Construction News

Another manufacturer of wearable tech is repurposing its products for the social distancing, one of Britain's hottest markets right now.

Construction industry association Build UK reports today that its contractor members now have 86% of their infrastructure and construction sites in England and Wales open, up from 82% last week.

HempFlax, Europe's largest independent industrial hemp grower and processor, has set up a building supplies division.

The Construction leadership Council has drawn up a new version of its coronavirus site operating procedures, scrapping the 15-minute limit for contact between construction workers.

Housing secretary Robert Jenrick has announced changes to the planning system to help support 'safe' construction.

The government’s Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme will remain open until the end of October, the chancellor announced today (Tuesday 12 May 2020).

London-based specialist contractor McGee Group is now owned by its employees of the McGee family moved ownerships to an employee ownership trust (EOT).

Confusion surrounds the latest government edict that any worker in England unable to work from home should get back out to work.

Prime minister Boris Johnson addressed the nation last night and said that it was time to get back to work.

A new trailblazer apprenticeship for construction plant operatives has now been approved by the Institute for Apprenticeships & Technical Education (IfATE) and is nearly ready for use.

While debate continues around the science behind social distancing, a growing number of companies are seeing it as a business opportunity.

Leicester City Council is trialling battery-powered machinery in its grounds maintenance operations in place of traditional petrol power.

Latest intelligence collected by the Builders Merchants Federation (BMF) shows that there has been a 7% increase in the past week in the number of UK stores that are open.

Barratt Developments, Britain's largest housebuilder, will begin reopening half its sites on Monday 11th May.

Central Building Contractors (Glasgow) has gone into administration, with all but 11 of the 159 employees immediately losing their jobs.

House-builder Bellway has announced a resumption of works on some of its sites from next week (Monday 4th May 2000).

Major contractors now have nearly 70% of their construction sites in England and Wales back at work.

Construction site workers in England with coronavirus symptoms are now eligible to get tested, and so are their families.

The National Access & Scaffolding Confederation reports that the number of accidents and injuries recorded by its members fell to an all-time low in 2019.

Construction union Unite has called for the Health & Safety Executive to ramp up site visits to police social distancing on sites.

Some of the Interserve workers who are turning the Birmingham NEC into a makeshift field hospital have been kitted out with special backpacks that signal when they get too close to anyone else.

Unite Scotland has called for all non-essential construction sites to remain closed and for there to be legislation on keeping workers 2m apart.

The UK furloughing scheme portal opened on Monday 20th April. Here, Joanne Moseley of law firm Irwin Mitchell answers the questions that employees in the construction industry are asking.

After a four-week shut-down, some of Britian's biggest house-builders are preparing to get back to work very soon.

The trades union Unite is not happy about the latest version of the Construction Leadership Council’s coronavirus Site Operating Procedures.

A shipment of 266 dangerously substandard metal ladders has been intercepted by Suffolk County Council trading standards officers.

The Construction Plant-hire Association (CPA) has published guidance for those working on and around construction plant during the Covid-19 pandemic.

A third version of the coronavirus Site Operating Procedures has been published, with the addition of a risk management table.

The temporary shut-down of construction sites across the country has, perhaps unsurprisingly, led to a dramatic upturn in the number of plant thefts.

The Builders Merchants Federation has produced what might be the construction industry’s most useful service of the moment – a list of where to get supplies.