The government will establish a new national regulator to oversee testing of construction products and ensure they do not pose potential safety risks when
Output is expected to increase to pre-pandemic levels this year, according to a new forecast from the Construction Products Association (CPA). It predicts
Peers questioned minister Lord Martin Callanan over the government’s lack of progress on retentions reform.
Lord Callanan, a junior minister at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy whose remit includes corporate responsibility, said the government is still working with the Construction Leadership Council and others to try to reach a consensus on retentions.
His comments maintained the government’s neutral stance on the controversial topic, set out in February last year as it published the results of a public consultation on retentions reform. The consultation concluded three years ago, in January 2018.
In the House of Lords debate, crossbench hereditary peer Lord Aberdare, Alastair Bruce, noted that it is also three years since the collapse of Carillion, which resulted in “many small construction firms losing hundreds of millions of pounds in retentions”. He asked: “What are the government doing now to prevent small construction firms, already un
The number of administrations in the sector in December was at its highest level since May,
Construction News can reveal.
A total of 20 firms collapsed in December, up from 19 in November and just seven in October, according to data provided by Creditsafe. In May, the total number of new administrations was 34.
The final quarter of 2020 had the least administrations with a total of 46 firms going under during the period. The average number of firms collapsing per month decreased throughout the year, from 30 per month in the first quarter, to 20 in Q2 and 18 in Q3.
Construction Products Association economics director Noble Francis said: “The indications are that activity in December was similar to November, which is buoyant in housing new build and refurbishment, as well as infrastructure activity, while activity was falling away on schools, hospitals, factories and some parts of the commercial sector.