More Comment – Page 392
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CommentOFT could pay for being over-keen
According to directives from Europe, the OFT’s fines are levied on the basis of companies’ global turnover, not profit
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Consultancy errors: It wasn't me
If you don’t know how to do something you call in a specialist, right? Well, if you’re a consultant on a construction project, beware. Here’s a few tips to keep in mind …
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CommentWonders & blunders with Mike Barker
Mike Barker’s architectural picks are all bound up with nature. He loves an Iraqi school built out of reeds, but doesn’t care two straws about Beijing’s over-designed Bird’s Nest
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CITB levy: For and against
We hear two opposing viewpoints over whether the CITB construction levy should be axed
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CommentBleak outlook for construction jobs as the downward trend continues
Another 9000 jobs were lost in the fourth quarter of 2010
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CommentOFT reduced fines: A vindication for construction?
The Competition Appeal Tribunal described the fines as ’excessive’ but that doesn’t mean cover pricing is suddenly okay
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CommentEarthquake eyewitness: 'It was like a being in a small boat in mountainous seas'
Construction Excellence’s chief executive Don Ward gives a graphic account of the moment Friday’s 9.0 quake hit Japan
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CommentSpotlight now on OFT to defend five-year investigation
Huge reduction in fines means the OFT will have to justify whether all the pain was worth it
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CommentFrameworks: Putting SMEs in the frame
This weeks biggest stories are frameworks, SMEs and Mipim
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CommentAgents have eye on traditional QS markets
New rivals are encroaching on surveying and engineering territory
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CommentAwful January construction output figures may just be the result of a hangover from December
Figures suggest that less work was done in January than in December
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Comment
Building sports venues: It's only a game
Construction projects notoriously run over time, but when you are building a venue for an international sports event, time is of the essence. Here’s a few things to bear in mind
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Comment
Don't be 'wilfully blind' to finance issues
A recent example of a firm going bust shows the risks company directors take if they neglect their duty to creditors and are ’wilfully blind’ to problems their business may face
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CommentProcedure costs: Please translate
If a judge wants a specific document prior to trial that one party has never heard of, you’d expect someone to ask for clarification. Not in this, unnecessarily expensive, case
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CommentAsking for the moon
A lot of offices designed pre-recession and waiting to be built won’t meet the toughest environmental standards. Once we start building again, we have to aim higher
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Comment
Building buys a pint for… the Building Awards shortlist
Last week Building hosted a drinks reception for those shortlisted for the Building Awards. It wasn’t so much Building buys a pint, but Building lays on heaps of booze and everyone on the shortlist is invited. The Met Bar, famous in the nineties for its celebrity clientele, had probably never ...
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CommentLet's dance
We’re in a party mood this week, as we toast the Building Awards 2011 finalists at an exclusive, and very sartorially aware, London venue. Now, has anyone seen my bow tie?
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CommentContractor results: A turn up for the books
The latest City updates by contractors reveal a surprisingly healthy outlook, says Alastair Stewart. Order books are good shape and margins are rising … among the heavy weights at least
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Inbox: Perfect Casting
This week, readers assign leading roles to the overlooked Construction Industry Council; adjudicators experienced in the art of delay and disruption disputes; and architects with business nous
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CommentYou only live twice
Painting large areas can get tedious, so these two workers have decided to do it in true 007 style – teetering on a tiny ledge and leaning precariously over a drop.