Industry news

Northern Ireland’s Infrastructure Minister Liz Kimmins has hosted a roundtable event in Belfast entitled ‘Plan to Improve: Pathway to Progress’. This event brought together organisations from across business, education, public sector, environment, councils and legal professions to encourage open and collaborative dialogue on the planning system.

The National House Building Council (NHBC) has backed the government’s £600m Construction Skills Package. It is also committing £100m to training programmes and encouraging people from all backgrounds to now consider a career in housebuilding.

Trade body the Property Care Association (PCA) has published a consumer guide to help householders with concerns over spray foam insulation installed in their properties.

Digital Construction Week will return to ExCeL London on 4 and 5 June 2025. From architects to digital strategy, the speakers at this year’s event represent a diverse catalogue of knowledge in construction technology, sustainability and data-driven design.

Construction company ProjectPay has released its Global Economic Impact Report, which has found that 98% of the construction sector is constituted by SMEs, and both these companies and tier-one contractors consider it challenging to offer projects due to many organisations collapsing.

Seminar content from this year’s UK’s Concrete Show in Birmingham in March 2025 is now available to view online.

Engineers Without Borders UK has launched the 2025 Systems Change Lab, which is designed to drive systemic change in engineering education and practice.

Of UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ Spring Statement in March, Michael Cook, Chief Executive Officer of Leaders Romans Group, commented that the challenge of making £15bn worth of cuts to public spending was never going deliver everything on the property industry’s wishlist, but that the £600m for construction training was very welcome.

The Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage in Ireland has signed the Building Control (Amendment) Regulations 2025 (S.I. No. 56 of 2025).

CABE Members who are also registered building surveyors in Ireland will note that the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland (SCSI) Statutory Boards and Committees is to hold its elections on 19 May 2025.

Ian McKinnon, Chief Product Officer at Veriforce CHAS, asks what the Procurement Act 2023 means for social value.

Registration for the Big Bang Fair, the UK’s largest celebration of science, technology, engineering and maths for young people, is open.

CITB’s Top 100 Most Influential Women in Construction Awards for 2025 will highlight the significant contributions of women from across the construction industry and make roles more visible and accessible.

The Building Safety Regulator (BSR) has launched a call for evidence on statutory guidance supporting Part A of the Building Regulations on structural safety (Approved Document A).

Seven companies that played a role in the Grenfell Tower fire may be debarred from public contracts, Westminster Housing Secretary Angela Rayner has announced.

Personal Emergency Evacuation Plans (or PEEPs) have had far less attention when it comes to lessons learned from the Grenfell Tower fire – but that is about to change, says Peter Crush

The Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) has supported more than 24,000 learners and nearly 9,000 employers with apprenticeship grants between April and December 2024.

Tilia Homes is part of an initiative encouraging women to apply for site management experience as part of the Women into Home Building programme.

Construction Industry Council and the Edge, a built environment think tank, have published the Competence Framework for Sustainability in the Built Environment to underpin the development of discipline-specific, sustainability competence requirements across the built environment and the natural sector.

CABE Past President Joseph Birt has been appointed as Chair of the Historic Buildings Council.