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# NEST, B&CE and Construction Pensions, What You Need to Know
You've basically got three things going on: pensions you might already be in without realising, options you can use as a self-employed worker, and rules you must follow if you start employing people.
1. NEST, the government's default scheme
What it is
NEST (National Employment Savings Trust) is the government-backed pension scheme set up specifically for auto-enrolment. It's the scheme of last resort, any employer can use it, and many small construction firms and umbrella companies do.
If you're employed and your boss uses NEST
They auto-enrol you if you're eligible (aged 22 to State Pension age, earning over £10,000/year). Contributions go into a pot in your name, your employer puts in at least 3%, you put in at least 5% (including tax relief). You can opt out, but you lose the employer's contribution if you do.
If you're self-employed
You can join NEST yourself and pay in directly. To be eligible you must usually be:
- Aged 16-74
- Self-employed or a sole director of a company without employees
- Normally working in the UK
To join: set up an account at nestpensions.org.uk and pay in by Direct Debit or debit card. You choose how much and how often, monthly, one-off lump sums, or a slice of each job's payment. There's no minimum contribution.
NEST charges: 1.8% charge on each contribution going in, plus 0.3% annual management charge on the total pot. These are low compared to most pension providers.
If you later go back on the books for an employer who also uses NEST, your existing pot carries over. No paperwork, no transfer needed.
2. B&CE and The People's Pension, the construction ones
The history
B&CE (Building and Civil Engineering Benefits Scheme) has been the construction industry's own pension and benefits provider since 1982. They were set up specifically for site workers, weekly paid, transient, the kind of workforce that other pension providers didn't want to deal with.
They ran schemes like EasyBuild, which thousands of weekly-paid construction workers were enrolled in before auto-enrolment came along in 2012.
What happened
B&CE now trades as People's Partnership and runs The People's Pension · a large, not-for-profit auto-enrolment scheme used across all sectors but still heavily used in construction.
The People's Pension is one of the biggest workplace pension providers in the UK, with over 6 million members.
Why this matters to you
If you think you had "B&CE" or "EasyBuild" in the past · and you've worked on construction sites since the 1980s, there's a decent chance you did · it's worth contacting People's Partnership with your details to see if there's an old pot sitting there with your name on it.
You'd be surprised how many construction workers have a few thousand pounds in a B&CE pot they've forgotten about.
Contact: peoplespartnership.org.uk or search "The People's Pension", their tracing team can look up old pots by name and National Insurance number.
3. Auto-enrolment: the rules if you employ anyone
The moment you put someone on PAYE (not CIS subcontractors, actual employees), you have legal duties under auto-enrolment. These are not optional.
Who you must auto-enrol
Most workers who are:
- Aged 22 to State Pension age
- Earning over £10,000/year from you
- Working (or ordinarily working) in the UK
They must be automatically enrolled into a qualifying workplace pension scheme within their first 3 months of employment (or immediately if you don't use the postponement option).
They can opt out · but you are not allowed to encourage, pressure, or incentivise them to do so. If you do, The Pensions Regulator will take a very dim view.
Minimum contributions (2025/26)
For most schemes using qualifying earnings (the band between £6,240 and £50,270):
| Who pays | Minimum |
|---|---|
| Employer | 3% of qualifying earnings |
| Employee | 5% of qualifying earnings (includes tax relief) |
| Total | 8% |
You can choose to pay more as the employer, which reduces what the worker has to pay. Some employers pay the full 8% as a recruitment and retention tool.
Which scheme to use
You can use NEST, The People's Pension, or any other qualifying scheme. NEST is the fallback, they can't refuse you. Most small construction firms use NEST or People's Pension because they're cheap, simple, and set up for this.
Re-enrolment every 3 years
If workers opted out, you must re-enrol them roughly every 3 years from your auto-enrolment staging date. They can opt out again, but you have to offer.
There is no family member exemption
If your spouse, partner, child, or parent works for you and meets the criteria, they must be auto-enrolled like anyone else. This catches a lot of small construction firms off guard.
The Pensions Regulator: enforcement and penalties
If you ignore auto-enrolment:
- £400 fixed penalty for initial non-compliance
- Escalating daily penalties if you still don't sort it: £50/day for 1-4 workers, £500/day for 5-49 workers, up to £10,000/day for 50-249 workers
- The Pensions Regulator has used enforcement powers in over 500,000 cases over the last decade
- They can also issue compliance notices, unpaid contribution notices, and refer for criminal prosecution in serious cases
This is not a "they'll never check" situation. They actively monitor and pursue non-compliant employers, especially in sectors like construction where non-compliance is common.
4. CITB levy, does it include pensions?
No. The CITB levy is a training levy, not a pension.
It's a charge on construction employers based on their wage bills, used to fund industry training grants and the CITB's work. Current rates (2025/26):
- 0.35% on PAYE wages
- 1.25% on net CIS subcontractor payments
- Small wage bill exemptions apply (currently under £120,000)
The levy does not give your workers any pension rights or contributions. That's a completely separate responsibility under auto-enrolment. Don't confuse the two, paying the CITB levy does not tick the pension box.
5. How to check what pensions you already have
If you've bounced between PAYE, umbrella companies, agencies, and self-employment over the years, which is most of the construction workforce, you might have multiple small pots scattered across different providers.
Step 1: Check old payslips and letters
Look for names like NEST, The People's Pension, B&CE, NOW: Pensions, Aviva, Scottish Widows, Standard Life, Royal London. Even a vague memory of "I think they took a pension off me at that job in 2018" is worth chasing.
Step 2: Use the Pension Tracing Service
Go to gov.uk/find-pension-contact-details · you search by your old employer's name and it gives you the contact details for their pension provider.
Or call the Pension Tracing Service on 0800 731 0175. They can't tell you your balance, but they can tell you who to contact.
Step 3: Log into each provider
Once you've found them:
- Log in (or call) to see your pot size
- Check whether the pension is still active or deferred (frozen)
- Decide whether to keep them separate or consolidate into one main pot
Should you consolidate?
Having everything in one place makes it easier to manage and cheaper if you're paying fees on multiple small pots. But:
- Check for exit fees before transferring
- Check if any old scheme has valuable guarantees (some older pensions have guaranteed annuity rates that are worth keeping)
- If in doubt, MoneyHelper or a financial adviser can help you compare
What to do next
- Check if you have old pots · use the Pension Tracing Service at gov.uk/find-pension-contact-details or call 0800 731 0175
- If you're self-employed with no pension, consider opening a NEST account at nestpensions.org.uk · you can start with any amount
- If you employ anyone on PAYE, check you're meeting auto-enrolment duties · The Pensions Regulator's website has a step-by-step guide
- If you think you had B&CE or EasyBuild, contact People's Partnership · there might be money waiting for you
- Read our guide on "I'm self-employed: do I need a pension?" for the full picture on why this matters
Sources
- Pensions Act 2008 (auto-enrolment duties) · legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2008/30
- The Occupational and Personal Pension Schemes (Automatic Enrolment) Regulations 2010 · legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2010/772
- NEST, Self-employed joining guidance · nestpensions.org.uk
- People's Partnership / B&CE · peoplespartnership.org.uk
- The Pensions Regulator, Automatic Enrolment Guidance · thepensionsregulator.gov.uk/en/employers
- The Pensions Regulator, Compliance and Enforcement · thepensionsregulator.gov.uk/en/document-library/enforcement-activity
- CITB Levy Rates · citb.co.uk/levy-and-grants
- Pension Tracing Service · gov.uk/find-pension-contact-details
- Industrial Training Act 1982 (CITB levy basis) · legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1982/10
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