In today’s news, we will look into these two individuals, John Newcomb of the Builders Merchants Federation and Peter Caplehorn of the Construction Products Association, are the co-chairs of the Material Supply Chain Group of the Construction Leadership Council. They are presenting their final joint statement of the year. During this period, engcon, the most prominent manufacturer of tiltrotators on a global scale, made a public announcement concerning a strategic global collaboration with RodRadar, the company that is responsible for the development of Live Dig Radar® (LDR), a system that has been patented for the goal of avoiding strikes from subsurface utilities in real time. Furthermore, executives in the construction industry have voiced their concern that the United Kingdom will be unable to fulfil its housing commitment of 1.5 million units due to a shortage of available labourers at the construction industry. More importantly, research conducted by the social media company On The Tools indicates that of the 2.1 million persons working in the construction business in the United Kingdom, 2.1 million had encountered mental illness at some point in their vocation. The past ten years have seen a total of seven thousand persons take their own lives.
A Healthy UK Construction Sector Needs a Collaborative Supply Chain
Original Source: A collaborative supply chain essential to a healthy UK construction industry
The Construction Leadership Council’s Material Supply Chain Group co-chairs, John Newcomb of the Builders Merchants Federation and Peter Caplehorn of the Construction Products Association, present their final joint statement of the year.
The Material Supply Chain Group of the Construction Leadership Council continues to report good levels of product availability overall in their last statement of 2024. We are actively working to resolve the aerated blocks difficulties that were previously identified. By the end of the first quarter of 2025, we expect to have restored supply stability.
Nevertheless, this occurs during a period of lower demand throughout the year. Recent years have seen an uptick in building projects, although the industry has been sustained mostly by public spending on civil engineering and other non-housing related areas. The opposite is true for industrial construction and homebuilding, where output has fallen.
As a result of the changes announced in the National Planning Policy Framework, which detail the government’s intentions for the release of green belt area, there is some hope for the year 2025. The amendments are targeted towards applications from volume house builders, which is disappointing because smaller housebuilders are not going to gain from them.
Until mortgage rates decline and consumer confidence rises again, it is quite doubtful that the rate of housebuilding will increase substantially. We can not expect to observe any discernible rebound until the latter part of 2025, according to the Group, which is why they are being cautious when forecasting growth rates.
Making ensuring there are resources to enable enhanced development right from the start is one of the major concerns, according to the Group. Over the previous eighteen months, capacity has been decreased in response to demand. Although there is potential for improvement and rumours indicate that brick capacity is being restored, the timeline for this is still unclear. Companies in the manufacturing sector may be hesitant to invest until they observe signs of economic growth.
Many manufacturers rely on the home remodelling and housebuilding markets to stay afloat. After reaching 1.7 million in 2023, the gas boiler market dropped to 1.4 million in 2024. Heat pump sales have fallen short of boiler sales, which have fallen mostly because home sales have slowed and remodelling projects have slowed as a result.
Nevertheless, heat pump producers are confident in their ability to fulfil the 600,000 installations target set by the government for the Future Homes Standard by 2028.
In January, prices are expected to rise by 3% to 8% due to rising energy costs, as mentioned in the most recent announcement from the Materials Supply Group (27 November 2024). The cost of hiring more people will drive up prices even more.
Concerns about credit insurance are still high among SMEs. Insurers must sustain their support if supply and buying parties are to continue to have faith in the market.
The proliferation of data centres necessitates an overwhelming quantity of items, and the electro-technical sector has issued a warning about the possibility of material shortages. The cable industry is also feeling the effects of the volatility in the price of copper and other precious metals. In 2025, when the electric vehicle charging infrastructure is put in place, this problem can become even worse.
The group’s members are adamant that businesses keep in regular contact with their supply chain, plan ahead for what they need, and share that information with distributors, suppliers, and builders’ merchants. To maintain a healthy and productive UK construction industry, it is vital that all parties involved in the supply chain communicate continuously and collaboratively.
Engcon and Rodradar Upgrade Construction Automation and Safety
Original Source: engcon and RodRadar Partner to Transform On-Site Construction Automation and Safety
Today, engcon, the leading global manufacturer of tiltrotators, made an announcement regarding a strategic global collaboration with RodRadar, the makers of Live Dig Radar® (LDR), a technology that has been patented for the purpose of real-time underground utility strike avoidance.
The revolutionary LDR system from RodRadar will be integrated with the quick couplers and tiltrotators from engcon as a result of this agreement, which will result in the delivery of a solution that is seamless for contractors, utilities, and municipalities. Because of this, a revolutionary method of excavation that is safer, more automated, and more effective has been developed.
The LDR technology developed by RodRadar improves excavator operations by providing real-time detection and avoidance of subterranean utility infrastructure during excavation. This eliminates the requirement for off-site or offline expert analysis, which is a critical step in the excavation process. In addition to being incorporated inside the LDR Excavate digging bucket, the technology is complimented with an operator display device that is located within the cabin.
According to Sam Ryan, Regional Director and Global OEM Manager at engcon, “This collaboration is fantastic news for our end customers,” he stated. We are able to make digging operations safer, more automated, and more efficient by merging our innovative tiltrotator technology with RodRadar’s Live Dig Radar. This integration also allows us to drastically reduce the amount of time and money spent on-site on excavation projects.
It is anticipated that the combination of engcon’s tiltrotators and RodRadar’s LDR system will result in the modification of excavation procedures, the enhancement of operator safety, and the acceleration of project efficiency.
Yuval Barnea, Vice President of Sales and Marketing at RodRadar, expressed his excitement about the company’s partnership with engcon. The creative solutions that they provide are ideally aligned with our Live Dig Radar system, which results in a smooth connection that improves the safety, precision, and efficiency of contractors. Both of our businesses have taken a huge step forward as a result of our alliance, which enables us to provide the construction sector with value that is unmatched and to establish new benchmarks for operational excellence.
The solution will make it possible for contractors to upgrade their engcon DC2 and DC3 systems with EC-Oil technology, which will open the door to interoperability with the RodRadar LDR system without any complications. The solution for the machine coupler will be available in the first quarter of 2025. In the latter part of the year, the solution that falls under the tiltrotator will be made available.
‘Doesn’t Have Enough Builders’ for 1.5m Labour Homes
Original Source: UK ‘doesn’t have enough builders’ for Labour’s 1.5m homes
Leaders in the building sector have expressed concern that the United Kingdom will be unable to meet its housing commitment of 1.5 million units due to a lack of available labourers.
According to what they told the BBC, the bricklaying, groundworks, and carpentry crews require tens of thousands of additional people only to reach the aim.
Factors contributing to the decline in employment include an ageing workforce, Brexit, and a lack of skilled workers, according to the Home Builders Federation (HBF) and the biggest UK housebuilder, Barratt Redrow.
Government officials acknowledged the “dire shortage” of construction workers and assured the public that they were “taking steps to rectify” the issue.
Sir Keir Starmer, England’s prime minister, reaffirmed last week his promise to build 1.5 million new houses by 2029, a goal he set shortly after assuming office.
His promise to remove “blockers” from the way of constructing the new houses was accompanied by the unveiling of comprehensive revisions to the planning system on Thursday.
Building additional homes is something the labour party is banking on to bring down house costs and make housing more accessible, particularly to younger generations.
In order to meet this goal, the construction of new dwellings must average 300,000 a year, up from 220,000 in recent years.
Based on data provided by the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB), the current workforce is projected to be 2.67 million.
However, the home building industry in England and Wales need almost 30,000 new recruits across 12 trades for every 10,000 new homes that are completed, according to the HBF.
Some common trades, for instance, would need a projected influx of additional workers according to the government’s plans:
- 20 thousand masons
- More than 2,400 plumbing engineers
- 8 thousand woodworkers
- 3,200 drywallers
- $20,000 in labourers
- 1,200 tile specialists
- about 2,400 electrical
- 3,400 roofing
- 480 software developers
The HBF stated that although the industry possesses “the capacity to deliver current build levels,” in order to achieve the specified targets, it will be necessary to hire tens of thousands of more workers.
David Thomas, chief executive of Barratt Redrow, responded to the question of whether there were sufficient workers to construct the additional homes by saying, “The short answer is no.”
The government, he told the BBC, would need to “revolutionise the market, revolutionise planning, revolutionise methods of production” if they wanted to achieve their goal.
“They’re challenging targets, I think we have to recognise that this is a national crisis,” he added.
However, the HBF also noted that the United Kingdom “does not have a sufficient talent pipeline” of construction workers to fill open positions. A number of recruitment restrictions were listed, such as schools’ negative views and inadequate training, a shortage of apprenticeships, and the high expense of hiring apprentices.
Despite efforts by the industry group, not enough new employees have been “attracted” to the field in recent years.
The report indicated that 25% of the workforce is beyond the age of 50, a consequence of all of these causes adding up over time.
Mr. Thomas, boss of Barratt Redrow, said that the push in recent decades to encourage youth to pursue higher education rather than skills had not helped recruitment.
“If you went back to the 60s and 70s, I think parents, teachers, and the government were very happy with the idea that people became trades – electricians, plumbers, bricklayers,” according to him.
Salaries for these positions “are high” on average, but finding qualified workers is more of a problem, he added.
Government statistics show that skilled carpenters earn roughly £38,000 and electricians £44,000 per year, while an expert bricklayer might make around £45,000.
For decades, the United Kingdom has suffered from a skills deficit that was only partly filled by employees from the European Union. However, with the end of free movement as a consequence of Brexit, this recruiting pool has dried up.
As a result of the financial crisis of 2008 and “restrictions” that made it tougher to recruit from outside, the HBF estimated that 40 to 50% of the industry’s talented personnel had departed.
Mr. Thomas acknowledged that, “in hindsight,” the United Kingdom was overly dependent on foreign labour, but he also noted that this had been the “norm” in the past and that the construction industry has traditionally hired many bricklayers from eastern European Union countries.
The most common countries of origin for construction workers from overseas, according to the 2016 industry census, were Romania, India, and Poland. Workforce diversity in London’s construction industry is over 50% EU/EEA nationalities.
A month ago, the government unveiled plans to spend £140 million on “homebuilding skills hubs” to expedite training and 5,000 additional construction apprenticeship positions annually.
The administration’s desire to “make sure this country takes skilled careers like construction seriously” was expressed by a government spokesperson who claimed the skills hubs were evidence of that desire.
However, local councils that were responsible for executing the new goals in their respective regions criticised the plans, calling them “unrealistic” and “impossible to achieve.”
Housebuilders will fall 388,000 short of the government’s 1.5 million target, according to the independent think tank Centre for Cities.
However, the government’s intentions have been met with approval by both Barratt Redrow and the HBF. This sector would be able to “invest in the people and land needed to increase housing supply” if the government had “a more pro-development policy approach,” warned the HBF.
In spite of difficulties in hiring, Barratt Redrow expects to construct 16,600–17,200 homes in the coming fiscal year—nearly 4,000 more than Barratt had predicted prior to its merger with Redrow in October.
A Research Suggests Construction Workers Are Four Times as Likely to Commit Suicide, Leaving 7,000 Dead
Original Source: Construction workers four times more likely to die by suicide as 7,000 lives lost, report says
According to research from social media firm On The Tools, 2.1 million people working in the construction industry in the United Kingdom have experienced mental illness at some point. Seven thousand people have committed suicide in the past ten years.
A recent study found that among the UK’s most dangerous occupations for mental health issues, construction had a suicide rate four times higher than the whole population.
A staggering 73% of the 2.1 million construction workers in the UK have been impacted by mental illness, according to social media firm On The Tools, the largest network of tradespeople in the country.
Seven thousand people have committed suicide in the past ten years.
According to Alice Brookes, the brand manager of the company, “If doctors or teachers were seeing those rates of suicide in any other industry, I think there would be a national outcry”.
Unfortunately, nobody is paying attention to it because it’s a building site, and people generally don’t have a positive impression of craftsmen.
“When four times the number of people are dying by suicide – who will build our hospitals, who will build our schools, maintain our roads and infrastructure?”
In order to pay for therapy services for industry workers, the corporation is attempting to raise £2.5 million.
Leamington Spa-based painter and decorator James Reeves, 33, told Sky News that he had suicidal thoughts after sustaining back and pelvic injuries in an accident and having £2,500 worth of gear stolen.
According to James, “financial pressures” were among the most severe.
When I had people working for me on payroll, I had monthly profit targets that I had to hit. If I were to take three months off and not be able to hit those targets, I would quickly fall into a financial crisis.
“For me personally I just felt like a failure to everyone around me and the only way out was to kind of disappear.”
The concept of ending my life filled my every waking thought for a long time, and every morning I would wake up believing it was the day I would do it,” James added. It was a long haul out of there, but I count myself lucky compared to those who didn’t make it out alive.
The survey also revealed that the industry loses £2.7 billion annually due to employees missing work due to mental illness.
In addition, Ms. Brookes mentioned that many individuals in this field work alone or are self-employed, which can lead to feelings of loneliness and isolation.
“Then you add financial pressures, then industry pressures such as tool theft – we found 68% of tradespeople worry daily about tool theft which shows those wider pressures are affecting those in the trade.”
Summary of today’s construction news
Overall, in their most recent assessment for 2024, the Material Supply Chain Group of the Construction Leadership Council maintained their good product availability levels generally. We have acknowledged the issues with the aerated blocks and are making every effort to fix them. Restoring supply stability is our goal for the first quarter of 2025. Contractors, utilities, and municipalities will all benefit from a streamlined solution thanks to the integration of RodRadar’s groundbreaking LDR system with engcon’s fast couplers and tiltrotators, made possible by this collaboration. This led to the development of a groundbreaking technique for excavation that is now more efficient, safer, and automated. Meanwhile, their statements to the BBC indicate that the carpentry, bricklaying, and groundworks crews alone need tens of thousands of extra workers just to reach the target. In regard to the Home Builders Federation (HBF) and the largest UK housebuilder, Barratt Redrow, factors contributing to the reduction in employment include an ageing workforce, Brexit, and a shortage of trained workers. Furthermore, compared to the overall population, the suicide rate in the construction industry was four times higher, ranking it among the most risky occupations in the UK for mental health difficulties. According to the biggest tradespeople network in the country, On The Tools, a social media platform, an astounding 73% of the 2.1 million construction workers in the UK have been affected by mental illness.
