British Precast supports new Futures Group report seeking to drive in positive change in delivering better homes
17 April 2012
New homes “Think Tank”, The Futures Group, has published a detailed report setting out the industry’s agreed view on how to rise to the challenge of delivering better homes for the consumer.
The groundbreaking report, Building Better Homes for the Customer, brings together a wide cross-section of key decision makers involved in the construction of new homes to deliver a joined-up positive response to the low carbon challenge.
The report sets out several clear recommendations which are practical and financially sound solutions aimed at a structured step change towards the goal of building sustainable homes on a mass-market scale.
British Precast and The Modern Masonry Alliance including the APA and CBA are supporting the report
The Futures Group is chaired by Cliff Fudge Technical Director of H+H UK and Chairman of the APA Technical Committee and is administered by Mike Leonard Director of the MMA
British Precast now have their own Youtube Channel featuring industry relevant videos from ourselves and our members. Click here to take a look and subscribe!
Click here to watch the videos and subscribe to our YouTube channel!
PRECAST2012 featured in Concrete Magazine
04 April 2012
This years British Precast annual conference, AGM and EXPO; PRECAST2012 has featured in April's edition of Concrete Magazine. The article can be downloaded here
British Precast team up with the Heartland Group
28 March 2012
In line with our on-going commitment to improve the services available to you; we are pleased to announce that the Heartland Group has been selected as the preferred insurance broker to the British Precast Concrete Federation and its members both Full and Associate.
Heartland has taken the time to understand the investment in Health and Safety improvement that our members have made through the Concrete Targets scheme. This understanding has allowed Heartland to negotiate with a leading panel of insurers who are now able to reward members with exclusive insurance products. Significantly, any member using Heartland as their insurance broker is likely to see improvements in cover or pricing.
Of course you may already have an insurance broker that gives you a satisfactory deal and there is no obligation in any way to use Heartland. We are however convinced by their professional approach to insurance broking. Heartland is one of a limited number of insurance brokers to have received Chartered Status. This is the “gold standard” when it comes to professionalism within the insurance industry and is in line with our Raising the Bar Charter approach.
Finally, you may also be pleased to hear that Heartland will be sponsoring our upcoming Concrete Targets 2012 Health and Safety Awards on May 17th.
Little Books Republished and Available Online
09 March 2012
New editions of the two Little Books of Concrete are now available for sale in hard copy and for free download here.
To date over 300,000 copies have been handed out to specifiers around the world with USA, Poland, Italy, Spain, Austria, Germany and Finland all producing variations of the British Precast originals. Australia and Portugal are about to produce their own.
C.R Longley & Co Sign Up To 2020 Sustainability Road Map
08 March 2012
Vincent Ross, Works Director of C.R. Longley & Co of Dewsbury, members of British Precast and the Precast Flooring Federation, signed up to the new concrete industry sustainable construction strategy to 2020 at the recent Parliamentary reception in Westminster. All members who have signed the British Precast Charter will be able to sign up and be photographed at PRECAST2012.
Vincent Ross and Martin Clarke with the Longley and British Precast signed pledges
For further information on Longley Concrete Floors please click here.
New UK Concrete Sustainability Strategy Gets A Midlands Launch With A Global Twist May 16th
British Precast and Loughborough University have combined to lay on a great half day seminar bringing together an array of experts from the UK and around the world. Central to the event is the new Sustainable Concrete roadmap to 2020 that members of the UK Sustainable Concrete Forum launched in February in Westminster. Speakers are as follows:
Professor Dennis Loveday -
Director of the Sustainability Research School, Loughborough University
There are a limited number of exhibition stands available at £350 each from maria.lesta@britishprecast.org. Tarmac and Aggregate Industries have already booked spaces
Scottish Precast Manufacturers Group gets underway
06 March 2012
A new component of the 2012 business plan gets underway this month. The Scottish Precast Manufacturers Group launches with a special open seminar at the Scottish Building Federation, Crichton House, 4 Crichton’s Close, Holyrood, Edinburgh, EH8 8DT on Friday 16th March 11-4 with lunch and refreshments provided.
Speakers are Barry White, Michael Levack, Zsuzsa Toth, Professor Remo Pedreschi, John Sheridan, Mike Leonard and Martin Clarke. The Modern Masonry Alliance will also be recruiting Scottish members at the same event as it begins to tackle the major share of new housing taken by timber-frame. To register for this free event visit www.scottishprecast.org or email maria.lesta@britishprecast.org
Martin Clarke commented “I am delighted that after a gap of 20 years we are restarting a Scottish group. Leicester and London are a world away from the industry in Scotland and it is now essential for political and industry development reasons that we have a presence. I am grateful to Michael Levack of the SBF and John Sheridan of MPA Scotland for their support and would urge all Scottish concrete product producers to attend with a view to joining. All additional subscription income from new members will be ploughed into Scotland.“
British Precast Signs Up To New 2020 Roadmap for Sustainable Concrete
21 Feb 2012
Martin Clarke, Chief Executive of British Precast, has signed a new commitment, on behalf of members, to a new Concrete Industry Sustainable Construction Strategy that takes the existing 2008-2012 strategy forward a further 8 years, with fresh objectives and targets.
Key objectives include engaging with the broader supply chain, sharing good practice and informing clients of the range of concrete construction solutions to enable the design and construction of a sustainable built environment. In particular, the updated Strategy commits the industry to playing an active role in the delivery of a zero carbon built environment, providing life cycle assessment data, and developing a material and resource efficiency programme that informs best practice across the life cycle of concrete. In addition, the Strategy calls for the development of a low carbon freight initiative to reduce the environmental impact of transportation and for a water strategy to minimise water consumption. Building upon the progress made since 2008, new performance targets have been set for the whole concrete industry including precast, as follows:
90% reduction in waste to landfill by 2020 (from 2008 baseline) 30% reduction in CO2 emissions from concrete production by 2020 (from 1990 baseline) 95% of production certified to responsiblesourcing standard BES 6001 by 2020
100% of relevant production sites with action plans for site stewardship and biodiversity.
Martin Clarke commented “We are pleased to take this major further step to stretch towards greater sustainability for the whole industry. These commitments are a very serious step and have not been undertaken lightly. We look forward to taking the actions that underpin the Roadmap as we endeavour to be the best.”
The document is visible here and British Precast's signed pledge is available here.
British Precast is proud to announce the opening of our brand new training suite in Leicester - BP Training. The suite will be used to offer a broad range of courses, seminars and events to support the skill sets required by the sector. The first full courses began running at the beginning of February and can be seen by visiting www.bptraining.co.uk.
Our air-conditioned training facility can support 15 delegates classroom style or up to 30 theatre style. The suite will also be available to hire at a very reasonable price for our members.
For further information or to enrol on the courses please contact info@bptraining.co.uk or call
0116 253 6161.
Cast in Concrete book now available for download
23 January 2012
Precast concrete is a unique building material: it combines the visual qualities of a good stone with the advantages of prefabrication, opportunities for fabric energy storage and a solidity and strength which recall traditional concepts of enclosure. To make the most of these qualities you need to know how to use precast. Cast in Concrete, a book by Susan Dawson, architect and Working Details Editor of the AJ, will give you the knowledge. It describes how precast units are manufactured and finished, how decisions made in the design of a façade will affect the process of construction, and how to realise 'positive' procurement and fast-track construction. This publication is now available to download for free, to view the publication please follow this link.
Protect your company from bad debtors
British Precast has launched a scheme to help protect Members from bad debtors. Creditlook is a web-based service that allows members of a federation or association to collaboratively share information about customers that are trading outside of agreed credit terms. This shared information helps limit the risk to members of bad debtors, by enabling them to identify high risk customers before any goods are supplied.
How it works
If a customer trades outside of agreed credit terms with any member, that member can instantly register the customer and incident details on Creditlook. For each customer listed, Creditlook records how many members have been affected, whether correspondence has been sent in relation to late payment and any legal proceedings that have taken place in order to recover such payment.
Creditlook brings members together to protect their individual and collective financial position.
For more information about the scheme and to register, please call David Appleyard on 01628 581058. Once registered, you just have to click on the Creditlook logo above to enter your login details and you can start tapping into this invaluable resource.
Live News
Key 2 Concrete
A new free precast design resource for the construction industry. To visit the site, click here.
This is Concrete - Join the Debate
Keep up-to-date with all the latest concrete news with this exciting live feed.
MMA Futures Group provide Part L Guidance
The MMA Futures Group have been working on providing guidance for the new Part L requirements. Read details of their publication in this article from HouseBuilder.
December 2010 CPI Supplement for British Precast
The latest CPI and Opus C supplements for British Precast are now available. simply click on the images above.
Defining a Fabric Efficiency Standard for Zero Carbon Homes
The Zero Carbon Hub have released a report on Defining a Fabric Energy Efficiency Standard for Zero Carbon Homes. The executive summary can be viewed here or you can visit the Zero Carbon Hub website to download the full report.
The video shows the work the Hub have been carrying out in helping explain the term 'Zero Carbon' and the impact on the Code for Sustainable Homes.
British Precast has published the 2011 update of Sustainability Matters with the complete data on Key Performance Indicators for 2010. To download a copy click here or to order a copy by post email info@britishprecast.org
We have a prospectus 'lite', which is a brief guide to membership benefits, as well as a full prospectus featuring the benefits in much more detail and with application forms at the back.
The matrix shows which products our Members manufacture.
Bespoke Precast Suppliers
Architects and designers have all long known the flexibility of precast concrete, and now British Precast has launched its dedicated list of Bespoke Precast Suppliers.
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Sustainability and Precast Concrete Cladding
British Precast Membership Prospectus
