{"id":28255,"date":"2020-11-13T17:03:45","date_gmt":"2020-11-13T17:03:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsblogsnew.ihbc.org.uk\/?p=28255"},"modified":"2020-11-13T17:03:45","modified_gmt":"2020-11-13T17:03:45","slug":"builders-licence-campaign-collapses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/?p=28255","title":{"rendered":"Builders\u2019 licence campaign collapses"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Plans to make every jobbing builder have to pass a test and buy a licence to trade – instigated by the Federation of Master Builders (FMB), have been shelved, reports The Construction Index.<\/em><\/p>\n

image: for illustration purposes only – Open Government Licence v3.0<\/em><\/h6>\n

<\/p>\n

\u2026 ambition for a new law \u2026 not supported by government\u2026<\/span><\/em><\/h2>\n

…dropped its Licence UK Construction (LUKC) campaign…<\/span><\/em><\/h2>\n

The Construction Index<\/em> writes:<\/p>\n

The Construction Licensing Task Force, instigated by the Federation of Master Builders (FMB), has announced what it calls \u2018a tactical pivot\u2019.<\/p>\n

It has dropped its Licence UK Construction (LUKC) campaign for mandatory licensing across the sector and decided instead to swing behind the existing Trustmark quality scheme.<\/p>\n

The task force has realised that its ambition for a new law to be passed making builders\u2019 licenses compulsory, and creating a whole new tier of regulation and bureaucracy for the industry, was not supported by government.<\/p>\n

It had a vision of no one even banging nail into a wall or changing a washer without a licence.<\/p>\n

The Covid-19 pandemic has provided cover for the collapse of the campaign.<\/p>\n

The task force\u2019s 5th<\/sup>\u00a0November newsletter said: \u201cLargely due to Covid-19, but also in part due to the current government\u2019s reluctance to introduce widespread regulation, it was decided that the campaign should tactically \u2018pivot\u2019 in the short term. Instead of wholesale mandatory licensing across the sector, the government should be lobbied to make any government grants schemes for refurbishments and energy efficiency improvements conditional upon the suppliers having an approved quality mark, such as Trustmark. This was already the case with the Green Homes Grants Scheme but should become accepted policy for any further schemes or initiatives.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thus the campaign has moved from pushing for a builders\u2019 licence scheme to pushing for a requirement for Trustmark registration to qualify for government grant schemes.<\/p>\n

The task force agreed that Brian Berry, chief executive of the Federation of Master Builders, and Simon Ayres, chief executive of Trustmark, \u201cshould work together over the coming months to determine how Trustmark could be altered to better fit the short-term requirements of the campaign\u201d.<\/p>\n

This \u2018pivot\u2019 was supported by Fergus Harradence, a civil servant from the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy who sits on the task force. He\u00a0\u201cindicated this to be a sensible approach\u201d note the minutes of the last meeting, dated 22nd<\/sup>\u00a0October.<\/p>\n

However, while the Licence UK Construction (LUKC) campaign has climbed down it has not entirely packed up: \u201cTask Force not to lose sight of LUKC\u2019s longer-term strategy for a more formal licensing scheme,\u201d the minutes note.<\/p>\n

What was the plan?
\n<\/strong>The overriding ambition was to stop incompetent or dishonest people working in the industry.<\/p>\n

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More formally, the primary objectives were listed as:<\/p>\n