News

Contractor Balfour Beatty Utility Solutions has been sentenced after exposing workers to a debilitating health condition over a nine-year period. Balfour Beatty Utility Solutions Ltd was fined £500,000 after the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that workers at the company were exposed to hand-arm vibration between 2002 and 2011 which put them at risk of developing Hand-Arm Vibration Syndrome …

The country’s leading roofing apprentices are gearing up for the two-day final that will reward the best in each of the two roofing disciplines: pitched and flat roofing. BMI, the UK manufacturer and supplier of flat and pitch roofing systems, is offering the two awards backed by its market-leading brands. The Redland Apprentice of the Year will recognise the best-pitched …

The Beast from the East, rising costs and Brexit are to blame for the drop in construction output, the FMB responds to ONS construction output figures.

A landscaping services company has been sentenced after a worker was seriously injured when a retaining wall collapsed into a trench.

The Dame Judith Hackitt Review into Building Regulations provides a blueprint for ensuring competence in construction should be extended across the industry.

A groundworks company has been fined after an employee suffered serious internal injuries while working in an excavation at Ghyllgrove Junior & Infants School in Basildon. Southend Magistrates’ Court heard how a site dumper was parked at a slight incline on a heap of excavated soil, adjacent to a partially backfilled trench. The dumper had been left unattended with the …

Almost 80% of builders are calling for more regulation in the construction industry to end the tyranny of cowboy builders, according to the FMB.

A home improvements company has been fined after a worker was significantly injured falling from a garage roof and the company failed to report the incident for nine months.

A new greener, stronger and more durable concrete that is made using the wonder-material graphene could revolutionise the construction industry. Experts from the University of Exeter have developed a pioneering new technique that uses nanoengineering technology to incorporate graphene into traditional concrete production. The new composite material, which is more than twice as strong and four times more water resistant …

More than half of small building firms say that rising material prices are squeezing their margins and the same percentage have had to pass these price increases onto consumers, according to the latest research by the Federation of Master Builders (FMB). Small and medium-sized (SME) building firms were asked which materials are in shortest supply and have the longest wait …

A Romanian man who enslaved up to 15 men, offering demolition work and then using violence to trap them, has been jailed for seven years. David Lupu, 29, promised the men £50 per day as well as accommodation, but instead paid them just a fraction of the wage, housed them in cramped conditions and confiscated their ID papers. Metropolitan Police …

A specialist asbestos company has been fined after failing to detect asbestos at a demolition site. Greater Manchester Magistrates’ Court heard how EAS Asbestos Limited were commissioned to conduct refurbishment and demolition surveys by Mercer Brother Limited, a construction company who were contracted to demolish garages for Hyndburn Homes. EAS Asbestos stated in their surveys that asbestos was only present …

A building contractor has been sentenced following an incident in February 2015 in which a house in Brighton partially collapsed. Hove Crown Court heard how builder Glen Peters (trading as Brow Builders) undermined the structural integrity of the house by digging out the basement. He then failed to act on the advice of a structural engineer on how to remedy …

Some of the UK’s biggest building companies have signed up to take part in the country’s largest construction health & safety stand down. Wates, McLaren and Seddon are among new faces that will take part in Stop. Make a Change in 2018. The initiative was launched in 2017 to bring the industry together to improve health and safety performance. In …

Snowy weather, rising costs and uncertainty relating to Brexit are to blame for the sharp drop in construction output, the Federation of Master Builders (FMB) has said in response to the latest PMI data. The March 2018 PMI data revealed a fall from 51.4 in February to 47.0 in March, against the neutral reading of 50.0. March 2018’s figure was …

A cross-party group of MPs has urged the Government to introduce a new ‘Dedicated Strategy for Small Housebuilders’ to reverse the decline in the number of new homes built by small builders, which has plummeted to just 2,500 today from 12,000 in 1998. Describing the new proposals, the MPs leading the report said: ‘We have many legitimate disagreements with each …

According to recovery figures from TRACKER, 82% of Light Commercial Vehicles (LCVs) were stolen without the owner’s keys in 2017 –  up by nearly 100% compared to 2016 (44%).  The Ford Transit was again the most popular van stolen last year and are said to have accounted for over half of the LCV recoveries made by TRACKER. “Keyless entry technology …

Llanharan Concrete Co. Limited has been fined after a worker was injured when his glove got entangled with the moving blade of a table saw. Cardiff Magistrates’ Court heard how the employee of the company was cutting wood with a table saw when his glove got entangled, pulling his finger into contact with it. The injured worker was rushed to …