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News in Brief... Focus on Corporation Tax powers devolution With Corporation Tax devolution powers set to be devolved to the Northern Ireland Assembly, and a Northern Ireland rate of 12.5% coming in to play on 1 April 2018, it is critical that all companies are aware of the tax changes and their respective preparedness. With this in mind we recently ran a seminar with PwC on the detail of the tax changes and how they would affect your business. A copy of the slide presentation is available for members from the CEF website. In addition, PwC have a free tool that companies are encouraged to use so that you can ascertain your own preparedness for the introduction of the Northern Ireland rate of Corporation Tax in April 2018. The link to the diagnostic tool, called NI Ready, is here - https://mytaxpartner.pwc.com/ tools/ni-ready You may need to register at the following address first in order to access the diagnostic: www.mytaxpartner.com The registration process is straightforward and takes a couple of minutes. Registration also gives you access to a wealth of other free tax diagnostic tools, modellers and advice, in addition to NI Ready. Should you have any specific queries then please feel free to contact Martin Fleetwood from PwC via the details below: Martin Fleetwood PwC | Partner Office: +44 (0)2890 415486 | Mobile: +44 (0) 7803 832442 Email: martin.fleetwood@uk.pwc. com CEF |29 THE VOICE OF THE INDUSTRY IN NORTHERN IRELAND EU Referendum casts growing shadow over Northern Ireland’s construction sector Around a fifth of Northern Ireland’s construction companies are operating at less than half capacity, with demand in GB and the Republic of Ireland (RoI) also down. That’s according to the latest State of Trade survey from the Construction Employers’ Federation (CEF) and PwC. The survey also suggests that uncertainty over the forthcoming EU referendum outcome may be impacting on industry confidence, with 80% of Federation members saying that the UK should stay in the EU. The latest CEF assessment for the first three months (Q1) of 2016 shows that close to a quarter (22%) of companies were operating in survival mode, while the percentage of companies confident of growth and profitability fell slightly from 50% in Q1 2015 to 48% in Q1 2016. The proportion of firms reporting that their current workload had increased rose slightly to 33% in Q1 2016, from 27.5% in Q1 2015 but remained well below on the first three months of 2014 when half of companies surveyed reported increased demand and workload. Two years ago, in Q1 2014, almost a quarter of CEF members’ work done was in construction activity outside Northern Ireland (almost entirely Great Britain and RoI). That fell to 17% in Q1 2015 and then again in Q1 2016, when only 13% of work was in GB and/or RoI markets. The decline was largely driven by a reduction in work in GB - down from 15% in Q1 2014 to about 10% throughout 2015 and falling to 6% in Q1 2016, the survey found. Commenting on the survey results CEF Managing Director John Armstrong, said the industry was not showing any real signs of sustainable recovery: “This is another survey which suggests that the construction sector is not sharing in Northern Ireland’s modest economic recovery, let alone the significant growth that is being exhibited elsewhere in the UK and Ireland. “The proportion of companies in survival mode is up, those anticipating growth and profitability are down and the percentage of work in Great Britain and Ireland has fallen. “This picture is reinforced by official data from NISRA’s Construction Bulletin, which reported falling output in the latter half of 2015. “While industry output stood at £618m during Q4 of 2015 – a year on year rise of 3% - this actually represented a fall from £643m during Q1 of the year and falls significantly short of the all-time high of £904m in Q1 of 2007. “We are operating in an environment where growth in housebuilding is broadly flat and where output in infrastructure and roads has actually declined. “The one glimmer of light is that over a third of our members say they expect things to get better – I sincerely hope they are right. “Construction and infrastructure accounts for around 6% of UK GDP. But it also delivers instant results – direct employment, high wages, indirect jobs, and greater community cohesion. The new Executive therefore needs to work with the industry to develop and deliver a significant pipeline of projects which will be crucial to the long term sustainability and success of the construction industry in Northern Ireland. “We urge the Executive to look at their infrastructure opportunities and priorities and to act. There is an opportunity to give confidence to developers, and incentives to the industry, which combined, will accelerate growth into the economy.” CEF also reported that 60% of their full and associate members had responded to their survey in respect of EU membership, with 80% believing that the UK should remain within the EU. Only 16% of members said they would support leaving, John Armstrong said: “This is an industry for which borders represent barriers, where access to the EU market is important and where mobility of labour and currency stability is crucial. “The fall in construction output across the UK in Q1 of 2016, has been attributed to concerns over the implications for continued EU membership. This may, in part account for the somewhat downbeat Northern Ireland results, but it is clear that the industry, right across the UK, has concerns about the outcome of the vote on 23 June. “And while CEF has itself not taken a position on this debate, it is clear that the overwhelming majority of members are concerned at the implications for the UK of leaving the EU.”
News in Brief... Federation engages with Head of the Civil Service In late April, the Federation was delighted to be joined by Dr Malcolm McKibbin, Head of the Civil Service, for an informal dinner with members that focused on the arrangements for the Northern Ireland Executive’s new Programme for Government after May 5th’s election. From this engagement, we expected the Executive parties to have agreed a high level, outcomes focused Programme for Government by the end of May – as has now happened. This will then be subject to public consultation and detailed co-design work on the delivery frameworks underneath it over the coming six months. In addition, a revised Investment Strategy, Economic Strategy and Budget for the years 2017/18 to 2020/21 will be in place by Christmas. There will be an extensive programme of engagement with Federation members on these documents once they begin to come out in the public domain. For further information please contact David Fry on 028 9087 7143 or davidf@cefni.co.uk. Joint Council Promulgates Changes to Pension Contributions The Joint Council for the Building and Civil Engineering Industry (Northern Ireland) decided at its meeting on 6 May to promulgate changes to pension contributions effective from 5 December 2016. The Promulgation Notice confirms that both employer and employee contributions to Enhance Construction Pension Scheme Northern Ireland will increase by 1% to 4% and 5% respectively. It has also been agreed that where an employee does not make pension contributions the employer will not be required to pay contributions. The requirement for employers to continue to provide death benefit will remain in place. Federation members can access the Notice via the CEF website. New Northern Ireland Executive appointed and draft PfG published Late May saw the appointment of the new Northern Ireland Executive under its restructured nine departmental model. In addition, the Committee Chair’s and Vice Chair’s of all Northern Ireland Assembly committees have also been confirmed. The Federation will be extensively engaging will relevant Ministers, senior officials and Committee Chair’s/Vice Chair’s over the coming weeks and months – including meeting with the leaders of the new Opposition. In addition, the draft Programme for Government Framework has been published – a consultation on this has now commenced and will close on 22 July. The Federation will be making a detailed response to this and members will be asked for their views on it over the coming weeks. The full document is available via: https://www.northernireland.gov.uk/consultations/draft-programme-government-framework-2016-21-andquestionnaire CDM 2016: Are you ready? T The Construction (Design & Management) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2016 will come into operation on 1 August 2016. The new regulations will replace CDM 2007 and are almost identical to CDM 2015 which is currently operational in GB. The main difference is the “Transitional Provisions” element which is 12 months rather than the 6 months transition period operated when the regulations changed in GB. The main difference between CDM 2016 compared to CDM 2007 is that the CDM- Coordinator role is being replaced by a Principal Designer who will have a more central role in the project. Now more than ever therefore it is important that construction companies manage health and safety risk and Safe-T- Cert can help with this. Safe-T-Cert is a third party health and safety management system supported by the Institute of Occupational Health and Safety (IOSH), one of the most respected health and safety organisations in the world. Currently approximately six hundred companies in Northern Ireland have demonstrated during annual audit that they have implemented an occupational health and safety management system which meets the requirements of Safe-T-Cert and are continual improving. Many construction companies will already have the bones of a system in place including a health and safety policy, relevant insurances along with risk assessments and method statements. Having the system certified by Safe-T-Cert indicates a professional approach to health and safety to both your clients and employees. Safe-T-Cert fulfils the requirements of the Buildsafe Initiative and is also accredited by the Safety Schemes in Procurement (SSIP) Forum. This combination means Safe-T-Cert meets the conditions of Northern Ireland public sector procurement policy and widens the recognition of Safe-T-Cert in GB.
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Page 17 and 18: digest |17 CLOUD OFFSITE CONSTRUCTI
Page 19 and 20: RSUA Design Awards |19 About: This
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Page 23 and 24: John Simpson Top 100|23 been sharpl
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Page 40: 40| Fleet Financial Fleet Financial
Page 43 and 44: Fifty years of creating spaces and
Page 45 and 46: SUSTAINABILITY & ENVIRONMENT Caldwe
Page 47 and 48: LIGHTING DESIGN CONSULTANCY Much of
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Page 64 and 65: 64 | prices Building Materials Pric
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