Government

Council-funded projects face an uncertain future as a once-steady source of work for contractors comes under financial strain. Keith Cooper reports Local authority-led projects to develop, remodel and maintain estates of town halls, leisure centres – and everything in between – feed a steady stream of work for contractors. Councils…

Which projects are likely to have the biggest impact on the industry in the year ahead? Keith Cooper reports Houses of Parliament Politicians and construction firms alike are standing by for more details on the beleaguered Palace of Westminster restoration. After more than 7,500 hours of surveys being carried out…

Rebecca Hartshorn is the national framework director at John Sisk & Son The UK could easily find itself in a period of tumultuous politics in the near future, but it’s vitally important that public sector projects are able to continue as normally as possible. The potential for a change of…

Amy Pairman is an associate and Eric Johnstone is a senior associate at law firm Brodies On 17 August, the government released its response to its 2022 consultation on the new building-control regime for ‘high-risk buildings’, as part of changes under the Building Safety Act. The government has also published,…

Joanna Hunt is head of immigration at Fieldfisher Recent developments in the immigration sector have been a bit of a mixed bag for the construction industry. When it was announced recently that several construction roles would be added to the shortage occupations list to enable companies to recruit overseas workers…

Juliette Enser is senior director of cartels at the Competition and Markets Authority In March, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) fined 10 construction firms nearly £60m for illegally colluding over £150m-worth of private and public sector contracts. This was just the latest example of our focus to root out…

The Work at Height Regulations save lives and are hugely popular in the construction sector. But will moves to ‘sunset’ all EU laws dilute – or even destroy – them? Behind the innocuous-sounding ‘Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill’, lies the prospect of an assault by the government on…

The Autumn Statement may have protected major-project spending in the short term, but difficult decisions lie ahead. By David Prosser If politics is a game of managing expectations, Rishi Sunak and Jeremy Hunt pulled off a coup in November. For weeks in the build-up to the chancellor’s Autumn Statement, ministers…

Will the government’s extra £6bn in funding turbocharge energy efficiency in buildings – or is it just another headline-grabber? Adam Branson reports Whisper it, but at long last the government might just be starting to get at least vaguely serious about improving the energy efficiency of the nation’s buildings. In…

Proposed requirements for energy-efficient homes in Scotland could provide a sharp learning curve for contractors, their supply chain and end users. By Tiya Thomas-Alexander Just before Christmas, the Scottish Government made a significant announcement. Following a public consultation, it threw its weight behind a member’s bill proposing that all new…