Who are the good guys?
The new Labour administration quickly committed itself to ‘get Britain building again’, but will it also recognise the contribution the building services industry can make to addressing the huge social issues of health and wellbeing? David Frise, CEO of BESA, looks at the main issues that need to be addressed.
One of the biggest things holding back progress on economic and social inclusion come back to people getting into construction and building engineering for the wrong reasons.
On a recent BESA podcast our guest, the healthcare expert Dr Phil Webb, asked the industry a fundamental question: “Why do you build things?”
“If you are building just for profit and in a way that means you will not be sued for poor design, then why bother?”, he said. “However, if you are building because you want to improve the standard of the built environment for the benefit of all – including mitigating the impact of climate change and making people safer, healthier and happier, then you deserve to get a return on your investment.”
In his parting speech, Rishi Sunak described Sir Keir Starmer as “a decent and public-spirited man”. Colleagues have also described him as principled and diligent with an attention to detail, so I think if we can lay out our case, his government will listen.
We are an industry that people have never heard of, but which has a huge impact on anyone who uses a building…so that’s everyone. We have a part to play in many of the things that are still just promises in the Labour manifesto – not least climate change/Net Zero, improvements to social housing, tackling healthcare issues that threaten to overwhelm the NHS, and economic growth.
Compromise
However, we need to be allowed to get on with the job. Too often our industry is forced to compromise its designs because of the obsession with short term gains of investors, many of whom will never even set foot in the building in which they are investing.
The Building Safety Act is, at least partly, seeking to address this by ensuring there is much clearer transparency about who is making changes to designs and why. It would be very helpful if the new government could come out quickly and clearly behind the legislation – and then back that up with strong commitments on enforcement.
‘Value engineering’ (otherwise known as leaving things out to increase profits) is the enemy of successful buildings. We desperately need a comprehensive, national programme to retrofit and refurbish our (approximately) 30 million buildings at a rate of around 5% a year to meet climate change goals – we are currently going at around 2%. This will be essential to deliver Net Zero and will also improve health and wellbeing outcomes for everyone who uses a building. Schools, hospitals, care homes…all need to be tackled, as well as homes and offices.
However, we are hampered. Building services supply chains continue to suffer from strangulated cashflow caused by late payment and unfair contractual practices. Like all good capitalists, we believe in the principle of risk and reward, but the construction version is: ‘You take the risk and I’ll reap the reward’.
This does not make for a healthy industry that can grow and invest while also being able to meet all its quality commitments to building occupants.
It is relatively easy to block access to public sector contracts for those firms who persistently fail to pay on time…so long as the political will to block them is there. Our new government is starting with a clean slate on this issue, so it has a chance.
Widening the use of project bank accounts also helps to reduce SME’s risk and encourages them to invest in training and recruitment, which is fundamental to the economic growth the new government wants.
Freeing up the flow of money into our supply chains would also allow us to make headway on relieving the pressure on the NHS. Our health and social care workers are in a never-ending struggle of treating the symptoms of chronic conditions like asthma, with patients then sent back to unhealthy homes with an indoor environment that exacerbates their condition.
The surge of mould and damp in homes is directly linked to soaring rates of respiratory disease and prompted the creation of Awaab’s Law as part of the Social Housing Bill. So, we were delighted to see the new government’s commitment to reinforce this important piece of legislation.
Social housing
Private landlords will become subject to the same building health rules that already apply to social housing providers under a new Renters’ Rights Bill unveiled during the King’s Speech that marked the opening of Parliament.
King Charles announced that all landlords would now be required to address mould and damp conditions within 24 hours of being notified of the problem as set out in legislation that was named in memory of two-year-old Awaab Ishak who died from mould exposure at his Rochdale home in 2020.
The legislation requires landlords in England to carry out emergency repairs within 24 hours, fully investigate issues within two weeks, and begin repairs within a further seven days. Failing to meet the deadlines leaves landlords liable to legal action by tenants and having to pay compensation. Landlords will also be expected to keep records showing they have made attempts to comply with the time limits.
The prevention and eradication of mould and damp continues to be a source of great frustration for our industry. We understand the problem, which often comes back to inadequate ventilation, but too often the investment has not been forthcoming.
The government must also get on with the job of repairing our broken planning system to smooth the path of infrastructure, housing and renewable energy projects through its new Planning and Infrastructure Bill. Without additional resources, the stretched planning process will remain a massive barrier to the growth the new Chancellor Rachel Reeves is calling for.
However, it is encouraging to see that the new government is also framing the debate about renewables and green engineering in terms of economic growth. The speech confirmed the government will introduce a Bill to set up Great British Energy, with the new venture headquartered in Scotland to help achieve ‘energy independence’.
The previous administration seemed to regard addressing climate change as a bit of an expensive inconvenience rather than an opportunity to create wealth and employment opportunities. As a result, they flip flopped on policy which left us in the slow lane.
Hopefully, the tenor of the new policy announcements represents a change of mindset.
The British people believed they were voting for ‘good guy’ in the shape of our new sensible and diligent PM. As engineers working to transform the built environment and retrofit millions of buildings for the benefit of everyone in our society, we would argue that we in the building engineering sector are also ‘good guys’ and look forward to working with him and his team in the coming years.
