2010: what to expect

by Michael Smith
NBS Information Specialist

The outlook for the construction industry looks to be poor for 2010, with the Construction Products Association still forecasting further falls. The Association does not now expect any significant increase in construction output until 2012. So, what is likely to happen next year, while construction is on its knees?

Regulations

Changes to Part L and Part F of the Building Regulations look set to come into force in 2010.

When the proposed energy efficiency standards in Part L are strengthened in 2010 there is likely to be a tendency to more airtight buildings; hence, the proposed changes to Part F, ensuring adequate means of ventilation.

This intermediate step for government to achieving its future target, aims to raise energy efficiency standards for new homes by 25% in 2010, relative to current 2006 standards.

We can also expect DCLG to amend Part J of the Building Regulations next year. The key measures to be considered relate to: air supply for combustion in airtight homes; better guidance on bio-fuel technology; mandatory use of carbon monoxide alarms with solid fuel appliances; concealed flues; pluming (discharge) from condensing boilers and bunding (secondary containment) of domestic oil tanks.

Anything else? Well, yes. Part G of the Building Regulations is also set for reissue during 2010. The revisions make minor changes, to requirements G1 to G6 (sanitation, hot water safety and water efficiency) and revoke current requirements G1 to G3. They also introduce the new minimum water efficiency requirements for new dwellings.

One more. The Government's Standard Assessment Procedure for Energy Rating of Dwellings (SAP) looks like it will be updated soon. Adopted as part of the UK national methodology for calculation of the energy performance of buildings, SAP is used to demonstrate compliance with building regulations for dwellings.

All of the above currently look set to come into force in April 2010. Nice...

You may think it ends there, but no; there are still the Eurocodes. As the most advanced structural codes in the world, they will become mandatory for European public works as well as setting the standard for private sector projects.

The 58 parts of the Structural Eurocodes have been published in stages since 2002 and have been operating alongside various national codes, but from early 2010 they will be fully implemented, overriding all other models.

Law and legislation

The Civil Law Reform Bill, if passed, is expected to cut the statutory liability period, the time within which firms can make a legal claim against a contractor, from six years to three, and allow a 10-year long-stop period, after which claims are invalid regardless of when a fault is discovered.

The Bill also proposes enabling clients to negotiate unlimited liability periods, making it difficult and costly to obtain insurance. Unsurprisingly, the proposals have alarmed the industry.

Several other bills have entered into Parliament, aimed at protection of the local and global natural environment. Two of these have subsequently been enacted; expect the others to follow, along with the Civil Law Reform Bill, during 2010. They are:

• Gardens protection bill
• Protection of garden land bill
• Illegal timber sales bill
• Marine and coastal access act 2009 (Ch 23)
• Green energy (definition and promotion) act 2009 (Ch 19)

The introduction of feed-in tariffs (FITs) for small-scale low-carbon electricity generation, through the Energy Act 2008, will also be something to look out for. The FITs will be introduced through changes to electricity distribution and supply licences. This looks likely to back up the renewables requirement on new build housing.

Water doesn't escape either! The new requirement for SUDS is to be mandatory by 2011, when national standards will come into force. It is expected that the construction industry will ensure that new developments and redevelopments include sustainable drainage, long before legislation makes it necessary. Unitary or county local authorities are expected to enforce the standards as the designated SUDS approving body (SAB) and will have responsibility for adopting and maintaining SUDS.

The Communities Department also intends to amend Planning Policy Statement 25: Development and flood risk during 2010. These amendments would affect the application of the policy to essential infrastructure, including water and sewage treatment works, emergency services facilities, bulk storage facilities, wind turbines and the identification of functional floodplains.

Don't worry though; the water companies will get theirs as well. For the first time water suppliers have been required to produce statutory Water Resources Management Plans, which set out how each company will manage its water resources to ensure a sustainable supply and demand balance over the next 25 years.

The Secretary of State has now considered the draft plans, the consultation responses and the water companies' statements in reaction to those. The plans, if passed, are expected to go into action during 2010.

Working conditions

As many as a million workers are making a false claim to be self-employed, and earning up to £100 a week more than their directly employed colleagues, says the Treasury, depriving HM Exchequer of a calculated £350 million a year. If the recent Treasury consultation, False self-employment in construction: taxation of workers, is enacted, self employment will come under close scrutiny. The Treasury has already said that those convicted of fraud under these rules will also be fined in retrospect.

At the other end of the scale, employers have been given a late reprieve on the Agency Workers Regulations; it is now expected to come into force in October 2011. The Regulations give agency workers the right to equal treatment with permanent members of staff after 12 weeks employment, as if they had been recruited directly to the same job.

On the subject of conditions, biometric hand and iris scanners have been installed for workers to access the Olympic Park construction site as part of planned measures to enhance safety and security. Enhanced access controls and other proportionate measures are being phased in to ensure the safety and security of local people and the 4,500-strong workforce. However, there are some arguments.

Is there any good news?

Not really, except if you're ill during your holidays. Staff who are ill during their annual leave are now entitled to claim the time back from their employers, following a ruling from the European Court of Justice. As well as receiving the right to have holiday which coincides with sickness reallocated, employees will also be able to carry the entitlement over to the next holiday year if necessary. The ruling was handed down in the case of Francisco Vicente Pereda, a specialist driver in Spain. In its final judgement, the Court stated that national rules or collective agreements contradicting its verdict no longer hold.

Finally, a new medical 'fit note' is to be introduced next year. Replacing the current 'sick note', it will help more people stay in work, rather than drift into long term sickness. The new 'fit note' will enable people to get the best possible advice about staying in work, and if they can't work what their employer can do to help them return to work sooner.

Unfortunately, a 'few days on the fit' just doesn't have the same ring...

Related NBS information:

Articles:

• Delays to new Building Regulations Part G and Approved Document G
• Light at the end of the tunnel? Industry prospects for 2010
• NBS and the structural Eurocodes
• Tax and false self-employment in the construction industry
• The Construction Act review

Written December 2009

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