Construction industry experts have said the sector must get its house in order over Brexit to deal with the impact of the UK leaving the EU.
The Construction Leadership Council (CLC) recently convened a meeting of over 100 industry leaders to discuss contingency plans for a No Deal Brexit. The UK is due to leave the EU at 23:00 on 29 March.
Industry predicts price rises in 2019
There are fears over what Brexit, in whatever form, will mean for construction in the UK. A recent report by the Federation of Master Builders (FMB) stated that 87% of builders expect the price of materials to rise in the next six months, while only a third felt confident that they would have more work on their plate in 2019.
Andy Mitchell, CLC chairman, said: “While a no-deal Brexit remains a possibility, firms in the construction industry have a responsibility to their employees, clients and the firms in their supply chain to plan for this.
“The potential impacts of a no-deal Brexit for the industry would be significant – and [the summit] marked the first steps in the industry acting together to mitigate these.”
The possibility of EU construction workers leaving the UK after Brexit also cast a shadow, with 66% of FMB members feeling that wages will have rise if there is a fall in workforce supply.
Where will workers come from?
The CLC’s summit saw Diana Montgomery of the Construction Products Association make a presentation that hinted at the possible impact on London’s building sites – 27% of construction workers in the capital are from the EU.
A quarter of construction products used in the UK in 2017 came from oversea, but of that figure 60% were made in the EU. As an example of the effect on materials, the CPA showed the summit how the price of timber has risen by 31% since the Brexit referendum in June 2016.
There is a myriad of issues for the sector, but the CLC had pledged to:
- …work with trade associations and other bodies to understand the impact of changes to the rules on the import and export of goods within the supply chain.
- …work with the construction products sector to promote and share guidance on potential changes to the rules on demonstrating compliance with product regulations following Brexit.
