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In this article, Build Warranty delves into the construction technology trends that are poised to redefine the UK housing market and explore their potential implications

The United Kingdom’s housing market is on the cusp of a revolutionary transformation, driven by the rapid evolution of construction technology and the resulting trends.

These emerging innovations are not only reshaping the way houses are erected but also wielding a considerable influence on property prices, demand, and the broader housing market landscape.

Construction technology trends include:

A shift towards efficiency and speed with modular construction

The advent of modular construction is heralding a new era of efficiency and expediency in the housing sector.

This approach involves prefabricating components of homes in controlled factory settings, subsequently assembling them on-site.

This not only curtails construction timelines but also minimises wastage while ensuring consistent quality. The surge of modular construction could potentially strengthen housing supply.

Sculpting the future of design with 3D printing

The realm of architectural design is being dramatically redefined by the advent of 3D printing technology. This innovative technique facilitates the creation of intricate and bespoke building elements with remarkable precision.

From ornate facades to custom-designed interior features, 3D printing empowers architects and builders to materialise their creative visions during design and construction stages.

While the initial costs of 3D printing may be higher, its potential to deliver strikingly unique properties could influence property prices within the luxury and high-end segments.

Bolstering the green revolution with sustainable building practices

A surge in environmental awareness is propelling the adoption of sustainable building practices. This construction technology trend encompasses the use of energy-efficient materials and the seamless integration of renewable energy sources.

As eco-conscious consumers increasingly prioritise green living spaces, properties instilled with sustainable attributes are expected to command premium prices.

Furthermore, the widespread adoption of sustainable practices might contribute to a more harmonised housing market by catering to the rapidly growing demand for eco-responsible homes.

Pioneering connectivity with smart homes and IoT integration

The concept of smart homes, powered by the Internet of Things (IoT), is fundamentally reshaping the way we engage with our living environments.

Automated lighting, temperature control, security systems, and entertainment features all seamlessly integrate within these technologically advanced abodes. Homes replete with IoT devices and smart functionalities may witness heightened demand, particularly from technologically inclined buyers.

Elevating visualisation with virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR)

Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) are revolutionising property marketing and sales strategies. These technologies empower potential buyers to undertake virtual tours of homes and thoroughly explore spaces before they are physically constructed.

This immersive encounter expedites decision-making processes and augments comprehension of property layouts.

As VR and AR continue to integrate into property marketing, their role in fostering informed choices could have substantial implications on demand patterns.

The significance of structural warranties and BW Build Warranty®

Amid these technological advancements, the importance of structural warranties cannot be overstated. Providing a safety net against unforeseen structural defects, a reliable structural warranty offers unparalleled peace of mind to homeowners and property buyers.

Among the array of options, the one that BW Build Warranty® offers stands as a beacon of trust and comprehensive coverage. With its technology driven site auditing processes, it leads to more robust quality assurances and all-encompassing protection.

They ensure that properties are fortified against potential structural challenges, securing the future for homeowners, while positively influencing property demand and prices.

The post Construction technology trends: paving the way for the future of the UK housing market appeared first on Planning, Building & Construction Today.

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Hitesh Pattni, northern specification manager at SFS, discusses how engaging product manufacturers in technical design advice during early work stages means project-specific solutions can be aligned with sustainable building

Our mission at SFS is to maximise the success of all collaborative projects – with safety and sustainable building at the very core.

How the construction industry do more to help the environment

Seeking technical design advice from product manufacturers during early work stages means project-specific solutions can be developed; and be aligned with the desired sustainable construction outcomes. It’s then possible to demonstrate to clients the value that a particular solution will provide; through long-term performance and lower whole-life energy and carbon emissions, for example.

The nature of the design advice can vary by project. It is likely to feature U-value calculations for the building envelope, giving a more accurate idea of wall thickness. It might also feature Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs), which can be used to help calculate a project’s overall environmental impact.

How can the industry achieve better results?

Nowhere is the environmental impact of human activity more evident than in the construction industry and what the construction sector contributes. In the UK alone, the sector uses around 400m tonnes of materials every year.

Around a quarter of that becomes waste, despite dwindling supplies of finite raw materials. And yet, as global populations continue to grow and become more urbanised, the worldwide demand for raw materials will increase.

How do we reconcile our ongoing need for buildings with the environmental impact that construction activity has on the planet? Robust building envelope specifications are required – which not only aim to meet the needs of ‘now’ but also help to ensure the building makes a constructive contribution to the planet for a positive future.

Efficiency is essential. That does not just mean the thermal efficiency of the building envelope. The concept of efficiency can be applied at any and all stages of a project.

It starts from the outset by asking whether new construction is necessary or can a client’s needs be met using an existing asset. If a new building is required, how can it be designed to use resources efficiently and to reduce, or even eliminate, waste? How can it be delivered efficiently on-site?

The importance of whole life of products and buildings

Being clear about what sustainable building means in the construction industry or on a construction project is easier said than done. There are many contrasting opinions and conflicting sources of advice. It is challenging to specify products that lower the operational emissions of a building, even before thinking about raw material sourcing, in-use maintenance and repair, and what will happen to the building at the end of its life.

Manufacturers are keen to promote the sustainability benefits of their products, but a robust specification is one that uses materials because they support the long-term goals of the project and not just because they claim to be ‘low carbon’ or contain a lot of recycled content.

Awareness around embodied carbon is increasing within the construction industry, and it is likely to become legislated in the near future. Reductions in embodied carbon can mean a project is using resources more efficiently simply by using less of them.

In the context of the linear economy, however, where materials and products are still routinely disposed of at the end of their life, is embodied carbon the right long-term metric?

By looking at materials and products in terms of their whole-life impact, we can start to shift the construction industry towards a circular economy approach.

The availability of Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) supports this. When manufacturers can supply EPDs that report on all lifecycle impacts, specifiers are better placed to make all-embracing informed decisions. Metals such as steel and aluminum have high embodied carbon, but we can think about how to design with them in a way that takes advantage of their strength and durability.

Designing components for reuse means that when a building reaches the end of its useful life, it can be disassembled, and the components used on a new site. Demand for raw materials and new products is reduced. And even though these metals are infinitely recyclable, the environmental impact associated with the recycling process is avoided too. 

How to start thinking of sustainability as more than carbon dioxide emissions

Switching to a longer-term frame of reference means having information available to understand products in a different way. That is a key area in which specifiers and manufacturers can work together, and the collaborations are most effective when they happen in the early stages of a project.

It becomes possible to know more about where raw materials are sourced from and how far they have traveled to be made into a construction product and then delivered to the site. It means understanding how components perform in use and how they contribute to the overall performance of the building. It means knowing how a product can be handled at the end of the building’s life.

Current building regulations do not include requirements for these aspects of building design and specification. The focus remains on the operational efficiency of buildings. Important as that is, there is a lot more to sustainability. The transition away from fossil fuels means designing buildings with high levels of building fabric performance and efficiency specified renewable technology.

Engaging with manufacturers means specifiers can work to design a building envelope that is capable of incorporating renewable as part of the system, thereby achieving long-term sustainability.

You can learn more about robust, sustainable building envelope specifications and the benefits of engaging with product manufacturers in our series of technical papers in ‘SFS Talks’ here: https://uk.sfs.com/knowledge-hub/sfs-talks

Find out more about how SFS UK is working to reduce waste, be more energy efficient, and create a more sustainable future for all by visiting our sustainability page here.

Hitesh Pattni

For more information on Defining Robust Specifications, go to our Whitepaper: https://uk.sfs.com/knowledge-hub/sfs-talks/specifications/planning

For further information, call 0330 0555888 or visit https://uk.sfs.com/

The post How can early engagement deliver more sustainable building envelopes? appeared first on Planning, Building & Construction Today.

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A £64m-turnover contractor based in East Sussex has filed a notice of intention to appoint administrators. Catsfield-based Westridge Construction Ltd made the move on Tuesday (12 September) and retained Cripps Pemberton Greenish as legal counsel. Construction News approached Westridge Construction for comment yesterday afternoon (12…

The post South East contractor on brink of administration appeared first on Construction News.

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New analysis shows that the number of medium-sized construction firms defaulting on their Covid loans has shot up. A total of 1,084 companies in the sector defaulted at least once on their Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) repayments, up to the end of June…

The post Covid-loan defaults up 40% among mid-size firms appeared first on Construction News.

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How can we view accountability as a positive experience rather than one of blame? Zoe Nation outlines a new approach.

Accountability is misunderstood and is often the elephant in the room when discussing innovative safety or proposing ideas for progressive investigation approaches. The initial responses I receive when suggesting people make mistakes and therefore blame fixes nothing, are along the lines of: “So we don’t have to take any responsibility for our actions then.”; “Now no one is accountable.”; “It’s a get out of jail free card.”; or cries of, ‘There will be anarchy!”.

Rather than getting into definitions and origins, it is more helpful to focus on the way accountability is used; the desire for it, and also some of the fear created in an operational context. This is how I try to help people think differently about it; maybe it will help when you have similar discussions.

Try starting with the understanding of the term by combining personal experience, ask: “Tell me what accountability looks like and feels like to you, in practical terms?” For example: I see someone not hooked on at the job site, or I interview someone following an incident where they consciously bypassed a safety device. How do I know if they feel accountable or not?

The answer is that we can tell from body language, we see them owning their actions with comments like: “I’m sorry, I feel terrible.”; “I let my team down.”; “I don’t know what I was thinking.”; “I should wear the punishment.”; “I’ve impacted my whole team.” The majority of the time this is what I hear when I speak to someone about following an event, mistake or rule breach.

Culpability and blame

Somewhere along the line, we have confused accountability with culpability and blame. If you replace accountability with responsibility or ownership it becomes a more positive experience. How do I allow someone to own their actions? I ask them to tell me what happened, I listen and I give them respect and time to share. I support them so they can share their account in a safe space. I must not judge and I aim to build trust. In doing this, I’m also learning about the reality of work, and what made sense at the time.

Yes, there will always be a small proportion of people who do not take immediate responsibility for their actions and even fewer who never do. However, I’m still curious about this group. I want to understand why they are unwilling to own their actions and be part of the solution. This could still tell me something about the system design. How are they being performance-managed during everyday work, long before the event? Have they received feedback about their behaviours and been given the chance to take accountability before? Are they fearful of owning up to this because they think they will be punished?

Remind them of the research: performance change is more significant following positive reinforcement than negative

Back to the room with the elephant. Once we have discussed the group’s experiences, with people feeling remorseful and we’ve established what accountability looks like, we can ask for a list of pros and cons of discipline. We’ll hear why they have used it previously and why they need it now. We can then discuss the concept that punishment tends to lead to avoidance of getting caught rather than stopping the behaviour itself. Think about how we flash each other to warn other drivers there is a speed camera ahead on the public roads, or perhaps when we use code to radio around when a leader or safety advisor arrives on site for a random inspection. Remind them of the research: performance change is more significant following positive reinforcement than negative. I ask if punishing is getting them closer or further away from being a learning organisation that can reduce repeat incidents.

Forward-looking accountability

Here is the major difference and how I believe you create a shared forward-looking accountability rather than backwardly looking to blame. After the person has told their story (their account), ask: “Okay, so how do we stop this from happening again?” They misht respond with, “Well I should be more careful.” Stop them and say, “So what do you want to do differently, but also, what do you need from us as an organisation? What would you need from your supervisor/client/manager/CEO to guarantee this doesn’t happen again.” This is how they truly become part of the solution, by being allowed to be accountable for their part in the event, with the recognition that they are not solely responsible because they are part of the system. Considering systems thinking, we know that the organisation had a role to play in the choices the person made at that time.

I have never heard, “There is nothing I would do differently’ when I ask this. The focus shifts to, “We will learn from this, and we can improve.” (we, not I).

Finally, discipline is still a valid leadership tool. This approach is not no discipline at all but you will require it less since the emphasis is on learning rather than blame. If you are concerned about consistency in application, then you can implement a Just Culture matrix. But typically, once implemented with the above philosophy, it is used less and less as we become more aligned and practiced in the approach. Involving Legal and HR early in this discussion is vital to understand how to integrate with existing processes and commitments.

Tips

In summary, here are some tips to help when having conversations around accountability, and how it is still achievable with a modern safety or systems thinking lens:

Ask what accountability looks like in practice.
Explain some ideas around what it is (ownership, accounting for one’s actions) and is not (blame, culpability).
Ask about the pros and cons of punishment and if it enables a learning organisation.
Satisfy the human need for accountability by getting the person to tell the story of what happened and then try to move forward by helping to solve it and stop it happening again.
Propose that you don’t need punishment to get accountability.
Discipline is still a tool, but you’ll find it is not usually needed with this approach. Just Culture models can help build structure and consistency, although in a mature organisation I tend to see it being phased out eventually.

The post Elephant in the room? Reframing accountability appeared first on SHP – Health and Safety News, Legislation, PPE, CPD and Resources.

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Counting King, a leading expert in tax relief and business funding consultancy, has announced a new partnership with CDI, a programme initiated by Innovate UK

The collaboration between Counting King and CDI aims to connect businesses to universities and regional colleges across northern England and support innovation across cybersecurity, artificial intelligence (AI), immersive technology, and additive manufacturing.

Championing tech innovation in the north

CDI has worked in collaboration with Manchester Metropolitan University, The University of Manchester, Salford University, Lancaster University, and many other regional colleges. Together they hope the programme can be a launchpad for businesses in new fields, providing vital resources and growth in the technological sectors.

Counting King has been added to the board to provide expertise in tax relief and champion technology within the north. The company will assist partner companies with their research and development functions, allowing them to access the full spectrum of financial support opportunities.

Counting King has helped companies claim over £40m

Over 1,000 clients have benefited from Counting King’s services, 98% of which have been research and development clients. These claims accumulated over £40m and have led to direct payments from HMRC or significant reductions in annual tax bills.

“Our partnership with CDI and the Northwest universities is a significant step in our commitment to nurturing innovation in the region. We believe that by educating businesses about R&D, helping them navigate grant funding, and enrolling them into programs like Patent Box, we can transform them into attractive investment opportunities,” explained Tom, a business funding consultant at Counting King.

“Navigating the complexities of R&D tax relief and funding can be daunting. We aim to simplify this process for businesses, allowing them the freedom to focus on their area of expertise, breaking new ground, rather than tax and legislation expertise,” added Leon, a senior tax analyst at Counting King.

The partnership between Counting King and CDI highlights the company’s commitment to facilitating innovation in the Northwest of England and championing the growth of businesses across various cutting-edge industries.

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The public sector spent at least £34m on investigating and remediating RAAC before late August, according to a public contracts analyst. Research from Tussell shows that 13 clients from the NHS and local and central government issued 48 contracts related to RAAC from March 2021…

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