This week FIS CEO, Iain McIlwee was asked to lead a workshop session at the Building Safety Regulator’s Industry Competence Committee (ICC) meeting. The aim was to help those who are leading reform to the regulatory environment to gain an understanding of the issues/challenges that exist for subcontractors and consider how they can address these barriers to improving competence. Iain was supported in this by Ruth Devine, President of the Electrical Contractors Association (ECA).
Iain framed the session around the four core risks of contracting; design, time, cost and cash. Within this he talked about the impact of contract amendments and commonly adopted procurement and payment practices. The case was made that this is not aligning to the requirements of the new regulatory framework that is demanding a focus on duty and framed around “sufficient time and resource”.
Iain also touched on the Responsible No approach and how this relies on a responsible response from the client. In addition to legislative levers, Iain raised concerns about insurance how behaviours upstream are being driven by insurability of risk that is leaving gaps and adding to the pressure on contractors.
A copy of the presentation is available here. As ever we welcome your comments.
FIS also raise concerns with new Chief Construction Adviser
At a separate meeting of Build UK members this week, Iain was also able to address the new Chief Construction Adviser, Thouria Istephan. Iain again raised concerns about the design process and asked how, in her new role, Thouria is engaging with the insurance industry to support a more responsible approach to managing risk from the outset of a project and making sure risk is fairly apportioned.
