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Nearly 80% of builders and consumers support licensing construction

Almost 80% of builders and home owners are calling on the Government to introduce a licensing scheme for the UK construction industry to stamp out rogue traders once and for all, according to the Federation of Master Builders (FMB).

The FMB has published an independent research report by Pye Tait entitled ‘Licence to build: A pathway to licensing UK construction’, which details the benefits of introducing a licensing scheme for the whole construction industry and puts forward a proposal for how it could work.

Also, new consumer research undertaken by the FMB reveals the impact poor quality building firms are having on consumers and demonstrates that most home owners support the introduction of a mandatory licensing scheme. Key results from both pieces of research include:

  • 77% of small and medium-sized construction firms support the introduction of licensing to professionalise the industry, protect consumers and side line the cowboys
  • 78% of consumers also want to see a licensing scheme for construction introduced
  • Nearly 90% of home owners believe that the Government should criminalise rogue and incompetent builders
  • Over half of people (55%) who commission home improvement work have had a negative experience with their builder

Commenting on the research report, which was launched at a high profile event in the House of Lords on the afternoon of Monday 2nd July, Brian Berry, Chief Executive of the FMB, said “The vast majority of builders and home owners want to see the construction industry professionalised and it is time for the Government to act. It’s unacceptable that more than half of consumers have had a negative experience with their builder. However, we shouldn’t be surprised by this given that in the UK, it is perfectly legal for anyone to set up a building firm and start selling their services without any prior experience or qualifications. This cannot be right given the nature of the work and the potential health and safety risks when something goes wrong. In countries like Australia and Germany, building firms require a licence and we want to see the UK Government regulate our industry in a similar manner.”

“Aside from the obvious health and safety benefits, the advantages of a licensing scheme are manifold. Licensing would bar from the industry the very worst firms operating in the construction sector. Consumer protection would increase and with it, the appetite among home owners to undertake more construction work. We also believe that if we can improve the image of the industry through licensing, young people, parents and teachers will have a more favourable impression of our sector and therefore be more likely to pursue, or recommend, a career in construction. Over time, this would gradually help ease the construction skills shortage we currently face. For too long, the very worst construction firms, most of which undertake private domestic work, have been giving the whole sector a bad name. So that’s why this scheme should be of interest to the whole sector and not just small local builders.”

“In terms of how the scheme might work, it needn’t be too costly or bureaucratic. Our report draws on the experience of experts from across the construction industry and puts forward a clear proposal. We are suggesting that the scheme covers all paid-for construction work by firms of all sizes, not just those working in the domestic sector. Fees should be tiered and could start at as little as £150 every three to five years, with the largest contractors paying around £1,000 over the same period. In terms of how it’s governed, the licence should be administered by a single authority with a broad range of scheme providers sitting underneath. We are now keen to reach out to the whole construction sector to get their input on the proposal. If we can demonstrate broad support for this approach, we are optimistic that the Government will take it forward.”

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Gender pay gap in construction falls to 12%

  • Gender pay gap in the construction industry has fallen from 16% to 12% in the past decade – a 4% decrease
  • National fall in gender pay gap over same period is 4%, from 21% to 17%
  • Gender pay gap across all industries dominated by small businesses has fallen from 22% to 13% in past ten years

The gender pay gap in the construction sector has fallen by 4% in the last decade, according to a report published by Informi, the website offering free practical advice and support for small businesses.

The report shows that women who earned 84p for every £1 a man earned in construction back in 2008 now earn 88p, meaning that the remaining gender pay gap in the industry stands at 12%.

Since 2008, female hourly pay in construction has increased by 22%, while male hourly pay over the same period has increased by 17% – meaning that the overall gender pay gap has narrowed by 23%.

Across all small business-dominated industries, which includes construction, the gender pay gap is falling at twice the rate as that of all companies across the UK.

The research found that while the national gender pay gap was at 21% ten years ago (and at 22% in SME-dominated industries), current wage inequalities in those sectors with a greater number of SME employees has fallen to 13%, compared to a national average of 17%.

With a 9% overall fall in the gender pay gap across these SME-dominated industries over the last ten years, the sectors are set to eradicate the remaining 13% average wage inequalities by 2034, should it continue to fall at current rates.

Darren Nicholls, product manager for Informi, said “Small businesses are the lifeblood of the UK economy, and this report demonstrates that they are blazing a pathway towards wage equality and helping to eradicate the gender pay gap.

“Small businesses are not shackled by tradition, legacy or bureaucracy in the same manner as many large companies can be. That said, clearly a double digit gap is still far too high. There’s a great deal more to be done, with some industries lagging behind others in implementing the necessary changes to ensure that females get just as many opportunities to thrive in their profession of choice.

“The fact that mandatory reporting has been brought in by the Government for larger companies should act as an encouragement for small businesses to consider female progression within their own firms, auditing their own internal data and acting upon their results.”

Chloe Chambraud, gender equality director for Business in the Community, added “Closing the gender pay gap is not just about equal pay, but about a much bigger organisational culture shift.

Employers should understand any factors driving their pay gap, and address the root causes of inequality. This means reducing bias and increasing transparency in the recruitment, appraisal and promotion processes, normalise agile working, and offer financially viable parental leave packages for all.”

Sophia Morrell, chair of Labour in the City, concluded “It is really encouraging to see SMEs leading the charge in the UK on closing the gender pay gap. Legislation can be helpful in pushing us towards equality, but the most forward-thinking companies have already been embedding these principles into their workplaces rather than waiting for regulation to force their hand.”

The full report, ‘Closing the Gender Pay Gap: Are small businesses bucking the national trend?’ is available from the Informi website.
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MPs back Heathrow Airport £14bn third runway plan

  • 415 MPs across political parties united to unequivocally back expanding Heathrow – ending decades of political debate
  • Approval unlocks billions in growth, secures tens of thousands of new skilled jobs and will ensure Heathrow expands sustainably
  • Heathrow will now prepare an application for development consent which will see construction begin in 2021
  • Within the next 12 months alone, Heathrow will sign £150m in contracts with British businesses, creating 900 new jobs and 200 new apprenticeships

In a landmark vote this week, Parliament unambiguously backed expanding Heathrow – ending decades of political debate on one of the UK’s most pressing infrastructure issues. MPs from across political parties joined forces to support the Government’s Airports National Policy Statement. The vote clears the way for Heathrow to submit an application for development consent for the project – unlocking billions of pounds in growth and creating tens of thousands of new skilled jobs across the UK in the early years of Brexit.

Britain won’t have to wait long for the benefits of an expanded Heathrow. Over the next 12 months alone, the airport will sign £150 million worth of contracts with British businesses, creating 900 new jobs and 200 new apprenticeships. Heathrow will also announce the locations of the off-site logistics hubs that will allow businesses across the country to get involved with what will be one of Europe’s largest infrastructure projects.

Parliament’s historic vote is the culmination of a rigorous, evidence-based selection process – including review by the independent Airports Commission and the Government – which determined not only that expanding Heathrow offers the greatest benefit to all of the UK, but that it can be done sustainably. Over the past six years, Heathrow has worked with local communities to design an expansion plan that treats local people fairly. In addition to the thousands of new jobs the project will create for local residents, Heathrow has also made binding commitments to deliver a £2.6bn compensation package to local residents, implement a 6.5 hour ban on scheduled night flights and a triple lock guarantee to meet air quality obligations. Heathrow will also release detailed plans over the coming months to deliver a skills strategy so local residents can benefit from up to 40,000 new skilled airport jobs that an expanded Heathrow requires – an opportunity that has the potential to end youth unemployment in local boroughs.

Today’s vote secures a £14bn private investment for the UK – one of the largest private projects in Europe. It will transform the country’s only hub airport, stimulating growth and opportunities for communities the length and breadth of the UK. With up to 40 new long-haul trading links, double the cargo capacity, more competition and choice for passengers and new domestic flights – an expanded Heathrow will make Britain the best connected country in the world and sends the strongest signal to date that Britain is open for business. With a commitment to deliver an expanded Heathrow affordably with airport charges staying close to today’s levels – it is a huge prize for British business and Heathrow passengers.

Heathrow CEO John Holland-Kaye said “Parliament has ended 50 years of debate by deciding that Heathrow expansion will go ahead. This vote will see us deliver more jobs, create a lasting legacy of skills for future generations and guarantee expansion is delivered responsibly. We are grateful that MPs have made the right choice for Britain and today we start work to create the best connected hub airport in the world.”

Over the coming days, the Secretary of State for Transport is expected to designate the final Airports National Policy Statement approved by Parliament. This will set the policy framework for Heathrow’s northwest runway development consent application. Heathrow is currently preparing to hold a second public consultation on its plans before submitting a development consent order application to the Planning Inspectorate, kick-starting an approval process expected to take 18 months. In addition to Heathrow’s consultation, the development consent process will provide further opportunities for residents and stakeholders to influence Heathrow’s proposal. If Heathrow is granted development consent, construction would begin in 2021 ahead of the new runway opening in 2026.

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Urgent review of apprenticeship levy needed to reverse decline in apprenticeships

The 28% fall in apprenticeship starts between August 2017 and March 2018 compared with the same period the previous academic year suggests the Government needs to look again at the way the Apprenticeship Levy is working, according to the Federation of Master Builders (FMB).

Commenting on statistics published by the Department for Education (DfE), Brian Berry, Chief Executive of the FMB, said “The Government’s own statistics show a 28% plunge in apprenticeship starts over the current academic year so far. The Apprenticeship Levy was introduced in April 2017 to boost apprenticeship training across all business sectors but so far it seems to be having the opposite effect. Some reforms are obvious and need to be looked at more urgently now. The Government should allow large companies to pass more of their Levy vouchers down through their supply chains if the company itself is not in a position to train apprentices. Currently large firms are only permitted to pass 10% of their Levy funds down to their sub-contractors and others in their supply chain. There needs to be much greater flexibility than this. In the construction sector, larger firms often do not directly employ on-site tradespeople or directly train apprentices and so there is a real danger this industry and others will continue to fail to take advantage of the Apprenticeship Levy if we can’t change this.”

“These figures have been published shortly after the FMB’s latest research which shows that small construction firms are experiencing record highs in terms of skills shortages. In the long term, the only way we will be able to address the chronic skills crisis is by recruiting and training more new entrants. We know that 58% of builders are struggling to hire bricklayers and 55% are having difficulties finding carpenters and joiners. We need to iron out the flaws in the Apprenticeship Levy and reverse this decline in apprenticeships to give us the best chance of tackling these skills shortages.”

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Tradespeople shake off stereotypes by choosing work over World Cup

For years, tradespeople have been tarnished with the reputation for prioritising football over work. Many members of the public see them as being a bit too eager to down tools and head to the nearest big screen.

However, recent research among tradespeople busts this myth.

The UK’s leading online trade supplier, IronmongeryDirect, has run a series of polls to find out more about tradespeople’s attitude to work during the World Cup. Many participants, including builders, carpenters and joiners, are currently planning when and where they will be watching their team – but outside of work.

According to a poll of more than 1,000 IronmongeryDirect customers, over 75% of tradespeople claimed they would never consider skipping work to watch their team.

However, if they were to ‘pull a sickie’ to watch an important match, tradespeople gave some of their best excuses, with the more elaborate ones including:

  • “I’ve been called up as a late replacement by Gareth Southgate”
  • “My boyfriend’s in labour.”
  • “I’ve got soap in my eyes and can’t find a towel.”
  • “I’ve been delayed at the airport on holiday…in Scarborough.”
  • “My Auntie’s Gerbil is about to give birth and I’m the nominated birthing partner.”

Some of the more convincing examples included:

  • “I have a dentist appointment.”
  • “The children are poorly.”
  • “I’ve got the flu.”

Employers are recognising that the World Cup is important to many of their staff. Many responded to the polls saying they would be more than happy to be flexible by offering them time off. One respondent stated: “As the boss, I always give my team the time off. It also saves them giving me the daft excuses!”.

The research also revealed ongoing optimism among tradespeople, with more than half believing England will make it to the Quarter Finals. Also, half of those polled (49%) said they would give up alcohol for good to see England win the tournament.

Andy Wood, football enthusiast and Marketing Director of IronmongeryDirect, said “The World Cup is an exciting time for many of us – tradespeople are no exception. We wanted to find out how our customers were preparing for the year’s biggest sporting event. The research was carried out in the name of fun, but it was great to see results challenging the outdated stereotype of contractors and other trades professionals neglecting their jobs for football! Tradespeople in Britain work hard, and we hope they enjoy watching World Cup 2018.”

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Nearly 80% of builders call for licensing scheme to crush the cowboys

Almost 80% of builders are calling for more regulation in the construction industry to end the tyranny of cowboy builders, according to the Federation of Master Builders (FMB).

The FMB is calling on the Government to introduce a licensing scheme in construction as part of its Agenda ‘Raising the bar: A post-Grenfell agenda for quality and professionalism in construction’.

Brian Berry, Chief Executive of the FMB, said “Until we introduce a licensing scheme in construction, cowboy builders will continue to run rampant in our industry. Licensing would ensure a minimum level of competence and professionalism and give consumers greater assurance when hiring a builder. Unlike in the US and Germany, anyone can be a builder in the UK. What this means is that we have allowed a significant minority of cowboy builders to give the whole construction industry a bad name. Our latest research shows that almost 80 per cent of our members are so fed up with rogue builders tarnishing their reputation, they are in favour of introducing a licencing scheme. Our research among consumers also shows that one third of home owners in the UK are so anxious about hiring a dodgy builder that they don’t commission any building work whatsoever. What’s more, the average home owner would spend around £40,000 on major home improvement projects over the next five years if they could be guaranteed a positive experience with their builder. It’s time to release this pent up demand for building work through a licensing scheme consumers can trust.”

“Even more important than the economic benefits that would come from increasing quality and professionalism in the industry are the safety benefits. The Grenfell Tower tragedy reminded us of the price paid when things go wrong in the construction industry. Grenfell raised serious questions about standards, regulation and compliance within the construction sector and although we await the results of the Hackitt Review, we want to start a wider conversation about how we can drive up quality and professionalism in construction. As well as calling on the Government to introduce a licensing scheme for builders, the FMB’s new Agenda calls for mandatory warranties for building projects that require building control sign-off to protect consumers further. The FMB would also like to work with industry to develop a ‘general builder’ qualification which would seek to recognise the highest standards of professionalism in the industry.”

Jason Ryan, a home owner living in West London, was a victim of a rogue building firm earlier this year. Ryan commented on the introduction of a licencing scheme in construction: “At the start of this year, builders were carrying out essential improvements to my home in West London. The whole process turned out to be an absolute nightmare. Our builder would often turn up late, or not at all, and communication was always poor. We would try to call him and often not hear back. The work they eventually carried out was sub-standard – for example, the grooves in the door frames were hacked into and were left uneven and messy. I think all builders should be required to have a licence to protect people like me from having these nightmarish experiences. It was very stressful and has put me off hiring a builder in the future unless I absolutely have to.”

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Half of British office buildings are not fit for purpose

For over 1.3 million UK workers, the office is simply not ‘good enough’.

A new report released by Leesman, the world’s leading assessor of workplace effectiveness, analyses how organisations can better support employees by offering an office environment that actually works.

Today, Leesman launches ‘The Next 250k’, a global report based on the evaluation results from more than 250,000 employees across 2,200+ workplaces in 67 countries. The study looks at how a poorly planned workplace can have a negative impact on employees, inhibiting their ability to perform. The data reveals a shocking level of dissatisfaction among the workforce.

The findings show that while employers continue to face economic uncertainty, many of their employees are having to endure workplaces that fail to support their basic working day, obstructing their ability to positively contribute to business success.

43 per cent of employees globally do not agree that their workplace enables them to work productively. In the UK, that figure jumps to 46 per cent. Therefore, in line with ONS employment figures, For over 1.3 million UK workers, the office is simply not ‘good enough’.

The report points to five key areas that organisations need to focus on:

  1. The top productivity killers: offices are routinely presenting barriers to daily work that impact everything from how proud people are to be there, to how much they actually enjoy working there. The features that have the biggest impact on employees’ ability to work productively are ‘space between work settings’, ‘dividers’ and ‘noise levels’.
  2. The most demanding generation: millennials repeatedly show themselves to have the simplest workloads and thus the narrowest set of requirements. Attention should instead be directed at those in the 35-44 age band who consistently record the lowest satisfaction scores, and typically have more complex roles.
  3. The winner of the open-plan v. private office debate: the research shows that both open-plan and cellular solutions can be equally good and bad. Across 2,200+ workplaces surveyed, employees in the highest performing locations will almost certainly be sat in an open-plan setting, so demonising this way of working is not the way forward.
  4. Workplace transformation projects are not always transformative: with the vast capital sums invested in refurbishment and relocation fit-out projects, leadership teams would be forgiven for expecting them to deliver significant operational benefit. But evidence shows this to not always be the case.
  5. Workplace + Behaviour = Effectiveness: based on Leesman’s research across 11,336 employees in 40 ‘activity-based’ workplaces (where employees can select a series of different spaces that best supports the particular activity being undertaken), these employees rarely work in an activity-based way. In short, employees don’t just change the working habits of a lifetime because employers tell them to.

Dr. Peggie Rothe PhD who led the research said “Great organisations build a business framework that enable their employees to do their best work. And the workplace is integral in this equation. Offices are assets – tools in talent management strategies, gears in product innovation, instruments in brand development and organisational performance. The central findings of this study should concentrate attentions on how workplace strategies can support business competitiveness, not by cost mitigation but through increasing employee engagement, loyalty and output.”

Tim Oldman, Leesman CEO, added “What this report demonstrates is that there is still more that organisations need to be doing if they’re going to leverage the workplace as a source of competitive advantage and a booster of organisational performance. We still see far too many workplaces that are simply not fit for purpose and that represents a huge missed opportunity for business leaders. We hope that the key central findings can help more organisations create better, more productive environments for their workforce.”

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Consumers twice as likely to be satisfied with homes built by small house builders

Consumers are twice as likely to be ‘very satisfied’ with the quality of their new home if it was built by a small and medium-sized (SME) house builder, according to research by the Federation of Master Builders (FMB).

Key results from the FMB’s research into satisfaction rates among people who have bought a home in the past five years show that twice as many people (36%) say they are ‘very satisfied’ with the quality of their new build home if purchased from an SME house builder, compared with those whose home was built by one of the top 20 large builders (17%).

Brian Berry, Chief Executive of the FMB, said “There is a popular misconception that new build homes are poor quality compared to period properties that were built to last. Small local house builders, who hang their hat on delivering high-quality new build homes, find this view immensely frustrating. Our research shows that you are twice as likely to be ‘very satisfied’ with the quality of your new home if it was built by an SME house builder as opposed to one of the large top 20 firms. This research draws a clear distinction between what is being delivered by SMEs and what is being delivered by larger firms.”

“For a small, local builder, reputation is everything. They will typically reside in the same community that they’re building in and are therefore doubly motivated to deliver a high quality product that the home buyer will love. Furthermore, SME building firms are more likely to work with a small team of broadly skilled tradespeople. For example, if an SME house builder only employs three bricklayers, they all need to have a wide range of skills and experience. Large house builders tend to use gangs of semi-skilled bricklayers who can lay row upon row of bricks in a line but only a handful of broadly skilled brickies who can turn corners, build chimneys and arches.”

“If we are to improve the image of the house building sector, all house builders, large and small, need to put quality at the heart of every project. Not only will this make our industry more attractive to new entrants, including children and young people, it will soften planning committees to the prospect of new developments. We are in the midst of a serious housing crisis and in order to win people over and make them more pro-development, we need to deliver fantastic new homes that local people would be proud to have built in their community.”

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Augmented reality on construction sites

A consortium led by civil engineering visualisation expert Soluis Group has received £1m of funding from the government to develop a so-called Augmented Worker System (AWE) for the construction industry.

The project aims to replace paper or handheld devices with hands free heads-up augmented reality (AR) displays that would provide real time access to BIM data, enabling more efficient collaboration between teams and partners.

Starting next month, Innovate UK and Soluis will build on earlier work carried out with Laing O’Rourke on the development of an AR asset management tool, heavily implemented during the construction of Crossrail’s Liverpool Street station.

Other companies involved in the project include IT consultant Pinnacle Business Solutions, modular construction specialist Carbon Dynamic and both the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) and the Advanced Forming Research Centre (AFRC).

The funding was awarded by Innovate UK as part of the Infrastructure Systems competition which aims to stimulate innovation that creates UK business growth in infrastructure systems.

Commenting on the investment, Business Secretary Greg Clark said “The adoption of cutting-edge virtual and augmented reality technology in industries like construction will be vital in helping us identify new, smarter ways of working.”

Martin McDonnell, Chairman of Soluis Group added “The proof of concept project with Crossrail showed how this technology could be applied and add incredible value to the industry.

“Our vision was to develop this concept much further and create a set of tools that would form the augmented worker of the future.

“For a business like us, we could only drive this innovation a certain amount and working with the consortium and receiving funding from Innovate UK will help us achieve this much faster and more effectively.”

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