Government

Tim Claremont (left) is a partner and Gavin Hoccom is a senior associate at law firm Browne Jacobson The Building Safety Act 2022 received Royal Assent at the end of April. The government has described its contents as “the biggest changes to building safety regulation in a generation”. For once…

Chris Hallam is a partner at CMS Law Last month’s opening of the Elizabeth Line has reminded us – such that it was needed – that politicians don’t need to be asked twice to don a hard hat and hi-vis if there’s a photo opportunity in the offing. It’s play…

Rudi Klein (pictured left) is a barrister and Stephen Woodward is a risk management consultant. Klein was formerly chief executive of the Specialist Engineering Contractors’ Group, which campaigned for 20 years to reform payment retentions in construction The construction industry has long had a problem with diversity of thinking. Too…

The new Building Safety Act extends liability for safety defects out to 30 years, bringing far-reaching consequences for contractors. Joshua Stein investigates

When the Building Safety Act 2022 received Royal Assent at the end of April, it included a five-fold extension to liability for safety defects in residential buildings. The new…

Ryan Dawson is IR35 programme manager at insurance broker Kingsbridge  When IR35 tax reforms came into force in April 2021, several construction firms introduced blanket bans on the use of contractors classed as personal service companies (PSCs). Given that the industry has a long and well-established history of engaging successfully…

Adam Nicholson is group pre-construction director at McLaren Construction One area of the Building Safety Act with obvious potential to transform the character of the construction industry is the competency requirement placed on site operatives. The Hackitt Review described a fragmented industry of competing competency frameworks, and installers failing to…

Simon Harris is senior director of operations at Randstad UK, Construction & Property Leo Quinn, the boss of Balfour Beatty, recently told the FT that he believes Britain is in for a decade-long infrastructure boom. He has a point – the government forecasts £650bn worth of investment in infrastructure over the…

“This is just the start,” says Peter Baker, chief inspector of buildings at the Health & Safety Executive (HSE), on the Building Safety Act’s recent Royal Assent. “The act is very complex and very comprehensive,” he explains. “But it is primarily an enabling piece of legislation […] It will have…

Stuart Goodall is chief executive of the Confederation of Forest Industries (Confor) The Confederation of Forest Industries (Confor) recently warned that the UK faces declining supplies of homegrown wood due to a lack of productive tree planting. With the country needing to import more than 80 per cent of its wood requirement, the UK…

Theresa Mohammed is a partner and Laura Lintott is a senior associate at Trowers & Hamlins LLP The Arbitration Act 1996 reform is in full stride and on its way. On 30 November 2021, the Law Commission announced that it will begin the process of reviewing the Arbitration Act 1996…