Building biodiversity in: Why construction must confront the hidden impacts in its supply chains
By taking supply‑chain biodiversity seriously and adopting robust tools and frameworks, the industry can shift from reactive compliance to proactive stewardship Brogan MacDonald and Robert Nussey write
Tackling viability. How does the industry do better?
Current market conditions make it more vital than ever to be on top of a project’s build costs to ensure its commercial success, writes Iain Parker
The infrastructure gap that nobody wants to price properly
Hien Nguyen considers what the current state of development in and around Cambridge reveals about the future of housing delivery in Britain
Construction won’t fix productivity just by trying harder. It will fix it by building differently
Industrialised construction through standardised systems and platform solutions can double productivity but only if the industry adopts fairer commercial models, says Mark Reynolds
Planning application fees should only go up if the process improves
Simply charging more for a broken system doesn’t fix it. Here’s what ministers should do instead to improve planning, writes Paul Smith
Milburn Review should be a catalyst for youth recruitment in the construction sector
Industry needs to apply models for skills training at scale, argues Kevin O’Connor
For the UK to deliver its ambitious infrastructure pipeline, it needs a workforce plan to match
The 10 Year Infrastructure Strategy and UK Infrastructure Pipeline have been a huge step in the right direction and must be matched by a long-term system wide approach to sustainable skills development, argues Alex Vaughan
Energy security remains one of the UK’s key priorities
The UK government’s hopes of regeneration-led initiatives to revive the economy will be seriously hampered without proper energy security. Upgrading transmission and distribution networks is now essential, writes John Wilkinson
Lifting the cap on grant funding for regeneration can help meet the Government’s housing targets
Strategic partnership bids outside London are subject to a 10% cap on applications for regeneration. Mel Barrett calls for greater flexibility
The push and pull factors behind building new homes in the UK
Clients engaging firms early on in the development process will unlock much needed housing, says Paul Woodhams
Unpacking the label: Applying a social impact lens to regeneration
To understand whether development genuinely benefits people and place, the industry needs to apply a broader social impact lens from the earliest decisions through to long-term stewardship, says Jasmine Ceccarelli-Drewry at Avison Young UK
This month’s construction industry gossip: Life’s great mysteries
The latest chatter around the industry
Predictability, payments and power: will the King’s speech remove friction?
The government is promising speed and certainty but RLB’s Andrew Reynolds asks if new laws will actually remove the frictions that slow delivery, strain supply chains and push risk down the line
Reform UK’s surge and Trump’s Iran war: what it means for construction
Last week’s elections have reshaped local power across the UK, creating hung councils and planning uncertainty just as the Gulf conflict drives up costs – with big implications for development pipelines, prices and delivery, says Chloe McCulloch
To govern is to choose - and the right choice must be to build
The government might have limited fiscal firepower to deal with the Gulf crisis, but it can still execute existing plans. UK construction could increasingly rely on the administration’s ability to make up its mind, says Simon Rawlinson of Arcadis
Payment reform proposals: government must try harder
Rudi Klein awards the government an average mark of just 4/10 on its recently published proposals for legislation on payment reform
On overnice distinctions in expert witness qualifications
Tony Bingham unpicks the lessons of a recent ruling on the niceties around the qualifications required of specific expert witnesses
Strategic land controls go public
Carolyn Milligan and Gabrielle Coppack explain the new registration regime for contractual land rights
AI-assisted adjudication nears
UK construction disputes may be particularly well suited to AI facilitation
Why adjudicators need freedom from disciplinary threat
Tony Bingham explains how fear of institutional sanctions can lead to justice being compromised, and tells a cautionary tale
The contract administration skills gap
Peter Hibberd on why action is needed to address the skills gap in construction contract administration among industry professionals
When can a contractor terminate for repeated late payments?
Steven Carey on a Supreme Court ruling clarifying contractors’ termination rights for late payment in JCT contracts
PFI: the perils of project expiry
Lack of contractual clarity on PFI performance obligations can prompt excessive retrospective scrutiny at the point of handover
