{"id":3579,"date":"2023-03-09T16:14:55","date_gmt":"2023-03-09T16:14:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ravagobuildingsolutions.com\/uk\/?p=3579"},"modified":"2023-03-09T16:17:14","modified_gmt":"2023-03-09T16:17:14","slug":"from-inflation-to-insolvencies-heres-how-challenging-conditions-are-reshaping-compliance-on-the-construction-site","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ravagobuildingsolutions.com\/uk\/en\/3579\/from-inflation-to-insolvencies-heres-how-challenging-conditions-are-reshaping-compliance-on-the-construction-site\/","title":{"rendered":"From inflation to insolvencies, here\u2019s how challenging conditions are reshaping compliance on the construction site<\/strong>\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Richard Powell, Roofing Sales Manager at Ravago Building Solutions UK<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Some would say there are three pillars in construction: quality, sustainability, and compliance. Today, compliance is arguably number one. For architects and designers, the clearest evidence of this is likely the enormous regulatory overhaul reflected in the Building Safety Act 2022. However, the compliance landscape is also being reshaped in ways that might not be so visible to architects and designers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the most confronting findings of the Hackitt Report<\/a> was an ostensible lack of \u201cconsideration [by individuals] as to how work may interact with the work of others\u201d. There\u2019s a huge moral and professional imperative for building designers to be alive to the realities of the construction site, which includes understanding how clients and contractors are responding to current market forces and supply chain challenges, and how that in turn might impact the way you specify products.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to data from tax advisory firm Mazars, almost 17,000 construction-related companies were at \u201csignificant risk\u201d of insolvency at the close of 2022. Now, imagine you\u2019re a contractor: you\u2019ve negotiated a package of work for a roof, and one of the companies goes bust. You can’t complete the roof. Suddenly, you\u2019re having to explain to the client that the work that should have been started two months ago is being delayed even further \u2013 meanwhile, raw material prices have shot up, dragging product costs up in tandem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Approaches to procurement<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is where strategies such as early procurement and vesting are coming in. Materials prices across the UK construction industry in September 2022 were over 16% higher than a year before, and experts anticipate that this high rate of inflation could persist into 2024. In response, we are seeing increasing numbers of contractors looking to purchase or make advance payments to reserve materials long before they\u2019re needed, to get ahead of any future price increases. This can be a smart solution \u2013 one that even contractual experts<\/a> are recommending \u2013 but in some cases, it\u2019s throwing up new complications, such as storage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Evolving ‘Employer\u2019s Requirements’<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When large quantities of building materials are sitting around the site \u2013 or a lock-up, or even a field \u2013 for months at a time, there\u2019s obviously a greater risk to the product, project, and people. In the past 18 months or so, it\u2019s become increasingly common for the client or main contractor\u2019s Employer\u2019s Requirements (ERs) to insist on insulation containing a flame retardant, and for flammable materials to be covered in flame retardant sheeting. It\u2019s important to consider that a product that looks suitable on paper could end up being stored for much longer than usual and\/or in an unconventional manner, and account for the practicalities of this within your specification.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Product substitutions<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Package renegotiations mean contractors also face the inevitable question from the client: \u201cisn\u2019t there a cheaper alternative?\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Terms such as \u2018or similar\u2019 in the specification allow named products to be substituted for another that the contractor deems equal or equivalent. The issue, of course, is that it\u2019s not always straightforward to determine equality or equivalence, and the term is inherently subjective. What contractors don\u2019t always realise is that the product put forward as \u2018similar\u2019 sometimes doesn\u2019t match the expectations of the specifier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Architects should be aware that there is huge pressure on contractors to keep costs down and the client happy, so swapping for a cheaper product is often the most obvious solution \u2013 even when it is not a like for like substitute. For example, an awful lot of people are not aware that many XPS insulation manufacturers have quietly removed flame retardants from their products. There\u2019s a certain amount of liability involved here, particularly if the material is going to be stored on-site for long periods of time: do you feel comfortable with the idea of a huge polythene tarp being the only safeguard against errant cigarette butts or power tool sparks?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Protecting your original specification<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By this point I\u2019m sure you will agree that you cannot assume that every product will meet your compliance criteria, or that your priorities will align with the contractor\u2019s. So, what\u2019s the solution?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Taking a more interrogative and prescriptive approach to specifying products could ensure compliance at every stage of the construction process, by preventing unwanted or unsuitable product substitutions and taking factors such as storage into account.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gateway two will make this even more urgent come autumn when the new Building Safety Regulator can begin to block the start of any construction project where there are doubts about the compliance of the design. My advice: don\u2019t risk it \u2013 protect your original specification and don\u2019t sub-contract material specifications to contractors.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Richard Powell, Roofing Sales Manager at Ravago Building Solutions UK Some would say there are three pillars in construction: quality, sustainability, and compliance. Today, compliance is arguably number one. For…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1291,"featured_media":3600,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[197,2],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-3579","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-articles","8":"category-news","9":"entry"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ravagobuildingsolutions.com\/uk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3579","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ravagobuildingsolutions.com\/uk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ravagobuildingsolutions.com\/uk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ravagobuildingsolutions.com\/uk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1291"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ravagobuildingsolutions.com\/uk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3579"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/ravagobuildingsolutions.com\/uk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3579\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3633,"href":"https:\/\/ravagobuildingsolutions.com\/uk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3579\/revisions\/3633"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ravagobuildingsolutions.com\/uk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3600"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ravagobuildingsolutions.com\/uk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3579"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ravagobuildingsolutions.com\/uk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3579"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ravagobuildingsolutions.com\/uk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3579"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}