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Dame Judith Hackitt Draws Crowds at ETIM UK’s Digitalisation and Building Safety Debate
ETIM UK Ltd was back at Digital Construction Week 2023 recently drawing a large audience to the Main Stage for a panel discussion chaired by Dame Judith Hackitt on the topic of ‘Why standardised product data and building safety are inextricably linked’. The panellists were all senior leaders representing the key players in the construction supply chain: Manufacturer: Nico Van Der Merwe, CEO, Signify UK and Ireland (formerly Philips Lighting) Merchant: Frank Elkins, Chief Operating Officer, Travis Perkins Plc ·
House Builder: Angus Macdonald, Founder and CEO, Galion Major Contractor: Stephen Jeffery, Chief Technical Officer, Mace
Introducing the session Dame Judith emphasised that the UK is moving into a different phase of building safety – that of implementation - with digital technologies being used to support that implementation process, warning too that those businesses which are slow to adapt could be left behind.
The key themes emerging from the discussion included:
1. Larger businesses with more digital resources and expertise need to come together to help SMEs digitalise; 2. The construction industry needs to focus on collaboration; 3. Access to high quality product data is a challenge for businesses; 4. Trade bodies are a major force in driving the digitalisation agenda, particularly with reference to the focus on high quality product information; 5. Digitalisation is a journey, a continuous partnership, and businesses that do not adapt could be left behind; 6. Standards and procedures need to be crystal clear.
In the wake of the Grenfell Tower disaster, Dame Judith conducted an Independent Review for UK Government into Building Regulations and Fire Safety. Since publishing her final report in 2018 she has continued to press for regulatory change and for industry culture change. Her recommendations for radical reform of the regulatory system recently received Royal Assent in the Building Safety Act 2022. ETIM is the tried and tested data standard for technical product
Preventing Theft of Tools and Equipment
data adopted by the Builders Merchants Federation (BMF) since 2019 for building materials, HVAC and plumbing products, and the Electrical Distributors’ Association (EDA) since 2017 for electrotechnical products. John Newcomb, CEO at the BMF said “We were delighted to see a full house for this important debate on the importance of digitalisation in achieving building safety, and I would like to thank Dame Judith and all four of our panellists for their thoughtful and considered contributions. One of the prime take-aways of the event is the need for collaboration across the whole supply chain to drive change. High quality product data is key to successful digitalisation and we are working with materials manufacturers and builders merchants to adopt ETIM as the standard data model.”
BMF Supports Global Green Initative
The Builders Merchants Federation (BMF) is supporting a global initiative, calling for a new approach to sustainability in the built environment. The BMF is one of over 80 leading industry bodies supporting the launch of Our Shared Understanding: a circular economy in the built environment, published today (Thursday 1 June), which sets out why all sectors and disciplines must work together to enable a circular economy in the built environment, optimising the use
of resources and reducing waste. John Newcomb, BMF CEO said: “The circular economy focuses on a ‘reduce, reuse, recycle’ process, and Our Shared Understanding calls for collective action to put circular principles at the heart of how we design, manage, build and use our existing buildings and infrastructure. “The initiative is designed to address global challenges such as achieving net zero emissions, providing climate resilience, protecting biodiversity, and enabling social equity.” The BMF is a committed
July 2023
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sustainability champion and sees supply chain collaboration as a key element to drive change. As well as facilitating a regular Sustainability Forum to share best practice and sustainable solutions on issues such as single use pallets, the trade body has encouraged members to participate in CO2nstructZero, the construction industry’s zero carbon change programme, with over 30 merchants and suppliers now assessed and accepted as CO2nstructZero Business Champions.
BMF DIARY DATES
Please check the BMF website at
www.bmf.org.uk for all the latest news and events updates in this ever-changing environment.
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The Home Office is running a consultation on proposals to legislate to prevent theft of machinery, tools & equipment used in farming but also by the manual trades who are customers of merchants. The motivation behind these proposals from Whitehall is two- fold: • Greg Smith, Conservative MP for Buckingham, has draft legislation going through Parliament that enjoys widespread support from MPs (inc. government ministers). His focus is the theft of vehicles and agricultural machinery from farmers & growers - notably ATVs. His Equipment Theft (Prevention) Bill will at some stage become law. • Industry charities and others who campaign to support victims (esp. tools from vans) and want the police to record incidents and investigate more cases. In our supply chain, Vanwatch often takes the lead on such crime prevention initiatives.
The BMF welcome the following new members:
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