THE VOICE OF THE INDUSTRY
AS WE WELCOME IN 2023, CEF NI MANAGING DIRECTOR, MARK SPENCE, REFLECTS ON THE LAST 12 MONTHS AND CEF’S EFFORTS TO ENSURE THE SECTOR’S CONTINUED VIABILITY FOR THE YEARS TO COME…
Revolving doors
An absent Executive at Stormont means further delay in vital and overdue reforms.
M uch has changed over last the 12 months … but, disturbingly, much has stayed the same. As we entered 2022, main challenges were materials inflation and shortages, lack of flexibility in public contracts, insufficient pipelines of profitable work, waning consumer confidence and the prospect of renewed political instability – arguably, as we approach 2023, that largely remains the landscape. Throughout the past year CEF have remained focused on developing practical solutions for our members on as many fronts as possible. GOVERNMENT WORKS On public contracts, we continued to ensure the delivery of the PAN 01/21 that CEF had negotiated in summer 2021, for existing and new contracts. Always mindful that the assistance provided under the PAN since 2021 – and the inclusion of X1 clauses in 2022 tenders – only ever partially cover the extraordinary additional costs of construction, nevertheless it has provided a level of additional support
not seen elsewhere in these islands. Through our membership of the Procurement Board we proactively engaged with government and industry partners on subjects such as alternative forms of contracts and how these can be factored into future pipelines. The year’s lack of political commitment has severely hampered the development of new guidance and practice, reduced the level of consultation and resulted in compromised outcomes but the feedback of the industry has helped to shape the next stage of engagement and reform. As housebuilding faces renewed headwinds we have worked with members and several government departments to progress improvements to the well-rehearsed challenges around planning, housing supply targets, building regulations and wastewater capacity.
base – this has included work with our partners in the Trade Unions on commissioning a significant industry skills review that will be taken forward as a matter of priority in 2023. It’s also been a year where we’ve embedded our three membership- wide taskforces across all aspects of our work. Our Construct Zero Task Force has developed a guide to carbon reduction as well as contributing to UK-wide ongoing research and guidance. Our People & Skills Task Force developed a modern slavery guidance and now has been instrumental in our review of industry skills and engagement with CITB and other stakeholders to find better ways of attracting and retaining the best talent in our industry. Our Procurement & Risk Task Force has continued to support our engagement with CPD on procurement and contractual changes. All of this on top of the four established and very active CEF sectoral committees that have given so generously of their time to engage on topical matters with many invited
SKILLS, CARBON AND PROCUREMENT
We have also renewed our focus this year on our people and future skills
10 | NI BUILDER
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