CPA Weekly Notes – 9th May 2025

Issue No. 1149, 9th May 2025 FOR MEMBERS ONLY

Association Activities

Watch the Recording of the CPA Webinar: U.S. Tariff Disruption, Uncertainty, and the CPA Construction Forecasts
U.S. tariff disruption has increased uncertainty and made market forecasting even more difficult than during Covid-19 Pandemic and the 2008 financial crisis. The webinar, hosted by Professor Noble Francis, focuses on the potential impacts for the U.K. economy and construction sector. Watch the recording and download the slides, here.

Pictures from the CPA Spring Lunch 2025
The CPA we would like to thank all our guests for coming to our Spring Lunch 2025, in particular we would like to express our gratitude to the sponsors ( Barbour ABI, Kilsaran, Peak AI and Siderise) for their invaluable support, which helped to make this event a reality.
To view the photo album from the day, click here. If you want to download pictures, please add the following code: 4215.

CPA Webinar: Green Paper on Construction Products Reform with Building Safety Minister Alex Norris MP
The video of this event is now available to watch here. Please share the link amongst colleagues if they were unable to watch the webinar live. Officials at the MHCLG have also requested that CPA members fill out this form to help them with providing further information to members on the Act as it progresses.
CPA Weekly UK Economic and Construction Update
Please note that U.S. tariff and global trade issues information is now in a separate live document that is constantly updated, and today’s version is available here, with updated sections highlighted in yellow (on Pages 1, 3 and 4).
The latest weekly update is available here, including:

• S&P Global UK Construction PMI (April 2025)
• RICS UK Construction Monitor (2025 Q1)
• DBT UK Brick Deliveries (March 2025)
• RICS UK Residential Market Survey (April 2025)

The CPA’s Spring Forecasts were published on Monday, 28th April and are available for members to download from the CPA Website. Also note that the ONS has suspended its monthly UK building materials price data (and other producer price data) due to concerns about its reliability, which the CPA has been highlighting since the impacts of the energy and price spikes in Spring 2022.

CPA Briefing Paper:  The Impacts of U.S. Tariffs
Following strong demand from members and government alike, the CPA’s economics team has published a briefing paper on the ‘Impacts of U.S. Tariffs’.  This document will be revised as the situation develops, and made available to CPA members every Friday with our Weekly UK Economic and Construction Update.  To receive this document via email every Friday please contact noble.francis@constructionproducts.org.uk ; alternatively, you can click here to read it now.

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 co-chair a monthly meeting of the CLC’s Materials Supply Chain Group; attend a meeting of the Future Homes Hub board; chair a meeting of the CLC’s Standards & Regulatory Alignment Group to develop the industry response to the Green Paper on Products Reform; will present to the Construction Industry Council (CIC) annual Members’ Conference about “Prioritising Building Safety”; and will attend the weekly meeting of the Construction Leadership Council’s Task Force.
• Jeff May, CPA Deputy Chief Executive, will join Peter in the CLC Materials Supply Chain Group meeting and the Task Force meeting.
• Hanna Clarke, Digital and Policy Manager, will have a variety of meetings with industry colleagues and civil servants around competence.

Economics Update

Economy

• The S&P Global PMI for services was 49.0 in April, down from 52.5 in March. The index was the lowest since January 2023 and ended a 17-month period of expansion. New business intakes decreased for the third time in the past four months during April. Service providers typically cited weaker business investment and client confidence in the wake of US tariffs announcements and subsequent financial market turmoil. While many firms continued to report unfavourable domestic demand conditions, the latest survey indicated a particularly marked decline in new work from overseas markets. The rate of contraction was the steepest for just over four years and mostly linked by survey respondents to the impact of rising global trade tensions. Reduced workloads and delayed spending decisions among clients resulted in another decline in backlogs of work across the service economy.

Housing

• According to Halifax, UK house prices rose 0.3% month-on-month in April, after a 0.5% fall in March. The annual rate of growth was 3.2%, compared to 2.9% in March with the average UK house price at £297,781. The index is based on mortgage approvals by Lloyds Banking Group. The lender’s view is that despite a likely increase in consumer price inflation as household bills rise, this is also expected to be alongside further base rate cuts which would be supportive of modest house price growth this year 

Construction

• The S&P Global PMI for construction was 46.6 in April, up slightly from 46.4 in March. Although this was the fourth consecutive monthly decline in construction activity, it signalled the slowest decline in output levels for three months. Residential work showed a degree of resilience in April, with the rate of contraction easing to the least marked in 2025 to date (index at 47.1). Commercial work (45.5) decreased for the fourth month running in April and the pace of decline accelerated to its fastest since May 2020. Construction companies widely noted that heightened business uncertainty and worries about the broader UK economic outlook had weighed on client demand. Civil engineering remained the weakest-performing area of construction activity in April (43.1), with the latest survey indicating a sharp rate of decline amid a lack of new work to replace completed projects.

For further information contact rebecca.larkin@constructionproducts.org.uk

Government Update

Government Survey re Labour Availability in the Remediation Sector
The Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government is conducting a short survey (5-10 minutes) to improve labour availability in the remediation market. The survey focuses on the Immigration Salary List Survey (formerly the Shortage Occupation List) and aims to understand the views of remediation contractors on hiring cladding professionals from abroad.  Your insights would be greatly appreciated. Click here to access the survey which closes on Wednesday, 14th May.

Trade Mission to Egypt (16-19 June)
The Department for Business & Trade, in collaboration with the Egyptian British Chamber of Commerce, have organised a Trade Mission to Cairo on 16-19 June 2025 and invite CPA members to attend.  These sectors have been identified as priority by Egyptian Government:  Transport (Rail / Road / Airports / Ports); Renewable & Clean Energy; Logistics & Supply Chain; Smart Cities & Green Construction; Water; Waste Management; Training and Skills for Construction (and other Infra sectors); Fintech for Construction.  The itinerary is almost done and will include:

• Opportunities to engage with Egyptian Government Ministers
• Round table events with key stakeholders / major local contractors
• Meet the Buyer – both B2B AND B2G
• Networking at British Embassy and with Buyer Organisations
• Site Visits to significant infrastructure projects
• Opportunity to visit Big 5 Cairo and Egypt Water Expo.

There is no cost to join – delegates will be asked to cover their own flights / accommodation and in-market expenses (and the Egyptian British Chamber of Commerce are working now to secure discounts).  You can register your expression of interest via this link, which is NOT a commitment to attend but will mean you can receive further information about the mission to help you decide if it is right for you.

Govt Opens Consultation on Improving Integrity of Voluntary Carbon Markets
Government seeks to clarify and test their proposed policy and governance framework for helping to ensure the integrity of voluntary carbon and nature markets.  Find the consultation here, deadline is 10 July 2025.  For further details contact Jane Thornback.

Govt Opens Consultation on the UK Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM)
This is a technical consultation to get feedback on the drafting of the primary legislation of the UK CBAM.  The purpose of a CBAM is to place a carbon price on specified goods imported to the UK from sectors that are at risk of carbon leakage.  The aim being to protect UK manufacturing.  Find details here.  For further details contact Jane Thornback.

News From Our Sponsors

New Siderise Specification Packs ensure confidence and clarity when selecting passive fire protection solutions.

Siderise have launched a suite of new digital Specification Packs designed to support architects, design teams, fire engineers, consultants and specifiers in collating the rich technical data they need to ensure accurate passive fire protection specifications.  

With versions available for curtain wall, rainscreen, masonry, and precast and sealed architectural wall systems, each pack concisely summarises all the relevant product information for the designated application. They provide quick and convenient access to crucial tools and information sources, including technical datasheets, third-party certification, standard detail drawings, BIM objects, specification information and clauses. Additionally, by including links to the latest information, users can be assured that they are working with the most up-to-date data and certifications, reducing the risks associated with holding outdated material. 

In addition to valued formats of data needed throughout the early selection process, the Packs also highlight the enhanced support services available from Siderise at different project stages. This includes support with NBS Chorus specifications as a licenced NBS Specification Writing Partner, as well as information on Siderise’s bespoke testing capacity via its UKAS ISO 17025 accredited Innovation Centre. It also contains links to book CPD seminars, product training and more. 

With the introduction of the Building Safety Act and increasing focus on data-backed specifications, these Specification Packs can help Siderise customers specify products more efficiently and with greater confidence in their decision-making. As Senior Technical Engineer for Specification Emmie Panagopoulos— who leads the creation of these valuable tools— explains: 

“Passive fire protection is a crucial element of any fire safety strategy that must be considered from the earliest design stages. By creating these application-specific Specification Packs, we want to empower the people looking to use our products to be able to make the best choices for their projects, arming them with all the details, tools and supporting services they need. This will help them to provide adequate levels of detail and justifications to not only satisfy requirements such as Gateway 2 applications and the creation of a Golden Thread, but also confidently explain to their clients and project partners how fire safety has been embedded into their plans and strategies from the outset.”   

For more information visit Specification Packs | Siderise 

Industry News

MHCLG Roundtable:  Regulating the Market Roundtable (12 May, 10-11:30am)
As you may be aware, on 26 February government published its Construction Products Reform Green Paper, launching a three month consultation which runs until 21 May 2025. During the consultation, the government is conducting engagement with the construction product sector, regulators, and others with an interest in the green paper proposals. The Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government would like to invite CPA members to a roundtable discussion on 12 May about ensuring effective enforcement of the reformed regime. Topics for this roundtable will include: 

• Enforcement Approach
• Surveillance
• Interventions and Sanctions
• Cost Recovery 

These topics are set out in Chapter 9 of the green paper (‘Regulating the Market’); however, they relate to proposals set out across Part B (System reform – a regulatory regime that can be trusted).  To attend, please contact Suleman Younis (Suleman.Younis@communities.gov.uk).

Association for Specialist Fire Protection
The ASFP are hosting two seminars in Edinburgh and London focused on the latest practices in passive fire protection along with updates on regulations. This networking event is designed to provide valuable insights into industry trends, standards, and practical applications that are crucial for ensuring safety and compliance. To find our more please follow the links below.
https://asfp.org.uk/page/AGMLondonSeminar
https://asfp.org.uk/page/ScotlandSeminar

BRE rebrands the Home Quality Mark to BREEAM Residential
BRE has streamlined its offerings and the Home Quality Mark (HMQ) is now rebranded and BRE has released it as residential sustainability assessment, BREEAM UK New Construction: Residential V6.1.  Find details here.  For further details contact Jane Thornback.

CPA in the News

UK adds just 65 miles of motorway in 10 years
Noble Francis, economics director at the Construction Products Association, said: “Anyone who travels on the roads in the UK knows that we need improvements in both the quality of existing roads and new, additional roads to make travelling easier and quicker.”
FT | 04/05/2025 | Online
also in WDCTV.News, TransLogistics, ExBulletin, GB News (Online), Birmingham Live,

Expect surge in infrastructure activity, says RICS
The concerns over the impact of US tariffs on the construction industry mirror warnings made by the Construction Products Association (CPA) earlier this week. The CPA warned tariffs represented “a big risk” to the sector’s recovery, and that big private sector projects could stutter while investors wait to gauge the outcome and impact of global import duty hikes.
Construction News | 02/05/2025 | Online

Trump Tariffs: US could face UK retaliation
 Noble Francis, economics director of the Construction Products Association, said 15 per cent of UK construction products were exported last year, with the US the second largest market
Construction News | 02/05/2025 | Print

Batten supply challenges and PIR insulation price increases reported
Peter Caplehorn, CEO of the Construction Products Association, co-chairs of the Construction Leadership Council’s Material Supply Chain Group, stated: “At present, the materials supply chain is functioning well and product availability is generally good, although several regions reported challenges with aircrete and insulation blocks and certain timber products, including CLS, carcassing and battens.
Total Contractor | 24/04/2025 | Online

UK steel market: importers to brace themselves
There is good news for overseas long steel producers too. The Construction Products Association (CPA) expects construction volumes to grow by 2.1% this year and 4% in 2026. The driver will be the private housing sector. Here, volumes will increase by 6% in 2025 and 8% in 2026. This will be ensured by the inflow of private investment. They will increase by 3% in 2025 and by 4% in 2026.
GMK | 11/04/2025 | Online

Labour MP calls for ‘fiercely vigilant’ approach to foreign investment in UK infrastructure
Rebecca Larkin, head of research at the Construction Products Association, told Construction News the steel plant crisis “highlights the quandary of funding large capital investments, particularly infrastructure”. “Private finance, whether it is from a domestic company or a foreign state, will primarily be seeking a financial return and low risk,” she added. “Direct funding on the government books is aiming to drive long-term economic growth and employment.”
Construction News | 16/04/2025 | Online

Thames Water claims cost of sewage works repairs has risen 10-fold since 2021
The Construction Products Association estimates that infrastructure construction costs have risen by 22.3 per cent from the start of 2021 to the end of 2024, due to double-digit increases in both skilled labour and building material prices.
FT | 17 April 2025 | Online (via subscription)