Backpedalling on procurement reform

Some encouraging activity has been seen on the public procurement front recently, all well reported on in Construction Law. Professor David Mosey’s recent report on frameworks has been a stand out contribution.

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Pre-qualification standard updated with sustainability requirements

Build UK has updated its Common Assessment Standard – the industry agreed question set for contractor pre-qualification – to include new questions on sustainability, diversity and cyber security.

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Climate clause set to launch for NEC contracts

NEC is adding a new clause to its NEC4 suite of standard contract forms that construction clients can use to hold firms to account over their carbon reduction promises and tackle so called ‘greenwashing’ in the sector.

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Built Environment Committee presses for planning reform

Planning reform will be “key” in meeting a target to build 300,000 homes each year, but government has still not set out detailed proposals, a Parliamentary committee has warned amid rumours that the long anticipated Planning Bill will be scrapped.

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Call for retentions legislation as Building Safety Bill progresses

The construction sector cannot be relied upon to tackle the problem of cash retentions without government legislation, a Peer has suggested during a House of Lords debate on proposed amendments to the Building Safety Bill.

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Collaborate to mitigate Ukraine impacts, construction sector told

A call for collaboration has been made to the construction sector to help secure existing and planned projects against disruption resulting from the crisis in Ukraine, which is expected to escalate materials and energy costs on schemes. From a legal standpoint, the situation may affect the sector in a number of ways.

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Stop withholding payments to improve safety, urges Hackitt

Cash retentions must be scrapped as part of a cultural shift that will be necessary on construction projects to deliver safer buildings, Dame Judith Hackitt has urged. Speaking at the launch of new guidance on collaborative procurement to support building safety this week, she welcomed its focus on the practice of retentions.

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Social value procurement criteria to be rethought

Government is reportedly planning to scale back emphasis on achieving wider social value outcomes from public procurement under the direction of the new Minister for Government Efficiency, Jacob Rees-Mogg. The net effect may end up being a return to lowest price tendering, warns one lawyer.

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Government “missed” failed ACM fire test result, Inquiry hears

Results of a “catastrophic” fire safety test on a polyethylene cored ACM cladding product “just got missed” by the government some 16 years before the Grenfell Tower fire, the Inquiry into the 2017 blaze has heard.

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Ukraine crisis piles further pressure on construction margins

Knock on effects of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine are set to pile additional cost pressures on the construction sector and could force some projects to be cancelled or put on hold, warns Mace in its latest market analysis. The report also delivers a fresh warning that insolvencies are likely to rise this year.

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