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CFA News

Listed below are our most recent news posts. You can also view our News Archive, containing posts from from 2020 until present.

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CFA
CFA launches NEW guidance on Underfloor Heating

Beyond Installation – Guidance on Underfloor Heating

CFA are delighted to launch some additional guidance regarding underfloor heating and specifically how legislation relating to heat source pumps is likely to affect our industry and the whole supply chain. Consequently, this guidance document will be of interest to architects, designers, manufacturers, distributors and contract flooring companies.

Underfloor heating offers an exciting opportunity for the industry and end users. It is becoming more and more popular because it offers a balance of comfort and performance that meets Government carbon reduction targets. As the document identifies, UFH is probably the main solution to the recommendation for in the Future Building Standards (developed as the Future Homes Standard) which will mean that traditional boilers will be replaced by heat pumps for all new build homes.

As the use of UFH is likely to increase significantly, the guide provides both a greater understanding of UFH systems and how they work, as well as a guide to key installation requirements for textile, resilient and timber-based flooring. It also provides some guidance as to how the UFH should be used to ensure that the floor covering is not accidentally damaged in use. It compliments other documents in the CFA’s library including the CFA’s Guide to Contract Flooring and section 8 that provides more detailed installation guidance.

CFA’s new document Beyond Installation: Guidance on Underfloor Heating is initially being released as a member only benefit, and demonstrates the importance of working with a quality supply chain. To access this guidance and wider expertise that the CFA supply chain offers, we recommend using a CFA Contractor and products from the Distributors and Manufacturers within membership for your flooring projects. Please see the CFA directory at www.cfa.org.uk, email info@cfa.org.uk or call 0115 941 1126.

Richard Catt CEO of the CFA commented “I am delighted to offer this additional and valuable support to members in a growing area of understanding and activity in the contract flooring market. It is vitally important that all involved in an installation that includes under floor heating collaborate from an early stage. This is probably one of the key messages that this document delivers, with some insight in to the main topics to consider and how innovation may influence.”

06-02-2024
CFA office - Easter closure

The CFA office will be closed for the Easter break from close of business Thursday 28 March 2024, reopening on Tuesday 2 April 2024.

Wishing all our members a Happy Easter.

27-03-2024
Changes to Employee Rights

From 6 April, a number of changes to family friendly and flexible working rights come into force and employers are being encouraged to review and update their policies in line with the following:

ACAS will be publishing a Code of Practice in April with guidance on dealing with flexible working requests, and CFA members can access free advice on employment law issues from Citation by calling 0161 504 0843 - please see the CFA benefits and helplines documents for full details of this helpline (Member area of website).

21-03-2024
Government Support for SMEs

At the Government’s Business Connect conference earlier this week, the Prime Minister announced a package of reforms to support small businesses, including:

  • From 1 April, the Government will fully fund apprenticeships in small businesses by paying the full cost of training for anyone up to the age of 21.
  • The amount of Apprenticeship Levy funds that employers can transfer to other businesses will be increased from 25% to 50%.
  • The Government will increase the thresholds which determine whether a company qualifies as a small or medium‐sized company by 50% and remove a number of reporting requirements.

In what the Government is calling the ‘year of the SME’, it has also established a new Small Business Council to oversee the following key areas for small businesses: access to finance, skills and support, and removing barriers.

Small Business Minister Kevin Hollinrake said:
"Small firms are at the heart of our communities and the engine of our economy – which is why the work of this council is so important. My own experience of working in a small business has given me crucial insights to the problems that SMEs face on a daily basis, from barriers to growth or access to finance.

We’re giving small firms a big voice, so they can directly air their concerns to government without delay – only when we work together can we tackle some of the burning issues SMEs are facing – only then can we help boost jobs and grow the economy."

Flooring industry representation on the Small Business Council will be via Build UK Chair Julie White.

21-03-2024
Competition Law

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) continues to monitor anti‐competitive behaviour in construction, and Build UK’s guidance, produced with Wedlake Bell LLP, explains common violations of competition law and the potential sanctions to help businesses understand the risks.

Source: Build UK (14.3.24)

14-03-2024
Spring Budget 2024

The Chancellor yesterday delivered his Spring Budget, billed as the ‘Budget for Long Term Growth’.  Promising a ‘high wage, high skilled economy’ through more investment, lower taxes and better public services, the key points for businesses in construction included:

  • An extension to full expensing to include leased assets, when fiscal conditions allow, with draft legislation due to be published shortly.
  • Maintaining last year’s fuel duty cut of 5 pence until March 2025 and freezing fuel duty rates for 2024/25.
  • Reducing the employee National Insurance rate from 10% to 8%, and the self‐employee National Insurance rate from 8% to 6%, from 6 April 2024.
  • Increasing the VAT registration threshold from £85,000 to £90,000 from 1 April 2024.
  • Extending the Recovery Loan Scheme with a further £200 million, to be known as the Growth Guarantee Scheme, providing SMEs with Government‐backed loans that have better repayment terms and lengths than the wider market.

The Chancellor also announced was additional investment in new housing projects, an extension of the Long‐Term Plans for Towns to 20 new places, and a new £160 million deal to acquire two sites to develop nuclear power, stating that ‘stimulating investment is the most effective way to raise productivity and therefore wages and living standards’.

Whilst this was a Budget clearly focused on households, which is unsurprising given that it is the last Budget before a General Election, it had very little for the housing market and house building despite the sharp fall in demand. Private house building in December 2023 was already 25% lower than in October 2022, just after the Government’s Mini Budget that led to the initial spike in interest and mortgage rates. Furthermore, house building is likely to decline further this year based on the sharp falls in housing new orders and house building starts in 2023 H2.

Budget 2024 did say that “The government continues to invest in infrastructure and will deliver over £600 billion of planned public sector investment over the next five years” but the reality is that infrastructure output in December 2023 was 15% lower than a year earlier.
 
Of the few bright spots for construction product manufacturers the extension of full expensing to leased assets will benefit smaller companies in particular, and the CPA are urging draft legislation to be brought forward as soon as possible so that this measure can be made permanent. The CPA also noted the Chancellor’s ambition to find productivity gains across public services and, given that government is the largest UK construction client, significant gains could be realised with the implementation of existing proposals such as the Construction Playbook, which sets out key policies and guidance for how public projects and programmes are assessed, procured and delivered.

Sources: Build UK and CPA (7.3.24)

07-03-2024
Companies House Fees - Increase from 1 May 2024

The Government has published the increases in Companies House fees that will apply from 1 May 2024 following the introduction of the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act.

The cost of filing a confirmation statement online will rise from £13 to £34, whilst a paper version will increase from £40 to £62.

29-02-2024
AOC Flooring Limited - New Associate Contractor Member

The CFA would like to welcome AOC Flooring Limited, a New Associate Contractor from Gloucester.

20-02-2024
Patchwork Flooring Contractors Limited - New Contractor Member

The CFA would like to welcome Patchwork Flooring Contractors Limited, a New Contractor Member from Kingswinford.

19-02-2024
Danfloor UK Limited - New Manufacturer Member

 The CFA would like to welcome Danfloor UK Limited, a new Manufacturer member from Bristol.

 

15-02-2024
Help to Grow - support for SMEs

The Government has launched a new series of the Help to Grow: Management Course to support SMEs to improve their leadership and management skills. The 12‐week programme, which includes a combination of online and face‐to‐face sessions, one‐to‐one mentoring and peer networking, is 90% funded by the Government, and companies can register now.

15-02-2024
Public Sector Payment Requirements

From 1 April 2024, companies bidding for Government contracts over £5 million per annum will have to demonstrate that they pay invoices within an average of 55 days and at least 95% within 60 days (90% if an action plan is provided) as set out in PPN 10/23.

The guidance to the PPN confirms that companies must meet both these metrics in at least one of their two previous six month reporting periods under the Reporting on Payment Practices and Performance Regulations, although any companies that have failed to do so may submit data that has not yet been reported for the previous three or more months. Build UK’s payment performance table shows the results for more than 125 of the industry’s largest companies, and all Build UK tier one Contractor members meet the new requirement to pay invoices within an average of 55 days.

The Cabinet Office has confirmed that under the Procurement Act the way that the public sector reports payment performance will be aligned with the private sector to improve transparency. Build UK currently publish the data on the Build UK website and it will be updated as contracting authorities across the whole public sector are required to publish reports every six months via a central Government portal. The specific metrics, which will be aligned to the private sector as called for by Build UK, will be set out in secondary legislation in the coming months.

Source: Build UK (15.2.24)

15-02-2024
Infrastructure Pipeline Published

The Infrastructure and Projects Authority (IPA) has published the National Infrastructure and Construction Pipeline setting out 660 projects and programmes to be delivered over the next 10 years with an estimated investment of £700 ‐ £775 billion.

The next two years will see a total of £164 billion invested in economic and social infrastructure, with energy (£36 billion a year) and transport (£19 billion a year) representing the largest sectors.

Aimed at building confidence in the industry and helping companies plan for the longer term, the pipeline also includes an estimate of the workforce required to deliver it and the new ways of working required. Whilst it is reassuring that the Government has published its pipeline, Build UK has made it clear that the real value for the industry is understanding the detail of the projects and having the certainty that they will be delivered within the timeframe.

 

08-02-2024
Fines for Illegal Workers

The fines for employing illegal workers will increase to a maximum of £45,000 per illegal worker for a first offence and to £60,000 for repeated offences under the revised Home Office code of practice from 13 February 2024. Depending on the individual, employers have three options for ensuring that they have the right to work in the UK: a digital check, an online check or an in‐person manual check.

01-02-2024
Common Assessment Standard Rollout

With more than 18,000 companies across the construction supply chain certified to the Common Assessment Standard, Ferrovial Construction is the latest Build UK member to specify the industry‐recognised standard for its pre‐qualification requirements. Members of the supply chain can now obtain just one certification from any of the Recognised Assessment Bodies in order to tender for work with a growing list of Contractors and Clients. The Common Assessment Standard, which is endorsed by the CLC and specified in PPN 03/23 for use in the public sector, has two levels of certification ‐ desktop and site‐based ‐ and companies should apply for the appropriate level depending on their trade, size and the requirements of their clients.

Build UK is currently consulting on an updated version of the Common Assessment Standard, which includes a new Building Safety section, ensuring it can be used to demonstrate companies have the organisational capability to fulfil their duties under the building safety regime. Version 4, which has also been consolidated and streamlined following the withdrawal of PAS 91 last year, will be available from Q2.

Source: Build UK (25.1.24)

 

25-01-2024
Asbestos Your Duty - new HSE campaign 2024

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has launched a new campaign to highlight the risk of asbestos in buildings and raise awareness of the legal duty to manage those risks. HSE’s Asbestos – Your Duty campaign targets those responsible for managing asbestos in the building (dutyholders), which could be the building owner, the landlord for the premises, the business owner, or the person or organisation with clear responsibility for the building’s maintenance or repair.

The duty to manage asbestos ensures dutyholders must protect people from the risks of exposure to asbestos, including people who work in or on their buildings, and people that use them in other ways. The duty applies to a range of buildings, including non-domestic premises like factories, warehouses, offices and shops; and public buildings like hospitals, schools, premises used for religious worship, and museums and libraries. In addition, common parts of domestic premises are included such as foyers and corridors, lifts and lift-shafts, and staircases.

The Asbestos – Your Duty campaign provides dutyholders with a range of resources including updated webpages, new templates – including an asbestos management plan template, and explanatory videos – all of which can be found on HSE’s website.

A few simple questions can help identify if oyu have a legal duty to manage asbestos - answer the questions here

More information about the duty to manage asbesos can be found here

In 2023 HSE launched its Asbestos and You campaign which was supported by the CFA. 

We would like to remind readers that the CFA has specific advice on flooring within their Guide to Contract Flooring - see sections 3 and 4.

 

23-01-2024
Checking CSCS Cards

Following the successful rollout of CSCS Smart Check, which enables cards across all 38 card schemes carrying the CSCS logo to be verified using the same platform, CSCS has announced that its previous app ‐ 'Go Smart’ ‐ will be turned off on 31 March 2024.

CSCS Smart Check incorporates API technology allowing it to be installed directly into site access systems, which can help to improve site safety and tackle card fraud.

Any members still using Go Smart should put in place plans now to move across to CSCS Smart Check as soon as possible, as cards will not be able to be checked using Go Smart after 31 March.

22-01-2024
Tricas Flooring Ltd - New Contractor Member

The CFA would like to welcome Tricas Flooring Ltd, a new Contractor Member from Bromsgrove.

05-01-2024
UK Reach - Important news for manufacturer members

The Law for UK REACH is changing.

Changes are to be introduced to the statutory deadlines for UK REACH transitional registrations: A statutory instrument (SI) for extending the UK REACH submission deadlines has been passed by Parliament.

It entered into force on Wednesday 19 July 2023. This will extend the statutory deadlines for transitional registrations to 27 October 2026, 2028, and 2030 respectively.

 

24-08-2023
The Full CFA News Archive

Here we have our full archive of previous news posts available to view in date-order.

View posts from 2020 to 2024