Life doesn’t require that you hire a lawyer daily, but sometimes you are left with no choice but to retain one for people to take you seriously. For instance, if you suspect discrimination or any employment law violation in your workplace, the best cause of action will be consulting a top employment lawyer to help you understand the cause of your claim. Employment law is complex, and you would want someone who has studied and practiced the same for years on, if not decades. Moreover, your employer ordinarily has more money than you and will probably retain a counsel before you. Therefore, it only makes sense if you lawyer up from the word go! It is important to note that you don’t have to wait for an official termination letter from your employer to hire a lawyer. A reasonable employment lawyer will help you analyze the employment law challenges at your workplace and offer possible advice or resolutions that can help you avoid a bigger dispute altogether. After all, you are hiring a lawyer to try to rectify a problem and not spark a battle. So, what are the reasons that should prompt you to retain an employment lawyer? Well, they include but aren’t limited to the following: Suspicion of employment law violation You might be working at a frustrating place, and you come to conclude that it is your employer who is violating the employment law to intimidate and get the most out of you. It is important to understand that frustration doesn’t equate to illegality. Maybe the place is evidently daunting, but the circumstances and conditions are completely legal. Instead of spending much money and time filing for an immediate complaint, it would help if you first hire an employment lawyer to investigate your suspicion and determine the best options for a response without further legal loopholes. Establishing legal claims Not all employees understand the extent of the employment law and will often confuse opinions and suggestions for the actual law. You should retain an experienced employment lawyer before pursuing your legal options to determine the exact claims that you are dealing with. Lawyers charge a constant consultation fee, and you’ll only be required to pay more if you choose to retain full services Employer interaction Your employer will always take your direct complaints for granted until you show some level of seriousness. Instead of always trying to prove your point with the company’s handbook, try and retain a lawyer, and the employer will have your full attention. Review your employment agreement Most people sign contracts under duress and unnecessary pressure, especially when they are threatened that the jobs might be awarded to someone else who is “needier”. Therefore, it is common to find employers agreeing to clauses and phrases that they either interpret wrongly or don’t know their meanings at all. If the job is a high-gear net, it will be best to let your lawyer evaluate and explain the employment terms. Remember, one term this is favorable to another employee might be controversial to you. It is better to go there knowing what you are walking yourself into. Negotiate case settlement Lastly, you might want to hire an employment law attorney to negotiate case settlement, especially after determining that a clause in your employment agreement has been violated. You will want to air your thoughts and best interests without feeling trapped in an emotional bubble. Moreover, you might also want to get the settlement and still continue working with the same employer, and so a feeling of hatred and animosity between the two of you will not help in any way. Lawyers are trained to negotiate professionally without losing their cool. Your employer will also likely accord your lawyer more time and respect than if it was only you in the negotiation table.

If you’ve ever wondered how commercial buildings vary from residential ones, the differences discussed below might provide some insights. Here are the basics: commercial buildings are used to operate commercial ventures (schools, offices, supermarkets and similar businesses) while residential buildings are basically homes where families reside. Before commencing your construction project, it’s important to hire an experienced contractor with an enviable track record in providing quality construction for commercial buildings. Conducting some thorough research beforehand is also essential. Here are 5 major differences between commercial construction and residential construction: Construction materials used The materials used to construct commercial buildings are slightly different from those used to build residential houses. They both have different structural needs: residential buildings are often smaller than commercial ones, hence require less reinforcement. For commercial construction, you will require sturdy steel and concrete framing that guarantees better fortification. You’ll also need to consider three-phase electricity installation during the design phase. Residential construction is less complicated. Timber framing and single-phase electrical designing will usually suffice. Building regulations and permits Another key difference between commercial and residential construction is in their permits. Commercial buildings usually attract stricter regulations than residential houses. Regulations may vary from design to materials and plumbing systems used. If you wish to succeed as a commercial contractor, ensure you learn the ropes as far as permits and regulations are concerned. The biggest perk of residential construction is the lenient regulations employed by the government. Most residential buildings are small and incorporate simple designs, making them less problematic to erect. Construction timelines Every construction project must have a unique set of timelines. However, residential construction typically has longer and more flexible timelines than commercial construction. Homeowners prefer taking their time when building their dream home. This provides them with more freedom to make vital construction decisions as and when they deem fit. Commercial builders, on the other hand, desire to complete the project as quickly (and as efficiently) as possible. Commercial contractors often have to deal with smaller budgets and stricter timelines. Machinery required for construction Large scale commercial buildings require the utilization of heavy machinery such as bulldozers, earth movers and forklifts. Such machinery has to be operated by experienced personnel in order to optimize quality and maintain relevant safety standards. Residential buildings, on the other hand, don’t require heavy machines or specialized skills. Smaller DIY building projects can even be learnt online and completed successfully if you have the time. In addition, accidents that occur during residential construction are easier to fix and rarely end up in lawsuits when compared to commercial mishaps. Warranties and insurance covers Commercial properties generally require more insurance than residential buildings. As a commercial contractor, you’re required to comply with all state and national certifications to avoid getting slapped with penalties. Commercial contracts are usually lengthier and more complex than residential ones. Warranties and surety bonds are essential elements of every commercial construction contract, especially when you’re dealing with government work. These are just some of the key differences between commercial and residential construction.

One of the main questions when it comes to asbestos is if asbestos testing is required by law. In many cases, asbestos testing is a legal requirement.  Occupying or working in a building that hasn’t had an asbestos survey might mean you’re breaking the law.  The whole point of an asbestos survey is that you know if your building is safe to occupy, or that your renovation/demolition is safe to do. Having this information can not only save your life but save the lives of other people working or living in the building. Exposure to asbestos usually happens when the person responsible for the property didn’t have an asbestos test completed. There are legal requirements for asbestos surveys, but there are also instances that you are not required to have one completed. For clarity, here are the areas where you will need asbestos testing: Property built before 2000 and; A public area of a domestic building or, Construction work or, Non-domestic buildings. The age of the building will be one of the deciding factors. Any building that predates the year 2000 has a high chance of containing ACM (asbestos-containing materials). Asbestos was a popular material used for construction. It can often be found in insulation, sheeting, rainwater goods, partitions, doors, ceiling panels, vinyl tiles, and many more places within the home or commercial building.  You are unlikely to be able to tell if something is asbestos just by looking at it. Which is why an asbestos test will become your first line of defense. Asbestos fibers are tiny, and when they are disturbed, they cause many asbestos-related illnesses.  For asbestos testing, a sample of the material will be taken and tested in a lab. This will be able to tell you if the material contains asbestos and the amount and type.  For non-domestic public buildings – schools, hospitals, and offices, here is the Control of Asbestos Regulations.  3. To manage the risk from asbestos in non-domestic premises, the duty holder must ensure that a suitable and sufficient assessment is carried out as to whether asbestos is or is liable to be present in the premises. 4. In making the assessment—  such steps as are reasonable in the circumstances must be taken; and  the condition of any asbestos which is, or has been assumed to be, present in the premises must be considered. The Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 Duty to manage asbestos in non-domestic premises For part, domestic buildings, with public/shared spaces: The ‘duty to manage asbestos’ requirements of regulation 4 of CAR 2012 do not normally apply to domestic premises. However, the requirements do apply to common parts of premises, including housing developments and blocks of flats […]. Examples of common parts would include foyers, corridors, lifts and lift shafts, staircases, boiler houses, vertical risers, gardens, yards, and outhouses. HSE Asbestos: The survey guide pg.9 For a domestic residence, the landlord or owner is responsible and should ensure that when there is a suspicion of asbestos or renovation work to be carried out, they provide that a risk assessment is carried out. Failing to do so can mean a landlord can be prosecuted. 

There will be a need to repurpose and redesign buildings, as well as increase space as a result of the current global pandemic, according to a growing number of industry insights. The healthcare, pharmaceutical and food industries, being on the front line during the Covid-19 crisis, have already experienced an immediate upsurge in emergency construction for more space. Belfast City Hospital is a good example, where an entire tower block has been repurposed; and in other cases, requirements have included isolation rooms, clean manufacturing and storage. These ways of immediately tackling a crisis tend to lead to changes that impact forever; things simply do not go back to how they were. So, as the situation plays out, there is likely to be a need for greater space, enabling individual workers to distance themselves safely from colleagues and site visitors.  In the food industry, for example, people often work shoulder-to-shoulder, and Klipspringer’s blog, ‘Just How? Social Distancing in Food Factories’ suggests a number of measures to improve safety, including strong ‘Keep your Distance’ signage which demonstrates the need to keep two metres apart, and “Additional entrances and exits…to spread out the people flow, with additional doors available and a turnstile entrance and exit system. This doesn’t just mean in and out of the factory, but from area-to-area.” Klipspringer also suggests factory zoning and physical segregation barriers, all of which could suggest that more space would be an important part of the solution in many factories. Kerry Foods ‘Insights’ blog ‘6 Lessons from China’s Recovering Food & Beverage Sector after Covid19’ says there will be more “Demand for visibility on product sourcing and safety,” and that the industry will be “more keenly aware of strict hygiene and food safety.”   Foodnavigator.com says the same in its ‘Market Trends’, “Food safety has attracted significant concern from consumers, who want to know whether the coronavirus can be transmitted by imported food…”, which surely will create the need for food producers to take, and promote, measures to allay these fears. This is highly likely to include the ongoing need to keep individual workers distanced from each other, an area that has not up until now been a necessary consideration in most manufacturing environments.  In the UK over the last few decades, as a nation we have gradually lost a lot of our ability to produce goods in an effort to keep reducing costs. Many reports suggest that there is likely to be a strategic move to rebuild domestic manufacturing in order to improve our self-sustainability, flexibility, and our ability to react to crises in the future. So, even though for some manufacturers, demand has ‘dropped off a cliff’, leaving them with the same operational costs without the sales in the short term, in the medium-to-long term it is likely that there will be a resurgence in the sector. Chris Griffin, Commercial Manager at Hemsec said, “Whilst automation is going to increasingly develop not all processes can be automated.  Manufacturing still requires humans to be part of the process including being physically onsite to run, maintain and repair machines, as well for those processes that a person still needs to do.  Commercial teams and contractors will still need to come onsite from time to time as well as.  This means space management is going to become part of our business continuity planning, not just a nice to have.  In all of those areas where businesses have critical functions where people need to be involved, including customers, the distances between those people will now need to be reconsidered to plan for a business being able to continue working safely through any similar public health crises in the future.”  Increasingly, organisations may require business continuity facilities and, in some sectors, emergency health centre/isolation rooms, but more than that many manufacturers may need to expand their buildings to accommodate the increased distancing mentioned above. Our current factory was built using some of our products over 50 years ago, we have extended it over the years.  The Hemsec composite panels, both steel and timber faced, are an excellent way to quickly create a dry, temperature stable extension on to a building with fewer civil engineering requirements. As a manufacturer ourselves, we understand the need to have high quality supply readily available, and we are committed to ensuring our customers get what they need. If you foresee a high level of demand, let’s start a conversation now, with a view to developing a supportive supply partnership to meet your needs when the time comes. Please email us at contact@hemsec.com or call +44 (0)151 426 7171

Key influencers within the UK construction industry have called upon the government to take action against cowboy building contractors by consulting on an industry-wide licensing/certification scheme to give end-users a recognisable mark of quality and trust. Each year more than £8 billion of building work fails to meet appropriate quality standards and has to be repeated or repaired. Anyone can set up as a builder and there is no requirement to register with recognised trade bodies or quality assurance schemes.  It is this situation which the British Board of Agrément (BBA), working with Westminster Sustainable Building Forum (WSBF) wants addressed, with the organisations convening a ‘Stop the Cowboys: Certification in Construction’ roundtable at the House of Commons. Ken O’Sullivan, Head of Audit and Inspection at the BBA, outlined some of the issues at stake: “The Grenfell Tower tragedy highlighted the urgent requirement to improve standards. The Hackitt Review drew attention to the lack of skills and experience of those involved in the construction and maintenance of Higher Risk Residential Buildings. A licensing and/or certification scheme for all contractors would allow for a level playing field to avoid competent contractors being undercut by competitors that are not registered with a recognised scheme.” The BBA is the UK’s leading product certification, testing and inspection organisation and operates Approved Installer schemes across certain sectors of the construction industry, allowing companies to demonstrate compliance with industry standards. It is already working with the Federation of Masters Builders (FMB) – the largest UK trade body representing the interests of small and medium-sized construction firms – to vet new federation members.  More than 75% of FMB members have given their backing to a licensing scheme to professionalise the industry, protect consumers and sideline unprofessional and incompetent building companies. The federation is also part of the ‘Construction Licensing Task Force’ which is examining how a scheme would work. “The proposed model is for a scheme governed by a single body but integrated within existing structures to minimize administrative burden,” said FMB Chief Executive Brian Berry. The roundtable, chaired by Helen Hayes, MP for Dulwich and West Norwood, made three recommendations: * Government should consult on an industry-wide licensing or certification scheme backed by a single body (such as Trustmark) or via existing Notified Bodies or UKAS-accredited organisations. * The scheme should adopt a ‘quality mark’ that consumers can look for. * Industry should work with lending/conveyancing sectors to back the scheme, with sales and home improvement loans tied to the use of a licensed contractor.  In addition, attendees agreed that the Homes, Communities and Local Government committee should review proposals for a mandatory licensing or certification scheme and the government consult via a Green Paper. A roundtable spokesman said: “Consumers find the variety of competency frameworks currently on offer confusing. As a result around one third will enter the black market when commissioning home improvement projects. There should be a single, recognisable brand to demonstrate quality, with different trades covered beneath this. Trustmark is already working with key stakeholders such as the BBA, FMB and Homes England to put together a framework that supports this but consumer buy-in will be instrumental to making this viable. “The current system is layered and allows for passing of responsibility between developer, contractor and manufacturer. Consumers find it difficult to determine which party has responsibility and often have very little redress when things go wrong. Costs for joining a mandatory licensing/certification scheme could be as low as £150 for small companies and there has been little opposition from FMB members. However, there has been some reluctance from larger contractors as they wait for clarity on how the scheme would be executed.”