The £200m bill to replace Grenfell Tower-type cladding on about 150 private high-rise blocks in England is to be met by the government. Housing Secretary James Brokenshire had previously said the bill should be footed by the owners, not the taxpayer. But he said owners had been trying to offload the costs on to leaseholders […]
Ecodek have been producing their unique ecodek® WPC board system for over 14 years. In 2018, the production of ecodek® material consumed more than 3600 tonnes of recycled plastic milk bottles and sustainably sourced hardwood fibres. With the versatility to adapt to urban or traditional design schemes, ecodek® will allow the designer to transform outdoor […]
Labour says it would scrap a government scheme that allows offices and industrial buildings to be converted into homes without planning permission. The party said changes to permitted development rules in England had led to the creation of “slum housing and rabbit hutch flats”. It also said developers had been able to avoid building affordable […]
Britain has broken its record for using energy generated from sources other than coal during the hot Easter weekend. National Grid said the UK recorded its longest ever continuous coal-free period over the bank holiday weekend, lasting more than 90 hours. It marks the longest stretch of time in which the UK’s electricity has been […]
Employers and unions have agreed a 2.75% pay rise for construction workers under the Building and Allied Trades Joint Industrial Council (BATJIC) agreement. The increase is below last year’s 3.1% rise and will come into effect from June. The one-year-deal follows successful talks between the the Federation of Master Builders (FMB) and Unite the union. […]
Build UK and the Civil Engineering Contractors Association (CECA) have launched the first phase of a new pre-qualification (PQ) system that they claim will cut bureaucracy in the sector. The trade bodies said the current PQ system is complex and estimated that it costs the industry up to £1bn a year. Currently, the multitude of […]
Construction companies of all sizes are being urged to provide at least one employee with occupational (OH) awareness training following a new report from Loughborough University which highlighted the lack of training particularly in SMEs. The report from Loughborough University, Improving occupational health risk management in SMEs: the role of major projects, looked into how […]
FIS, representative body for the £10 billion finishes and interiors sector in the UK and the Steel Construction Institute (SCI), will launch the much-awaited Technical Report ED017 – Design and Installation of Light Steel External Wall Systems guide with a consortium of industry partners. FIS and the Steel Construction Institute have been working with the […]
Gas boilers will be replaced by low-carbon heating systems in all new homes built after 2025 in an attempt to tackle the escalating climate crisis, Philip Hammond has said. In his spring statement, the chancellor said new properties would use alternative systems, such as heat pumps, to help the UK reduce its carbon emissions. However, […]
Domus Ventilation, part of the Polypipe group, has launched the HRXE range of high performance Mechanical Ventilation with Heat Recovery (MVHR) units for small to medium size residential properties. MVHR systems combine supply and extract ventilation in one system. They efficiently recover the heat typically lost in waste, stale air and use it to temper […]