The Scottish Building Federation offer a wide range of services and support for all members, examples of some are detailed below
• Help at any stage: In need of business advice?
Whatever the business problem, large or small,
SBF’s experienced advisors are available to help
you grow your firm, increase profitability, target
new markets and much more.
• Dispute resolution: An unhappy client is a
difficult client to deal with. SBF’s advisors can
help resolve disputes before they escalate and
cost you time and money.
• Debt recovery: Unfortunately, there are times
when clients fail to pay their bills. SBF can help
you arrange debt recovery so you are not left
out of pocket.
• Pre-Qual Qualifications (PQQs): With an
annual construction expenditure of £4bn, it
is vital that your business can compete when
submitting PQQs for public sector work. SBF’s
advisors can provide in-depth advice to ensure
that your PQQs tick all the right boxes.
• Standard Form of Contract: Ensuring that
contractual terms are water-tight is incredibly
important. SBF’s legal experts can check
contracts you offer or sign to ensure they are
fair and will not cause problems down the line.
• Compliance with new regulations:
Employment legislation, including on workers’
compensation, annual leave and discrimination,
is constantly being revised and updated. SBF
provides easy-to-follow updates for members to
ensure you are operating within the law.
• Employment Contracts: Whether you use
a collectively bargained or other contract of
employment SBF can assist with interpretation
or variation.
• Support during industrial disputes or
grievance procedures: With expertise in
employment legislation, SBF is well placed
to offer representation to members during
industrial negotiations or grievance procedures
brought by employees or former employees.
• Conciliation: When required, SBF can act as an
independent arbitrator between multiple parties
during disagreements.
• Tradespeople: SBF can organise high-quality
trade and technical training for your employees,
increasing the skills your company can utilise
on-site and making your business more
competitive.
• Managers: It is not only apprentices that the
construction industry needs; SBF has a number
of training opportunities for trades people
looking to take on managerial roles.
• Occupational health and safety: Ensuring your
workforce is fit and healthy has never been simpler.
SBF can offer your company expert training on
the importance of proactive management of
occupational health, safety and wellbeing.
• Policy development and advocacy: SBF lobbies
the Scottish Government to ensure the Scottish
construction industry has a ready supply of new
highly skilled workers.
• SBATC: SBF is a founder member of the Scottish
Building Apprenticeship and Training Council
(SBATC), which regulates and monitors the
working conditions, wages, recruitment and
training of apprentices within the Scottish
construction industry.
• Compliance with new regulations:
Keeping abreast of new health and safety and
environmental regulations can be tricky.
SBF tracks and scrutinises all new construction
related legislation and provides easy-to-follow
updates for members.
• Greener construction: Professional advice is
provided to members on environmental queries,
including low carbon building and the reduction,
re-use, recovery and recycling of waste generated
during the construction process.
• Policy development:. SBF strongly supports the
principle that all businesses and all employees
have a basic duty of care to safeguard their own
and others health and safety. SBF’s Health, Safety
and Environmental Committee devises policies
to improve health and safety performance and
strengthen the regulatory framework.
• Scottish Building Apprenticeship & Training
Council (SBATC): administer the apprenticeship
registration process.
• Construction Skills Certification Scheme
(CSCS): promoting a fully qualified workforce.
• CITB (formerly Construction Skills Council):
SBF are one of only three consensus federations in
Scotland working with CITB to promote training
and education.
• Scottish Building Contract Committee (SBCC):
SBF in association with the RICS, RIAS and NSCC,
assist in the drafting and publishing of forms of
building contract for use in Scotland.
• Constructing Better Health: CBH is the national
scheme for the management and promotion of
occupational health in the construction industry.
CBH is owned by B&CE, B&CE is a not-for-profit
financial services company. The company provides
insurance and pension-based products to people
working in the UK construction industry. SBF sits
on the board of CBH, assisting with the shaping
of the support given to our industry.
• CJJC: Working with industry to support generic
contractual terms and benefits for employees and
employers.
• B&CE: Working with B&CE to promote pension
engagement and other benefits within the
industry amongst workers.
• Cross Party Group for Construction: informing
the Scottish Government and facilitating
discussions in all matters relating to the
construction industry in Scotland.
• Construction Scotland: the leadership
organisation for Scotland’s construction
industry, working with Scottish Government and
federations, trade associations, membership and
representative organisations to resolve issues for
the whole industry.