CPA Weekly Notes – 19th September 2025

Issue No. 1169, 19th September 2025 FOR MEMBERS ONLY

Association Activities

CPA Autumn Lunch 2025 | Sold Out!
We wish to thank our members for your support in helping us sell out the tables and seats for the upcoming Autumn Lunch (13 Nov).  We look forward to welcoming 550 members and industry guests that day.  If you have any questions, please get in touch with Fabi.

CPA is supporting CRASH Charity at the Autumn Lunch 2025 – Donate and enter the Raffle
CPA is proud to support CRASH – the UK construction industry charity since 2002. CRASH is all about helping homelessness charities and hospices with vital construction projects and creating places that care for people – and this makes it a perfect fit for the CPA and all our guests from across the construction supply chain. We will have  a collection of donations during the Lunch for CRASH (card payments are also accepted), at the end of the speeches we will have a small raffle . Please get in touch with Fabi if you would like to donate a prize for the raffle. 

CPA Weekly Calendar of Meetings 

• Peter Caplehorn, CPA Chief Executive, will meet with directors at the MHCLG, OPSS and Building Safety Regulator to discuss product issues; will attend the Fire Industry Association Seminar and present about “Understanding the Construction Product Reform Green Paper”; will join a regular meeting of the CPA board (“the Officers”); will attend a Construction Products Regulation Roundtable hosted by the law firm Addleshaw Goddard; meet with the senior management of the BBA to discuss issues and concerns; and join a regular meeting of the Construction Leadership Council’s Task Force.
• Professor Noble Francis, CPA Economics Director, will attend the meeting of the CPA forecast panel in advance of the Autumn Forecasts; and attend the BESA President’s Lunch.
• Jeff May, CPA Deputy Chief Executive, will present to a meeting of the CPA board; and join Rob in a meeting with Lord Richard Harrington, Chair of Make UK, to discuss engagement with Peers around manufacturing and construction issues.
• Jane Thornback, CPA Sustainability Policy Advisor, will attend a meeting of Construction Products Europe’s Sustainability Assessment Task Group
• Rob Lee, CPA Senior External Affairs Manager, will join Jeff in a meeting with Lord Richard Harrington, Chair of Make UK, to discuss engagement with Peers around manufacturing and construction issues.
• Hanna Clarke, Digital and Policy Manager, will have a variety of meetings with industry colleagues and civil servants around both competence and digitalisation of product information.

Economics Update

CPA Weekly UK Economic and Construction Update
The U.S. tariff and global trade issues information has been paused, as there have been no further updates or changes in recent weeks. However, if tariffs and international trade become significant issues once again, then the CPA will restart the tariff information updates.

The latest weekly update is available here including:

• ONS UK CPI Inflation (August 2025)
• ONS UK Construction Wage Inflation (July 2025)
• Knight Frank UK Housing Market Forecast (September 2025)
• Barratt Redrow Full-year Results (September 2025)
• MJ Gleeson Annual Results (September 2025)

The CPA’s Summer forecasts were published on Monday, 28 July, and are available from the CPA Website. If you prefer not to receive these emails, then let me know.

Government Update

Consultation on Late Payments
The Department for Business and Trade has launched a consultation seeking views on proposed legislative measures to ensure companies pay their suppliers quickly and on time, including measures to address the use of retention clauses in construction contracts.  This is an important consultation for construction both in terms of the proposed options for retentions and the wider general payment measures.  DBT wants CPA members to recognise that retentions may not be a direct issue for our manufacturers, but payment certainly is.  The consultation runs for 12 weeks and closes on 23 October 2025. Further details can be found here.

GCPA Autumn Lunch

Siderise Insulation achieves BES 6001 responsible sourcing certification 
Siderise Insulation has achieved certification to the latest version of the BES 6001 standard for all its stone wool passive fire protection and acoustic products manufactured at its Maesteg factory in South Wales. This latest achievement for the global manufacturer evidences its ongoing commitment to achieving the highest sustainability standards in its field.
 
Developed by UK-based research organisation, BRE (Building Research Establishment), the BES 6001 framework standard requires construction product manufacturers to evidence that their products are made from responsibly sourced materials. The independent assessment process looks at every product stage, from raw material extraction to processing and point of sale. Businesses are scored against a range of criteria, including supply chain management, management systems and social and environmental factors such as biodiversity and site stewardship.
 
Siderise was awarded a ‘Good’ rating, following a comprehensive review of its processes and procedures around matters such as procurement practices, supply chain, transport impacts, life cycle assessment, and engagement with local communities. It received full marks for its environmental and quality management system in the supply chain, responsible sourcing policy, and operational management of responsible sourcing.
 
Sera Turkoglu, Sustainability Manager for Siderise Group, further explains the process:
“Many of our standard practices already aligned with BES 6001 principles. However, as part of our ESG strategy, we were keen to enhance and formalise our internal processes, develop our supply chain controls, and confirm that our practices meet the stringent requirements. For our first assessment, we were pleased to achieve a ‘Good’ rating as this provides a solid benchmark for us to raise further in subsequent audits and reaffirms our position as an ever improving, trusted and forward-thinking leader in our industry.”
 
Gary Marshall, Quality Manager, added:
“Achieving BES 6001 certification marks an important milestone in our ongoing commitment to sustainability, ethical sourcing, and responsible supply chain management. It reflects the hard work and dedication of our entire team and demonstrates how we are aligned with industry best practices for environmental stewardship and social responsibility, thus making us better equipped to support our customers in meeting their own sustainability goals.”
 
BES 6001 certification is recognised across the globe as demonstrating responsible, sustainable procurement practices and reduced supply chain risk. Products certified to it can support specifiers to secure additional credits under sustainable building certification standards, such as BREEAM, LEED and DGNB.
 
Learn more about Siderise and its sustainability journey

Industry News

Industrial emissions: modernising environmental permitting
Government is consulting on Industrial emissions: modernising environmental permitting – GOV.UK. The deadline is 21st October 2025 and more information can be found here.

Regulatory science challenges to the uptake of innovation for Net Zero in retrofit 
CPA is a project partner in this Innovate-UK funded network project to explore the regulatory challenges to the uptake of innovation for Net Zero in Retrofit.  This one-year project is now entering its third quarter and the Network (BRE, National Retrofit Hub, National Energy Foundation) will convene an open meeting for anyone interested in learning about progress on 29 September 2025 from 13.30 to 15.00. Register at RetroNetZero RS&IN – BRE Group Events. For further information contact Jane Thornback

Review of Government Buying Standards (GBS)
The Government is reviewing the  Government Buying Standards – these are guidelines that state that any new government procured building should be BREEAM Excellent, and any major refurbishment should achieve a BREEAM Very Good rating. There are also GBS for product groups such as windows, wood products, paints and varnishes, domestic gas boilers, Showers, taps, toilets, and others. Defra has issued a stakeholder survey hereand will be convening webinars in September. Find the GBS for different product groups here. For further information contact Jane Thornback.

Building Safety Webinars
The CLC guidance suite was published in July 2025 and was developed by the CLC, BSR and industry experts. The guidance aims to provide the baseline principles to guide those involved in submitting and assessing applications for Building Control Approval applications (Gateway 2). While the guidance was developed for new build HRBs, many of the principles will also be helpful for existing HRBs. In addition, the BSR will also run the following webinar:
24 September – 10am to 12 noon – Building Assessment Certificate applications – lessons learned
You can register for the webinar here.

CPA in the News

Why UK’s biggest cement factory may not help ‘build, baby, build
The high cost of energy is another major issue, according to Peter Caplehorn, chief executive of the Construction Products Association. New initiatives to reduce energy costs came into force in April this year, so the full effects are yet to be calculated. UK industrial electricity prices are more than 150 per cent higher than the EU median.
Times | 13/09/2025 | Online

Rachel Reeves hires planning lawyer to speed up big infrastructure projects
Noble Francis, economics director at the Construction Products Association, said there was a “host of investors that have the finance ready but they will need certainty over the planning regime”.
FT| 12/09/2025 | Online

CABE Awards Two Autumnal Honorary Fellowships in Recognition of its Centenary Year
The first to receive their Honorary Fellowship on the day was Hanna Clarke, Digital and Policy Managerat theConstruction Products Association (CPA).Hanna sits on the Industry Response Group, helping to steer actions for making existing buildings safer in the wake of the Grenfell disaster. She works closely with the UK government, the Building Safety Regulator and the Office for Product Safety and Standards, as well as being part of several BSI standards committees.
Construction Industry Today| 15/09/2025 | Online

REHAU bucks the trend as commercial project enquiries more than double
The company’s performance comes at a time when the wider construction sector has faced significant headwinds. These challenges include rising inflation, delays in the planning process and weakened investor confidence, which were all highlighted by the Construction Products Association as reasons for downgrading their earlier H1 2025 forecasts.
Glass and Glazing Products | 11/09/2025 | Online
Also in Window News and Glass News

CCS appoints first-ever managing director
CCS is owned by the Construction Products Association and the Construction Industry Council and operates a voluntary scoring system for construction site standards, as well as a public complaints service. 
Construction News| 11/09/2025 | Online