11 February 2011
Building
View all stories from this issue.
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£14.3m Eccles tower block refurb gets green light
27 Jan 11
Developer claims energy efficiency measures and PV cells could save tenants £200 a year in fuel bills
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300 more jobs to go at Atkins
16 Feb 11
Atkins today revealed it will shed another 300 jobs in the run up to April.
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A guide to zero-tolerance in the workplace
11 Feb 11
Laing O’Rourke is not the only employer to take a tough stance on IT misuse, but how far can employers go and how can they ensure staff are treated fairly?
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Activity revives in January
11 February 2011
Improved weather conditions and new business gains contribute to all parts of construction sector recording increase in activity in January
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Arbitration: Martin Dawes vs Treasure and Son
10 Feb 11
This case raised issues about the point or stage at which an arbitrator’s mandate expires or ceases to have jurisdiction and the extent, ambit or scope of a settlement of an arbitration.
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Architects and recession: Battered, bruised and broke
11 February 2011
Architects have taken a beating over the past two years, but have they suffered any permanent damage? How are the UK’s top listed practices faring, and what impact is the recession having on design quality?
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Back-to-wall WC redesigned
11 February 2011
?Impulse Bathrooms has redesigned its back-to-wall WC pan in response to feedback from plumbers. It has remodelled the trap and horizontal outlet so plumbers can now configure the pan as a P or S connection. The company says this makes it easier to install and ensure a reliable connection. Impulse also now supplies its own 90º S configuration connector which is fully adjustable. The connector allows the pan to be pushed back to the wall and onto the connector to give a reliable ...
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Bad behaviour
11 February 2011
It’s stories like the one about Apollo undercutting its rivals (28 January, page 10) that have the clients running to secure partnering frameworks with contractors instead
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Bam gets green light for £23m office development in Leeds
8 Feb 11
Construction can begin as soon as occupier signs up
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Bam Nuttall bags £500m civils
11 February 2011
Crossrail contributes to positive start to the year as work goes 48% up on previous month to £2.6bn
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Barton Civil Engineering goes into administration
15 Feb 11
Woes of Gateshead contractor signal a downturn in north east market
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Bellway reports positive 2011 despite more house price falls
11 February 2011
?Bellway said this week that trading in the first few weeks of 2011 has been “encouraging” after revealing it has sold 2,322 houses in the first six months of its financial year, which ended 31 January. This is a 3.8% increase on the 2,247 it sold in the same period last year.
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Berkeley inks deal for £100m Crossrail station
16 Feb 11
Transport secretary Philip Hammond to confirm agreement this morning
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Bids invited for £120m Manchester Uni job
14 Feb 11
Manchester Metropolitan University asks contractors to tender for work on its new Birley Fields Campus.
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British Land outlines £1.9bn development programme
15 Feb 11
Developer set to start major London re-furb job and Glasgow retail centre
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Brookfield offered to fund Pinnacle Tower
11 February 2011
Lack of funding for London’s tallest building means contractor may habve to step in
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Building buys a pint … for DouglasWood
11 February 2011
This week, Building’s pint buying is over-shadowed by a football match
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Cala Homes to appeal High Court decision over planning
11 February 2011
?Judgment means councils can let the abolition of regional strategies influence planning decisions
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Capita appoints senior consultant in design and infrastructure
28 Jan 11
Thomas Beney will help with the delivery of renewable energy projects for private and public clients
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Capita wins NHS Scotland Estates
10 Feb 11
Firm appointed survey partner for Phase 2 of the implementation of an Estates Asset Management System
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Carillion to buy Eaga for £306m
11 Feb 11
Contractor set to become largest player in local authority energy sector
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CBI calls for government waste strategy
14 Feb 11
The CBI has urged the government to implement a waste strategy that would see up to £10bn in new facilities over the next 10 years.
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CityWATCH: it all rests on the results
11 February 2011
?Sometimes it’s better to travel than arrive and this could be the case come results season for the listed construction firms. Over the past couple of months, relatively upbeat trading updates have been met with relief, rather than euphoria.
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Civils package awarded on £380m Bath regeneration scheme
11 Feb 11
Galliford Try and Morrison Construction joint venture wins £4m infrastructure contract
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CLM consortium fee for Olympic job rises to £718m
16 Feb 11
ODA figures reveal £24m extra earned by CLM since November
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Company failures jump 20% in fourth quarter of 2010
11 February 2011
Small firms hit hardest as severe weather pushes them over the edge, but numbers are below the peak
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Construction of new Renewable Energies Academy to begin
9 Feb 11
Shepherd Offshore to demolish and redevelop disused site by September
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Construction redundancies rise 28%
16 Feb 11
Data released today shows an increase in redundancies from 18,000 to 23,000 for the three months to December 2010
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Contractors line up for £600m medical facility
11 February 2011
Medical research facility at St Pancras approved by government
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Court tells government to reconsider scrapped BSF schemes
11 Feb 11
Six councils will have schemes reviewed, but judge rules overrall decision to scrap the £55bn programme was rational
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Crossrail will breath life into Woolwich
17 Feb 11
A landmark £100m deal between Berkeley Homes and Crossrail will put Woolwich on the map
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Dan Labbad joins Green Economy Council
16 Feb 11
Labbad to be sole voice for construction on new council
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DBK becomes an LLP
10 Feb 11
Consultant recently rebranded all its operations under DBK
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December mortgage approvals fall to new low
11 February 2011
Mortgage approvals fell to the lowest level for almost two years in December, according to figures from the Bank of England
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Defence Estates savings to result in 2,500 job losses
17 Feb 11
New streamlined organisation to oversee management of military estates
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Design for London may survive government cuts
17 Feb 11
Speculation mounts that GLA will absorb DfL into their structure
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Designed to fail
11 February 2011
Rudi Klein (28 January, page 53) writes about the problems caused by a lack of risk management during the design process. Could such problems have also been compounded by the apparent demise of the bill of quantities?
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Doorsets fit for the barbican
11 February 2011
?Doorsets from Urban Edge, part of Leaderflush Shapland, have been used for a project on the Barbican Estate which involved converting the former London Business School into flats. The grade II-listed building at Frobisher Crescent was originally intended as flats when the Barbican was built in the fifties. When the LBS recently moved out, developer United House converted the building into 69 apartments. The 498 doorsets supplied were a mix of pre-painted and quarter-cut polished sapele ...
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Driver Group chairman scoops £250,000 in share sell-off
11 February 2011
Consultancy firm gives executives almost three million shares as financial incentive to turn the company around
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Duty of care in tort: James Andrew Robinson vs P.E. Jones
16 Feb 11
The case examines the extent to which building contractors owe duties of care in tort to their clients alongside their contractual duties.
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Eaga takeover offer boosts share price
11 February 2011
Light at the end of the tunnel for Eaga as announcement leads to a rallying of their share price
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EC Harris appoints partner for Edinburgh
10 Feb 11
Consultant appoints chartered QS and former Trett Consulting regional director
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EC Harris warns of insolvencies as material prices soar
16 Feb 11
QSs predict tender price rises but warns of cut-throat bidding and material price increases
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Electrical retrofit
11 February 2011
?Electrical products manufacturer Hager supplied its Sollysta wiring accessories and consumer units for the refurbishment of 2,000 council houses in Edinburgh. Contractor McGaw Electrical said it chose the range because it was less disruptive to tenants - it didn’t have to retrofit deeper back boxes to accommodate the wall switches needed to bring the homes up to current standards. The consumer units feature circuit breakers for each individual circuit which means less inconvenience ...
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Energy-rated box sash
11 February 2011
?Mumford & Wood’s double-glazed box sash window range has achieved a British Standards Institution A rating for its energy performance. Called Conservation, the range is designed to replicate the look of the original windows in older properties while offering good energy performance. The company says the range has an overall frame U-value of 1.4W/m2k which means it conforms to Part L. The windows are said to be almost indistinguishable from the original ones. They are made using ...
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Ex Ujima and FWA West bosses face trial in March
11 February 2011
The trial involving ex directors from FWA West, which Apollo acquired last year, will hear their pleas next month
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Exterior repainting
11 February 2011
?Dulux paint products were used for the exterior repainting of seven blocks of flats in Rochdale, Greater Manchester. The blocks range in height from 16 to 21storeys so council housing manager Rochdale Boroughwide Housing wanted a solution that would last for many years. Rendered panels between the windows on each floor were painted using a specially mixed colour. A coat of the company’s stabilising primer was applied first to seal any powdery existing paint. Dulux Trade Maximum Exposure ...
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External wall insulation
11 February 2011
?Anglian Building Products has installed external wall insulation to seven blocks of sheltered accommodation in Southend, Essex. The Weber.therm XM system consists of 70mm polystyrene insulation followed by two coats of render and a coloured pebbledash topcoat. The blocks, which were built in the seventies, have solid walls. Anglian said the insulation improved the U-value of the walls from an estimated 2.4W/m2k to 0.24W/m2K.Anglian Building Productswww.anglian-building.co.uk
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Family contractors: Adapt or die
11 February 2011
Willmott Dixon shows it’s not good enough just to sit still
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February 2011: Analysis
11 February 2011
Right now, the economy appears on a knife edge, with the Bank of England seemingly stuck between a rock and a hard place
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Firm found guilty in corporate manslaughter test case
16 Feb 11
Geotechnical Holdings failed to ensure the safety of a geologist crushed to death in a trench
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Former Mabey bosses guilty of bribing Saddam’s regime
11 Feb 11
Charles Forsyth and David Mabey made illegal kickbacks to secure work on 13 Iraqi bridges
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Four subbies go bust on Olympic village
15 Feb 11
ODA coughs up £11m to ensure continued supply from firms on the brink
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German solar panel giant to enter UK market
17 Feb 11
Solarwatt says it plans to supply domestic and commercial photovoltaics into ’lagging’ UK market
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Gleeds appointed on University of Bath framework
28 Jan 11
Consultant is project and cost manager on scheme that includes conversion of existing property, refurbishment and new build
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Gove blunder over schools procurement
18 Feb 11
Education secretary tells MPs trial fast-track procurement process took half the time it actually did
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Government opens up contracts to small firms
11 Feb 11
PQQs abolished for government contracts worth under £100,000
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Hansom: The right angle
11 February 2011
According to the PRs it’s been another brilliant week for the construction industry - so please ignore the hints of commercial bias, the whiffs of pub quiz favouritism and accusations of slanted journalism
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Hard landscaping
11 February 2011
?Landscaping specialist Marshalls has announced six new products. These include Coach House walling which is intended to create a historical look and complements the firm’s Coach House paving range. Natural stone includes Indian Black Limestone which the company says is ethically sourced and sorted by hand for the best colour match. Drivesett Natrale is riven-finish concrete block paving suitable for driveways and paths. Other new products include low cost textured paving and Weatherpoint ...
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Hill wins BBVA Bancomer contract in Mexico
10 Feb 11
Firm is consultant on an operating center for the largest financial institution in Mexico
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Historic refurbishment
11 February 2011
?More than 6,400 Welsh slates have been used to recover 600m2 of roof on a 14th century mansion in Salford, Greater Manchester. The Heather Blue slates from Welsh Slate’s Penrhyn quarry in North Wales were used as part of a £6.3m refurbishment of the grade 1 listed Ordsall Hall. Sizes used ranged from 900mm square to 300mm square. The slates were chosen as they were in keeping with the building’s history. The work is due for completion by Easter.Welsh Slatewww.welshslate.co.uk
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House rules
11 February 2011
?Consultants are at a greater risk of being sued in the downturn, but if you follow these basic rules, you can mitigate a potential claim
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Housebuilding at lowest level for 88 years
17 Feb 11
Government figures reveal completions at lowest level since 1923
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Housebuilding needs to learn the lessons of the 1930s
27 Jan 11
In the 1930s we built around 300,000 homes a year in the face of a worldwide recession. Why are things so different this time around?
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Industry leaders join Building’s editorial board
11 February 2011
New appointments to Building’s editorial advisory board include Lend Lease’s Dan Labbad
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Industry wary of new affordable housing model
15 Feb 11
Fears as Homes and Communities Agency publishes Affordable Rent prospectus
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Internal insulation
11 February 2011
?Kingspan Kooltherm insulation has been used to reduce heat loss through the walls of four terraced houses in Page Hall, Sheffield. The empty homes were chosen by the council as demonstration projects to show local people what could be done to improve the energy performance of small, solid-walled terraced housing. Because the homes were constructed from brick and were built right onto the pavement, internal insulation was the only option. To minimise the loss of interior space, 62.5mm ...
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Interserve to deliver £10m recycling plant
14 Feb 11
Midlands development is part of a £650m waste transfer management deal
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Kelly Forrest on ... The 2011 outlook
11 February 2011
Data released in 2011 calls into question the undelying strength of the economy
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Kier to begin work on delayed £40m fire station project
14 Feb 11
Government commits funding for four stations after initial doubts
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Laing O’Rourke sacks staff for sending offensive email
11 February 2011
12 employees sacked and further 12 given final warning as contractor toughens stance on behaviour
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Legal dispute
11 February 2011
It is interesting to read Ann Minogue’s “Can we be of any assistance?” (21 January, page 49). Minogue picks up on the point that adjudicators rarely appoint lawyers to advise on the law.
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Lend Lease profits up as revenue falls
17 Feb 11
Lend Lease said its profits increased 17% as its revenue dropped a fifth in the first half of its financial year.
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Letwin to lead cabinet infrastructure committee
14 Feb 11
Cameron’s policy czar to team up with the Treasury to ensure delivery of projects
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Live debate: Is Code Level 6 pricing zero-carbon out of the market?
17 Mar 11
Join a live online debate on the Code for Sustainable Homes at 11am GMT on Friday 18 March sponsored by H+H
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London development led by office rental growth
11 February 2011
Office rental growth is driving development activity in London, with supply shortage expected to further this in 2011
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Merger will see Cabe funding halved
14 Feb 11
Government will spend “under £3m” for two years as merger with Design Council confirmed
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Morgan Sindall bags £26m London hospital contract
16 Feb 11
Contractor to deliver the Wohl Neuroscience Institute for King’s College London
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Morgan Sindall hires former Bovis delivery director
14 Feb 11
Peter Jacobs to spearhead firm’s London expansion
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Morgan Sindall seals £500m Bournemouth PPP
17 Feb 11
Morgan Sindall has reached financial close on a Bournemouth town centre PPP project will run over 20 years
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My digital life: Mark Taylor
11 February 2011
Preferred means of communication?
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NSCC launches campaign against retentions
16 Feb 11
No Retention campaign gains backing from members, Crossrail and Stanhope
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Open mike: Stop the world – I want to get off
11 February 2011
Most architects find new work through word of mouth. So the more circles you move in, the more people will talk – and the dizzier you’ll become
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Osborne lands £43m contract for University job
15 Feb 11
Greenwich University selects Osborne to construct new campus
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Parallel universe
11 February 2011
The Construction Act should have been the death of pay when paid, but here’s a wheeze that tries to get round it. It goes like this: you lend me the money I owe you until I get paid
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Park life
11 Feb 11
Architecture plb has been appointed to design a £30m residence building for the University of Portsmouth
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Pickles gives Battersea go-ahead
11 February 2011
?Plans for the redevelopment of Battersea Power Station have been given final approval by communities secretary Eric Pickles.
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Poor weather to blame for negative construction figures
11 Feb 11
Figures for fourth quarter of 2010 still better than figures from 2009
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Redrow buoyed by £8.5m half year profit
17 Feb 11
Housebuilder reports rising turnover and average selling prices as market recovers from winter freeze
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Refurb: Comparing Passivhaus and Decent Homes
11 February 2011
The government’s target of an 80% reduction in carbon emissions by 2050 means that housebuilders need to implement changes, starting now. But with so many ways to reduce emissions in new and existing homes, how do you decide which regulations to follow?
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Rick Willmott: ‘Get ready for the recession’
11 February 2011
Rick Willmott, head of Willmott Dixon, says the downturn has yet to really hurt the large contractors. And those that persist in bidding below cost are taking the biggest gamble
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RICS calls for VAT cut in Budget
17 Feb 11
RICS says Chancellor should cut VAT on home refurbishments to help residential sector
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RICS: Commercial market outlook improving
15 Feb 11
The RICS Commercial Property Market Survey showed an improvement in Q4 2010
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Robinson vs PE Jones: Duty in tort
11 February 2011
?A quirk in the law of limitation means a claim for economic loss under a contract has a different time limit from the same claim brought in tort
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Rok and Connaught force repairs in-house
11 February 2011
Housing associations launching in house contacting arms to battle VAT increase
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Roofing battens
8 Feb 11
John Brash JB-RED roofing battens were used on BRE’s refurbishment of a Victorian stable block at its Garston site near Watford
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Shapps confirms Cabe merger with Design Council
11 Feb 11
Wait is over as government confirms Cabe’s work will move across
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Sliding window system
11 February 2011
?Aluminium fenestration specialist Sapa Building Systems supplied its Dualslide sliding window system for a housing refurbishment in Fulham, west London. The £1.6m contract was carried out by fabricator and installer Hazlemere Windows. Dualslide is available in horizontal and vertical formats and was supplied with a bespoke interlock detail to allow the sliding sashes to part, making cleaning easier. Dualfame hinged doors, S125 sliding doors and Dualframe reversible windows were also ...
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Speedy Hire Q4 sales up 8.8%
14 Feb 11
Speedy Hire had a strong end to 2010, with sales increasing 8.8% on 2009
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Spurs' lost chance?
11 Feb 11
Tottentham Hotspur’s plans for the Olympic stadium may come to naught today
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Subcontractors attack Carillion over price cuts
11 February 2011
Agressive pricing by main contractors has been attacked by squeezed subcontractors
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Subsidy review puts hundreds of solar panel projects at risk
11 February 2011
Kier among those fearful as government review of feed-in tariffs puts schemes under threat
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T&T opens in Warsaw as Polish market recovers
11 February 2011
UK consultant expands into growing eastern Europe construction market
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Tesco unveils huge Midland’s hospital redevelopment
17 Feb 11
Retail giant proposes 139,800 sq ft mixed-use scheme for Wolverhampton’s Royal Hospital
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The edge of reason
11 February 2011
Paul Heath took this photo in Portugal
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The Midland Grand at London St Pancras: A touch of class
11 February 2011
George Gilbert Scott’s Victorian gothic masterpiece, the Midland Grand at London St Pancras, is about to reopen as a five-star hotel after a painstaking restoration. The result is stunning
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The tracker: Cold comfort
11 February 2011
Bad weather caused the market to contract in December and the ongoing downward trend could see firms reducing their headcount. Experian Marketing Information Services does the detail
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There will be skills shortages if apprentices don't return
9 Feb 11
Thousands of apprentices left the industry during the recession and unless government and industy act fast they won’t be coming back
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Two firms fined after worker suffers electric shock
14 Feb 11
Preventable incident could have been fatal
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View from my office: Ralph Dando
10 Feb 11
The partner at Robinson Low Francis overlooks the Maltese Mediterranean sea and bed rock beach
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West Ham confirmed preferred bidder for Olympic stadium
11 Feb 11
Hammers beats ’Spurs KSS-designed re-location plan
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Westminster council paves way for Cucumber tower
17 Feb 11
Designs for controversial Paddington skyscraper approved
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What the High Court victory means for BSF
17 Feb 11
Six local authorities won a partial victory against the government’s decision to scrap BSF. What happens next?
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Why shops and offices will be the schools of the future
15 Feb 11
Education cuts can be a catalyst for delivering schools in unusual spaces says Sir Bruce Liddington
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Willmott Dixon boss predicts five-year recession
11 February 2011
Rick Willmott warns main contractors are yet to face the worst and should start preparing
