If m&e contractors weren’t hurting enough from the current recession, there is more bad news on the horizon in the shape of damage to the industry’s hopes for amendments to the Construction Act

After much long and hard lobbying work by the m&e sector, along with other specialist subcontractor groups, the government has listened and put forward amendments to the Construction Act in the shape of the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Bill.

Industry umbrella body the Specialist Engineering Contractors’ Group (SEC), which includes the ECA and the HVCA, was not confident the Bill would go far enough to improve the payment terms of subcontractors. It set about tabling amendments, first in the House of Lords, that would see payment and adjudication terms improved.

Sadly, timing is everything. SEC Group president Lord O’Neill of Clackmannan withdrew his proposed amendments in the light of the corruption scandal sweeping the Lords. Lord O’Neill is paid an undisclosed fee for his work with the SEC Group and, while this was declared, Lord O’Neill felt it “inappropriate in the current climate to pursue[the amendments]”.

All is not lost. The SEC Group has continued the fight by writing to nearly 100 peers to get its arguments heard. After the debate in the House of Lords, the Bill moves to the House of Commons in late February or early March.

SEC chief executive Rudi Klein is urging contractors to get behind the scrap to get the amendments on the statute book. Contact your local MP and make your voice heard in the battle against payment abuse.

With 20 small firms in the construction sector going bust each week, let’s hope that it’s not too late for the government to listen to its SMEs at the sharp end.

Source

Electrical and Mechanical Contractor