CPA Weekly Notes – 19th June 2026

Issue No. 1206, 19th June 2026 FOR MEMBERS ONLY

Association Activities

Sponsor the CPA Autumn Lunch 2026
Preparations are now underway for our Autumn Lunch 2026, which will take place at the Brewery on the 5th of November. Tickets will go on sale later in the summer, but we are already looking for sponsors to help support this special event. If your company would be interested in becoming a sponsor, please take a look at the sponsorship form and get in touch with Fabi for more information.

BDO Report
CPA contributed to the BDO Building Products & Services – Sector Insights 2026 Report.
The full report can be read here.

Weekly CPA Meeting Calendar

Peter Caplehorn, CPA CEO, is attending the Embodied Carbon and Resource Efficiency Board. Peter will also be attending the CLC standards meeting.
Amanda Long, CPA Deputy CEO, will be meeting with DBT officials in relation to the planned Steel Tariffs and Quotas on behalf of the CLC. Amanda will also be co-chairing a cross industry workshop on construction product reforms in conjunction with MHCLG.
Noble Francis, CPA Economics Director, will be attending the Saint-Gobain Global Sustainable Construction Event in London
Jane Thornback CPA, Sustainability Policy advisor will meet with Defra’s Head of Circular Economy Strategy, and with DBT on Green Construction Board matters.
Mark Wilkinson, CPA Technical Manager, will be attending a MHCLG session on ‘Strategy for the built environment professions, trades and occupations (call for evidence) and meeting with the RLA on their issues with the Future Homes Standard.
Rebecca Larkin, CPA, Head of Construction Research, is participating in an oral evidence session for the House of Lords Built Environment Committee inquiry into New Towns.

Economics Update

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

CPA View on Middle East Conflict and Potential Effects (18 June 2026)
ONS UK Construction Wage Inflation (April 2026)
RIBA Future Trends Survey (May 2026)

The CPA’s Spring Forecasts were published on 5th May and can be found here.
The State of Trade Survey 2025 Q4 was published on 14th May and can be found here.und here.

Government Update

Webinars on the call for evidence on the built environment professions, trades and occupations
MHCLG is hosting two webinars on the Call for evidence: Strategy for the built environment, professions, trades and occupations (published May 2026).
The call for evidence is designed to gather information about the key factors that influence how people work across all stages of the building lifecycle and covers all building types. Submissions to the call will inform development of a new strategy for the built environment professions, trades and occupations.
The two webinars are open to the public and will:

Explain the aims of the government’s new long-term strategy for the built environment professions, trades and occupations.
Set out the purpose, scope, and structure of the call for evidence.
Take questions about the call for evidence.

The webinar will take place 22 June, 12:00-13:00 you can use the links provided to register if you would like to attend. The Call for evidence will close 12 August 2026.

GSR and White Paper Consultations
The CPA has made a number of submissions on the current consultations including coordinating the response for the Construction Leadership Council, and direct CPA a responses from the Technical Committee, The Sustainability Group. Hanna Clarke, CPA Digital Manager has also submitted a response from SLG 5 competence.

CPA Consultation Tracker
With an increasing number of consultations being launched by government, the CPA has launched a tracker with those consultations that are relevant to CPA membership. It can be found for members here.
New consultations will still be reported the Weekly Notes for a limited time.

Industry News

BMBI Q1 & March 2026

The latest Builders Merchant Building Index (BMBI) report reveals builders’ merchants’ like-for-like value sales for Q1 2026, adjusted to remove the impact of trading days, were -3.2% lower than Q1 2025. Like-for-like volume sales were down -8.1%, with prices increasing +5.4%. The full press release can be found here.

British standard on construction products competence published for public consultation
BS 8670-2 Built environment – Core criteria for construction product competence – Code of Practice has been published for public comment this week, closing 13 July. The standard aims to bring consistency across all how all disciplines working with construction products and product information throughout its life cycle. It does this by describing the core principals that should be included in all competence frameworks, training and qualifications. It also may impact how organisations delegate responsibilities with construction products in the organisations and their supply chain.
BS 8670-2 originates from the white paper that CPA published on behalf of WG 12 – Construction Products Competence – that has since been superseded by SLG 5 – Construction Products Manufacturers under the Industry Competence Steering Group, and has contributions from much of the CPA membership and colleagues across the Industry Competence Steering Group.
BS 8670-2 is available for comment here.

CPA in the News

NMBS Conference aims to go beyond the expected
This year’s theme, Beyond the Expected, set the tone for a programme focused on practical insight and real‑world application. On the first day, delegates heard from speakers including Professor Damien Hughes, the Construction Products Association’s Noble Francis, and Ken Hughes, a Keynote Speaker on Consumer Behavior & Innovation, as well as Tradeaze’s Jack Hopkins, and AI specialist Jonathan Bein, and Stuart Barker, who brought military leadership perspective to the topic of cyber security.
BMJ| 12/06/2026 | online

A rallying call to the industry
The Construction Products Association’s latest forecasts, just released by CAB to its members, highlight the real scale of the crisis. In 2026, private housing volumes are predicted to fall 7%, with repair and maintenance down 3%, and the commercial sector down 3.7%. Things are not expected to stabilise until 2027, but even then, any growth next year is likely to be limited to between 1 and 2%.
Glass Times| 17/06/2026 | online

Building material deliveries continue to fall
Rebecca Larkin, head of construction research at the Construction Products Association, said demand in April was “noticeably subdued”. She told Construction News: “Although deliveries of bricks and blocks both improved compared to March, due to better weather, deliveries were lower than a year earlier, reflecting the caution shown by housebuilders in starting new work. Further falls in production and deliveries recorded in other materials such as slate, ready-mix concrete and sand & gravel point to lingering weakness beyond house building, in non-residential sectors of construction such as commercial and industrial.”
Construction News| 03/06/2026 | onlinePVs can work alongside rooflights – it needn’t be a case of either /or
“It’s been said that we punch above our weight for a small trade association and that’s down to the hard work and dedication of everyone involved, past and present. It’s why we have a seat with the Construction Products Association (CPA) and contact with Government officials.”
Total Contractor| 01/06/2026 | online

Latest BMBI builders merchants sales data puts spotlight on timber & joinery
These factors are shaping activity in the housebuilding sector, prompting the Construction Products Association (CPA) to revise down its 2026 outlook. Its latest Spring forecast suggests a much more difficult year for construction, including a forecast decline in private housing output.
TTJ| 01/06/2026 | online