A Safer and More Professional Future for Construction

A Safer and More Professional Future for Construction

The majority of tradespeople and building professionals build to high standards, providing their clients with quality products and services that stand the test of time. Shamefully however, there are a significant minority that do not. From those that are either too lazy, or too profit driven to respect the importance of good and proper workmanship, to those that are nothing less than criminals looking to make a ‘quick buck’, ‘cowboy builders’ are not a myth and seriously threaten the reputation of building professionals throughout the UK.

Unscrupulous building firms undercut professional and competent businesses, putting downward pressure on standards and compliance with regulations and health and safety. This seriously undermines the image of the whole industry and the fact that it persists well into the twenty-first century is not acceptable.

The concerning lack of regulation in the building industry isn’t just harming the reputation of good builders, it’s also damaging to the UK’s economy. One third of homeowners are so worried about having a bad experience with their builder that they refrain from commissioning construction work altogether, potentially costing the economy £10 billion a year.

In order to build a safer and more professional construction sector, we, the Federation of Master Builders (FMB), convened a Construction Licensing Task Force in 2019 that has since been meeting on a quarterly basis. The FMB represents over 7,000 small to medium-sized building firms across the UK. Bringing together numerous voices from across construction, together with consumer groups, the Licensing Task

Force seeks to determine how a mandatory licensing scheme could best be integrated into the UK construction sector, while also raising awareness of the need for licensing more broadly.