A comprehensive Cost Value Reconciliation (CVR) scheme should enable you to handle the current material and labour shortages, and even take advantage of them.
Building projects are being cancelled, put on hold, and otherwise disrupted by shortages of both materials and labour. There are no shortages of explanations, though, as it has been blamed on everything from Brexit to the pandemic, shipping problems, material scarcities themselves and even the steep rise in construction demand as various lockdowns ease and contractors rush back to work. It’s a compound problem and needs a comprehensive solution.
- Topic:
- Construction
Being in the construction industry is an endless battle between pleasing the client and facing the external challenges. The last year has been strange for everyone, yet the sector has still ploughed on. As we now approach the end of the last round of lockdown restrictions (hopefully), let’s have a look at the challenges in the construction industry in 2021.
- Topic:
- Construction
Traditionally communication and reporting on a construction project has been a challenge. With the number of people involved, from construction workers to upper-level project management, working both on-site and off-site you can see why.
- Topic:
- Construction
With the ever-evolving world of technology, cloud-based construction ERP such as EasyBuild, has seen a massive uptake by organisations. 78% of organisations consider the cloud to be a critical part of their business strategy. So why is this the case? What benefits does a cloud ERP technology offer and how is it changing the Construction industry?
- Topic:
- Construction
Since March 2021, the UK’s construction industry have had to handle and pay VAT in a different way following the introduction of the new VAT reverse charge system. Find out more about these changes and how this might impact your business.
- Topic:
- Construction
For many employers, there is no choice but to have staff physically at work rather than working from home. In some instances, it can be a significant proportion of the workforce. From construction and manufacturing to transport, logistics and food production – there are a variety of sectors having to make significant steps to stay on top of the workplace Covid-19 risk. The good news is that there is practical help available.
- Topic:
- Construction
As a finance leader, compliance is one of the key goals of the job. After all, if a business is found to be in breach of its financial obligations, then there is a real existential risk to it – and all parties could lose out. For those financial directors in construction, it’s even more important to be mindful of compliance as there are so many additional pieces of compliance legislation that govern health and safety, the unusual status of the sector’s labour market and more.
However, there’s something else to think about, too. The Construction Industry Scheme was recently launched, and it aims to ensure that nobody in the contractor supply chain can get away with avoiding VAT. It’s worth noting that one early government report into previous iterations of the CIS suggested that half of contractors flagged the CIS as an administrative burden, so it’s important to be aware that future changes could sap time. This article will explore what the key changes are and will also look at how they might affect individual firms.
- Topic:
- Construction
It’s no secret that profit margins throughout the construction industry are notoriously low. Despite many projects running into millions or even billions of pounds, contractors typically struggle to turn even a 2% margin.
In contrast, other industries that employ many skilled and semi-skilled workers such as car manufacturing can expect a much healthier profit margin of around 6-8%.
- Topic:
- Construction
Fire safety in construction is an ongoing topic of concern, especially since the Grenfell Tower disaster on 14th June 2017.
Grenfell has been heralded as one of the UK’s worst modern disasters and the devastating chain of events involved has led to calls for change across the industry and for legislation governing high rise buildings.
The responsibility of leading this investigation fell to Dame Judith Hackitt, who since releasing her findings has worked tirelessly to be as vocal and open about the findings as possible, including being involved in a number of public webinars and events to shine a spotlight on the issues at hand.
I was fortunate enough to sit in on one of these webinars and have summed up the 40-minute briefing here. It specifically focuses on building regulations and fire safety in high rise buildings in the aftermath of the Grenfell tower disaster.
- Topic:
- Construction
Workplace fatalities have unfortunately risen this year according to the Health and Safety Executive’s annual statistic release. 147 workers were fatally injured between April 2018 and March 2019.
There has been a long-term reduction in workplace fatalities since 1981, but 2018/19 saw an increase of six workplace fatalities from 2017/18.
Following the release, HSE Chair Martin Temple commented:
“Today’s release of workplace fatality statistics is a reminder that despite the UK’s world leading position in Health & Safety, we cannot become complacent as we seek to fulfil our mission in preventing injury, ill health and death at work.”
- Topic:
- Construction
