Recent highlights and upcoming events for Scotland members

The Western Isles are known as the ‘Long Island’ and in Gaelic as Na h-Eileanan Siar. The FMB has members across all four nations of the UK, with FMB Scotland Board member Mark MacDonald’s company O’Mac Construction Limited, based in Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis and Harris. In July I was on holiday on the island: which is the third largest in the British Isles. Having never visited a member on these islands, I felt it appropriate to take my wife and family off the beach to visit one of O’Mac’s sites.

My thanks both to Mark and the site team working on a stunning and quite frankly enormous new build home on the edge of a sea loch. As well feeling somewhat overwhelmed by the scale and specifications for this mansion, I learned more about the challenges of building on an island. This is something which members in the northern isles first explained to me a year or so after I joined the FMB. The weather, logistics, and frustration with ferries from the mainland being the simplest way to explain what these are. However, like all members I have met, the team at O’Mac are highly skilled problem-solvers.

Passivhaus

On the topic of problems and opportunities, a lot of members will be interested in a recently announced Scottish Government Consultation on Passivhaus. For some background on this and what has changed, what will change and what might change within the Scottish Building Regulations, it’s worth reading my brief guide from earlier this year. The consultation closes on 23 October, so ample time to respond. Following the next Scotland Board meeting on 4 September, I will construct a response from the FMB.

Dates for your diary

Forthcoming events to draw your attention to include SELECT’s Professionals’ Day on Thursday 19 September. SELECT are the trade association for the electrical contracting industry in Scotland. This free event near Hamilton, will provide an insight into the Heat in Building Strategy, MCS Certification Scheme and Electric Heating.

On 5 September, the CITB are holding their Skills, Training & Community Wealth Conference in Perth. The FMB will have a stand at this conference, with Simone McAllister joining me. It would be good to meet local members on the day, please register your attendance here.

Authors

Gordon Nelson

FMB Scotland Hub Director, Federation of Master Builders

Director, Federation of Master Builders Scotland

Gordon has nearly twenty years’ experience of working in membership organisations in Scotland and joined the Federation of Master Builders (FMB) in 2014. Prior to this, he worked at the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO) and for Unilever in business development, membership management and business-to-business marketing roles. Amongst his responsibilities in his role as the Director for FMB Scotland are public affairs, media relations, governance and representing member’s interests to Scottish policy makers and stakeholders within the Scottish construction industry. Gordon is the Secretary of the Cross-Party Group on Construction in the Scottish Parliament, and he is a member of the Scottish Building Standards Futures Board. Gordon represents the FMB on Scotland’s Construction Industry Collective Voice: which is comprised of the leading construction trade and professional bodies. In spring 2023 Gordon was appointed as an industry co-chair of the Construction Leaderships Forum’s (CLF) Transformation Board.

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