Moving on up - How Planning for the Future introduces new rules for encouraging building upwards

The imaginatively named Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) (Amendment) (No.2) Order 2020 came into effect on 31 August 2020 and is the second phase of the Government's permitted development rights relating to upward extensions.

CJRS update: Job Retention Bonus

The Job Retention Bonus aims to reduce the scope for compulsory redundancies by rewarding employers who retain their furloughed employees. The bonus is a fixed £1,000 one-off taxable payment, payable to the employer, for each eligible employee that was furloughed and kept continuously employed until 31 January 2021. Since the bonus does not need to be paid to the employee, it can be used to assist with company finances, which will be particularly welcome within the construction industry.

Do your payment terms need to be revisited? 

Do you know what the payment provisions are within your contract?

How do you ensure that you comply with the timeframes?

Are your payment terms compliant with the Scheme for Construction Contracts?

A recent Technology and Construction Court decision in the matter of Rochford Construction Limited v Kilhan Construction Limited [2020] EWHC 941 has left us with two vital takeaways:

• there needs to be certainty in your payment mechanisms; and
• linking the final date for payment to the issuing of a VAT invoice will fall foul of the Construction Act (and will therefore be invalid).

Key takeaways from the Procurement Policy Notice 04/20 for those in the construction sector

PPN 04/20 provides essential considerations for those in the construction sector, acknowledging that Covid-19 is not a shot term crisis.

Partnership and transparency

Contracting authorities are reminded to continue to work in partnership with suppliers, to pay suppliers as promptly as possible and look to try to resolve disputes out of the courtroom.

Risk-Assessing the Uncontrollable

The HSE has just announced that it will be conducting its latest round of construction site inspections throughout October. They are focussing on various issues, most notably how sites are dealing with exposure to dust (in all its forms).

Construction workers are disproportionately more likely to develop occupational cancers than other employees. Over 40% of occupational (i.e. work induced) cancer deaths and registrations in the UK are from the construction industry, and many more construction workers are killed by occupational cancers than accidents.