Builders Talk Group

08/09/2026

They say knowledge is power. Knowing how to talk to someone about their mental health is a power we can all cultivate.

The Lighthouse Charity provides free webinars to help the industry educate itself and spread that power amongst our colleagues, co-workers, friends and family.

All the details are in the original post 💜

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1CKsP3Fzcq/?mibextid=wwXIfr

This Thursday (10th) is World Su***de Prevention Day, and to mark it, we’re running a series of FREE webinars throughout the week.

With two construction workers in the UK and Ireland taking their own lives every working day, it’s more important than ever that we know how to recognise when someone may be struggling and how to start a supportive conversation.

Join us to learn more about:
• Recognising the signs that someone may be struggling
• How to start a supportive conversation
• What to do if you’re concerned about someone
• Challenging the myths around talking about su***de
• The free and confidential support available from The Lighthouse Charity

The webinars are open to anyone working in or supporting the construction industry.

Join us on any day this week and help us make sure that no construction worker or their family faces a crisis alone.

Book your place now: https://lighthousecharity.org/world-su***de-prevention-day-2026/

24/08/2026

Recovered tools. Know a plumber who’s had theirs stolen local to the Wibsey area of Bradford??

🔧 Appeal to the Community – Recovered Tools 🔧
We are appealing to the Bradford South community, particularly residents in the Wibsey area, to help identify the owner of these tools.
The tools were recovered on Sunday 23rd August near Wibsey Park and are believed to have been stolen, either during a burglary or from a van.
If you recognise these tools or believe they may belong to you, please get in touch with us. Any information that could help reunite these items with their rightful owner would be greatly appreciated.
Contact 101 and quote 13260480804
Please share this post to help us reach as many people as possible. Thank you for your support. 🔧🔨🛠️

11/08/2026

What do you think? Is a builder licensing scheme something you’d support?

If so, who should manage it? The FMB? Central
government? Local council along with their planning department?

Other countries operate a builder licensing scheme that works well in protecting everyone involved, and helps to about the ‘race to the bottom’ we often see in the domestic market.

You can read more here - https://www.lizmale.co.uk/blog/licensing-of-builders

But I’d love to hear your thoughts on it!

In our latest LMC Meets interview, Liz Male speaks to Brian Berry at the FMB about its proposals to introduce mandatory licensing for UK building firms.

17/07/2026

A bit of Friday food for thought 💭

It can feel at times as if the HSE and Health and Safety requirements are over the top on sites, but last year (not counting Covid years) was the lowest number of fatalities recorded in a single year.
Surely that's got to be recognised as a major improvement?

Click on the link to read more and see how we stack up against other industries, and other countries.

construction deaths 2026 - The number of construction workers killed on site has halved in the last two years, according to new figures

01/07/2026

None of us fell in!! And we got 6th place. Both feel like equal achievements as one of the boats did capsize 🙈

Something to work on for next year 🤞🏼Maybe we can get a team BTG?

Had a fabulous day, raising money for an amazing charity that works so hard to help self employed and employed people in the construction industry when they don’t know where else to turn.

It’s the 70th year. That’s 70 years of helping construction workers and their families.

The campaign to raise awareness around men’s mental health has been amazing and the people we now see reaching out and talking about their struggles is growing day on day. Which is brilliant. But the challenge is now being able to fund the support these people need. If you’re able, go to the Lighthouse Charity website and look at ways you can support them. It’s full of all-sorts of useful links and information about how to navigate the industry too.

Help turn the tide on the statistics of 2 construction workers a day taking their own life. The ripple effect is huge, setting patterns of trauma that do and will seep through families.

Life is hard enough, construction often takes that to a whole new level.

Turn that awareness into action.

05/05/2026

Workshop in the Brighton area emptied yesterday 🤬

“Our turn today. Gutted to see all our tools we built up through the company and personally over many years disappear overnight.”

30/04/2026

The survey closes in the next 24 hours!! Please click on the link and fill it in to make sure you have your day on CDM effectiveness!

Thanks!

Some of the work being done, as part of the CIOB HS&W panel, is looking at CDM and how it’s perceived across the industry. It would be a fantastic chance for those who are self employed or micro businesses to say what they think!
There’s an Amazon gift card as an incentive to filling the survey in 😉

This is the official wording for the CIOB press release….

“Just over a decade on from the introduction of the Construction Design & Management Regulations 2015 (CDM 2015), CIOB is looking for views from across the built environment sector on their implementation and effectiveness along with what, if anything, can be improved.

Please take CIOB’s short survey, which you can find here. Your feedback will help shape future conversations with the HSE and policy makers on the evolution of the regulations, which must remain fit for purpose to keep everyone safe across an ever-changing industry and the communities we build for.”

Fill in the survey here - https://forms.cloud.microsoft/e/iDhcBAkPtK

29/04/2026

Do you register your new tools? With benefits like an extended warranty, discounted replacement tools if yours get stolen (not all brands offer this, check the small print!) and actually registering them as belonging to you, should the worst happen, it’s a no-brainer isn’t it?

Of course, marking them with ensures they can be traced back to you immediately when found (discount code BTG10 at checkout 😉)

Let’s try and give the Police the evidence they need to take the thieves to court.

* Not an ad!
* Other brands are available.
* SecuredByDesign always!

29/04/2026

It was really good to be invited by the National Business Crime Centre to the Guildhall in London to take part in a roundtable discussion on Tool Theft.

Many of us know from personal experience just how devastating it is to come out to your van and it’s been emptied. And it’s not just the loss of tools. The disruption to your jobs and getting the van back on the road can affect every part of your life.

So yesterday was an important step in making the people there sit up and listen to what we need.

The Minister for Policing is taking the issue seriously and has made steps to drive it forward within government.

Manufacturers and retailers listened to our concerns about how the market is dealt with and what they can do to improve the situation.

It’s not going to be a single fix. But it’s a positive start.

We’ll keep pushing, questioning, challenging to get the perspective of our members across.

Let us know if you want us to raise issues or ideas on what can be done to solve the problem. Anything from changing sentencing and the crime classification, to making it easier to register your tools. We’re all ears!

13/04/2026

What were you doing in 2015? Builders Talk Group was just a baby, with not much more than 1000 members. Who knew where it would take us all back then! The group has had some ups and downs - it’s changed and evolved, but we’re still here and proud of the genuine trade community we’ve built.

Also in that year, the CDM regulations were amended to the version our industry employs to this day. Are those regs still current and are they effective?

That’s the question The Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) would like to ask. The HS&W panel have created a short survey, to obtain feedback from within the industry. You could also win a £50 Amazon voucher for your efforts too.

Without feedback we cannot lobby for change where or if it is required (these regulations affect much of what our industry does, so they must be fit for the industry in the modern day).

The survey is live until the end of April, click on the link in the post below to make your opinions known.

Some of the work being done, as part of the CIOB HS&W panel, is looking at CDM and how it’s perceived across the industry. It would be a fantastic chance for those who are self employed or micro businesses to say what they think!
There’s an Amazon gift card as an incentive to filling the survey in 😉

This is the official wording for the CIOB press release….

“Just over a decade on from the introduction of the Construction Design & Management Regulations 2015 (CDM 2015), CIOB is looking for views from across the built environment sector on their implementation and effectiveness along with what, if anything, can be improved.

Please take CIOB’s short survey, which you can find here. Your feedback will help shape future conversations with the HSE and policy makers on the evolution of the regulations, which must remain fit for purpose to keep everyone safe across an ever-changing industry and the communities we build for.”

Fill in the survey here - https://forms.cloud.microsoft/e/iDhcBAkPtK