Skill Builder Guides & reviews for building and construction

Roger Bisby visits Marley Eternit HQ in Burton on Trent to try the Marley Eternit Universal Dry Verge Fixing System.

The UK Government has been urged to scrap its approach to deregulation of health and safety legislation in the light of the Grenfell Tower blaze. In an open letter to Prime Minister Theresa May, over 70 leading organisations and figures from the UK’s safety and health profession have jointly called for a political sea change in attitude towards health and …

Skill Builder’s ‘Day in the life’ feature takes a look at a typical day in the life of different tradespeople. Here we talk to Tim Bryant of T Byrant Builders Ltd, who was the winner of insulation and interior building products distributor CCF’s Trade Superhero competition winning a trip to New York City in May 2017. Tim was crowned victorious …

The South East may have been enjoying a heatwave, but builders visiting DW Nye on Monday 19th June were getting ready for winter by finding out about the latest products on offer including a new waterproofing system that can be applied to roofs in as low as -5 degrees celcius. In the first of a series of demo days being …

Ten of the country’s best roofing apprentices are gearing up for the two-day final that will see one of them awarded the title of Redland Apprentice of the Year.

Roger Bisby tries out British Gypsum’s Thistle Bonding 60 that is designed to dry in one hour and accept any type of finish you care to use. You have to hand it to British Gypsum they keep going after new markets for their bagged plasters. The latest target in their sights is the making good and small repair market. This …

The UK retirement housebuilder, McCarthy and Stone, is inviting people across the country to celebrate the heritage skills of older people throughout it’s developments across a number of regions in June and July. The event comes alongside McCarthy and Stone’s 40th year celebrations. In January, at the start of its anniversary year, McCarthy and Stone pledged its support for Royal …

Roger Bisby tries out a few Knipex grips and laments a life of losing tools. Having spent a great deal of my working life as a plumber/builder Knipex is a brand I know very well and it seems I’m not alone. When I recently used a pair of inferior slip joint grips in a plumbing demonstration and struggled, the calls …

A civil engineering company (R M Contractors Limited aka RMC), and a contractor working on behalf of a tree surgery company Complete Tree Services (CTS) have been sentenced after a member of the public was injured by fencing wire. Redditch Magistrates’ Court heard a member of the public was in her garden, when she was sprayed with pieces of fencing …

Shocked witnesses have described seeing people jump from as high as the 15th floor of Grenfell Tower in London as flames engulfed the building last night. Over 200 firefighters attended the 27-storey building near Ladbroke Grove just after 1.15am as fire tore through the block of flats.The cause of the fire is still unknown but according to witness accounts there …

A roofing company has been sentenced for safety failings related to working at height. Brighton Magistrates Court heard how numerous concerns were raised by members of the public about work being carried out by G & S Roofing Limited. The company twice ignored written advice to address the issue of working at height in an unsafe manner. In August 2016, …

The owner of a building in Kent and the contractor employed to demolish it have been fined for safety failings after an uncontrolled collapse onto the High Street.

DeWalt has extended its XR FLEXVOLT range to include a Mitre Saw as well as the SDS Max and Plus Hammers. Advantages of the XR FLEXVOLT system which was launched in 2016 include: ·        Sustained all day operation for onsite heavy duty construction application, without cable inconvenience ·        Wide range of 54V power tools to suit any job ·        Cross-compatible …

Norbord CaberBoard flooring range is the UK’s best-selling chipboard flooring product, its handy dimensions allowing ease of handling.

Skill Builder’s ‘Day in the life’ feature takes a look at a typical day in the life of different tradespeople. In this installment, we talk to Richie Maxwell, the winner of Screwfix’s Top Tradesperson 2016, who shares his winning attitude to work and life and tells us that bricklaying is in his blood. Name: Richie Maxwell Trade: Bricklayer/Stonemason/Builder Company: RDM …

In response to criticism from Unite the Union about a letter sent to some operatives regarding the use of dust masks and beards.

Unite, the UK construction union has condemned a decree by outsourced housing maintenance company Mears, which bans workers from having beards as ‘penny pinching stupidity’. Members of Unite employed on social housing maintenance work in the culturally diverse borough of Tower Hamlets, were said to be told at a ‘tool box talk’ that beards were now banned. Unite has subsequently …

A Glasgow based construction company has been fined after the death of an 83-year old man in Kirkcaldy.