COMMENT & OPINION
SKILLS SHORTAGE SOLUTION: INCREASE OFF-SITE VOLUMES
Mark Cooper, sales director of Actis UK and Ireland on the need to think about ways to solve the shortage of skills in parts of the industry.
A REPORT BY the Federation of Master Builders, highlighting the fact that the shortage of construction workers has hit its worst ever levels, is the latest sign that offsite housing volumes must be increased to help tackle the housing crisis.
The assertion comes from pan European insulation specialist Actis, a long term advocate of timber frame as a speedier method of construction with no negative effect on quality. The FMB, the UK’s largest construction trade association, in its quarterly report on the state of the industry, found that small and medium sized companies are struggling in particular to recruit bricklayers and carpenters and that demand for skilled plumbers, electricians and plasterers is also outstripping supply.
Actis UK and Ireland sales director Mark Cooper said: “This latest report highlights yet again that the construction industry is desperately short of skilled workers to help build the hundreds of thousands of homes
this country desperately needs. As well as needing to ensure we increase skills training for the longer term and find a way to ensure we don’t lose our best tradespeople after Brexit, we must urgently embrace ways in which we can build those homes in a shorter time, thus necessitating fewer skilled man hours.” Homes created offsite can be built up to 30% more quickly than their brick and block counterparts and costs can be reduced by as much as 25%.
Mark explained: “The bulk of the skilled element takes place off site. Timber frame walls, floors and roofs, complete with electrical wiring, plumbing and insulation are built in factories at relative speed. Indeed, some insulation systems such as Actis Hybrid, which consists of insulation, vapour control layer and breather membrane, can be installed effectively with ease by someone who has had minimal training which can even be delivered via an on-line tutorial.
“As these three in one systems
Actis UK and Ireland sales director Mark Cooper says the FMB’s report highlighting the record level of skills shortages underlines the need to build more off-site homes.
are quicker to install than traditional insulation – many builders report savings of 25 to 50% - this in turn also frees up more man hours.” “In last year’s housing white paper the government proposed
ACCESS ALL AREAS
Chris Coxon, head of marketing at Eurocell, on how housing stock needs to be more accessible if it is to meet changing demographic requirements.
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A GOVERNMENT SURVEY has been assessing how our housing stock could be updated to better meet society’s needs. Accessibility is rightly identified as an important factor, says Chis Coxon, Head of Marketing at Eurocell.
Nearly one-third of households in England have at least one
person with a long-term limiting illness or disability. The three most common limitations are physical – problems with mobility, stamina and dexterity – which together account for 43 % of cases. These findings come from the English Housing Survey (EHS), ongoing Government-sponsored
Continued on page 16
www.buildersmerchantsjournal.net March 2018
an increase in this construction method, with firms encouraged to tap into the £3bn Home Building Fund and the Accelerated Construction programmed to enable this to happen.” BMJ
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