Luke Wessely
CommentSnakes and ladders
Our sustainability targets are well within our reach. The only problem is working out which technologies will give us a leg up, and which will send us sliding back to square one
CommentThe land of the Dachdeckermeister
Germany’s technical and political approach to sustainable construction is much more advanced than the UK’s. So why don’t we steal a few ideas from them
CommentLuke Wessely: Greek tragedies, British farces
Before we get too comfortable as armchair critics of rapacious footballers and financially illiterate European states, we should take a long, hard look at ourselves
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A very expensive way of saving a few bob
Open mike - With the economy taking a dive, clients are trying to save money by ditching the main contractor. But they seem to have found no way to replace their skills and experience, says Luke Wessely
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Eat your heart out, J-Lo
We enter a contract like an A-list marriage, expecting it to end in conflict. But is the industry really so confrontational? Or do lawyers just love a good old barney?
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Talking turf
Architects like to have the final say on the design, and we respect that. But we know more about roofs than they do, so how do they feel about that?
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I'm talking serious money
Slow payment is a bad habit that the industy has got used to. It's just possible, you know, that by speeding it up we could solve quite a few other bugbears
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The top down revolution
Anyone who thinks of roofing subbies as simple, horny-handed sons of toil had better think again. The modern firm is a slick, high-tech, high IQ outfit
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You get what you pay for
If your daughter was getting married, you wouldn't chose the cheapest caterer regardless of quality, would you? So why chose a subcontractor that way?
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Don't hold back, now
The archaic practice of retention is senseless, unfair and damaging to all parties – and there are much more agreeable alternatives. Let's stop it once and for all
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The cricket test
It probably isn't a coincidence that England's cricketers started performing after they were given guaranteed places. And therein lies a moral for construction …