News

President of the BCSA, Mark Denham

President's Column July/August 2020

Responsible Welding Co-ordinators (RWC) were introduced as part of CE marking to make one person accountable for the welding processes from the pre-contract stage through to final production and any work done on site. Many initially thought that CE marking was just an additional burden but, in most cases, it has improved knowledge of the fabrication process, increasing the quality and reducing the amount of remedial work. The concept of getting it right first time is vitally important and the...

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Tim Outteridge BCSA President

President's Column June 2020

The lockdown is starting to be relaxed and although things won't be back to normal any time soon, a lot of construction sites are open (with the exception of some in Scotland) and most steelwork contractors are working. We all look forward to more restrictions being lifted over the summer, but I worry that The Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, has warned of a 'severe recession, the likes of which we haven't seen' and some commentators talk about 10% unemployment not just for the short term but for up to...

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President of the BCSA, Mark Denham

President's Column May 2020

We're all acclimatising ourselves to new ways of working. For most steelwork contractors the restrictions have resulted in home working and social distancing in factories and offices, where being organised and planning work around the social distancing requirements is paramount. There were some mixed messages at the start of the lockdown, but this was a temporary measure to introduce better health and safety measures and the majority of sites in England and Wales are now open. The social...

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Tim Outteridge BCSA President

President's Column April 2020

The world is facing unprecedented times. The effect of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on the health and wellbeing of the nation is still uncertain. Each day the number of people infected, and the number of deaths increases. We are also getting more stringent information on social distancing; pubs restaurants, clubs etc have been closed as have some parks and public spaces. We can only go outside for food, health reasons or work - but only if we cannot work from home. Further restrictive...

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Tim Outteridge BCSA President

President's Column March 2020

Sorry to start on a gloomy note, but I'm dismayed to read on a regular basis that main and specialistcontractors are going under or in difficulty.  These are long-standing companies whose expertise and skills are a great loss to the construction sector, at a time when skill shortages are becoming more obvious and when we need to attract a new and more diverse set of people into the industry. This mirrors the economic uncertainty and challenges of recent times with a softening in activity and...

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Tim Outteridge BCSA President

President's Column February 2020

There's little doubt that climate change and sustainability are gaining momentum in our domestic lives as well as in industry. Greta Thurnberg argues that humanity is facing an existence crisis and that climate change is fast becoming the number one issue for the world. Perhaps the scale of the fires in Australia has shown us this in some wayThis shift in emphasis towards carbon reduction has put it in the spotlight for us all. As it's not going away anytime soon, we'll also be under this...

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Tim Outteridge BCSA President

President's Column January 2020

The adage cash is king is never more real, cashflow is the life blood for any company. Recent developments with late payments, retentions and increases in the cost of Professional Indemnity insurance coupled with the proposals from government to impose reverse VAT on parts of the construction industry are stretching some companies to breaking point.Many steelwork contractors are suffering from the doubling and trebling of PI insurance premiums. Insurance companies that are willing to offer...

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Tim Outteridge BCSA President

President's Column November/December 2019

What's going on in the construction sector at the moment? On one hand, we have the statistics implying its all doom and gloom, and on the other hand, many of my customers are saying they've never been busier. How do we reconcile these conflicting sentiments, and what do they mean for us all?The IHS Markit / CIPS UK Construction PMI has been in the doldrums for months, sitting well below the 50 break even point. Their latest data release for October was 44.2, following on from September's weak...

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Build UK logo

Build UK launch new website

Build UK have launched a new website that aims to help businesses prepare for Brexit by summarising the latest available information.To visit the new website please click the link below. Brexit Build UK Website

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BCSA Historical Structural Iron and Steel Sections publication

BCSA releases new Historic Steelwork Publication

With many cast iron, wrought iron and early steel structures still in use today, it is essential that engineers have access to practical information on the types of material, their properties and the section sizes used, should such structures require repairs, alterations or strengthening for a change of use.Originally published in 1984, BCSA's Historical Structural Steelwork Handbook has been one of the books to go to for those tasked with inspecting, investigating and assessing historical...

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