Saniflo parent company SFA Group wins social responsibility award

SFA Group –Saniflo UK’s parent company – has been awarded a Bronze Medal for Corporate Social Responsibility from EcoVadis, the world’s most trusted provider of business sustainability ratings. This result places the SFA Group among the top 50% of companies assessed by EcoVadis.

 

The EcoVadis assessment is built on international sustainability standards, including the Global Reporting Initiative, the United Nations Global Compact, and the ISO 26000, covering 200 spend categories and 160+ countries.

 

SFA Group was rated based on a sustainability scorecard which illustrates performance across 21 indicators in four main categories of environment, labour and human rights, ethics, and sustainable procurement.

 

Saniflo UK Head of Marketing and Product Management, Ann Boardman, says: “At Sanifo UK we uphold the same high standards set by our parent company, SFA Group in France. We pride ourselves on our ongoing commitment to being the best we can be in all ways, always. This Bronze medal is well deserved.”

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SIKA LAUNCHES NEW LOW ODOUR BALCONY WATERPROOFING RANGE

Responding to the continual growth in popularity of versatile liquid applied waterproofing solutions, Sika has launched Monoflex LO, an innovative low odour waterproofing range for balconies, walkways and terraces.

Developed at Sika’s world-leading Global Technology Centre in Preston, the new liquid applied MonoFlex LO range harnesses Sika’s pioneering patented i-Cure technology within its polyurethane waterproofing element. This improved system maintains its high performance, workability and curing time, but with the odour-causing components engineered out. With this comes the benefits of lower emissions, reduced hazard classification and reduced occupational health risks during application.

By using this new advanced technology, which is now included in over 50 patented Sika products worldwide, Monoflex LO systems have a number of advantages for the architect, contractor, client and end user. Most notably, building occupants are not disturbed by unfamiliar odours during the application and curing of the solution. Whether that be on access walkways for sensitive areas such as social housing, hospitals or schools, buildings can remain occupied while external works are being carried out, meaning less logistical hassle for all parties.

Highly durable, Monoflex LO has a life expectancy of 25 years and comes in a range of colours, coatings and surface finishes, such as textured for slip resistance or buried beneath decorative tiles, allowing the architect to have design freedom.

It has also been launched with an ETA certificate covering the waterproofing element, providing third-party verification of high performance.

 

Fiona Irvine, Sika Product Engineer for liquid and bituminous membranes, said: “Unlike some systems in the marketplace that claim low odour utilising masking components, we’re proud that the new MonoFlex LO range is truly low odour, as evidenced by its Olfasense certification — an independent, comparative, sensory analysis service.

“It has also been tested across a wide range of performance criteria during our rigorous product development process to ensure it is incredibly safe and hardwearing, as is demanded for areas such as balconies and walkways. This means that we can subsequently offer this system with a range of attractive guarantee options.”

 

Manufactured here in the UK at the Sika facility in Preston — one of Sika’s key manufacturing sites in northern Europe exporting globally — specifiers and contractors can be confident that production and delivery will be both reliable and dependable.

Sika’s cold-applied liquid waterproofing membranes are part of Sika’s Roofing product portfolio, which provides three distinct roofing solutions for its customers: single ply membranes, liquid applied membranes and bituminous membranes from its leading brands — Sika Sarnafil, Sika Liquid Plastics, SikaBit and Sika-Trocal. From refurbishment to new build, Sika has the roofing system to perfectly fit the application and client requirements.

 

For more information about Sika’s products and services call 01707 394444, email enquiries@uk.sika.com or visit www.sika.co.uk/roofing

 

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WISHING YOU A VERY HAPPY CHRISTMAS

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LC International to rebrand as BBI Services

Business improvement specialists LC International has rebranded and unveiled a new name, BBI Services which is effective from Friday 10 December.

 

The name change to BBI Services, which stands for Building Business Improvement, is intended to truly reflect the organisation’s purpose, capabilities and business impact. It comes at a significant time for the business which has recently increased its scope of services and work within the built environment in the UK and overseas.

 

CEO of LC International/BBI Services, Mark Worrall, said: “We work to build business improvement with clients, contractors, suppliers and consultancies and we impact at every level.

 

“Our way of thinking is fundamentally based on lean principles and effects the end-to-end life cycle of project delivery, and every function or area within an organisation.

 

“We have embarked on a rebrand to make sure our business name better reflects what we do and truly ‘does what it says on the tin’ so people understand we’re here to build business improvement across the built environment.

 

“Our team has a great breadth and depth of knowledge to support clients and our new name demonstrates this. We recognise and understand the existing challenges in the industry and our portfolio of services is designed to tackle them head on.

 

“We focus on programme betterment, productivity, quality, skills, sustainability and do this in a collaborative integrated way. We work with you to deliver transformational performance improvement to support the construction and production mindset.

 

“From specialist support to word class training and coaching, at BBI, we’re driven to unite the power of people, performance and processes to help your business succeed.”

 

For more information about BBI Services and how the specialist team can support your teams and business, visit:  www.bbiservices.com  

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CLEAR SAFETY CONSULTANT JOINS CIBSE HNC REGISTER

Clear Safety is delighted to announce that its team of specialist consultants for heating systems now includes a certified CIBSE (Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers) Heat Networks Consultant.

Clear, which specialises in safety, compliance and risk management consultancy is regularly involved in the review of heating solutions for its clients, which includes a number of high-profile housing associations. District heating systems which are designed to generate energy efficient heat from a centralised location which is then distributed amongst multiple buildings, is fast becoming a popular choice due to the lowered carbon footprint and improved pollution control associated with this method of heat supply.

Commenting on Clear’s inclusion on the Heat Networks Consultant register, Matt Westby said, “Our role at Clear is to provide our clients with guidance on the most up to date and innovative operational solutions to not only ensure adherence to both current and impending regulations, but also to enable them to demonstrate a responsible and proactive approach to reducing carbon and pollution emissions by adopting best-in-class environmental practices. We actively encourage our team of consultants to seek out the highest and most relevant industry certifications so that we are in a position to offer superior, future perfect oversight on a broad range of compliance management matters.”

In addition, Clear is working towards becoming a CIBSE Certified Low Carbon Consultant, to demonstrate industry recognised competency in improving the energy performance of both new and existing buildings.

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SIKA’s MONOTOP® SCOOPS THE INNOVATION PRIZE

SIKA SUSTAINABLE CONCRETE REPAIR RANGE WINS INNOVATION PRIZE AT CONCRETE REPAIR ASSOCIATION (CRA) AWARDS

 

Global building products manufacturer Sika was among the winners at this year’s Concrete Repair Association (CRA) awards.

 Judges voted the company’s new MonoTop® concrete repair range which sets a new standard for low environmental impact, winner of the contest’s ‘Innovation’ category. The announcement was made at a finals evening held on Friday, December 3rd at the Radisson Blu Edwardian Bloomsbury Street Hotel in London.

Speaking of the award, John Baron, Specialist Construction Solutions, Business Unit Manager at Sika, said: “This is a magnificent achievement. MonoTop® achieves new levels of sustainability without compromise to its long-term repair performance. Congratulations to everyone involved in the development of this superb product range. The award is a true testament to Sika’s continued drive to innovate solutions which are good for our buildings and limit environmental impact.”

 Sika MonoTop®-1010, Sika MonoTop®-3020 and Sika MonoTop®-4012 make up the recently-launched MonoTop® range, which generates less CO2 emissions compared to other concrete repair solutions – up to 1 tonne of CO2 per 100m2. Ideal for new-build and refurbishment projects, MonoTop® rewrites the rule book in terms of low-carbon concrete repair. Its sustainability is enhanced by its dust-reducing properties which limit particle emissions by up to 70% during application, resulting in safer, less-polluted, more comfortable on-site working conditions for operatives.

MonoTop®’s environmentally-friendly credentials are essential to achieving BREEAM/LEED requirements. Indeed, each British Standard-approved product within the system, including the bonding binder and the concrete and levelling mortars, contains recycled waste materials.

John added: “We are incredibly proud of the sustainable performance we’ve been able to achieve with our MonoTop® range. Its credentials have been further confirmed with the Concrete Repair Association (CRA) award. We thank the organisers and the judges involved in this respected industry event.”

For more information on the Sika New MonoTop® range, visit:

 

www.sika.co.uk/sika-monotop

 

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IT’S GOOD TO SHARE

GEZE UK has made donations to three local charities as part of their focus on Corporate Social Responsibility.

 

A total of £1,820.00 was shared between St Giles Hospice, Lichfield Foodbank and the Pathway Project – a charity that supports adults, young people and children who are experiencing or affected by domestic abuse. All of them are based in Lichfield not far from GEZE UK’s head office.

The automatic door and window control company donated the money they received from Staffordshire County Council for carrying out lateral flow tests on staff during the Covid pandemic. Rather than keep the money it was decided to donate it to good causes or charities that can help people.

Said Rachel Boxall, Finance Director for GEZE UK, “We are delighted to be able to support these local charities, especially during these difficult times. We also encourage and support our colleagues in their fundraising activities.”

A different director made a presentation to each of the charities; Rachel presented a cheque to St Giles Hospice, Service Director Adam Presdee to the Pathway Project and MD Kaz Spiewakowski presented the cheque to the Foodbank.

GEZE UK’s Corporate Social Responsibility policy states that the company aims to create a positive impact in society and improve people’s lives wherever possible. The company supports local communities and encourages employees to become involved in local initiatives and fundraising events.

For more information about GEZE UK’s comprehensive range of automatic and manual door and window control products visit www.geze.co.uk.

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CITB’s annual migration report has revealed that the number of migrant workers in construction continues to fall significantly.

This is at a time when the industry is experiencing a sharp rise in the cost of materials, wages, and an increase in demand for workers, Migration in UK Construction 2021 found.

With output growth at its highest level in almost 25 years, the industry is finding it difficult to cope. This is partly due to the number of construction workers who left the UK since the EU Freedom of Movement ended.  Additional pressures experienced because of the pandemic have seen even greater numbers leave and not return. These factors coupled with the surge in demand since Covid-19 restrictions have eased have left the industry under pressure.

Key findings from the research showed:

  • the number of migrant workers in the UK construction industry fell by 8.3% in 2020, with 25,000 fewer workers in the sector than in 2019. However, this is in the context of the whole industry shrinking by a similar percentage
  • Over the last three years the number of migrants working in construction has fallen by 15%, from over 326,000 to just 280,000, the equivalent of one in every seven migrant workers leaving the sector
  • ONS data shows year-on-year wage rises, including bonuses and arrears peaked at +15.1% nationwide in May 2021, and continued to record an above average +6% in September 2021, against a whole economy reading of +4%, supporting anecdotal evidence that labour shortages are driving up prices
  • In London, which has the highest concentration of migrant construction workers in the UK – where half of the workforce are migrant workers – the number fell by 15%, from 145,000 in 2019, to 125,000 in 2020.

The research found that many employers are simply not engaging with the Points Based Immigration System (PBIS) licence scheme to enable them to hire non-UK born workers, particularly SMEs. In addition, several large and medium sized employers were concerned that some skilled trades were not accessible through the skilled worker visa including dryliners, asbestos workers and insulators.

 

One construction employer in the south-east of England told researchers: “The impact will be that I can’t take on as many jobs and I’ve got to let my clients down. I’ve already turned down three jobs this week, and we never turn away work…I think that’s going to be the reality going forward.”

 

Steve Radley, Director of Policy at CITB, said:

“The transition out of the EU and into a new immigration system was always going to be difficult and the pandemic and interrupted supplies of materials has intensified skills and cost pressures. We know that developing homegrown talent will be at the heart of addressing these skills challenges and that government is taking action to grow apprenticeships and to get more college students into construction jobs.

 

“Employer investment in key skill areas such as apprenticeships is recovering and should improve further in 2022. But for many, their struggle to deliver on the current workloads is hampering their ability to free up time to invest in training just when it’s most needed.”

 

Commentary from construction employer groups

Brian Berry, Chief Executive of the Federation of Master Builders (FMB), said:
“The fall in the number of construction migrant workers over the last three years is not surprising and helps to explain why many small construction companies have had to turn down jobs because of the lack of available workers. At a time of rising demand in the construction sector it is imperative that more home-grown talent is developed. Unfortunately, this is not an easy fix which is why the building industry will continue to experience an on-going skills problem over many years.”

 

James Butcher, Head of Policy and Research at the National Federation of Building (NFB), said:
“This is a really tough time for construction businesses, our members are regularly reporting that they are struggling to find the workforce they need to meet demand on site and the latest vacancy rate statistics indicate the situation is acute. The report findings confirm what many in the industry feared – a significant and sudden drop in the number of migrant workers in the construction workforce which, coupled with the lower apprenticeship starts and difficulties securing FE conversions, mean the short-term pressures are significant and there is no easy way out.”

Suzannah Nichol, Chief Executive of Build UK, said:
“As construction looks to lead the economic recovery, the government is rightly investing in training and reskilling the UK workforce whilst the industry develops better routes for new entrants. We welcomed the recent commitments in the Autumn Budget to improve skills and recruit talent, but these will all take time to come to fruition and we are being asked to build now, not in 12 months.

“To ensure the industry can continue to deliver the ambitious programme of infrastructure investment and development, it is vital that we have a Points-Based Immigration System that can respond rapidly to changing pressures, with a clear path for the industry to raise these with government.”


Alasdair Reisner, Chief Executive of CECA, said:
“Our members continue to experience very challenging conditions for recruitment and retention of workers. The likely outcome of this will be that those areas that have historically had higher levels of migrant labour, and generally higher salaries, such as London and the South East, will now pull resource from the rest of the country, exacerbating skills difficulties nationwide.”

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Only 15% of UK adults confident the Housing Crisis will be resolved in their lifetime

New research among 2,000 UK adults has revealed how fragile confidence is in the Government and the chances of there being a resolution to the Housing Crisis:

  • 52% of UK adults consider the housing crisis to be one of the country’s most pressing societal issues at present
  • But only 14% are confident the housing crisis will be resolved by 2030
    • And just 15% think the problem will be eradicated in their lifetime
  • 16% are confident the current Government will hit its target of delivering 300,000 new homes every year for the rest of this parliament
  • Less than one in five (18%) believe the Government is truly invested in resolving the housing shortage

Less than one in six UK adults believe the housing crisis will be resolved in their lifetime, with confidence in the Government equally low, new research from Market Financial Solutions(MFS) has revealed.

The bridging lender commissioned an independent, nationally representative survey among 2,000 UK adults. It found the majority (52%) of respondents consider the housing crisis to be one of the country’s most pressing societal issues at present.

However, only 14% of respondents are confident the housing crisis will be resolved by 2030, with only fractionally more (15%) having faith that the problem will be eradicated in their lifetime.

The research showed there is a lack of confidence in the UK Government. Just one in six (16%) UK adults believe the current Government will hit its target of delivering 300,000 new homes every year for the rest of this parliament.

Less than a fifth (18%) think the Government is truly invested in resolving the housing shortage.

MFS’ research showed how the UK’s housing crisis is impacting people’s homebuying ambitions, with only 30% of respondents saying they are confident about one day owning their dream home. Renters (20%) are far less likely to feel this way than those already on the property ladder (36%).

 

Paresh Raja, CEO of MFS, said: “Our research shows just how low confidence has sunk when it comes to finding a resolution to the UK’s housing crisis. This is understandable, with successive governments setting and missing targets for delivering new homes, which has eroded trust.

“But it is not just an issue for Westminster. More must be done by key players across the property industry. Yes, the Government must combine policy reform with public investment to ensure housebuilding activity accelerates, but lenders and private investors also have a role to play.

“For instance, more can be done to convert unused commercial properties into residential dwellings; to extend existing homes and housing projects; and to renovate derelict buildings, of which there are many thousands across the UK. A wide variety of creative solutions are needed from both the public and private sectors – and as our research shows, there is not a moment to be wasted.”

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GAI helps to shape competency standards from designers and specifiers

The Guild of Architectural Ironmongers (GAI) has joined two steering groups focussed on improving competency of wider construction professionals specifying building products.

 

As members of the Competence Steering Group’s Working Group 7 (WG7) and the PAS 8671 standard steering group, the GAI will be representing the building products sector to help shape the competency frameworks for those working with fire safety products including principal designers, architects and engineers.

The recently published BSI Flex 8670 standard provides an overarching framework for competence of individuals and as part of this specific Publicly Available Specifications (PASs) have been created for the duty holder roles identified under the Building Safety Bill: the principal designer (PAS 8671), principal contractor (PAS 8672), and the building safety manager (PAS 8673).

As these three roles will have overarching responsibility for activities relating to building and life safety during a building’s design, construction and operation, including refurbishment and maintenance, they will require enhanced competencies above any discipline-related competencies.

One of the proposed measures in the new PAS 8671 standard is for the principal designer to establish a Change Control Plan and record design changes within it.

Douglas Masterson, technical manager at the GAI, says this is a crucial step forward for the building products industry.

“The potential introduction of a Change Control Plan and ensuring that even the smallest specification change is documented is something that will be welcomed by not just architectural ironmongers, but the whole building products industry.

“Being part of wider industry groups like PAS 8671 and WG7 allows the Guild to raise awareness not only of the time and financial investment of the companies that write in-depth product specifications, but also the technical knowledge and experience of those producing specifications and schedules, only for them to frequently be changed and substituted with alternative products, that aren’t necessarily like-for-like, often due to last minute pricing decisions.”

The GAI has been part of Working Group 12 since its inception in October 2018. Earlier this year, Douglas Masterson became co-chair of the group alongside Hanna Clarke of the Construction Products Association (CPA). As a result of its contribution, it has been asked to join WG7 which is working on the competency for building designers. WG7 consists of bodies that regulate and present building designers and architects including the Architects Registration Board (ARB) and RIBA, and other architectural, engineering, fire safety, surveying and architectural technology professions.

“The Guild has worked hard to improve the wider construction industry’s understanding of the critical role of architectural ironmongery for over 60 years,” adds Douglas. “Alongside our education programme, we’ve developed a series of free Specifier’s Guides and corresponding RIBA-approved CPDs to cover a variety of specification scenarios including fire safety, the internet of things, specialist applications, accessibility, and security. Both products and standards are constantly evolving so it is crucial that anyone working with architectural ironmongery is keeping their knowledge up to date with the latest best practice guidance.”

 

The Specifier’s Guides can be downloaded from the GAI website: www.gai.org.uk/GAISpecGuides

 

www.gai.org.uk

 

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