A round-up of the trade news worth a tiler’s or bathroom fitter’s attention this month. Nothing here is invented: each item links to its source so you can read the detail before it lands in a customer quote.
Cement and precast fall while steel and aggregates climb
The latest official Building Materials and Components figures show the price index for all construction work up 3.2% in the year to April 2026, with fabricated structural steel up 8.5% and gravel, sand, clays and kaolin up 7.7%. Cement fell 4.5% and precast concrete products (blocks, bricks, tiles and flagstones) dropped 3.2% over the same period.
For tilers the split is worth reading closely: adhesives and backing materials tied to cement have eased, but anything involving structural steel or aggregate (screeds, sub-bases, wet-room formers with metal support) is dearer. Price your materials from a current merchant quote rather than last quarter’s, because the movement is not uniform. Read the DBT commentary.
Government overhauls the construction products regime
Ministers have set out the Construction Products Reform White Paper, a post-Grenfell shake-up that extends regulation from roughly 37% of the market to a new general safety requirement covering products that currently sit outside any standard. It brings tougher penalties, licensing of conformity assessment bodies and clearer safety labelling.
Tile adhesives, tanking membranes and waterproofing systems all fall inside this widening net. Over the next couple of years expect more paperwork and clearer declarations from manufacturers, which is good news when a customer asks whether a wet-room build is signed off to a recognised standard. See the reform detail.
2026 tile trends: recycled porcelain and ever-larger formats
Trade coverage this year points to two clear shifts on merchant shelves: recycled-content porcelain (typically 30% to 40% pre- and post-consumer waste) and large-format rectified panels beyond 1200 by 2400mm with micro-textured concrete and stone finishes.
Both change how you quote. Recycled porcelain helps customers with ESG or eco leanings and often carries a supporting environmental declaration, while the big formats need two fitters, proper suction lifters and a dead-flat substrate. Factor the extra prep and handling into the labour line rather than absorbing it. More on the 2026 trends.
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