Places toilet? Click here to find out

“This is wonderful news for everyone who needs Changing Places toilets. We look forward to working with the government and campaigners in making society more inclusive.”

In the absence of Changing Places facilities, disabled people and/or carers face:

  • limiting what they drink to avoid needing the toilet when they are out – risking dehydration and urinary tract infections
  • sitting in soiled clothing or dirty nappies until a suitable toilet is found or they return home
  • having to change a loved one on a dirty toilet floor
  • manually lifting someone out of their wheelchair – risking safety
  • reducing their time out of the house – restricting their social lives

The government has launched a 10-week consultation, which proposes the required size and shape of Changing Places toilets as well as the range of equipment that must be included.

It also proposes thresholds at which the facilities will be made mandatory in new or largely refurbished buildings of different types, such as overall floor space or attendance capacity.

Last month, the Department for Transport, in partnership with Muscular Dystrophy UK (MDUK), launched a £2 million fund for Changing Places to be installed in existing motorway service stations, which is now open for applications.

The Department of Health and Social Care will also soon launch a £2 million fund for NHS Trusts to install new Changing Places in over 100 hospitals across England.

Examples of how Changing Places can help

Lauren West, from London, needs Changing Places toilets. She is MDUK’s Trailblazers Manager.

Lauren said “As a Changing Places user, I’m delighted to see the potential change to building regulations to include these life-changing facilities. Currently provision is very hit and miss with some areas having none at all. This means people like myself can’t visit these places or can’t stay as long as they’d like. This consultation is an encouraging step towards making the right facilities accessible to those that need them.

“With Changing Places, disabled people have the ability to travel, to work, to enjoy leisure activities and to spend valuable time with family and friends. It’s not only the right thing to do, but it also makes business sense. By providing these toilets, you’re giving disabled people the opportunity to visit your venue, to spend money and to spread the word about its inclusivity.”

Fiona Anderson, 30, from Bolton, is part of MDUK’s Trailblazers network, and needs Changing Places toilets.

Fiona said “A lack of Changing Places toilets has led to me deciding to have surgery, which will give me more freedom to go to the toilet. If these facilities were in every large public building, I would no longer have to endure the pain of postponing going to the toilet all day and the ever present dark cloud of sepsis occurring would be lifted. Ultimately, I also wouldn’t need to have a catheter fitted, which would mean the world to me. I’m not incontinent – I simply can’t transfer to a toilet without a hoist.

“Changing Places toilets are a much-needed lifeline. But with so few of them available, people like me are forced to sacrifice our dignity and independence.”

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A third of councils are failing to solve the housing crisis, according to experts

According to the housing delivery test results released by the government, which shows that a third of local authorities are failing to address the housing crisis.

The results show that 108 local authorities delivered fewer than 95% of the homes they need. This means that they must set out action plans to explain why they missed their targets and how they will address that.

In addition, 87 of these local authorities failed to deliver 85% of the homes they need and will therefore be subject to a buffer, which requires them to add 20% more homes to their five year land supply.

No area delivered fewer than 25% of their housing need, which means none will face the ‘presumption in favour of sustainable development’ penalty. However, the presumption penalty threshold will increase to 45% from November 2019 and to 65% in November 2020.

If the Government had not given areas three years to meet the 65% threshold, 32 local authorities would have been subject to the penalty.

The National Federation of Builders (NFB) recognises the challenges local planning authorities face in meeting the demand for housing, but remains concerned that so many councils are missing their targets, leaving us a shortfall of more than 220,000 new homes.

As local developers, NFB members would have preferred local authorities be in control of their own housing destiny but, since many are failing in their duty to meet housing demand and underestimating housing need, we welcome the blunt instrument that the Government is wielding.

Richard Beresford, chief executive of the NFB, said “Since the carrot of meeting housing need themselves is not enticing enough for local planners, the Government’s stick of penalties and buffers is clearly required. We have a housing crisis and the Government is taking appropriate steps to fix it.”

Rico Wojtulewicz, head of housing and planning policy at the House Builders Association (HBA), concluded “Councils need to do a better job assessing housing need and identify where homes can be built more quickly. If they continue to underestimate demand and focus on large, controversial developments, we expect the housing crisis to worsen and the Government to take control from failing councils.”

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New framework unveiled to help industry become net zero carbon by 2050

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Building industry charity, the UK Green Building Council (UKGBC) have unveiled an ambitious framework for the UK construction and property industry to help us transition new and existing buildings to become net zero carbon by 2050, in line with the ambitions of the Paris Climate Agreement.

The report follows six months of intense industry engagement, involving over 180 experts and stakeholders from across the built environment value chain, and is supported by 13 trade associations and industry bodies including BPF, RICS and RIBA. It provides an overarching framework of consistent principles and metrics that can be integrated into tools, policies and practices, and aims to build consensus in the industry on the approach to decarbonising buildings.

The new framework offers guidance for developers, owners and occupiers targeting net zero carbon buildings, setting out key principles to follow and outlining how such a claim should be measured and evidenced. Two approaches to net zero carbon are proposed by the framework which can be accurately measured:

  1. Net zero carbon – construction: the embodied emissions associated with products and construction should be measured, reduced and offset to achieve net zero carbon.
  2. Net zero carbon – operational energy: The energy used by the building in operation should be reduced and where possible any demand met through renewable energy. Any remaining emissions from operational energy use should be offset to achieve net zero carbon.

With the report presented as a starting point, the next ten years will see the scope and ambition of the framework increased to encourage greater action. In the short-term, additional requirements will be introduced to challenge the industry, including minimum energy efficiency targets and limits on the use of offsets. In the longer term, the two approaches for construction and operational energy will be integrated into a broader approach for net zero whole life carbon, covering all of the emissions associated with the construction, operation, maintenance and demolition of a building.

The work has been made possible thanks to the generous support of lead partner Redevco Foundation, and partners BAM, Berkeley Group, Grosvenor, JLL and Hoare Lea.

Richard Twinn, Senior Policy Advisor at UKGBC said “The urgency of tackling climate change means that businesses must work together to drive down emissions as fast as possible. But this requires a shared vision for what needs to be achieved and the action that needs to be taken. This framework is intended as a catalyst for the construction and property industry to build consensus on the transition to net zero carbon buildings and start to work towards consistent and ambitious outcomes. It is the first step on a journey towards ensuring all of our buildings are fit for the future.”

James Wimpenny, Chief Executive at BAM Construct UK added “Contractors, clients, supply chains need to work together – and quickly – to radically change the way we procure, design and deliver buildings. Smart use of renewable technologies and efficient use of low carbon materials are a priority. Reducing carbon makes financial sense over the lifecycle of buildings and that means we should not focus solely on capital costs when procuring a building.”

Rob Perrins, Chief Executive at Berkeley Group concluded “This framework is an important step towards defining net zero carbon buildings and helping the industry understand how they can be delivered. We want to help lead this work, which is so important to decarbonising the built environment and protecting our planet for future generations. Sustainability runs through everything we do at Berkeley Group. We have already become a carbon positive business and have committed to creating new homes that can operate at net zero carbon by 2030.”

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