TRA members have always had key safety and quality information to hand, but they now have the opportunity to put it to good use. Dame Judith Hackitt’s ‘Building a Safer Future’ report in 2018 highlighted the need to record details of how a building was designed, built, and will be maintained. A so-called ‘Golden Thread’ … Continue reading “The Golden Thread for Trussed Rafters”

The new Building Safety Bill and National Regulator for Construction Products will ensure homes are built from safe materials. But how will this affect TRA members? Major developments in the wake of the Grenfell Tower tragedy are leading to big changes in the construction of many homes, In particular, provisions within the Building Safety Bill … Continue reading “Emphasis shift for building product safety”

Photo: Artist’s impression of the new CATT building at NMITE In 2008 the TRA formed its relationship with Edinburgh Napier University (ENU) to deliver training for design engineers and since 2014 the online course has seen more than 150 young people take part. Richard George is chair of the TRA training and apprentice committee and … Continue reading “TRA training on course for new development”

TRA members are being encouraged to use the Construction Talent Retention Scheme website to help them find new talent to address any skills shortages. The website enables people looking for new careers in construction-related businesses to upload their CVs and to showcase their skills and experience to employers throughout the UK. Supported by the Construction … Continue reading “Are you making use of the CTRS free recruitment service?”

Everyone is painfully aware of the skills shortages across the industry and recent figures from the CITB show that the UK construction industry needs to recruit 200,000 people if we are to keep up with demand. With the timber trades including carpentry, joinery, and timber engineering in the top five disciplines desperately needing new talent, … Continue reading “Careers campaign used to target job centre applicants”

A new briefing note for TRA members and their customers sets out the likely picture on softwood shortages and cost increases for 2021, and warns that “these increases are significant and look set to continue at unprecedented levels throughout Q2 and Q3 of 2021.” Many trussed rafter manufacturers and others in the timber engineering sector … Continue reading “New warning from TRA on softwood shortages and cost increases this year”

A new campaign to support the recruitment of new talent into the timber engineering industry has been launched by the TRA. The ‘Careers in Timber Engineering’ campaign promotes key roles in design and estimating, manufacturing, sales and management within businesses involved in trussed rafter roofs, metal web joists and related products. The TRA has created … Continue reading “New TRA campaign launches to promote careers in timber engineering”

“This month our Hundegger Turbo cut arrived on site. This saw is becoming widely known as the best saw of its generation for cutting truss and timber frame material. Fuelled by files from Mitek software, the speed and accuracy at which it cuts timber is second to none. This allows Roof Profiles to produce more … Continue reading ““Roof Profiles and Hundegger Turbo Driven technology is a perfect match””

The TRA has welcomed the announcement last week of a new national regulator for construction products to be set up within the Office for Product Safety and Standards. The move comes as part of wider reforms to address systemic failings identified by the Hackitt Review. The regulator will have the power to remove any construction … Continue reading “TRA welcomes new regulator to monitor the safety of construction products”

The co-chair of the Construction Leadership Council (CLC), Andy Mitchell, has published a letter on the CLC website reminding the construction industry about the rules and guidelines for safe working during the coronavirus pandemic. As the peak of the Covid-19 crisis appears to be upon us, the strong message to construction employers throughout the supply … Continue reading “‘Work from home’ reminder for construction – review your arrangements, urges CLC”