Advice from our Scotland Director on conflict avoidance and flytipping prevention

Inevitably there are conflicts when delivering building projects. As members know, there are plenty of pitfalls and there is only so much a building contractor can do to avoid conflict. Others and by that, I mean clients, architects and contract administrators, need to play their part too. Too often I’ve heard from members about the serious consequences on their cashflow and mental health, when bad behaviour and differences of opinion escalate to contractual conflicts.                                                                                 

The FMB is a signatory of the Conflict Avoidance Pledge, initiated by the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS). The pledge focuses on driving behaviour change in the construction, land and property industries, to encourage contractors and supply chains to work together to avoid disputes. 24 - 28 March was conflict avoidance week and I joined a couple of the online sessions and voiced the FMB’s perspective on conflict matters.

The FMB’s Code of Conduct and our Dispute Resolution Service play a key role in assisting members in preventing disputes or when they do arise, providing mediation. We frequently update our suite of contracts to ensure they are up to date. On the matter of being up to date, Zero Waste Scotland contacted me about a fly tipping prevention guide for the construction sector.

I helped to shape a revised draft of this publication, which should be finalised by the end of April. As I explained, FMB members have to pass our accreditation, and abide by our code of conduct. The real culprits of fly tipping in construction are rogue traders. That aside, the draft guide is now being reviewed by your Scotland Vice President Stephen O’Neill of SJ O'Neill Construction. My thanks to Stephen for his input. Quite often and quite rightly, outside agencies reach out to the FMB for help and guidance on the SME construction sector.

After the East break I will be meeting with the RIAS to share feedback on trading conditions and discuss some key issues raised by our members. In May we will be exhibiting at the Homebuilding and Renovating show in Glasgow: and I’m looking forward to catching up with members then.

Finally if you haven’t already done so, please remember to book your free place at our Scotland AGM in Edinburgh on 6 June. I’m also looking forward to our Master Builder Awards ceremony which also takes place on 6 June: tickets are selling fast so book up now.

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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