More Comment – Page 523
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Comment
Bravo Bingham
Tony Bingham’s regular articles often make a lot of sense, but his article on ditching the training levy (8 August, page 43) seemed to have even more sense per column centimetre than usual.
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CommentWinter warmers
As the nights draw in, hospitality and goodwill abound, from friendly Swedish engineers, an extremely generous salary offer and a kind invitation to take up residence in a caravan
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CommentThe end of the spend
The boom in vanity projects is over. Design can no longer rule. Instead, Colin Harding asks if construction and its clients are finally ready to learn the lessons Sir John Egan taught in 1998
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CommentWebmaster review: UN website
For the official launch of building.co.uk/global, the webmaster examines the website of the Big Daddy of global organisations
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CommentDispute resolution boards in Dubai: First dabs
Resolving construction disputes in Dubai can be complex, but dispute resolution boards can help prevent such wrangles arising in the first place
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CommentConstruction products regulations: Let’s try it another way
The European commission is planning to strengthen the construction market by replacing the Construction Products Directive (CPD) with a new piece of regulation that will remove all remaining obstacles to the free circulation of construction products in the European Economic Area (EEA) on 26 May.
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Comment
Arbitrator appointment
The CaseThe defendant, Mrs Buck, engaged the claimant, Mylcrist Builders, to construct a single story extension to the front of her bungalow in Beltrise Herne Bay, Kent. A contract was formed on 8 December 2004 when Mrs Buck signed a letter, sent from the claimant, which confirmed that they were ...
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CommentThe Gulf rush
Booming economies, expanding populations and the most ambitious schemes anywhere in the world – the Gulf is undeniably the most exciting destination right now for construction. It’s not only growing at an extraordinary rate as markets around the world crumble, the way the industry works is also evolving almost as ...
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CommentGulf facilities management: Keeping up appearances
The Gulf states were slow to catch on to the need for facilities management, but now the market is in overdrive. Katie Puckett presents a five-step guide to getting a piece of the action
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Comment
With recession a near certainty, the question is how deep
The latest new orders figures and CIPS survey leave little if any room for doubt, construction is dropping into a recession fast and the drop looks deep.The more worrying thing about the figures is that last year forecasters were looking to the private sector to make up for expected falls ...
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Comment
When even words of comfort are frightening
The most profoundly worrying thing about the latest Nationwide house price index press release was a comment from Fionnuala Earley, the building society's chief economist, which I think, in the context it was placed, was meant to be soothing.Now I may be misinterpreting her words, but either way they are ...
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Comment
Materials imports surge despite slowdown
Despite a slowdown in workload, particularly in house building, the construction industry is spending more than ever on imported products and materials.Imports in the second quarter of this year leapt by almost 10% (more than £300 million) on the previous quarter to £3.47 billion, despite a reduction in the massive ...
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Comment
A 1990s revival: Dutch auctions, suicidal bidding and payment delays are back
I wasn't expecting it. I had a ring round of some long-standing contacts that I speak to fairly regularly.I guess I last spoke to them a couple of months ago, as things were starting to look a bit stickier with the figures heralding a dip in construction output.My chat with ...
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Comment
Two years of US house price falls and more to come
The latest release of the Case-Shiller index shows that house prices in the US have now fallen in every month for the past two years.The price of an average US home on the 20 city index measure is now 19.5% cheaper than it was in August 2006.But in some cities ...
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Comment
South West housing deals hit hardest as market slowed
If the health of the housing market is a function of turnover and price growth then the amount of stamp duty taken from residential sales should provide a fairly good means of diagnosis. In rough and ready terms.So it was interesting to see how each region fared in the regional ...
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Comment
Is buy-to-let really screwed? No, according to the figures. But...
What is all this about the "particularly hard-hit buy-to-let market" I keep hearing about in reports about the demise of Bradford & Bingley?The thing is, I tend to follow the figures a bit and was not aware of any of the "reliable" variety that had pointed to BTL being "particularly ...