So much for avoiding double dip recession as predicted at the budget. For those who missed it, the UK entered double dip recession according to the latest Quarter 1 statistics for GDP published by the ONS at the end of April. A major contributor was construction which fell by 3% in the first quarter, following a fall of 0.2% in the last quarter of 2011. Final figures have now been released which show an even worse situation, with a 4.8% fall in the first quarter of 2012. At the same time, RICS reported that their Construction Market Survey reported a modest increase in workloads in the first quarter of 2012. They also reported optimism for this year with 21% more respondents expecting workloads to rise over the coming 12 months.

We can only hope that this sharp decline reported by ONS will raise the importance of construction on the government's agenda. Although various initiatives have been announced these are mainly capital projects which will take a year or two to plan and implement. Various industry groups are thus lobbying for short term action. In general terms expectations for the industry are that activity will be much the same as last year, although the mix might be different. Private housebuilding and infrastructure projects will increase, while public sector activity will fall. The commercial sector is dependent on investor confidence, so we will have to await the latest changes in Europe and the impact that has on investor confidence.

An opportunity which will impact fairly quickly is the governments £2 billion Priority Schools Building Programme, which is now 6 months overdue. Once released this should see some work come through quite quickly. Another government initiative which seems to be floundering is the Green Deal which now seems unlikely to have an impact until 2013 at the earliest.

Looking further ahead, the government construction pipeline was updated at the end of April to show a further £4 billion of work by 2016. But this increase is not due to new expenditure, but as a result of more projects being included.

The government has announced training for Green Deal Advisors. Training will start in July, for a new qualification, and take between 3 and 5 months to complete. Training is being delivered by Asset Skills in cooperation with Construction Skills and Summit Skills.

A publication which details opportunities for industry from the Green Deal has recently been published by the Construction Products Association. Called Green Deal - Opportunities for Industry it sets out the basics of the Green Deal and where the opportunities exist. The CPA provided a team of people to support the government's development of the Green Deal so has a lot of expertise to share on this subject.

From 1^st July 2013 all manufacturers will be required to apply CE marking to products that are covered either by a harmonised European Standard or by a European Technical Assessment.

A Guide, Construction Products Regulation has been written by the Construction Products Association, the British Board of Agrément, British Standards Institution and FBE Management Limited in consultation with the Trading Standards Institute. Translating 39 Euro-jargon pages into easily understood English, the guide explains the role that manufacturers, importers and distributors must perform within CE marking legislation.

Finally, if you feel like a change of role why not apply to be the next Chief Construction Advisor. The government has announced that when Paul Morrell retires his part-time role will become full time. He will be a hard act to follow.

For a manufacturer the need to provide BIM objects will become as necessary as the provision of standard specification clauses or CAD details, as our recent blog article explains it is not one to be ignored:

BIM (Building Information Modelling) is now competing with Sustainability as the 'hot topic' for the construction industry since the government announcement that it will be required on all public sector projects over £5 million from 2016 onwards. This programme of implementation is already underway...Continued...