Unemployment and other labour challenges remain to be a huge problem. More specifically, these are technical and manual labour along with administrative-related work. The session will discuss these challenges deeper and provide innovations which have successfully worked for other companies. Social and economic interventions which gave way to implementation of innovations will also be discussed. These geographical and occupational challenges may be addressed through improvising the common workforce which results to better investment in skills, improving working conditions and overall providing better productivity.

5 key learning points:

1.    Inflationary pressures affecting the market and the general problem at hand
2.    On-the-tools labour challenges
3.    Office-based labour challenges
4.    Case studies of innovations from successful companies vis-a-vis these challenges (trying out the trends) 
5.    Outsourcing Labor AKA Remote Workers or VA (Virtual Assistants)

This seminar provides an overview of the importance of detailing with a fire safe membrane within a building cavity; providing guidance on approved document B in England & Wales, Scottish Building Standards, BS EN13501 classification, BS999-1 and highlighting the importance as part of the building construction. News reports have focused on cladding remediation. However, the cavity and the structure are equally, if not more important in terms of fire and non-combustible material. Crucially however, both tend to be overlooked by regulations and specifiers.

5 key learning points:
1. Understanding Fire & Testing
2. BS EN13501-1(2018) Fire classification of construction products and building elements
3. Fires in Building Cavities – Case Studies
4. Current Standards
5. Building Membranes & Reflective Technology

An annual update on where the green roofs are in the UK, with a focus on Dusty’s work on mapping urban green infrastructure and assessing Biodiversity Net Gain along with innovative approaches to carbon neutral green roofs and the delivery of biosolar roofs.

5 key learning points:

1. New policies on the horizon and what the industry needs to do
2. The biodiversity net gain approach that will be on the radar
3. Approaches to using IOT to monitor and ensure good installation
4. Biosolar roofs what they are and why
5. New approaches from Europe in delivering biosolar roofs

The government target for new homes is 300,000 per year, currently only about 200,000 at best are actually being built, so each year the target will get bigger. There are numerous reasons for this failure; lack of sites, slow planning process, an ageing workforce, lack of materials, lack of labour, complex contractual relationships and changing construction standards.
Put very simply if the target is to be achieved something has to change.

5 key learning points:

1. Definition of the problem.
2. Reasons for the failure to deliver.
3. Ways to improve productivity.
4. Quality - MMC is just as good if not better than traditional.
5. There is a silver bullet to solve the problem.

The Building Safety Act received Royal Assent in April 2022 and is being heralded as the most important and significant change to health and safety legislation relating to the construction industry in the past 40 years.  The Act will markedly alter how we approach the specification, design and construction of buildings, and how we measure both organisational and individual competence in those working in the Construction Industry.

5 key learning points:

1. Who the Duty Holders will be
2. How the Golden Thread and its gateways will be applied to the construction of new projects
3. How the rules will apply to Higher Risk Buildings
4. What needs to be done to prove competence 
5. When the sections of the Act will begin to take effect

The Government’s new Energy Security Strategy sets to accelerate sustainable energy and tackle the significant rises in fuel and energy prices. But what it doesn’t address is improving the UK’s 29 million inefficient homes. 

The UK has the oldest housing stock in Europe and the least energy efficient. A recent study by EDF analysed 21 million homes across England and Wales and found that 58% had an insulation age or value pre-1976. Carbon is leaking out of our homes, it’s costing homeowners a fortune, and no-one is doing anything to sort out the leak! Our country urgently needs an effective energy efficiency scheme, developed as a national infrastructure project for the benefit of all parties involved.

List 5 key learning points:

1. Changes to Approved Document L is great news for new homes but it’s only one part of the solution.
2. Improving the energy efficiency of the UK’s existing housing stock is equally, if not more, important.
3. We are facing an energy crisis and insulating homes is the most effective way to save energy and cut household bills.
4. The Government has ambitious targets for Net Zero by 2050. But targets will not be met unless improved energy efficiency is prioritised across ALL housing stock.
5. An effective energy efficiency scheme is long overdue and needs to be made a national infrastructure project.