PESTEL

Political
(LA)

ANALYSIS

Conservative government until 2020

(Total Project Integration, 2016)

Economic
(LA)

Nottingham Council supports new firms using the Nottingham Growth Hug Scheme with
services available to new firms such as loans, help with business plans, office space,
trainings, etc... (Growing Nottingham, 2016)
Possible omission from the EU (BBC News, 2016)
Housing Policy (UK Government, 2016)

Growing economy: increased disposable income. ((The (The Atlas of Economic Complexity,2015)
Expected economic growth in 2024 to reach 3.22% (The Atlas of Economic Complexity,2015)
Interest Rates to remain at all time low until 2017 (Lambert,2016)
Inflation to remain below 1% in future years (Lambert, 2016)
Growth in the built and construction industry

Graph showing the growth in the UK construction industry in 2015. (Allen, 2015)
The health of the economy and interest rates affect demand for commercial and
residential property.

Social
(LA)

Technological
(JF)

UK government is using taxation as a means to encourage improving environmental

performance e.g. The Climate Change Levy, Aggregates and Landfill taxes. (Business Case
Studies,2016)
The construction industry is increasingly interested in whole life costs of the building,
which includes initial capital costs, operating and maintenance costs - understanding how
better design can improve all these costs. (Business Case Studies,2016)
Growing awareness of environmental effect, organized environmental days such as Earth
Day, International Polar Bear Day, Green Day. (Shaw,2016)
Demographics: ageing workforce and lower birth rates (Population Pyramid, 2015)
Population growth rate: UK has the fastest growing population in Europe (Bingham,
2014)
Migration into cities ( expected 1-2 million migrants from North Africa into Europe within
the next year) (Wilkonson,2016)
Commitment and mandate to digital information delivery and Building Information
Modelling (BIM) on all centrally procured projects by 2016 (ONECPD, 2016)
The cost of traffic congestion in the UK could rise to an estimated 36 billion a year by
2025 (raconteur.net, 2016).
A fifth of the UKs electricity generating capacity is due to come offline within ten years
(raconteur.net, 2016).
An ongoing concern of the fragility of the UKs water supply, evident by the droughts of
2011 and 2012. Machinery manufacturing in the UK will allow firms the capability to rapidly
adapt to their physical and intellectual infrastructures, to exploit changes in technology as
manufacturing becomes faster, more responsive to changing global markets and closer to
customers (UK Government, 2013).
Development of 3D printing technology will encourage governments to build affordable
homes because of savings in time and cost, as 3D printing offers a significant difference in
efficiency to traditional construction methods (Davison, 2015).
Modern methods of construction (MMC) involves a wide range of techniques and materials,

Environmental
(LA)

but the overarching aim is to minimise the amount of time required to construct a building
on site. Through modular design production takes place in a factory and assembled on-site
to produce a three dimensional structure (Branson, 2013).
Low-Zero Carbon construction
Re-use of waste materials. (Recycling Guide,2008)
Decreasing building carbon footprint:
Enacting a recycling policy.
Enacting and promoting a car-sharing scheme amongst its employees.
Encouraging employees to walk or cycle to work.
Educating employees in the need to reduce carbon emissions.
Reducing the need for air travel.
Reducing the use of electricity.
Developing new methods of work and manufacturing that are less
harmful to the
environment (Watson, 2015).
Energy efficient building: UK government have policies regarding: waste management,
climate change, tree preservation orders, energy performance of buildings, codes for
sustainable homes. (UK Government, 2015)
At least 4 million tons of UK industrial, commercial and household waste is shipped overseas,
much of it to feed the economies of India, China and South-east Asia. (Hall, 2006)
Two of the main issues here are meeting the Kyoto Agreement in production of Carbon
Dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels and waste going to land fill. (Business Case
Studies,2016)
Public sector buildings zero carbon by 2018.(Construction Skills, 2016)
To encourage recycling, the UK has enforced a 5p charge for plastic bags in large retailers.
(Howell,2015)

The government hopes to see an 80% reduction in plastic bag use in supermarkets, and a
50% fall on the high street.
Over the next decade it hopes the charge will create:

60m savings in litter clean-up costs

13m in carbon savings (Howell,2015)

Legal
(JF)

RIBA/ ARB Client Advisers must comply with all legal obligations in the jurisdictions in which they
are working and are to abide by and act in accordance with the RIBA Code of Professional
Conduct (Architecture.com, 2016).
Department of Communities and Local Government have policies regarding energy efficiency in
buildings (as mentioned in the environmental analysis section) (UK Government, 2015).
Labour Laws in the UK entitles employees to a wide range of statutory rights, derived from
parliamentary acts and regulations that affect the employment relationship (Cfe-eutax.org,
2016).
The Architects Registration Board (ARB) is the body set up by Parliament as the independent UK
regulator of architects. Anyone who describes themselves as an architect must be on the Register
of Architects (Arb.org.uk, 2016).
The HSE (Health and Safety Executive) is the UK government body responsible for enforcing
health and safety at work legislation. The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, this Act of
Parliament is the main piece of UK health and safety legislation. It places a duty on all employers
"to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare at work" of all their
employees. (Healthyworkinglives.com, 2016).
The Building Regulations are made under powers provided in the Building Act 1984, and apply in
England and Wales. The current edition of the regulations are 'The Building Regulations 2010' and
the Building (Approved Inspectors etc.) Regulations 2010 and the majority of building projects are
required to comply with them (Planningportal.gov.uk, 2016).
The Financial Services (Banking Reform) Act 2013 (the Banking Reform Act) is a key part of the
UK governments plan to create a banking system that supports the economy, consumers and
small businesses (Hsbcnet.com, 2016).
CPD (Continuing Professional Development) is the holistic commitment of professionals towards the
enhancement of personal skills and proficiency throughout their careers (CPD - The CPD
Certification Service, 2016).

References
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