Construction Industry Council (CIC) News

The Building Safety Bill is the direct result of recommendations made in the Grenfell inquiry and the Hackitt Review. The framework set out in the draft Bill will impact the entire construction supply chain. safety regime with implications ‘Higher risk’ buildings include all multi-occupancy residential buildings over 18 meters high The provisions target ‘higher risk’ buildings, but the bill will introduce a stricter safety regime with implications for all buildings. &...

The Construction Leadership Council welcomed the introduction of the Building Safety Bill to Parliament yesterday by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG). Alongside the introduction of the Building Safety Bill, some draft statutory instruments on scope, duty holders, and competence; as well as transitional provisions have been published.  new regulatory regime The Bill will define the scope of the new regulatory regime and includes: Establishing the new Bu...

The Institution of Fire Engineers (IFE) has comprehensively reviewed its communications and activities to improve its services and qualifications for members and strengthen its global influence in the two key areas of competence and sustainability. With over 100 years of history, the professional membership body enables fire sector workers to increase their knowledge, professional recognition, and understanding of fire through a global discourse. It is instrumental in shaping a future world tha...

CIC has inaugurated Justin Sullivan as its new Chair at its Council Meeting. Justin succeeds Stephen Hodder MBE in this role for a two-year term of office starting with immediate effect. Stephen now becomes Deputy Chairman for a year, by CIC’s rules and by-laws. Justin Sullivan Justin Sullivan is a Chartered Quantity Surveyor with more than 30 years of experience Justin Sullivan is a Chartered Quantity Surveyor with more than 30 years of experience in the construction industry and foun...

The fire risk appraisal and assessment of external wall construction and cladding of existing blocks of flats – Code of practice (PAS 9980) has been issued as a Draft for Public Comment (DPC). The public consultation will last for a month and will close on Thursday 20 May 2021. registration and CIC response If there is a new user, they will need to register before logging in for the first time. Registration is free and only takes a couple of minutes. Where possible, comments should...

The Fire Protection Association (FPA) is delighted to announce that it has been awarded UKAS accreditation to carry out fire tests on watermist systems to BS 8458: 2015 Fixed fire protection systems - residential and domestic watermist systems - code of practice for design and installation. automatic fire suppression systems It is proud to be heading the way as one of the first UK fire testing facilities accredited to offer this important British Standard test. The desire for automatic fire s...

Recently, BAFE published information discussing the roadmap for easing COVID-19 restrictions and that this should prompt reviews on fire safety.  Within this, BAFE reassured that fire safety service providers continue to operate as safely as possible following appropriate COVID-19 guidance to help clients meet their obligations. free rapid lateral flow tests The Construction Industry Council (CIC) has distributed important information that the Government is providing free rapid lateral f...

The Architects Registration Board (ARB) has published new guidelines for all architects on Fire and life safety design and Sustainability. Everyone deserves a built environment that helps people to live healthy, happy and safe lives. Anyone using an architect, or an environment designed by an architect should have confidence in their professionalism and quality. ARB protects the public by ensuring everyone admitted to the Register has the necessary skills, knowledge, experience, and behaviors...

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has announced the appointment of a Chief Inspector of Buildings to establish and lead the new Building Safety Regulator (BSR). new building safety regulator Peter Baker, HSE’s current Director of Building Safety and Construction, will take up the post with immediate effect. The government asked HSE to establish a new building safety regulator in the wake of the Grenfell Tower disaster and following recommendations in the ‘Building a Safer Futu...

Robert Jenrick MP, The Secretary of State for Housing, Communities, and Local Government, announced a “New £30 million fund for leaseholders in England to pay for the installation of fire alarm systems in high-rise buildings with cladding.”  Adding that this will remove or reduce “the need for costly interim safety measures such as waking watch.” Install common fire alarms The written statement continues by saying that “This step is supported...

The Government must improve on the details if it is to demonstrate that its new building safety proposals will drive much-needed reform in the sector. The findings come in a report published by the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee following pre-legislative scrutiny of the draft Building Safety Bill. The proposed legislation sets out the framework the Government intends to adopt to implement a new building safety regime and to remedy the flaws in the existing system ident...

CIC is pleased to announce a new partnership with Accredex, e-Learning and accreditation experts, to help provide innovative and timely e-learning for industry professionals. In the coming months, CIC will be working across its membership and network to identify gaps in the training market which they will seek to address. E-Learning can provide a flexible platform for the industry to tackle their training needs whilst also fitting in with work and lifestyle. Virtual learning services Accrede...

The competence requirements for the proposed new role of the Building Safety Manager have been set out in a new report ‘safer people, safer homes: Building Safety Management’. Under new legislation being introduced in the draft Building Safety Bill published in July, those deemed responsible in law for the safety of higher-risk building, such as the landlord, will be required to appoint a Building Safety Manager. In the draft Building Safety Bill, homes that fall in the higher ris...

A blueprint to improve competence for those working on higher-risk buildings and drive culture change has been set out by a cross-industry group representing more than 150 organizations in the fire and built environment industries. Setting the Bar is the second and final report of the Competence Steering Group (CSG) and is an update of its Interim Report, Raising the Bar, published in August 2019. The work was initiated by the recommendations in Dame Judith Hackitt’s review Building a Saf...

The competence requirements for the proposed new role of the Building Safety Manager have been set out in a new report Safer People, Safer Homes: Building Safety Management. Under new legislation being introduced in the draft Building Safety Bill published in July, those deemed responsible in law for the safety of higher-risk buildings, such as the landlord, will be required to appoint a Building Safety Manager. In the draft Building Safety Bill, homes that fall in the higher risk category...

A blueprint to improve competence for those working on higher-risk buildings and drive culture change has been set out by a cross-industry group representing more than 150 organizations in the fire and built environment industries. Setting the Bar is the second and final report of the Competence Steering Group (CSG) and is an update of its Interim Report, Raising the Bar, published in August 2019. The work was initiated by the recommendations in Dame Judith Hackitt’s review Building a Saf...

SP Energy Networks has partnered with UK homebuilding trade associations - HomeBuilders Federation, Civil Engineering Contractors Association (CECA), and Homes for Scotland - to launch the initiative to encourage the construction industry to follow strict safety guidelines and reduce the number of electrical incidents. most common accidents Reports reveal that to date in 2020 there have been 51 safety incidents on construction sites and around five people die each year, due to accidental...

Following her appointment earlier this year, Ann Allen MBE has become the new Chief Executive Officer at the Chartered Institution of Civil Engineering Surveyors (CICES). Speaking after her first fortnight at CICES, Ann Allen, said: "The thing that has impressed me in the couple of weeks I’ve been here is the level of professionalism and the quality of the work that is done in CICES. It's extraordinary. I want to build on that even further with greater collaboration and knowledge sharing...

CIC welcomes the MHCLG’s publication of the draft Building Safety Bill, together with its associated guidance and the Home Office’s publication of the Fire Safety Consultation. Taken together, CIC believes that the new legislative framework has the potential to deliver the most fundamental improvements to building safety regulation for over 50 years. These will include: A new national regulator that will strengthen the whole regulatory system for building safety, Greater acco...

Professional competence recommendations set out in Dame Judith Hackitt’s Building a Safer Future report are set to be fulfilled by BSI with a new standards program. BSI, in its role as the UK National Standards Body, announced a new National Standards program to raise professional competence in the built environment sector. The standards aim to tackle the competence challenges identified in the Independent Review of Building Regulations and Fire Safety, Building a Safer Future,...

Leadership organizations from across the building control sector have come together in the ‘Future of building control working group’ to develop 11 key recommendations for the future oversight and regulation of the profession and Building Control Bodies. The group has produced proposals for regulation of the building control profession following a discussion with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG). Reform of the building control sector is an important...

Following the Grenfell Tower tragedy and the points raised under the Dame Judith Hackitt review covering compliance and competence with independently tested products, the IFC scheme was developed with the Smoke Control Association (SCA). Developed to raise the importance of smoke control and the use of the EN/BSI and ISO standards, utilizing SCA guides for fire safety in buildings alongside of sprinklers. The IFC SDI 19 scheme is the first smoke control scheme accredited to UKAS. competence an...

The Considerate Constructors Scheme (CCS), which was appointed earlier this year to develop and manage the Building a Safer Future (BSF) Charter, is now recruiting for a Chair and Board Members for the BSF Charter. The BSF Charter has been created to help build public trust and raise standards in the industry by promoting an urgent and positive culture change in the safety of the built environment. It is a direct response to Dame Judith Hackitt’s Building a Safer Future Review set up in t...

At a meeting of its Council on 9 June 2020, Members of the Construction Industry Council (CIC) appointed Justin Sullivan as its new Deputy Chair commencing with immediate effect. Justin is expected to succeed Stephen Hodder MBE, the incumbent Chair, following CIC’s June 2021 Council meeting when Stephen will stand down from his two year term of office as Chair and resume the role of Deputy Chair for one last year, in accordance with CIC’s rules and byelaws. High-end residential sec...

The Construction Industry Council (CIC) is recommending government extends the ban on the use of combustible materials to a wider range of buildings than is currently proposed. It wants the ban to include care homes, halls of residence, and potentially schools. The CIC recommendations are in response to a government consultation first published in January, which proposes changing the Building Regulations to ban the use of combustible materials in and on external walls and in specified attachmen...

The Construction Industry Council are providing two opportunities that may be of benefit. The first is a Webinar on Employment and Jobs during the current COVID-19 (Coronavirus) crisis focusing on the self-employed and freelance workers, which will take place today (15/04/2020) at 2pm. The webinar will last for one hour and is being led by Charles Homan of UHY Hacker Young. Zoom webinar 15 April 2020 02:00 PM on the topic of: Help for the self-employed in the age of Coronavirus. The second is t...

Over 3,500 flood professionals will fill Birmingham’s NEC on the 11th and 12th of September to attend the world’s largest flood exhibition and conference - The Flood Expo 2019. With 150 cutting-edge supplier exhibitors, 100 expert-led seminars, and some of the brightest minds, engineers, and authorities within the sector all under one roof. The Flood Expo will showcase the innovative products, services, and infrastructure helping to deal with an ever-increasing global threat. The F...

The Construction Industry Council (CIC) inaugurated Stephen Hodder MBE as its new Chair at its Council Meeting on 11 June 2019. Stephen succeeds Professor John Nolan, in this role for a two year term of office starting with immediate effect. John Nolan now becomes Deputy Chairman for a year, in accordance with CIC’s rules and byelaws. Stephen Hodder MBE, a former RIBA President, is the Chairman of Hodder + Partners is the incorporated continuation of Hodder Associates which he founded in....

Developers, engineers, building owners, tech start-ups, and coders are needed to join a central London Hackathon that will bring experts together to develop new, commercially viable solutions that will radically change the face of fire safety within buildings in the UK and around the world. Hosted by the Association for Project Safety (APS), the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET), and Hack_Construct, the free-to-attend, two-day Hackathon will take place at the IET London: Savoy Pla...

Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) England launches best-practice guidance for employers on how to implement Mental Health First Aid in the workplace. This follows the Health and Safety Executive’s (HSE) recent recommendation to include ‘mental health trained first aiders’ as part of employers’ first aid needs assessments. To date over 15,000 organizations across the country have already trained staff in MHFA England courses. According to the HSE, 15.4 million working days a...