CPA Weekly Notes – 20th March 2026

Issue No. 1193, 20th March 2026 FOR MEMBERS ONLY

Association Activities

CPA Spring Lunch – Sales Closed 
Sales for the event are now closed. We look forward to seeing you at Hilton Park Lane on the 23rd April. 

The final three months of 2025 marked another quarter of downbeat reports from the construction supply chain. For heavy side product manufacturers, the net balance that reported a fall in quarterly sales was the lowest since 2020 Q2, at the height of the pandemic lockdowns. Significantly, heavy side products and materials tend to be used in the earlier phases of construction, which adds to the picture of uncertainty stalling project starts seen throughout the second half of last year. Workloads were also reported to have fallen for chartered surveyors, extending a run of flat or negative growth to five quarters. Light side manufacturers and civil engineering contractors reported modest growth in sales or workloads. Read the report here.

Weekly CPA Meeting Calendar

• Peter Caplehorn, CPA Chief Executive, will chair a quarterly meeting of the Trade Association Council; co-chair a monthly meeting of the Construction Leadership Council’s Material Supply Chain Group; attend the first meeting of the MHCLG’s Single Construction Regulator Advisory Board in 2026; meet with directors at the MHCLG, OPSS and Building Safety Regulator to discuss product issues including the role of the Principal Designer; join a National Retrofit Hub workshop about the development of a future Warm Homes Agency; and join a regular meeting of the Construction Leadership Council’s Task Force.
• Jeff May, CPA Deputy Chief Executive, will present to the meeting of the TAC and join the a monthly meeting of the Construction Leadership Council’s Material Supply Chain Group.
• Professor Noble Francis, CPA Economics Director, will present to the meeting of the TAC; and will host a variety of meetings with members and industry colleagues in preparation for the upcoming Spring Forecasts.
• Jane Thornback, CPA Sustainability Policy Advisor, Jane Thornback will attend the CPA Trade Association Council meeting and give an update on sustainability policy issues, will attend a Parliamentary reception of the British Coatings Federation hosted by Adam Jogee MP, will participate in a workshop on greener steel in infrastructure, and will attend the Green Construction Board quarterly meeting.
• Rob Lee, CPA Senior External Affairs Manager, will also be at the British Coatings Federation Parliamentary Reception. 

Economics Update

CPA Weekly UK Economic and Construction Update
The latest weekly update can be found here it includes:

• CPA View on Middle Eastern Conflict and Potential Effects (19 March 2026)
• Insolvency Service Construction Insolvencies (January 2026)
• RIBA Future Trends Survey (February 2026)

The State of Trade Survey 2025 Q4 was published on Monday 9th February and can be found here.
The CPA’s Winter Forecasts were published on Monday 26 January and can be found here.

Government Update

Grenfell Tower Inquiry Government Annual Report 2026
The Government has published its first Annual Report to Parliament on the implementation of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry recommendations.  In February 2025, the Government accepted all 58 Phase 2 recommendations made by the Inquiry and remains committed to act on them all.  With action underway on all recommendations, including consultations launched on six recommendations, the Government expects to close 70% of recommendations by the end of 2026 and is on track to deliver on all recommendations within four years from the government’s response.  The report provides an update on the progress made over the last year and the next steps Government is taking to continue to deliver on all recommendations. You can read the full progress report here.

Government Consultation on General Safety Requirement for Construction Products
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has launched a consultation on introducing a General Safety Requirement (GSR) for construction products, which would expand the current regulatory framework to cover products not subject to designated standards or technical assessments.  The consultation proposes a statutory requirement that all construction products placed on the UK market must be safe, including those not currently regulated under the Construction Products Regulation. The consultation runs for 12 weeks and closes on 20 May 2026.  The CPA will be responding to this consultation via our Technical Committee.

Product Safety White Paper Published and Consultation Begins
The Government has published its White Paper consultation on Construction Product Reform. This has been eagerly anticipated following on from the Green Paper on Product Reform and more recently the Single Regulator Prospectus. The CPA will be engaging in detailed discussion with our members as it will define how the product sector will effectively be governed for the foreseeable future. The consultation can be found here.
As with the Green Paper last year the CPA is in discussion with officials at MHCLG on engagement events that our membership will take part in. We will advise when that has been finalised.

Industry News

BMBI Release Q4 Report
The latest results reveal that builders’ merchants’ like-for-like value sales for Q4 2025, adjusted to remove the impact of trading days, were -1.2% lower than Q4 2024. Like-for-like volume sales were down -2.9%.The full report can be found here. 

Manufacturers Information Collaboration (MIC) to hold first meeting
The Manufacturers Information Collaboration (MIC) is an open, industry-led, non-commercial coalition supporting UK manufacturers on their national digitisation and broader digital transformation journey. All CPA Members are welcome.
MIC will align with and contribute industry-led input to the UK Information Management Initiative (IMI), which is led by nima, supporting national efforts to improve digital manufacturer and product information across the built environment. the meeting is to be held virtually on the 26th March at 14:00 -16:00. Please confirm your attendance by 23rd March to support supportservices@wearenima.im & CC Patricia Massey patricia.massey@beama.org.uk Hanna Clarke hanna.clarke@constructionproducts.org.uk
The meeting will begin its work  and review the draft Terms of Reference. The agenda will include the following:

• Welcome, housekeeping
• Introductions & icebreaker: ‘One thing you would solve in the digital landscape in the built environment’
• Overview of MIC & draft Terms of Reference Discussion: purpose, scope & boundaries (including what MIC is and is not)
• Summary & next steps

CPA in the News

Daphne Doody-Green: Consumer confidence matters more than ever for bathroom retail
The Construction Products Association (CPA) makes this point clearly in its latest forecasts, noting that private housing repair, maintenance, and improvement activity depends heavily on when homeowners choose to spend. With the CPA expecting overall construction output to grow by 1.7% in 2026, and private housing output revised down to 1.5%, it is hardly the backdrop for a carefree consumer splurge.
KBB Focus | 20/03/2026 | online

Oil price spike could mean government needs to raise taxes again, CPA warns
Today’s spike in oil prices could lead to interest rate rises and force the government to raise taxes again at the next Budget, the Construction Products Association has warned. CPA economic director Noble Francis said a sharp rise in energy prices and CPI inflation will lead to slower growth this year and a delay in interest rate cuts “at the very least”. The benchmark oil price topped USD $100 a barrel this morning for the first time since 2022 at the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Building | 11/03/2026 | online

UK ministers urged to deliver on infrastructure projects as pipeline tops £700bn
Noble Francis, Economics Director at the Construction Products Association, said: “It is critical that the government doesn’t make the errors of the past and pause, delay, reset and cancel vital infrastructure projects.”
FT  | 09/03/2026 | online

PHMI: Disappointing End to 2025 for P&H Merchants
The ONS’s latest construction output report recorded a disappointing end to the year for construction with Q4 output shrinking -2.1% compared to Q3. Private new housing (-3.6%) was the main negative contributor. The Construction Products Association duly downgraded both its forecast construction output for 2026 (from +2.8% to +1.7%) and its forecast for private housebuilding (from +4.0% to +1.5%). Private housing RMI was revised down to -1.0%.
ConstructUK | 12/03/2026 | online
Also in BMN, Construction Index

CPA Responds To Spring Statement 2026
The Chancellor’s Spring Statement was always expected to be low-profile, with little in terms of new policy, especially compared with the Autumn Budget in November, reports Noble Francis, Economics Director of the Construction Products Association (CPA). However, the recent, escalating situation in the Middle East provided a very difficult backdrop, overshadowing the fiscal update.
Tilezine  | 11/03/2026 | online