Partner Article

Construction industry red tape is strangling business

It is a worrying fact that the housing and construction sectors are the most highly regulated in the UK. There is definite scope for reducing unnecessary regulatory burdens, which could both increase and speed up construction industry projects without, in any way, compromising on quality, sustainability or health and safety requirements.

We are often frustrated by the regulatory burdens placed on our own business, which can make generating work in new sectors a hurdle rather than a pleasure.

The issue is that there are so many disparate compliance and regulatory bodies that we must apply to, each and every time, we would like to submit a tender for business. If we were to think about submitting a tender to work for a supermarket, for example, then we would need to comply with food industry standards, including a specific set of health and safety regulations in addition to the usual construction industry standards.

All of this, of course, comes with a cost implication, both in terms of the fee that is charged and the resources required to satisfy the inherent requirements of the regulations. This burden of red tape must discourage many businesses from submitting tenders to new industry sectors, as the cost and resource implications can be prohibitive. Costs can be in excess of £500 for an initial assessment and in the region of £5000 per year to administer.

There is a need for one standardised body that can administer regulations and control compliance across the board. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) could arguably fulfil this role. Just as there are standardised bodies for other industries, there should also be a standardised body for the construction and housing sector.

Measures are now, at least, in the pipeline to reduce the red tape burden, as a whole.

The Government’s Red Tape challenge, which was launched around a year ago could, if followed through, lead to a veritable bonfire of red tape and unnecessary regulation. Over 200 regulations are covered by the Housing and Construction Red Tape Challenge across all industry sectors and it is to be hoped that at least some of these will be consigned to the rubbish bin.

There is clearly, however, a need for good regulation. It not only protects consumers, employees and the environment, but it also helps to build a fairer society, and can even save lives. Over the years, unnecessary and burdensome regulations – and the inspections and bureaucracy that go with them – have piled up and up. This has hurt business, doing real and arguably growing, damage to our economy. The Red Tape Challenge is something that each and every business should support. For more information about the challenge, go to: www.redtapechallenge.cabinetoffice.gov.uk.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Wilkinson Maintenance .