CHIC CHAT

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Click here to download the SOCIAL_HOUSING_CROSSWORD_PUZZLE.pdf

The future of social housing was prudently addressed, following a riveting conversation held by Theresa Mays former chief of staff Nick Timothy at one of our own board awaydays, back in January.

Many believe that social housing is nearing the bottom of the agenda when it comes to the implications of Brexit and is being heavily overlooked.

Arguable, the main issue that the social housing sector is going to face is the logistical changes to supply chains. With materials like timber being heavily imported from the EU, many merchants have already begun contingency planning to maintain their sustainability, and have adopted the approach of stockpiling materials; however, it’s a very temporary solution

The overcomplicating of importing materials is set to have some implications on the affordability of social homes, whether this is going to be for the good or bad of renters in the UK.

But the question is, does anyone know what they are doing? Planning for the unknown is an impossible feat in all walks of life, let alone when looking to mitigate the effects of Brexit on an entire industry.

The potential knock-on effects are endless with the immediate ones possibly the most damaging. Will we begin seeing more or less jobs in the construction industry? Half of construction workers in London come from the EU and many have already gone back to avoid being ‘stuck’.

The effects that deal or no deal Brexit could be endless from temporary purchasing alternative materials to a complete logistical change, steering away from current just in time solutions.

Going from a blanket agreement to, well, who knows what, is going to be a huge change regardless of the specifics and the social housing market is inevitably going to learn to adapt no matter what comes its way; Deal or No Deal is just the beginning of something bigger.

With every future deal coming from UK Parliament, surely our government will do what is best for UK citizens? It is no secret that the UK has been in a housing crisis for some time now with the publication of reports like the Shelter’s “vision for social housing”.

Although the UK is going Brexit crazy, there’s no need to panic. CHIC has been actively collaborating with its members / suppliers to gather intel on what is the best course of action to mitigate the amount of disruption to the supply chain. 95% of Manufacturers and Distributors have already plans in place to mitigate for a No deal vote with the large majority being determined as low risk. (Testimonial from a supplier)

CHIC has engaged with it’s supply chain to ensure that members have contingencies in place for every aspect of property maintenance requirements.

CHIC’s Merchant Services Manager (maybe change it to Supply chain manager) is of the opinion that: “The worst thing that we in the social housing industry can do right now, is to put our heads in the sand and hope that this storm will pass us by. The first thing that will be affected will be supply chains, as we see in other sectors such as the automotive industry. Arguably if housing associations engage with purchasing groups, in respect of their suppliers, trends will be noticeable which means that steps can be taken to mitigate negative effects.”

As rightly pointed out purchasing groups such as CHIC, are better positioned to notice trends in the market that individual housing associations cannot see, and this is purely down to the number of suppliers each engages. Having a pool of suppliers providing the same type of service, normally via a framework, will allow members that purchase through that group a better understanding of where the market is going.

In these trialling times, co-operation is key, and instead of we can do it better, we need to do it better together.

The question is then, what has your association done to ensure that services will not drop.

Quote from Bournville to come: - need to chase giles again today.

If you are worried about the Brexit impact on your organisation, please give us a call.

Updates from CHIC

New starter to the commercial team

We are delighted to welcome Steve Boland as our new Head of Commercial Services. Steve brings a wealth of experience from his previous role as Head of Income at the University of Birmingham, where he focused on process improvements and strategic change. With a strong background in financial management, Steve is tasked with developing and executing commercial strategies to support CHIC’s procurement objectives. His responsibilities include managing key supplier relationships, overseeing contracts, controlling costs and assessing risks.

Networking at the Housing Community Summit

The CHIC team had an excellent time attending the inaugural Housing Community Summit, hosted by the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) and the National Housing Federation (NHF). The busy event was a great opportunity to connect with colleagues from the housing and construction sectors. We are already looking forward to participating in an even larger capacity next year.

Procuring for Retrofit with CHIC

CHIC recently participated in a webinar hosted by RISE and Turner and Townsend, which focused on procurement solutions for retrofit, presented by our Chief Operating Officer, Luke Hurd. The session covered key considerations, highlighted case studies of successful projects and explored various procurement options available to meet retrofit needs.

The session provided valuable insights for those involved in asset management and procurement, including our members and supply chain partners. If you missed the webinar or would like to review the presentation materials, they are available upon request.

Fire Safety Roundtable with Ventro
CHIC presented at a well attended Fire Safety Roundtable in collaboration with Ventro. Mike Harris, Head of Partnerships and Adrian Hussain, Head of Member Services, led the discussions on CHIC's current fire safety frameworks, DPS solutions and the upcoming fire safety framework set to launch in the new year.

If you were unable to attend and would like access to the presentation materials, feel free to reach out for more information. CHIC Community at HOMES UK

We are delighted to announce that the CHIC Community Pavilion is now fully booked for HOMES UK. We have 14 of our supply chain partners exhibiting with us, showcasing their products and services to help create a greener housing and construction sector. Our supply chain partners are:

• A&B Glass Company• ADEY• ARK Consultancy• Broad Oak Group• Cocuun• Domestic Sprinklers• Emplas• Fortem Solutions• Inenco Group• Niyaa People• Novus Property Solutions• Sharpe Pritchard Solicitors• Sovereign Group• Synergize CHIC’s pavilion will offer free coffee and networking areas – so visit to support and meet our partners. If you are attending and would like to meet with one of the CHIC team for a 1 2 1, please get in touch with the marketing team at marketing@chicltd.co.uk

Upcoming Events

Procurement Updates

Greater flexibility afforded through the simplification of public procurement legislation means contracting authorities are also required to be more transparent and accountable at each stage of the procurement lifecycle.

The expectation is that all suppliers must register their information on the new Supplier Information System to participate in any public tender, and all notices by contracting authorities must be published to the enhanced Find a Tender Service (FTS) i.e. the Central Digital Platform (CDP). Contracting authorities can publish their notices through the CHIC eSourcing portal to the CDP or directly to the CDP.

The benefits to this new approach to transparency include:

- Visibility for prevention of fraud -  Improved approach to tender data collection
-  Effective competition and collaboration
-  Improved access by SMEs
-  Easier access to intelligent data in one place

Diagram 1 below shows different procurement stages and required notices

There are increased number of public notices required across the procurement journey (see Diagram 1), although for CHIC managed procurements, all notices will not be applicable or require publication dependent on the route to market and value. Outlined below are the new notice requirements that CHIC Procurement can provide assistance with and publish directly through the CHIC eSourcing portal.

Preparation Stage - prior to the launch of the new regime on 24th February 2025, it is important to plan and ensure the relevant information is ready for go live, and potential publication for the following:
Pipeline Notice - a notice setting out specified information for any public contract with an estimated value of more than £2 million to provide suppliers with an indication of plans and expenditure for the following 18 months. A contracting authority is required to publish a pipeline notice on the central digital platform where it considers that it will, in the coming financial year, pay more than £100 million under relevant contracts. The pipeline notice must be published within 56 days of the first day of the relevant financial year, so the first procurement pipeline notice will need to be published by 26th May 2025.
Pre-Market engagement Notice (PME) – contracting authorities are encouraged to speak with the market before commencing a procurement. Whilst not mandatory, information gathered during this stage can be invaluable as it clarifies requirements, assesses market capacity and informs a procurement strategy. When a contracting authority carries out preliminary market engagement it must publish a preliminary market engagement notice.
Planned Procurement Notice – an optional notice and similar to a pipeline notice in that it provides advance notice of an upcoming procurement. It goes further than a pipeline notice and is designed to give as much advance information to the market as possible to enable potentially interested suppliers to determine if the upcoming procurement is something that they wish to bid for, and to provide maximum time for preparation. As with a PIN, if it publishes a planned procurement notice, a contracting authority can reduce the time period for submission of tenders (tendering period) in certain circumstances.
Award Stage - notable changes in this stage of the procurement lifecycle are:
Contract Award Notice – this notice informs interested parties that the contracting authority intends to enter into a public contract with a specified supplier (or, where relevant, multiple suppliers). Publication of this notice commences the standstill period which provides an opportunity for suppliers to raise any concerns about, or formally challenge, the award decision before the contract is entered into. It must be at least 8 working days beginning with the day on which the contract award notice is published.

Contract Details Notice – published after the standstill period, informs suppliers and the public that the contracting authority has entered into a contract. It provides key information about the contract that has been entered into. Where the contracting authority has entered into a public contract with an estimated value of more than £5 million, the contract details notice will give access to the contract and where relevant, sets out the three key performance indicators (KPIs) that the contracting authority regards as most material to performance of the contract.

Contract Management Stage - the new regime requires a fully transparent approach to contract performance management, and publication as applicable for notice publication during delivery of the contract, as outlined below:

Contract Change Notice: mandatory where an above-threshold modification is made to the contract. This is a wider requirement compared to current regulations (PCR 2015) which only require contract modification notices in limited circumstances. No contract change notice is required to be published where the modification does not increase or decrease the term of the contract by more than 10% of the maximum term provided for on award or the value of the contract, in the case of supply of goods and services contracts, by 10% or less, or in the case of works contracts, 15% or less.

Contract Termination Notice: this is mandatory and must be published within 30 days of the contract termination date (whether termination is due to expiry or otherwise). This is a new requirement.

Payments Compliance Notes: this is mandatory and must show the contracting authority’s compliance with the 30-day payment terms. Such notices must be published within 30 days of the last reporting period (being each 6-month period on either the 31 March or 30 September).

Contract Performance Notice: where a contracting authority has included KPIs in the contract and the contract has a value of over £5 million then the contracting authority must at least once every year assess the supplier’s performance against those KPIs and publish information about the supplier’s performance. In addition, contracting authorities will be required to share information about breaches of contract or poor performance (including those which result in termination, payment of damages or a settlement agreement) by the supplier within 30 days of the breach.

Dynamic Markets- replacement for DPS (Dynamic Purchasing Systems).

The Act replaces DPS routes to market and qualification systems with a single new ‘commercial tool’ called a dynamic market. Dynamic markets have many of the features of the current DPS but have been developed to better suit the needs of contracting authorities and to add clarity. As a dynamic market is not a public contract, the usual notices do not apply when a contracting authority is establishing or modifying a dynamic market or when the market ceases to operate. Notices relating specifically to a dynamic market are called ‘dynamic market notices’ as outlined below:

Stage 1: Dynamic market intention notice - includes information about the goods, services or works that may be procured under the dynamic market and any technical requirements, conditions for membership of the dynamic market and how applications can be made to join.

Stage 2: Dynamic market establishment notice - this notice must be published as soon as reasonably practicable after the dynamic market has been established and includes the date the dynamic market was established, details of the suppliers who have been admitted to the dynamic market; and where the dynamic market has been divided into parts, the part to which each supplier has been admitted.

Stage 3: Dynamic market modification notice - this notice must be published as soon as reasonably practicable after the dynamic market has been established and includes the date from which the modification has effect; if the list of suppliers on the dynamic market is being amended, details of any supplier being added or removed and a summary explaining any other modifications being made.

Stage 4: Dynamic market cessation notice - this notice must be published as soon as reasonably practicable after the dynamic market ceases to operate and comprises basic administrative information and the date on which the dynamic market ceased to operate.
CHIC Procurement will be reviewing their current complement of DPS with new Dynamic Market routes to market, with a rolling programme of replacement, over the next 4-years until the final active date for all DPS, which now takes affect on 29th February 2029.

If you have any questions about the Procurement Act, please get in touch with Sam Domican at tenders@chicltd.co.uk.

Grenfell Report

The Grenfell Phase 2 inquiry papers make for sobering, but, sadly, not surprising reading. The findings of the report show that there were plenty of warnings about the risks that some products and construction methods posed, and that appropriate regulation was lacking. It also describes how individuals and organisations failed, at every stage, to act professionally and ensure due diligence in their work.

I welcome the recommendations of the report, particularly those that propose greater oversight of the sector and a review of the best way to maintain the independence of certifying bodies. The industry has been changing for the last 7 years, because it has to, and it wants to, but there is more to do. The Building Safety Act and the new social housing regulation regime will establish a baseline for practice – and it is a baseline – the golden thread is no more than we ever should have been doing, it is basic asset management and key to providing good quality homes. The recommendations from this phase of the inquiry, if acted upon, will build on that to ensure that the sector continues to move forward and embraces improvement.

We need to ensure that safety and quality are foremost when working on homes, whilst also ensuring Members achieve value for money solutions and that Contractors and Manufacturers make a profit. We can only do this together. Collaboration with clear governance and accountability will be key. Everyone involved needs to ensure that they bring adequate knowledge and expertise for the task at hand and that they work together to deliver comprehensive, high-quality schemes and services.

CHIC supports the sector to deliver best practice through rigorously procured and specified frameworks. Our new fire and building safety framework, currently out to tender, requires products to meet exemplar standards – fire doors need to achieve the European Standard which will become the primary requirement in the UK in March 2025. We are also working on new frameworks that will deliver future proofed asset management and consultancy services, enabling the sector to deliver efficiently and effectively without sacrificing quality.

I’ve largely focused on the technical here, which you’d probably expect given my job title. But I’d like to finish on the human side of this tragedy. 72 people died needlessly. 72 people died because people and systems did not safeguard them, listen to them or heed the warnings of the past.

I’ve worked in asset management for 30 years, because I love buildings. I’ve worked in and with public sector and registered providers because I believe that buildings should not just provide for basic needs, but enhance peoples lives. At the end of the day, these are peoples homes, and I’d ask everyone involved in delivering works and services to continually ask themselves ‘if someone I love lived here, what would I want for them?’ and then do no less than that.

Written by Hannah Elliott

Technical Manager

Supply Chain Updates

Richard Crisp, Head of Chemistry & External Affairs at Fernox explains the role of chemical water treatment and filter technology in keeping domestic heating systems efficient and working effectively. Crucially, he goes on to summarise what you need to do to ensure compliance with the latest version of Part L of the Building Regulations.

Why do central heating systems require maintenance?

Poor system water quality must be addressed to ensure the longevity of any heating system, and to help improve the energy efficiency of the property. Corrosion debris and microbial fouling can build up within a heating system over time. Water contamination can also occur through installation materials used in a new heating installation. This material circulating within the system can cause blockages that result in the system having to work harder to heat the property as well as reducing the service life of critical system components. Ultimately, this will translate into additional costs to maintain and repair the heating system more frequently as well as increase household bills. As such, it is essential to incorporate regular cleaning regimes using recognised chemical treatment.

Ensure you comply with Part L of the building regulations

Approved Document Part L, Volume 1 covers the Conservation of Fuel and Power and is concerned with the thermal performance and energy efficiency of residential buildings. It is important to know that in its most recent updates, heating system installations, service and repairs undertaken by a contractor, must be done in accordance with BS 7593:2019. You should also be aware that:

- The maximum flow temperature for new and replacement heating systems has been reduced to 55°C and for heat pump applications 45°C, increasing the risk of microbiological fouling.

- In hard water areas which exceed 200ppm, provision must be made to reduce the rate of limescale formation as well as limiting its harmful effects on energy efficiency.

It is crucial that a heating system is chemically cleaned if it is heavily contaminated, or if a new radiator and / or extra pipework is added, or a new boiler is installed. Using a system cleaner along with a recognised cleaning method like powerflushing is recommended for the best results. Once cleaned, an in-line filter must be installed to help provide continued protection for the boiler and maintain efficiency.

To protect the system against corrosion, scale and microbial fouling, the system should be dosed with the correct quantity of suitable chemical water treatment products. When it comes to ongoing maintenance, servicing of in-line filters is recommended as part of the re-commissioning process, and ideally as part of the annual boiler service, to remove any sludge or debris that has been captured by a filter. Finally, there should be an annual water test of inhibitor levels and system cleanliness, and the re-dosing of inhibitor, or a full system water test, every five years.

Remember, failure to meet these regulations is a criminal offence and if convicted, a person can be fined up to £5,000.

Seek support and guidance

Whilst it is extremely important to understand the building regulations yourself, it is always worthwhile seeking support from a specialist. When it comes to chemical water treatments and filter technology – there are a wide range of solutions available on the market, and as such it can be incredibly valuable to obtain guidance about the most appropriate option so that you can achieve the best results for your tenants.

Conclusion

Finally, trying to maintain a housing stock with energy efficient and effective central heating systems can be fraught with challenges but it remains fundamental to the provision of safe, warm, and decent homes. There are clear requirements under Part L of the Building Regulations that legally must be adhered to, along with a wide range of product solutions that can have a truly significant impact.

For further information about keeping central heating systems efficient and the types of chemical water treatments and filters that can help, visit: www.fernox.com

Social Value

Volunteering Initiatives at CHIC

At CHIC, our commitment to social value extends beyond our contractual commitments, by delivering our own social value objectives. This is through supporting our members and partners within community projects, hosting and attending fundraising events and funding and supporting a graduate apprentice through a two year placement within the CHIC team.

In the 2023/24 financial year, CHIC’s team dedicated 1,215 hours of volunteering. We engaged in a diverse range of projects, reflecting our commitment to making a meaningful impact in the communities we serve. This included delivering training sessions to a range of sports clubs, reading to the elderly in care homes, supporting school students with careers advice and involvement with local charities.

This year we're expanding our efforts. In 2024/25, each member of the CHIC team will contribute 1-2 days annually to local community projects across the UK. Our goal is to support initiatives that provide long term benefits to residents local to the communities where our members and partners are located.

Emma Macaulay, Social Value Manager, expressed her enthusiasm, saying, "It's fantastic to see the time and dedication the CHIC team has volunteered. I’m excited to see the team making an even greater impact this year. We believe it's important to not only contribute financially but also to actively get involved, rolling up our sleeves and working hands-on to make a real difference."

Wrekin Housing

A highlight this month was a group of our team members volunteering for two days to support The Wrekin Housing Group. They took on a range of tasks, including painting, repairing fences, gardening and improving outdoor spaces at two supported living projects for adults with learning disabilities.

We will be posting more about our team volunteering over the coming months, with various projects lined up for our staff to support.

If your organisation is involved in local community projects and you believe our team could contribute, we would love to hear from you. Please reach out to Emma Macaulay at emacaulay@chipcharity.org.uk to explore potential collaboration opportunities.

At CHIC, we’re excited to continue making a positive difference through our volunteering efforts and look forward to working with others who share our commitment to social value.

CHIC CHAT

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Updates from CHIC

Upcoming Events

Procurement Updates

Grenfell Report

Supply Chain Updates

Social Value

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