May 2025 Update

SPRA Awards Luncheon 2025 – Just 1 Week to Go!

The countdown is officially on – There is less than a week to go until the SPRA Awards Luncheon 2025 at the stunning Hilton NEC Birmingham! This much-anticipated event will celebrate the outstanding achievements of the single ply roofing industry, and tickets are now very limited.

If you haven’t secured yours yet, don’t delay – book now to avoid missing out on this glittering celebration on 12th June!

SPRA Golf Day 2025 – Carden Park, Cheshire – 4th September 2025

Get ready for another fantastic day of sport and networking as the SPRA Golf Day returns to the stunning Carden Park in Cheshire! Taking place on 4th September 2025, this popular event offers members and their guests the chance to compete on the renowned Nicklaus championship course, followed by a lively evening of entertainment, a lavish dinner, and the golf awards presentation. New for this year – there will also be activities available for non-golfers to enjoy the incredible facilities at the venue. Ticketing will open soon, so be sure to save the date!

Sponsorship – Limited opportunities available!

There are still a few opportunities to be a SPRA sponsor at this fabulous SPRA event. Contact enquiries@spra.co.uk for further information.

Training & Competency Development

SPRA is pleased to announce that new NVQ Level 2 programmes in Single Ply Roofing are being planned for Northern England and, separately, for Scotland later this year. Now is the time to register your interest and give your employees the opportunity to gain a skilled worker qualification in single ply roofing.

Alongside this, SPRA continues to offer a range of training and competency development opportunities, including the Specialist Applied-Skills Programme (SAP) and the SUP/OSAT routes for installer upskilling and assessment. These high-quality programmes can lead to the Level 2 NVQ Diploma in Waterproofing Systems – Single Ply Membranes. SPRA contractor members benefit from reduced course rates, and CITB-registered companies can access CITB grant funding.

Wind Load Calculation Protocol (WLCP)

Our popular online WLCP training, based on SPRA’s published guidance, continues to attract both members and non-members. Delivered as three 2-hour sessions, the training is aligned with SPRA’s Wind Loading – Protocol for Calculations (S11b/19), referencing key standards and industry guidance. SPRA members receive discounted rates.

Contact SPRA for further information and to register your employees now.

SPRA joining other Trade Associations in Support of CCPI

Leading trade associations, including SPRA, across the manufacturing and supply sector have signed up to support CCPI. In signing the Trade Associate pledge, trade associations are committing to support and promote the Code for Construction Product Information (CCPI) and its registration and assessment process to their members with the aim to drive a transformational step change in construction product information and management. This is an important move to build back trust in construction product information and marketing, and drive positive culture change across the sector.

Important Note

SPRA members should not and cannot in any way imply to any third party in PR/marketing that they are registered and have been assessed through the CCPI process as a result of SPRA being an Associate CCPI member. They must go through the full CCPI process with CPI Ltd directly

Build UK Update

Gateway Two Update

Chief Inspector ofBuildings Philip White has published an article on the role of theBuilding Safety Regulator (BSR) as theBuilding Control Authority for Higher‐Risk Buildings (HRBs), which acknowledges the delays with applications at Gateway Two and reveals around 70% are being rejected “because they don’t meet the legal requirements”.

The BSR has identified a number of reasons why applications are being rejected, which we have reproduced below, and it has published a case study to reinforce its role in ensuring that an HRB complies withBuilding Regulations and is safe to occupy. According to the BSR, 44% of applications are still being rejected at the validation stage “because they are missing basic information”, and BuildUK’s overview of the documents that must be included within an application is designed to help improve the success rate.

The BSR has also updated the online portal for submitting and managing applications for Building Control Approval. For applications submitted after 1 April 2025, applicants can now create folders for their applications and supporting documents to help the BSR when assessing them.

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Source:Build UK / BSR

Business Growth Service

The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) is developing a Business Growth Service to make it easier for SMEs to find Government advice and support. DBT is looking for feedback on what should be included within the new service, and any Build UK Trade Association members that would like to provide input should contact the DBT team.

Source: Build UK / DBT

Demonstrating Competence

Thanks to all those members who joined our lastBuilding Safety call and shared up to date feedback on the implementation of the building safety regime. As well as discussing the ongoing challenges with Gateway Two, it offered the opportunity to look ahead to other key issues facing the industry, including competence.

Under the Building Safety Act, anyone appointing an individual or organisation to undertake design and construction work has a duty to ensure they are competent. Individuals are required to have the appropriate skills, knowledge, experience and behaviours, whilst organisations must demonstrate ‘organisational capability’

For organisations, the Common Assessment Standard is an established third‐party certification scheme, which requires the appropriate management policies, procedures and systems to be in place, and an updated version will be published on1 July 2025. From this date, theBuilding Safety section will become mandatory for all companies carrying out work under the Act, and a number of Build UK Contractor members will be specifying that certain specialist trades must have successfully completed it by 1 October 2025.

For individuals, cards carrying the CSCS logo provide evidence of their qualifications and training for the job that they do on site, as part of determining competence. The Industry Competence Steering Group (ICSG), which is made up of a number of sector‐led groups, is leading the work to produce competence frameworks for each occupation, and those elements that can be assessed will then be reflected on the relevant CSCS card. The ICSG is expected to publish an update on progress later this month.

Changes to Immigration

The Government has published an Immigration White Paper which seeks to reduce net migration by increasing the training of domestic workers and raising the threshold for those seeking to work in theUK. Construction is identified as a sector reliant on overseas workers and the changes to the Points-Based Immigration System will include:

Raising the threshold for a Skilled Worker Visa from RQF Level 3 (A-level equivalent) to RQF Level 6 (degree level equivalent).
Abolishing the Immigration Salary List and increasing the Immigration Skills Charge by 32%
Creating a ‘Temporary Shortage List’ to provide time limited access to the immigration system for occupations with a skills requirement between RQF Levels 3 – 5 where there have been long term shortages and the Migration Advisory Committee has advised it is justified.
Increasing the minimum language requirements for Skilled Workers.

The changes will be delivered over the course of this Parliament, with the Government committing to introduce the first ones in the coming weeks. Build UK‘s flowchart providing an overview of the process of employing a worker from outside the UK will be updated as the changes come into effect.

Working Rule Agreement

The CIJC Working Rule Agreement (WRA) has been updated to include the increased annual holiday entitlement from 2025 and new information on CPD. The WRA should be reviewed in conjunction with the latest Promulgation Notice, and members can download a free PDF version and purchase hard copies from the CIP website.

US Trade Deal

The Government has signed a trade deal with the US, which will lower tariffs on a number of products exported to the US. This includes tariffs on steel and aluminium, which have been reduced to 0% with immediate effect. The Government continues to work on securing reciprocal tariffs for other products still subject to a 10% tariff.

Source: Build UK

CPA State of Trade Survey Published

The CPA State of Trade Survey for the opening quarter of 2025 suggested that even before tariff-related disruption and uncertainty hit the UK economy in April, the construction recovery was taking a little longer to gain momentum. In Q1, product sales decreased for a balance of 15% of heavy side firms, which comes after three previous quarters of growth.

Click here to read more. The Survey is available free to CPA members.

CPA Weekly UK Economic and Construction Update
The latest weekly update is available here, including:

Barbour ABI Project Starts on High Rise Residential (2025 Q1)
ONS Construction Employment and self-employment (2025 Q1)
HMRC UK Residential Property Transactions (April 2025)

The CPA’s Spring Forecasts were published on Monday, 28th April and are available for members to download from the CPA Website. Also note that the ONS has suspended its monthly UK building materials price data (and other producer price data) due to concerns about its reliability, which the CPA has been highlighting since the impacts of the energy and price spikes in Spring 2022.

CPA Briefing Paper: The Impacts of U.S. Tariffs

Following strong demand from members and government alike, the CPA’s economics team has published a briefing paper on the ‘Impacts of U.S. Tariffs’. This document will be revised as the situation develops, and made available to CPA members every Friday with our Weekly UK Economic and Construction Update (see above). To receive this document via email every Friday please contact noble.francis@constructionproducts.org.uk ; alternatively, you can click here to read it now.

Industry Competence Committee annual report 2024 to 2025

The report from the ICC committee has now been published and is available here. The publication includes a report on the work of the Industry Competence Steering Group which is chaired by the CPA’s Hanna Clarke. For more information on the work of the Industry Competence Steering Group please contact Hanna – Hanna.Clarke@constructionproducts.org.uk.

BRE rebrands the Home Quality Mark to BREEAM Residential

BRE has streamlined its offerings and the Home Quality Mark (HMQ) is now rebranded and BRE has released it as residential sustainability assessment, BREEAM UK New Construction: Residential V6.1. Find details here. For further details contact Jane Thornback.

Government Update

Parliament has risen for the Whitsun holiday and will return on 2nd June.

Govt Opens Consultation on Improving Integrity of Voluntary Carbon Markets

Government seeks to clarify and test their proposed policy and governance framework for helping to ensure the integrity of voluntary carbon and nature markets. Find the consultation here, deadline is 10 July 2025. For further details contact Jane Thornback.

Govt Opens Consultation on the UK Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM)

This is a technical consultation running until 3rd July to get feedback on the drafting of the primary legislation of the UK CBAM. The purpose of a CBAM is to place a carbon price on specified goods imported to the UK from sectors that are at risk of carbon leakage. The aim being to protect UK manufacturing. Find details here. For further details contact Jane Thornback.

Watch the recording of Noble Francis present at RIBA: Managing Global Uncertainty

Noble Francis presented to RIBA earlier this week. He looked into the performance of construction sectors from this year and into the next. A recording of the presentation can be watched here.

Watch the Recording of the CPA Webinar: U.S. Tariff Disruption, Uncertainty, and the CPA Construction Forecasts

U.S. tariff disruption has increased uncertainty and made market forecasting even more difficult than during Covid-19 Pandemic and the 2008 financial crisis. The webinar, hosted by Professor Noble Francis, focuses on the potential impacts for the U.K. economy and construction sector. Watch the recording and download the slides, here.

Source: CPA

MMC Standard

The BSI has published PAS 8700, sponsored by MHCLG, to standardise and streamline the use of modern methods of construction (MMC) in new-build residential properties. It covers project set up, design, information management, delivery and assembly, and maintenance and repair.

Source: Build UK / BSI

Build UK Responds to CITB Consensus

Following an extensive consultation process with members, Build UK has submitted its response to CITB Consensus confirming support for the Levy. Build UK received a response from all Contractor members that are liable to pay the Levy, as well as all Trade Association members with Specialist Contractors that are liable to pay the Levy, and the majority agreed that the Levy proposals are necessary to encourage adequate training in the construction industry.

Build UK highlighted that the Levy is just one part of the overall skills system that is required by industry and it should not be viewed in isolation. Alongside our response, we submitted an updated version of our ‘Levy In – Skills Out’ proposal, which sets out the core elements of the skills system needed to recruit, train and retain the talent the industry needs, along with what members expect in return for paying the Levy. In order to commit to investment in skills, employers require certainty of pipeline and the 10-year Infrastructure Strategy, due to be published by the Government later this year, should give them the confidence to make that investment, and the industry will need an effective skills system in place to deliver the capacity required to meet theUK’s homes and infrastructure needs.

CITB is expected to confirm the outcome of Consensus next week. If it is achieved, a new Levy Order will then be made by the Secretary of State authorising CITB to collect a Levy from in-scope employers until 2029.