More Comment – Page 503
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Comment
RICS report stamps on signs of green shoots in the housing market
For all the excitement created by the Halifax upward blip in house prices in January it now looks increasingly like a freak result, at least that is what the latest housing market survey from the surveyors' body RICS would suggest.Yes I know it seems that for every green shoot spotted ...
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Comment10 ways to avoid dispute in the Middle East
The Middle East has traditionally seen few disputes. In boom times contractors have always had alternative ways to recover their losses. But the credit crunch appears to have changed that, and now more disputes are erupting. So, how can disputes be avoided in the present market?Assess the impact of local ...
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Beacons of hope in times of trouble?
There is currently much excitement being generated about the probability of construction starting on some of the much-talked of copse of towers planned to slice through the skyline of London.If that prospect smacks of confidence it is in stark contrast to the general prospects for commercial construction in London and ...
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Comment
A phrase I wish I'd coined
As I was giving the recent Rightmove consumer confidence poll a hard time last week, the Bad Science column in the Guardian kept coming to mind.So it was a bit spooky when I read the latest offering from Dr Ben Goldacre.If I was superstitious I would have read rather a ...
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CommentDefeats, green shoots and fees
It’s tough out there and firms are holding their cards close to their chests and their cash even closer. But the important thing is not to panic and take it one day at a time
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CommentThe price of darkness: Rights of light
The right of light has become a hot topic in the courts, so developers who want to avoid making costly mistakes should read this illuminating article...
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CommentThe skyline just got safer
When Building launched its Safer Skyline campaign almost two years ago, the crane industry was in crisis
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CommentOld people aren't dead
Let’s design homes that encourage elderly people to live fulfilling lives – rather than sticking them in institutional spaces in which they simply bide their time
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CommentPure and simple: Construction Act changes
The proposed changes to the Construction Act payment rules are all very clever, but they won’t wash in the down-to-earth world of construction. We want something simpler
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CommentA fair exchange is no robbery: Currency fluctuations
Money matters: Currency fluctuations have never been much of a concern, but with the pound at an all-time low, parties need a more advanced approach to managing risk
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Comment
O ye who believe... : Sharia and mediation
This second of two articles on dispute resolution under Islamic law looks at arbitration – a system that has found wide acceptance in the Islamic world
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Comment
The Taylor Wimpey "debt deal buzz" that isn't
Taylor Wimpey shares moved up 8% last Friday and the Daily Mail thinks it knows why.The move came on the back of a similar-sized jump on Thursday.According to the paper, it's the result of a buzz in the City that "an agreement had finally been reached" between the housebuilder and ...
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Comment
Rapid rise in company failures underlines threat to construction firms
The latest insolvency figures make bleak reading and confirm the stress on construction businesses in the wake of the credit crunch.If you add up all the construction companies falling into receivership, administration or company voluntary arrangements in England and Wales in the final quarter of last year you get 226. ...
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Comment
A problem of our making
Regarding the controversy over Staythorpe power station’s use of foreign workers, power plants for the UK are bought through international tender on a turnkey basis
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Comment
A message for the union
I have been a member of Ucatt for many years and though you [Ucatt] are good at representing the workforce on legal matters you are very poor at representing the British workforce on ethnic matters
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Comment
Coming of age
So, “like collaborative working, being sustainable was a child of the boom years”. If so, now is the time for both to come of age and be taken seriously
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CommentSterling work
I am a Malawian currently studying in the UK. I appreciate Unicef’s work but this project is exceptional and must be commended
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Comment
A game of risk
I appreciate the risk taken by specialist construction companies, but I fear that Peter Lewis is not looking far enough when he says specialist contractors are at “the end of the chain and bearing the full weight of the risk”
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Comment
The full footprint
We need to start making an effort in not only looking at the energy used in running a development once it is completed but also the cost to the environment in constructing it and then demolishing the structure once its useful life has expired
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Comment
Bond. Which bond?
While Ian Yule’s article focuses mainly on an “on demand” bond and highlights the particular case of Permasteelisa, his opening paragraphs promote myths about performance guarantee bonds