Government

Amy Pairman is an associate and Eric Johnstone is a senior associate at law firm Brodies On 17 August, the government released its response to its 2022 consultation on the new building-control regime for ‘high-risk buildings’, as part of changes under the Building Safety Act. The government has also published,…

Joanna Hunt is head of immigration at Fieldfisher Recent developments in the immigration sector have been a bit of a mixed bag for the construction industry. When it was announced recently that several construction roles would be added to the shortage occupations list to enable companies to recruit overseas workers…

Juliette Enser is senior director of cartels at the Competition and Markets Authority In March, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) fined 10 construction firms nearly £60m for illegally colluding over £150m-worth of private and public sector contracts. This was just the latest example of our focus to root out…

The Work at Height Regulations save lives and are hugely popular in the construction sector. But will moves to ‘sunset’ all EU laws dilute – or even destroy – them? Behind the innocuous-sounding ‘Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill’, lies the prospect of an assault by the government on…

The Autumn Statement may have protected major-project spending in the short term, but difficult decisions lie ahead. By David Prosser If politics is a game of managing expectations, Rishi Sunak and Jeremy Hunt pulled off a coup in November. For weeks in the build-up to the chancellor’s Autumn Statement, ministers…

Will the government’s extra £6bn in funding turbocharge energy efficiency in buildings – or is it just another headline-grabber? Adam Branson reports Whisper it, but at long last the government might just be starting to get at least vaguely serious about improving the energy efficiency of the nation’s buildings. In…

Proposed requirements for energy-efficient homes in Scotland could provide a sharp learning curve for contractors, their supply chain and end users. By Tiya Thomas-Alexander Just before Christmas, the Scottish Government made a significant announcement. Following a public consultation, it threw its weight behind a member’s bill proposing that all new…

Early collaboration among construction-sector partners would give clients, contractors and suppliers a better chance of decarbonising their operations, a recent roundtable discussion heard. But while innovative technology can play an important part in meeting net-zero targets, getting better at the basics is crucial, too. Mike Walter reports On the panel…

From private equity-backed contractors to council developers and a firm that saw its public listing set back a few steps in 2022, Keith Cooper reveals CN’s companies to watch in 2023 Altrad Altrad’s mission to expand stepped up a gear in 2022 – and it looks set to continue into…

Peter Sayce is chief product officer at Bramble Energy Is the wider construction industry overlooking the potential of hydrogen to reduce the sector's contribution to climate change? Hydrogen technology offers high efficiency and versatility, as well as longer range and usage for equipment – key benefits for construction. And, unlike…