The Week That Was - 29 November 2024

Welcome to The Week That Was, a round-up of key events in the construction sector over the last seven days.

New British standard for residential fire safety 

On 27 November 2024, a new British standard for fire safety was published.  The BS 9991:2024 controls all aspects of fire safety systems in residential buildings.  This will supersede the BS 9991:2015, which is now nine years old.  Changes implemented in the new edition include an 18m height limit for single stair buildings. Other topics covered by the revised document are external fire spread, building separation and fire performance for external wall surfaces.  The new edition has been fully revised taking into account considerable changes within the industry.  

Firms are advised to familiarise themselves with the new guidance to ensure compliance and best practice, since contractors involved in all parts of residential construction will need to observe the changes.

You can read more here.

Great Portland Estates commits to 40% recycled components from April 2025

A developer, Great Portland Estates (GPE), which owns almost £2 billion worth of property in central London has made the commitment to use 40% of recycled components in its developments from 1 April 2025 onwards.  GPE's goal is to reduce the carbon content of its developments by around half by 2030 and to be net zero by 2040.  GPE is already using steel from one of its deconstructed buildings in one of its projects in St James's.  Circulatory analysis will consider both the quantity of reused materials as well as the proportion of any new material that has been derived from recycled materials.

Read the full article here.

CLC Material Supply Chain Group Statement

On Wednesday, the Construction Leadership Council (CLC) published its November 2024 material supply chain group statement from the CEO of the Builders and Merchants Federation, John Newcomb, and the CEO of the Construction Products Association, Peter Caplehorn.  Both are co-chairs of the CLC's Material Supply Chain Group.

The statement highlights that there are generally good levels of product availability overall.  Moreover, the second half of 2024 has seen more investment, giving a stronger pipeline of new orders.  Infrastructure, commercial construction and public sector and non-housing expenditure are the strongest sub-sectors for growth in orders.  The CLC's Material Supply Chain Group confirmed that it will undertake horizon scanning on the impact of increases to National Insurance National Minimum Wage, Business Property Relief and inheritance tax.  Nevertheless, they remain optimistic for market growth in 2025, particularly in relation to housing activity in the second half of 2025.

Read the full statement here.

Revenue growth for Brickability

Brickability, which describes itself as an "industry leading supplier of bricks and building materials", has posted an interim revenue of £330.9 million for the six months to 30 September 2024.  This represents an increase of 1.9% from the same period last year (although pre-tax profit fell by more than half over the same period). In a group statement released this week, it noted the “urgent requirement for remediation of unsafe cladding,” describing this as “a significant market where demand for our services will persist for many years.”

For further information, please see here.

Building Safety Forum – safety first

This month, the multi-discipline principal contractor Miller Knight launched the first of a series of Building Safety Forum events, in Birmingham, welcoming professionals from the built environment sector to discuss remediation, refurbishment, and regeneration.  The Building Safety Forum aims to provide a platform to facilitate wider conversations and sharing of knowledge on this topic, focusing on fire protection and safeguarding solutions and their implementation across the industry. The next event will be held in London in March 2025.

You can read more here.

Nutrient neutrality – Supreme Court challenge

The Supreme Court agreed on 1 November 2024 to hear Somerset developer CG Fry & Son Ltd's case relating to the application of the nutrient neutrality rules to developments which received planning consent before the introduction of Natural England’s guidance.  A successful ruling on the interpretation of the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017 could lead to the construction of thousands of homes already subject to planning permission, notwithstanding the nutrient neutrality rules.  This comes at the same time as the Government announced a £47 million Local Nutrient Mitigation Fund to tackle nutrient pollution through local schemes such as the creation of new wetlands and upgrading septic tanks whilst supporting the housebuilding sector. 

You can read more here and here. 

Disclaimer: The information in this publication is for guidance purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.  We attempt to ensure that the content is current as at the date of publication, but we do not guarantee that it remains up to date.  You should seek legal or other professional advice before acting or relying on any of the content.

Authors: Hannah McDonagh, Geraldine Laffitte, Catherine Stead, Sophie Hudson