Weekly News 13/01

Weekly News 13/01

Common Assessment Standard

The Government has published the Procurement Specific Questionnaire for use by public sector clients under the Procurement Act from 24 February 2025, which confirms that the Common Assessment Standard, developed by Build UK, should continue to be used for pre‐qualifying suppliers for ‘works’ contracts.

This is consistent with the position under PPN 03/24 and the Procurement Specific Questionnaire specifies at paragraph 45 that “public contracts for works should continue to use the questions set out in the Common Assessment Standard…and where possible, contracting authorities should avoid requiring Common Assessment Standard certified suppliers to re‐input their information”, which will reduce duplication for the supply chain even further.

The Common Assessment Standard has two levels of certification ‐ desktop and site‐based ‐ and companies can apply to any one of the Recognised Assessment Bodies for the appropriate level depending on their trade, size and the requirements of their clients.

Company Size Thresholds

The Government has published The Companies (Accounts and Reports) (Amendment and Transitional Provision) Regulations, which amend the criteria for determining if a company is classified as a micro‐entity, small, medium or large business for reporting and audit requirements under the Companies Act.

From 6 April 2025, the turnover and balance sheet thresholds for micro‐entities, small and medium businesses will increase by approximately 50%, and companies that move down a size category will be entitled to the accompanying reduction in reporting and audit requirements as part of efforts to reduce the regulatory burden. The regulations also remove the requirement for companies of all sizes to include specific information on the employment of disabled persons within their directors’ report.

Inheritance Tax Reform

The AFI, with Build UK is supporting Family Business UK’s calls for the Government to consult on the changes to inheritance tax announced in the last Budget. In an open letter to the Chancellor, 32 trade associations have warned that changes to Business Property Relief and Agricultural Property Relief will affect businesses across the country, including those in construction, and starve the economy of investment.

Holiday Dates 2025

The Construction Industry Joint Council (CIJC) has published the Holiday Entitlement 2025 with guidance on annual and public/bank holidays that apply under the CIJC Working Rule Agreement. There is an additional paid day’s holiday to bring the Working Rule Agreement in line with other industry agreements, taking the annual entitlement to 23 days plus eight public/bank holidays per year.

Consensus Delayed

CITB has announced that its Consensus process will be delayed by five weeks to enable its Strategic Plan 2025‐29 to be aligned with the outcomes of the ITB review undertaken by Mark Farmer. Consensus will now start on 17 March and Build UK will be formally consulting its in‐scope members on the continuation of the Levy.
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