In today’s news, we will look into the Launch with the intention of raising awareness about fire safety in the building industry in the United Kingdom. In the meantime, a survey conducted by RLB UK and Operance not too long ago discovered that 27 percent of the construction industry was unprepared for the criteria of Building Safety. Additionally, the revolution in connectivity is essential to the solution of the productivity conundrum in the construction industry. In addition, the United Kingdom has increased its housing targets in order to revitalise the construction industry. This development is a result of the government’s decision to revamp the planning system, which will result in the establishment of new required targets for local councils.
UK Construction Fire Safety Awareness Improved via Building Safety Wiki
Original Source: Building Safety Wiki launched to enhance fire safety awareness in UK construction
UK launches comprehensive building safety web portal
This month, the UK unveiled a comprehensive, free online building safety centre.
The Building Safety Wiki raises fire and life safety knowledge in building planning, commissioning, design, construction, surveying, maintenance and management.
As Liz Male noted, this campaign comes ahead of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry’s final findings and recommendations to communicate essential information about the UK’s new building safety regime, particularly the Building Safety Act 2022 and related fire safety regulations.
The Wiki provides fire and building safety news, recommendations, factual articles, and expert opinions from trusted sources.
The Designing Buildings Wiki, with over 7 million users, 20,000 registered users, and approximately 300 building safety pages, provides much of its information.
Content from over ten years will be updated and extended.
Features and contributions
Use the Wiki’s search box or quick links to access project or discipline-specific content.
To fill knowledge gaps, anyone can add or update articles on the platform.
Liz Male Consulting Ltd. and Enframe Consulting sponsor the Building Safety Wiki.
LMC is a PR and marketing firm, while Enframe provides architects with Building Safety Act-related construction and design advice.
Liz Male, founding director of LMC, said: “The new building safety regime affects all aspects of construction and the built environment, setting new standards, policies and processes to restore confidence in building safety.
However, in our talks with industry professionals, we often find knowledge gaps, confusion about the new standards, or perceptions that ‘this doesn’t apply to me’.
The September Grenfell Tower Inquiry report will shock the world again, thus we must all work to prevent such a tragedy.
Industry impact and prospects
Enframe Consulting director Will Freeman said, “This Building Safety Wiki is a significant step forward in creating a centralised hub for essential building safety information.
Our goal is to share knowledge openly to improve building practices and save lives.
“Architects, engineers, contractors, and clients should know how to comply and improve industry safety.
“I hope other fire and building industry experts will come forward to keep adding vital information into this Wiki, and generations of students and industry professionals will benefit from the facts they learn here.”
The Building Safety Wiki promotes building industry best practices and knowledge sharing.
It provides a centralised, accessible platform for sharing information to help professionals navigate new safety regulations and improve safety standards.
Content will likely be useful to current and future industry professionals due to its constant updating and expansion.
One in Four Builders Are Unprepared for BSA Requirements
Original Source: One in four in construction is unprepared for Building Safety Act
A recent RLB UK and Operance poll found that 27% of the construction industry was unprepared for Building Safety requirements.
Operance and RLB UK announced the results of a survey on the construction sector and Building Safety legislation.
The study determined the biggest legislative concerns and how to address them.
“Everything changed but nothing changed”
The survey indicated that 27% of the business is still unprepared for Building Safety standards and 23% believe the industry as a whole needs to catch up.
95% of participants knew of the Building Safety legislation’s competence level, yet in a roundtable discussion, many claimed the concept was still unclear.
32% of respondents thought the industry lacked the ‘competent resource’ to deliver the building safety regime, but a third thought its digital infrastructure was sufficient.
86% think AI will be crucial to data management and security.
The golden thread of building safety laws
Information management was a major concern with Building Safety legislation modifications.
The roundtable discussion discovered a lack of joined-up systems throughout the development lifecycle and understanding of what golden thread information should be recorded.
Samantha Mepham, RLB’s national head of health & safety services, said: “I think there are still some uncertainties around how much it will cost to go through a gateway and how long it will take because the regulation hasn’t really been tested yet. I think the solution is to be open-minded and prepared.”
Solving the Building Productivity Puzzle Requires a Connectivity Revolution
Original Source: Connectivity revolution is key to solving productivity puzzle in construction
Oxford Economics predicted last year that the UK would be Western Europe’s fastest-growing building market for 15 years.
The nation is counting on Britain’s builders more than ever. Construction companies employ 2.63M people and add 10% to GDP. Construction businesses will build Britain’s infrastructure in the 2030s and beyond. Without this infrastructure, we cannot solve the housing issue or spread wealth across the UK.
As a CEO happy to work with some of the UK’s largest construction firms daily, I’ve seen these firms’ tremendous work to improve Britain. The sector must finally overcome the productivity problem at building sites nationwide to alter the British economy.
The Construction Leadership Council released insight on the challenge last September. Construction output per hour is £35.69, 13.5% below the economy average.
Due to a chronic shortage of technological investment, the transition from analogue to digital infrastructure has been slower than in other sectors. In 2023, PlanRadar found that over 70% of construction enterprises struggled to adopt wireless connectivity, 3D printing, robotics, and AI.
I identified a huge unmet market need for construction connectivity in 2013. In that year, I launched UK Connect. Before this, I was an Infantry Soldier in the Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment and saw how strong connectivity might improve performance and productivity in harsh settings. We’ve built the company with inspiring people that want to use connectivity to take things to the next level.
Consider Kier Group. Meeting changing construction site connectivity needs was difficult for the nation’s largest construction and infrastructure provider. As technology advanced and data needs increased, its 3G/4G solution struggled to provide stable, high-speed access to edge users. We enjoyed working with Kier to implement 5G Cellular Broadband and Wireless LAN at its UK facilities.
We proudly worked with Cala Group. The housebuilder struggled with traditional wired infrastructure, where Copper and Fibre Broadband installation took months. These extended delays hindered construction site communication, collaboration, and productivity, delaying projects and inefficient operations.
UK Connect’s Cellular Broadband solution set Cala Group’s construction site connectivity free from wired infrastructure’s delays and limits. Cala Group’s connectivity improved dramatically with cellular technology. Modern R1900 series 5G Enterprise-Grade routers from Cradlepoint were the foundation of this system.
Construction leaders in the UK are using connectivity to boost efficiency. The UK expects builders to thrive until the 2030s and beyond. Time to connect.
UK Increases Housing Targets to Revitalise Construction
Original Source: UK Boosts Housing Targets to Revive Construction
With harsh decisions needed to rebuild the foundations and grow the economy, the administration announced a planning system overhaul today.
All English authorities will get new, mandatory housing objectives to provide 1.5 million more homes to address the worst housing crisis in history.
Councils must increase house building in needy areas to assist more people buy homes, remove the biggest economic growth impediments and get Britain building again.
The new guidelines announced today will reverse last year’s decision to make housing targets advisory at a time when planning permissions were at a record low. The new method is ambitious enough to solve the housing problem and reach the government’s 1.5 million home goal.
These new benchmarks will inform local planning to support the government’s top economic goal. Local plans let communities shape residential and infrastructure construction.
Just a third of councils have a plan under five years old, therefore the government will make tough decisions and step in to drive development, allowing local communities to say how, but not if, homes are created.
The Deputy Prime Minister has written to every council Leader and Chief Executive in England to state that there is “not just a professional responsibility but a moral obligation to see more homes built” and that she will intervene, including taking over an authority’s plan making.
Angela Rayner, Deputy PM:
“Today is a major step towards rebuilding Britain.
Our decisive planning system reforms correct past mistakes and set us on track to solve the housing problem by building 1.5 million homes for the needy.
“And something I am personally proud of, our new flexibilities for councils will boost the number of social and affordable homes, and give working families a better route to a secure home.”
Along with restoring mandated housing targets, the decade-old data-based calculation technique will be modified. Councils must now build homes in the correct places and proportionately to existing communities, while adding ambition in the most unaffordable areas.
Development will begin with brownfields. Today’s reforms ensure that brownfield development is always “yes” and encourage higher homebuilding densities in metropolitan areas.
To fulfil their 1.5 million home target over the next five years, municipalities will have to assess their green belt land and prioritise ‘grey belt’ area, which the government defined today. This comprises area near settlements, roads and former petrol stations and car parks.
The modification will clarify that authorities must evaluate new house proximity to transport infrastructure.
Homebuilders can propose on grey belt land if local authorities don’t have current plans or enough dwellings to meet requirements. Environmentally protected territory is always protected.
Development on Green Belt land must meet the government’s ‘golden guidelines’ of 50% affordable housing, green space access, and infrastructure including schools and GP surgeries.
In addition to creating houses, the government is working to make it simpler to create laboratories, gigafactories, data centres, and huge onshore wind and solar projects nationwide.
The government is also delivering quality cheap and social housing to offset the fall in social rent dwellings in addition to these planning system improvements. This includes Right to Buy changes that allow municipalities to build and buy more social housing with receipts. The administration is reviewing the 2012 discounts and will make revisions in the autumn.
The Deputy Prime Minister also confirmed that the next spending review will include details of future government investment in social and affordable housing so social housing providers can plan and help deliver the biggest increase in affordable house building in a generation.
Following sector requests, the government has confirmed that at the next fiscal event it will provide councils and housing associations with rent stability to borrow and invest in new and existing homes while protecting existing and future social housing tenants.
Summary of today’s construction news
Overall, we discussed the United Kingdom’s extensive online portal for building safety. Planning, commissioning, designing, constructing, surveying, maintaining, and managing buildings are all areas where the Building Safety Wiki aims to increase information regarding fire and life safety. At the same time, 27% of the construction industry was deemed to be unprepared for Building Safety regulations according to a recent poll by RLB UK and Operance. Findings from the study informed policymakers about the most pressing issues and potential solutions. In addition, last year, Oxford Economics forecasted that, over the next fifteen years, the construction market in the United Kingdom would develop at the quickest rate in Western Europe. British construction workers are more needed than ever before. The construction industry contributes 10% to GDP and employs 2.63 million people. From now until the 2030s and beyond, Britain’s infrastructure will be built by construction companies. Neither the housing crisis nor the redistribution of wealth in the UK can be resolved without this infrastructure. In addition, today the administration proposed a planning system overhaul, acknowledging the necessity for tough decisions to repair the foundations and expand the economy. The greatest housing crisis in English history has prompted new, obligatory building targets for all English authorities, with the goal of creating 1.5 million additional dwellings.
