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MMC Latest News Skills, not Brexit, the main threat to construction industry Worsening skills shortages are the main threat to the UK construction industry, according to leading recruitment company for the construction industry. Paul Payne, managing director of One Way, comments “the construction industry has benefitted from being part of the EU as it has given the sector access to a lot of workers who have moved over and filled lower skilled roles, however we’ve never seen any great influx of skilled professionals who can work as design managers or quantity surveyors, for example. “These people are needed across the entire industry and currently there are far too few of them. The only solution is to focus on targeting more apprentices and youngsters at school level as well as widening the scope of people who are potentially interested in working in the industry. “Ultimately, something needs to happen quickly as we’re rapidly approaching a breaking point where productivity will be affected.” A country running on renewables Costa Rica is setting the precedent for other nations looking to utilise green energy and reduce their carbon footprint. The small Central American nation has generated 100% of its electricity from renewable sources for over 121 days, and the run isn’t over yet. The country, which draws clean energy from a variety of renewable sources, still has its sights on a full year without fossil fuels. Green ambitions According to the government they are aiming to be entirely free from fossil fuels by 2021. However, it is anticipated that this impressive target could indeed be met much sooner than originally expected. In comparison, some countries could be perceived as simply not doing enough to tackle climate change and improve our energy habits. Costa Rica achieving 99% renewable energy usage this year sends a stark message to the rest of the world of what is possible when a country unites to make a concerted effort to fight global warming using sustainable energy sources and technologies already at our disposal. Stewart Milne Timber Systems completes £3.6m school Stewart Milne Timber Systems has provided the timber solutions for a £3.6m school development in Swindon alongside architect Cullinan Studio. Holy Cross primary school is a two-form, single-storey school which was manufactured offsite, taking only three weeks to erect and 43 weeks to complete thanks to the fast build time afforded by offsite construction and timber systems. The main design principle, like many modern education buildings today, was an open-plan look to enhance creativity and collaboration between pupils and teachers. Priority was also placed on ensuring the building increased circulation and flow around the school. The project remained cost efficient with the use of offsite construction, cutting material and labour costs overall. The building was weathertight in just three weeks, meaning follow-on trades had access more quickly in comparison to a traditional build programme. How timber frame can help meet housing demand The Department for Communities and Local Government figures released this month indicating that the number of households in England is projected to increase at an average of 210,000 a year between 2014 and 2039 are the latest indicator of the need to both attract more skilled tradespeople into the construction industry and focus on building homes which are quicker to construct. Encouraging more people to consider careers in housebuilding is of course key to helping us address this shortfall. But in tandem with this we need to seriously concentrate on upping the number of quicker to build – yet still good quality – homes. Timber frame homes have a typically far shorter construction period than their brick and block equivalents. Creating the panels and associated services offsite is far quicker, while the on site component requires around 20% fewer labour days than a traditional build. The Structural Timber Association expects the timber frame market in the UK to account for 27% of new housing by 2017. Government gives final confirmation on Hinkley Point C Following a comprehensive review of the Hinkley Point C project, and a revised agreement with EDF, the Government has decided to proceed with the first new nuclear power station for a generation. The agreement in principle with EDF means that the Government will be able to prevent the sale of EDF’s controlling stake prior to the completion of construction, without the prior notification and agreement of ministers. This agreement will be confirmed in an exchange of letters between the Government and EDF. Existing legal powers, and the new legal framework, will mean that the Government is able to intervene in the sale of EDF’s stake once Hinkley is operational. This news will undoubtedly come as a shock to the many people in support of the Stop Hinkley campaign. A recent public opinion poll commissioned by Greenpeace which showed that support amongst the general public for Hinkley Point C has fallen to a new low of only 25%, whilst nearly half (44%) oppose it. 4 MMC Sep/Oct 2016 MI
Bringing stress to work can be fatal British Safety Council launches a film the British Safety Council aim to highlight how stress endangers lives. Matthew Holder, Head of Campaigns and Engagement at the British Safety Council, commented: “It is well documented that stress is a significant cause of sickness absence, undermining both productivity and profitability. What is less discussed is how stress can endanger lives.” There is a lot of statistical evidence demonstrating the consequences of stress at work: • In 2014/15, 440,000 people in the UK reported work-related stress at a level they believed was making them ill. That's 40% of all work-related illness (source: HSE). • Stress is believed to be a major cause of accidents in the workplace, with evidence showing that 60-80% of accidents are related to workplace stress. • A survey of 2,500 doctors found that job stress was a major predictor of work-related accidents. Fatigue, in particular, is associated with a threefold increased risk of sharps injuries in medical trainees compared with other healthcare workers. 87% of UK builders missing out on business due to poor online presence Yell, one of the biggest providers of digital marketing in the UK, has discovered an overwhelming majority of builders (87%) it researched have wrong or inconsistent information online, including basic details such as a phone number or email. Feedback shows 89% of customers say they will try another company if the details listed online for a particular business are incorrect. Yell conducted research into how the 50,630 builders in its UK database appear online, also asking customers nationwide about their online habits and expectations. “If a company’s information online is wrong, it’s arguably worse than not being online at all,” said Mark Clisby, Yell’s Marketing Director. “Not only is the company effectively invisible to customers, it can also seem careless or even untrustworthy. This often happens because companies don’t always know all the listings sites where they appear, or when they move they forget to update their information. It’s easily done, but can be incredibly damaging for business.” Industry risks running out of timber if we don’t become more sustainable A new report commissioned by WWF finds that UK businesses must invest in sustainable forest management if they are to guarantee access to timber that their businesses rely on in the near future. Leading countries that supply timber to the UK are either at the point of expiry or running at a deficit as forest resources are used without adequate provision for sustainable timber supply. As the international market for timber will change in its dynamics in the next decades, without urgent action UK businesses who have failed to adequately plan for continuity of their timber resource could be left exposed with fewer commercial options. The implications are far reaching with WWF’s Living Forests report series concluding that global demand for timber is expected to triple by 2050. Julia Young, Global Forest and Trade Network Manager for WWF- UK said “Businesses need to review how their timber is sourced if they want to secure supply for the future, and keep timber prices stable.” Offsite construction can attract the next generation of construction professionals Ministers have recently announced that they want the construction industry to focus efforts on attracting, developing and retaining home grown talent into the industry and remove barriers currently preventing more young people from entering the sector. This involves looking at how companies recruit and train, but also at how adopting modern technologies and methods could help to keep our sector interesting, up-to-date and attractive to the next generation of budding construction professionals. The prime benefit of modular building and offsite construction is that it provides specifiers with programme certainty and quality through simplification of site operations and reduced weather dependencies due to the controlled factory-based assembly process. The ancillary benefit of this is that buildings delivered through offsite construction offer enhanced specification standards and build-quality which reduces occupancy costs related to energy use, defects and repairs. If we are to harness the true potential of the recent uptake in modular, we need to focus heavily on training an existing workforce whilst also attracting new talent into our midst. Many schools are “dangerous, dilapidated, poorly built and wasteful”, says RIBA RIBA have highlighted the urgent need for school refurbishment in a report into the state of school buildings, entitled ‘Better Spaces for Learning.’ The report revealed: • 1 in 5 teachers have considered quitting because of the wretched condition of the school buildings they have to teach in • The Government’s Education Funding Agency’s new school building programme is too rigid and is leading to waste and poor value for tax payers • Over 90% of teachers believe well-built and designed schools improve educational outcomes and pupil behaviour • Over-engineered schools, with Government-specified equipment that only costly consultants know how to operate, is costing £150 million per year which could have been avoided if schools were designed better RIBA’s Better Spaces for Learning report makes the case for an urgent review of the Government’s Education Funding Agency’s current school building programme. It emphasises the importance of well-designed school buildings on young people’s wellbeing, behaviour engagement and crucially, attainment. MMC Sep/Oct 2016 M1 5
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