Codi Group has launched a £750m, four-year Welsh housing construction framework covering new-build housing and refurbishment work, with up to 48 principal contractors to be appointed across six lots. The framework is due to start in April 2027 and will be available to Codi Group and partner housing organisations for call-off contracts across Wales.
The Queen Elizabeth Hospital King’s Lynn NHS Foundation Trust is seeking a contractor for the final phase of its RAAC failsafe programme, with around 18 months remaining on a seven-year effort to make the estate safe. The works, valued at about £6.5m, will involve roof re-covering and additional steel and timber supports rather than removal of the RAAC itself, while a replacement hospital remains part of the national New Hospital Programme.
The outgoing interim chief construction adviser has called on clients and funders to take primary responsibility for competence and safety across the built environment. Her final report argues that while stronger standards and smarter regulation are important, lasting improvement depends on behaviours, accountability and avoiding cost or programme pressures that undermine building safety.
The CMA says the UK’s £19bn-a-year road and rail infrastructure market is being constrained more by fragmented planning, funding and procurement than by a shortage of contractors. It argues for longer-term sector planning, multi-year funding, better coordination between public bodies and more consistent, data-driven procurement practices to improve delivery and reduce bid-rigging risk.
Administrators for collapsed FK Group Ltd have reported an £8.3m cross-guarantee liability linked to its subsidiaries FK Facades Ltd and FK Construction Ltd. They also said a sale of FK Resolv is being lined up, with any proceeds expected to support a dividend to secured creditor HSBC, while unsecured creditors are unlikely to receive a payout.
The Building Safety Regulator reported a rise of more than 100 cases in its live gateway two caseload in August, which it said may be linked to the forthcoming Building Safety Levy. It also said its inspection programme had identified a small number of departures from gateway two-approved designs, requiring remedial work, while approval times and approval rates improved across several application types.
The article reports that the Building Safety Levy is due to come into force on 1 October for qualifying building control applications in England, with rates varying by local authority and land type. Industry bodies warn that, alongside other policy costs and weak market conditions, the levy could make more housing schemes unviable and slow delivery.
Construction and property bodies are urging the government to delay the planned introduction of the Building Safety Levy, due to take effect next month. They warn that the levy could undermine scheme viability and reduce the delivery of qualifying residential and purpose-built student accommodation projects.
New directions have relaxed regulatory oversight for small-diameter drilling associated with fibre optic cable installation, including in higher-risk buildings and non-higher-risk buildings. In HRBs, the work still requires prior written approval and post-completion notification to the Building Safety Regulator, with firestopping and other protections required on the same day the hole is made.
The government is proposing changes to audit exemption rules that could remove the requirement for parent companies to guarantee subsidiaries’ debts. The aim is to reduce financial red tape for qualifying subsidiaries, although the article indicates this would alter a current condition for avoiding a separate audit.
Councillors have raised concerns about the ethics and procurement implications of a new modular construction company formed by former directors of collapsed firm Merit, which left an NHS hospital project incomplete. The article also reports alleged defects on the Berwick-upon-Tweed hospital scheme, legal action by the trust, and questions over whether the new business should be eligible for further NHS work.
Ardmore’s remaining group companies have had CVAs approved after the construction arm entered administration earlier this year, following remediation claims and Building Liability Orders linked to legacy residential developments. The company says the restructuring offers creditors a better outcome than liquidation, but it also marks Ardmore’s exit from operating as a main contractor.
