Materials availability and pricing crisis – Procurement Advisory Note (PAN)
After the agreement and publication of the PAN at the start of August, consultation was completed with CPD on example templates for potential claims in mid-October. RICS has agreed special subscription rates for CEF members to assist in formulating claims using BCIS indices. Since then, members have been working with government clients on these claims, with over 100 contracts now availing of what has been put in place. The next few weeks will be key to determining how much assistance this has given contractors – and what further steps may need to be taken in the New Year.
NI Procurement Board
Through CEF’s membership of the Procurement Board, work has recently commenced that seeks agreement between industry and government on a revised set of standardised X and Z clauses for the NEC4 contract. Additionally, work is close to being completed on revisions to the quality of the data in the NI Procurement Pipeline. CEF has separately been engaging with CPD and other CoPE’s around contractor notation values from Construction line, which are beginning to be negatively affected by the impact of lower turnover for many firms as a result of the pandemic.
Construction Leadership Council
Business Champions in the UK Government BEIS programme is committing businesses across the sector to achieve Net Zero by 2050. Further calls to become champions
take place regularly, so please do get in touch for more information. Separately, at the November meeting of the CLC, the CEF raised special issues of importance to Northern Ireland in relation to CE markings while also discussing the application of the Construction
Playbook, skills and outreach to schools.
Building Regulations – First Uplift consultation now live
The Part F Phase One uplift consultation – which focuses on new buildings with the aim for a better/lower carbon dioxide emissions performance, more use of PV panels and enhancing insulation requirements – is now live with a return date for submissions of 19
December. The CEF is currently engaging with members on its response to this, but is, broadly, supportive of what is being proposed.
For more information on the Construction Employers Federation,
T: (028) 9087 7143
E: mail@cefni.co.uk
www.cefni.co.uk
