News

There's encouraging news in the world of housebuilding, according to the DCLG...

Loft insulation is simple and very cost effective where there's access to the roof space, but what happens to those awkward corners and sloping eaves? Common in older properties, these can be hard to reach.

Some cable manufacturers are producing ‘golden samples’ to cheat the system and get dodgy cables onto the market.

A Chinese cable manufacturer has recently been found to have supplied ‘golden samples’ from another legitimate cable producer to secure an order in the UK, according to the Approved Cable Initiative (ACI). Once trade samples were accepted, the manufacturer then supplied its own sub-standard cable to complete the order.

^{Article updated on 31 January 2024}

Too often building work is agreed by shaking hands - regularly with someone you know very little about. Verbal contracts may be convenient, but they offer no protection, especially following the Consumer Rights Act 2015 which came into force on the 1 October. This is the biggest shake up in consumer rights law in a generation.

Masonry buildings are by their nature and materials resistant to fire; but all buildings have cavities and some concealed spaces where fire can spread undetected.

To minimise the dangers of undetected fires you must provide barriers to reduce the area of the void space and to contain any spread of fire.

New rules coming into force from July 2015 spell changes to the way electrical cables are installed, to prevent them from falling from walls and ceilings during fires. Many types of wiring systems have failed in the past, leaving cables hanging and entangling firefighters - resulting in eight fatalities in the past ten years.

An informative guide that aims to promote good workmanship by helping you identify and rectify the most common energy efficiency-related problems in construction has launched.

It is hoped the Zero Carbon Hub’s Builder's Book, produced alongside CITB, PTE Architects and LABC, will help close the ‘energy performance gap’ in new build homes by identifying and recommending solutions to the most common construction problems.

Did you know that you may now be ‘the principal designer’ and responsible for CDM on site? Hundreds of thousands of domestic building projects are now covered under the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 (CDM Regulations 2015) thanks to new changes that came into force in April 2015, replacing CDM 2007.

Controlled door closing devices are commonly used in both domestic and commercial buildings. But did you know these devices have limitations when it comes to their effectiveness on fire doors? Installing the wrong device could prove costly or even fatal.

There’s been a big change in the way that breather membranes are installed thanks to a new code of practice, which details design standards, performance, and installation of pitched roofs. Just selecting a roofing membrane off the shelf is no longer an option – membranes must be suitable for the type and location of the building.