For many employers, there is no choice but to have staff physically at work rather than working from home. In some instances, it can be a significant proportion of the workforce. From construction and manufacturing to transport, logistics and food production – there are a variety of sectors having to make significant steps to stay on top of the workplace Covid-19 risk. The good news is that there is practical help available.
- Topic:
- Construction
Only about 13% of the entire construction industry is made up of women.
No, that’s not a statistic from the 1950s.
Surprisingly, that’s from 2020.
In total, there are between 2 and 3 million people in the UK employed in the construction industry and is still continuing to grow, being valued at its highest level on record at approximately £99,266 million in 2016.
This outdated view of the construction industry is pretty surprising, considering it is growing at a phenomenal rate. The industry is in high demand, both in the residential and commercial sector. Technology and construction software in the 21st century are transforming the industry, but are they being held back by the lack of female representation?
- Topic:
- Construction
Since Britain woke up to the news in June 2016 confirming the exit from the EU, the implications on business have remained unclear.
Uncertainty of the effects of Brexit in the construction industry have not just been around the regulations and standards, but also the reliance on the market for the import and export of materials, the current skills shortage and funding.
In this article we discuss the possible effects Brexit will have on the construction industry and the businesses within this sector.
- Topic:
- Construction
It’s no secret that profit margins throughout the construction industry are notoriously low. Despite many projects running into millions or even billions of pounds, contractors typically struggle to turn even a 2% margin.
In contrast, other industries that employ many skilled and semi-skilled workers such as car manufacturing can expect a much healthier profit margin of around 6-8%.
- Topic:
- Construction
Fire safety in construction is an ongoing topic of concern, especially since the Grenfell Tower disaster on 14th June 2017.
Grenfell has been heralded as one of the UK’s worst modern disasters and the devastating chain of events involved has led to calls for change across the industry and for legislation governing high rise buildings.
The responsibility of leading this investigation fell to Dame Judith Hackitt, who since releasing her findings has worked tirelessly to be as vocal and open about the findings as possible, including being involved in a number of public webinars and events to shine a spotlight on the issues at hand.
I was fortunate enough to sit in on one of these webinars and have summed up the 40-minute briefing here. It specifically focuses on building regulations and fire safety in high rise buildings in the aftermath of the Grenfell tower disaster.
- Topic:
- Construction
Workplace fatalities have unfortunately risen this year according to the Health and Safety Executive’s annual statistic release. 147 workers were fatally injured between April 2018 and March 2019.
There has been a long-term reduction in workplace fatalities since 1981, but 2018/19 saw an increase of six workplace fatalities from 2017/18.
Following the release, HSE Chair Martin Temple commented:
“Today’s release of workplace fatality statistics is a reminder that despite the UK’s world leading position in Health & Safety, we cannot become complacent as we seek to fulfil our mission in preventing injury, ill health and death at work.”
- Topic:
- Construction
The construction industry has long been maligned for its poor payment practices. Many of the largest contractors are typically taking more than 60 days to pay upwards of 20% of their invoices, with average payment times often extending to 40 or 50 days.
In response, the Government has cracked down on the issue with the introduction of its prompt payment policy. This means that since 1st September this year, companies that do not pay 95% of their subcontractors within 60 days risk being barred from bidding for public projects.
- Topic:
- Construction
In this post, we’ll outline some key ways subcontractors can build ever stronger relationships with main contractors in the construction industry.
But first, here are five things subbies do that are guaranteed to send contractors running for the hills:
- Sending in an incomplete bid
- Sending a bid with errors and inaccurate data
- Submitting the bid after the deadline
- Going back to the contractor with extra charges
- Not responding at all to the contractor’s RFP
Sound familiar? If you recognise any of these happening at your organisation, you could be seriously damaging your chances of forming strong working relationships with contractors, subsequently hindering your chances of securing projects.
- Topic:
- Construction
There’s one thing that’s often overlooked by subbies when it comes to improving bid-winning performance.
We’re talking about internal tendering processes and procedures. Believe it or not, if they aren’t up to scratch, you could be missing out on a lot of new business.
Consider these questions:
- Do you (or your customers) worry about the accuracy of your pricing?
- Do you and your estimating and surveying teams spend a lot of time on mundane admin tasks?
- Do you find it difficult to get a clear view of project costs?
If you answered ‘yes’ to any of these, there’s a good chance the tips in this blog post will be valuable. Follow our action points, and you’ll be well on your way to running a well-oiled tendering process and pricing more jobs than ever before.
So, here are five common mistakes that subcontractors make when tendering for new business (and what to do to fix them).
- Topic:
- Construction
The construction sector has made significant progress on health and safety, but there is always more that can be done. Especially when you consider the UK HSE stats which serve to highlight how important it is to keep on top of health and safety training, compliance and reporting to ensure everything that can be done, is being done.
A key element of ensuring ongoing health and safety in construction is making sure that everyone has the right skills and awareness of risk at all times. This all comes back to training and education and although many construction firms have dedicated health and safety managers, HR also continues to have a vital part to play.
- Topic:
- Construction
