The builder’s merchant Travis Perkins has published guidance on what changes to building standards, tax, qualification, and employment this year will mean for industry workers
Several major UK construction rule changes are due to come into effect this year, including the Building Safety Levy.
Travis Perkins guidance should help to clarify what these changes will mean as the year progresses.
The guidance is in full below:
The Building Safety Levy
A tax on new residential buildings developed across England is being introduced from October 2026, in the form of the Building Safety Levy.
Introduced by the UK’s government with the aim of funding the remediation of residential developments, the levy will be collected by local authorities – deemed local guardians of the building control process – and payable by developers.
This levy is envisioned to raise up to £3.5bn across the next decade, with these funds then contributing to fixing building safety defects on existing residential structures so that residents are kept safe.
If a residential building developer does not pay the levy, their local authority or the Building Safety Regulator will withhold the building control completion certificate for the site being worked on.
There are some exemptions to the Building Safety Levy though, with the regulations not applying to the following:
- Care homes.
- Hospitals.
- Hotels.
- Purpose-built student accommodation with fewer than 30 bedspaces.
- School accommodation.
- Sites of fewer than 10 dwellings.
- Social and supported housing developments.
- Social housing providers and their wholly owned subsidiaries, when they are non-profit registered.
- Temporary accommodation for domestic abuse refugees or homeless people.
GOV.UK has a lot more information about the Building Safety Levy, though Lee Jackson, technical director at Travis Perkins Managed Services, also points out: “All developers working on residential developments should ensure they fully understand the Building Safety Levy in the lead up to its introduction next October, especially when considering the viability of new projects.
“For small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) developers, this is a crucial time to plan training on this subject, so developments can be completed on time and expensive delays and costs are not incurred towards the end of a development.”
Additions to the Employment Rights Bill
The Employment Rights Bill was first introduced into the UK parliament in October 2024 as part of a pledge made in the Labour government’s 2024 election manifesto.
Tradespeople with their own company that employs staff must consider the impact that additions to this Bill in 2026 will have on how their firm is run.
Changes to employment law, which will affect those in the trade sector, are expected to be introduced in two stages throughout the next year, with April 2026 set to see these alterations:
- Both paternity leave and ordinary parental leave become day one rights.
- Simplified rules for trade unions to gain recognition in a workplace.
- Statutory sick pay will need to be paid from the first day of an employee’s illness, not the fourth day.
- The introduction of the Fair Work Agency, which aims to bring existing enforcement bodies together and oversee the enforcement of other employment rights.
A series of other important employment reforms are in the process of being introduced into the UK in October 2026, including the following:
- Employers banned from forcing through contractual changes through fire-and-rehire practices, which sees staff members being dismissed and then offered re-employment on less favourable terms.
- Employers needing to take all reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace. These steps will include putting in place a clear anti-harassment policy, having reporting channels which are safe and accessible, and carrying out training on a regular basis to both staff members and their managers.
- Staff members having greater freedom to join trade unions or take part in union activities without fear of retaliation from an employer.
New Qualification Requirement Definitions for electrical operatives
Scheme providers such as the National Inspection Council for Electrical Installation Contracting (NICEIC), the National Association of Professional Inspectors and Testers (NAPIT), the Electrical Contractors’ Association (ECA) and SELECT have come together under the umbrella of the Electrotechnical Assessment Specification (EAS).
The aim of the collaboration is to define new qualification requirements for all electrical operatives starting from October 2026.
Currently, when a scheme provider completes their assessment of a registered organisation, they only focus attention on a qualified supervisor, regarding assessment and continued professional development. From October though, this will be widened to include all electrical employees working under the scope of the registered company.
If the registered organisation carries out work recognised by the EAS as requiring additional training, the company will be required to have all operatives conducting the prescribed work to hold a recognised Level 3 qualification in that area. The new areas defined are Inspection and Testing, Electric Vehicle installations, Solar Photovoltaic systems and Electrical Energy Storage [Battery] Systems.
These requirements will apply to directly employed electrical staff, as well as any subcontractors or labour agency workers completing electrical work for the main contractor.
There are several relevant qualifications available across the UK. However, it is expected that demand will be high in the run up to the deadline of October due to the large number of companies having competent engineers that do not individually hold a relevant Level 3 qualification.
Electrical companies across the UK will therefore be required to find time and money to upskill their workforce, alongside the complexity of managing existing projects while also taking employees off the road to complete their qualifications.
The Making Tax Digital for income tax self-assessment strategy
Sole traders who submit tax returns may need to change how they carry out this tax from next year, depending on their earnings.
This is because any sole trader earning over £50,000 will have to switch to using the Making Tax Digital (MTD) portal for their income tax from April 2026 (those earning more than £30,000 will then make the switch from April 2027, before those earning over £20,000 is introduced to the system from April 2028).
What this means is that a Self-Assessment tax return will no longer need to be filled out. Instead, MTD software will see your accounting records tied to income tax being stored by digital means.
As well as sole traders having an easier means to manage their taxes and getting greater visibility of their business’ finances, MTD software has the potential to cut down on the errors recorded in handling tax affairs which contribute to the UK’s tax gap.
For self-assessment businesses, HM Revenue & Customs estimates that the tax gap is near to 18.5 per cent – equivalent to £5bn of tax that is due but goes unpaid.
From alterations to how residential developments are planned out to fresh employee rights, qualification requirement definitions and a digital means of submitting a self-assessment tax return, 2026 could be a big year of change for some tradespeople. So, preparing for these changes well in advance can help ensure those in the trade who are affected will not be caught out when the new rules take effect.
