Spec Finish

www.thefis.org 9 News FIS Sector Guides to define and support best practice With the construction sector under ever- closer scrutiny in relation to competency. FIS is committed to producing guidance to help define and support best practice. The sector guides have been launched by the Finishes and Interiors Sector (FIS) to assist organisations in the improvement of quality and safety and ensure they meet new regulatory requirements. Client Guide to Office Fit-Out and Refurbishment The revised Client Guide to Office Fit- Out and Refurbishment to promote best practice in the fit-out process and to take account of new working practices post- pandemic, the Building Safety Act and advances in sustainability is to be released later this month. The updated guide is aimed at clients, contractors and architects involved in fit-out projects in a changing world. For clients, creating or adapting an office fit-out that can suit businesses in an environment where hybrid working has become the norm can prove daunting. The publication will guide them through the process from the initial decision as to whether to refurbish an existing office or relocate and fit-out new premises, through to post-occupancy evaluation. It explains step-by-step the process, along with outlining the professional help available to help ensure a successful outcome. The revised guide reflects the driving forces behind changes to office space design. In the first instance, it considers the responsibilities of a client and other implications of the Building Safety Act such as the interaction with ‘higher risk buildings’ (as defined in the legislation), and how to consider the impact in the early stages of planning a fit-out. It also reflects the evolution and rapid maturation of best practices and methods of measurement relating to sustainability. Furthermore, the guide will take account of the digitisation of construction information combined with the increasing adoption of video conferencing technology and other post pandemic implications to ways of working that can mean significant changes to the way offices are designed. Sector Guide – Competency Management Plans The CompetencyManagement Plans sector guide is to assist organisations in the improvement of quality and safety and ensure they meet new regulatory requirements. The guide will provide examples and signposts to available information and assist organisations in improving quality and safety whilst at the same time ensuring that they meet the requirements of legislation and avoid any enforcement penalties (at the time of writing penalties have not been published for failure to comply with the Building Safety Act, but consultations on this and enforcement associated to wider changes to the building regulations are taking place). This will also aim to address the regulatory regime as part of the long- awaited Building Safety Act which sets out clear duties and responsibilities for those who commission, design, construct and refurbish higher-risk buildings as well as those responsible for ensuring buildings are safely managed when occupied. A Competency Management Plan is a critical document for any organisation working in the finishes and interiors sector of the construction industry and must be embedded within the culture of the business and embraced within any quality management process. This has been produced by FIS and is designed to contextualise and help to structure and improve existing processes. It is structured to help form a strategy for assessing competence and provides guidance to suggested CMP content including organisational and occupational competence, functional requirements, creating job descriptions, competency and training plans, appraisal process and succession plans. Pre-construction Site Guide and Site Guide for Drylining The two new expert guides; a Pre- construction Site Guide for Drylining and a Construction Site Guide for Drylining are an invaluable resource for the industry and aim to reduce risk, ensure compliance and guarantee that projects are delivered on time, and to budget. The guides have been produced off the back of concerning results gathered from an FIS Survey into challenges in the drylining sector. The survey found that amongst its member base, 97% of organisations had been asked to commence construction without having sufficient information to accurately detail the installation of the work. Wider discussions had resulted in a number of concerns being raised linked to a lack of standardisation in design detailing required. To start to address this, the FIS Drylining Working Group, which is comprised of manufacturers, designers and contractors working in the drylining sector, produced the guides to continue the provision of information and guidance to the point of installation. The Pre-construction Site Guide for Drylining has been pulled together from decades of experience and focuses on the lead-up to commencing installation works. It highlights how to check bids and tenders for compliance, understand time requirements and site conditions, and ensure the design information is sufficient and fit for purpose. The Construction Site Guide for Drylining provides expert knowledge on preparatory work, sequencing, the checking of design information, how to recognise common issues and address them, and also how to perform quality checks to ensure building compliance. The guides sit alongside other FIS best practice guides that relate to drylining: Installation of Drylining: www.thefis. org/membership-hub/publications/best- practice-guides/installation-of-drylining Specifiers Guide-Drylining: www.thefis. org/membership-hub/publications/ specifiers-guides/drylining The guides utilise the information, knowledge and good practice employed by its members and deliver a valuable resource for improving works package delivery, enhancing quality and aiding projects to be finished on time, safely and within budget. The guides are freely available from the FIS website at: 1. Client Guide to Office Fit-Out and Refurbishment: www.thefis.org/membership- hub/publications/client-guide-to-fit-out 2. Sector Guide – Competency Management Plans: www.thefis.org/skills-hub/ competency 3. Pre-construction Site Guide for Drylining and the Construction Site Guide for Drylining: www.thefis.org/membership-hub/publications/site-guides