Concrete fixing
The Competition and Market Authority has been targeting the construction industry for two years or more and recently issued three suppliers with fines of more than £36M. A wake up call for industry ethics?
News broke this week that the CMA fined three firms providing concrete drainage products for building projects £36M. This is the latest in a series of fines and court cases. One other example has been in the fit out sector where a series of firms were fined and directors disqualified.
The CMA has been focussing on the construction industry because of its reputation as a corrupt sector. None of which fits with best practice. So, CEWales is backing the work of the CMA and sharing the updates from them and their advice. You can see links to the news here –
Twitter
LinkedIn
We want to promote best practice, collaboration and above all the core Rethinking Construction principles of honesty and transparency. Now, there is a chance that some construction organisations simply are ignorant of the law – indeed CMA research shows that only 18% of construction company leaders say they know competition law well. But that's no defence.
Anyone working in our industry needs to know the law, abide by it and pursue best practice. If you don't know the law then you can find out about illegal practices from the CMA's StopCartels page that contains a range of materials.
There are a lot of ways to learn – take a look, some are not informative, but fun too:
• an interactive quiz to test knowledge of the law and what is/isn't permitted
• case studies with lessons learnt and information
• reporting form + information about our leniency programme
The CMA is planning a programme of promotion to include a possible event/meeting in Wales with key bodies and individuals in the construction sector. This will focus on our Stop Cartels campaign. We will be supporting them about this so look out for more information.