Spec Finish

carbon. (Cundall is the first consultancy to be declared carbon-neutral.) Clients will look twice at the materials they are using, its journey to site, its embodied carbon, its global warming potential and this is reflected in how they think about their fit-out and refurb work.” Looking forward, Andrew predicted that office buildings will have to work in a truly smart way working to support systems and workers. Recycled (and recyclable) products are a given and bringing people back to the office who have been working from home for months, means that buildings will have to provide some home comforts such as natural materials etc, a trend that has been bubbling away for quite some time now. Silver lining: The office isn’t dead, it’s just going to be better, but to thrive, the fit-out sector must understand and adapt to the needs of its clients to help them achieve a building that supports them and their business. Second speaker, Dr Noble Francis Economics Director at the Construction Products Association (CPA) discussed: ‘Changing markets: Post Brexit, post COVID what is the outlook for the finishes and interiors sector?’ This live session tackled the economic climate we have weathered in 2020 and offered some predictions for 2021 – the first lockdown produced a sharp fall in GDP in the second quarter of 2020, but during the second lockdown, construction and manufacturing seemed largely unaffected as the economy continued to function. Infrastructure was the least affected sector, even in spring 2020, big clients kept their projects going. But at the same time, commercial activity dropped by 40%and in September by 20%as sites were slow to re- open and productivity on site declined because of the need for social distancing, the future for this sector remains unknown for now. Considering the unpredictable nature of the pandemic and even a third lockdown in early 2021, the CPA still forecasts some areas of growth, with strong demand for infrastructure, public housing remediation (including cladding on high rise towers). Private housing and industrial projects could see double digit growth and so there are some reasons to be cheerful. Brexit, however, will throw up some difficulties around materials supplies and labour. Companies haven’t had chance to build up supplies and additional costs on importing goods will have a negative effect, setting aside the fact that a no deal Brexit will affect Stirling. Silver lining: The Government is planning capital investment for its national infrastructure policy so FIS members would do well to look at these projects and find a niche that goes alongside them to be part of this work, monitor what is happening in other sectors, invest in net zero and be ready to adjust quickly to market conditions. Third speaker, Ann Bentley, Rider Levett Bucknall, and member of the Construction Leadership Council (CLC) talked on: ‘Changing culture – is value led change even possible?’ In construction, we understand the cost of everything, but Ann was asked if she believes we know what ‘value’ really means. She said: “Probably not, but we do understand the tender price. Many jobs are tendered on cost, which forces contractors and the supply chain to make the most literal interpretation of the brief irrespective of whether that will actually perform the function that the client wants, then you wait for the claims to come in.” She explained that the cost of re-work, waste and costs of general inefficiency in the process the ‘cost’ is completely different. If we take into account the costs of remediating latent defects (including the costs to the user of the asset) it becomes significantly greater. Then if you add to that the fact that the project doesn’t work properly because it was poorly specified then the costs increase. Value, is essentially how much did the benefits that accrue to the client cost them, but she said: “We often forget value, despite spending billions of pounds in the built environment, we just say ‘write us a specification, tender against the specification and tell us what it costs.’ Dr Noble Francis Economics Director at the Construction Products Association, discussing 2020 construction output James Reid, Construction Shield Ltd spoke on ‘Changing risks – insuring construction – a risky business?’ Ann Bentley, Rider Levett Bucknall, and member of the Construction Leadership Council AGM and conference 18 www.thefis.org