Blog
Construction quality blog
What changed, when, and what a UK contractor should do about it: standards and ISO revisions, Building Safety Act practice and the documents that get reviewed. Written by Craig Collier, MCIOB, CQP MCQI, MAPM. The guides are the evergreen how-tos; this is the dated record. RSS feed.
ISO 9001:2026 has been published: what it means for a UK contractor's QMSISO 9001:2026 is published; the UK adoption is not yet listed. Why your certificate is unaffected, what to do this quarter, and how our QMS handles it.
ISO 19011:2026: what changed for internal auditsBS EN ISO 19011:2026 replaces the 2018 auditing guidelines. What we have checked, what we have not, and eight audit steps that do not depend on the text.
Standards move: 14 UK construction standards that changed in 2025-26 and where they biteFourteen British and industry standards that changed in 2025-26, verified on 17 September 2026, what replaced each and which quality documents they affect.
Building Safety Act Gateway 2: the evidence pack reviewers actually open firstThe order the Building Safety Regulator's team reads a Gateway 2 application, and what each document must prove to survive the reading.
The £10k/month question: what a small contractor actually needs before its first ISO 9001 auditThe minimum document set and a realistic 90-day timeline for a small contractor's first ISO 9001 certification audit, with what usually goes wrong.
Why your ITP keeps getting rejected (and the ten-minute fix)Five faults that get a construction ITP returned, and the ten-minute pass that fixes them: measurable criteria, current editions, hold points, sign-off.
ISO 45001 for a construction SME: what "context of the organisation" means on siteISO 45001 clauses 4 and 5 for a small contractor: the issues page, interested parties, scope, leadership, worker consultation, the legal register and CDM 2015.
New Homes Quality Code pre-completion inspection: what the inspector checksThe NHQB pre-completion checklist, snag versus defect, the developer inspection that comes first and the records that show the home was ready.
The site diary as evidence: what an entry needs to survive a disputeWhat a contemporaneous site diary entry must record, how it is checked against the other site records, and how a diary is read in adjudication.
Commissioning plans for building services: from pre-commissioning to witnessingThe five stages of a building services commissioning plan, the CIBSE and BSRIA editions behind each, who witnesses what, and the records that close a system.
Materials certificates of conformity: the tracker that saves you at practical completionWhich certificate proves what, the three things it must match, the tracker columns, and the four outcomes at practical completion when certificates are missing.
Subcontractor PQQ: the twelve questions that predict a bad subcontractorTwelve PQQ questions that actually discriminate between subcontractors, why each works, and a gate-then-weighted scoring method the decision can be defended on.
Toolbox talks that count: making the record stand up to an inspectorThe six things a toolbox talk record must show to be evidence, how it links to the RAMS and the task briefing, and the questions an inspector or auditor asks.
Temporary works register to BS 5975: the register, the TWC and the permits that get skippedWhat BS 5975-1:2024 expects of the register, the TWC appointment and the check categories, and the edge protection, hoardings and propping that never make it.
Handover documents: the O&M and health and safety file checklist that stops retention being heldO&M manual contents, the CDM 2015 health and safety file headings, Regulation 38 fire information and the golden thread pointer for higher-risk buildings.
Hold points and witness points: who owns them and how they get missedH, W, S and R codes, notice periods, who may release a hold, six ordinary ways holds get bypassed on site and the five records that prove they were not.
The six pages of a project quality plan reviewers actually readThe order a principal contractor reviewer reads a project quality plan, the six pages that decide it and what each has to prove to be approved in one round.
How to write an NCR a client will close first timeRoot cause versus symptom, containment, correction and corrective action, the right authority on the disposition and the re-inspection record that closes it.