More Comment – Page 510
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CommentSleeping through it all
When we published our third issue of this year with the cover line “The slump of 2008”, few of us could have predicted just how quickly the water would rise around the construction industry.
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CommentSafety blunders: Dances with death
We had an astonishing selection of entries to our health and safety blunders competition in 2008. Here is our selection of the best, which reveal how construction workers around the world laughed in the face of danger and demonstrated shocking brutality towards trees…
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If 2008 was bad for the housing market, 2009 looks much worse
There are plenty of scary figures in the latest forecast from the Council of Mortgage Lenders not least the expectation that half a million homeowners will fall into arrears.The expectation that 75,000 homes will be repossessed by mortgage lenders is pretty scary too, especially as this in practice would mean ...
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Taylor Wimpey and the Siamese twin chimpanzees
The Taylor Wimpey email from boss Peter "call me Pete" Redern to staff that did the rounds yesterday raised as few eyebrows in the City.Not least for its humorous reference to Angelina Jolie giving birth to Siamese twin chimpanzees when describing how much press coverage the housebuilder has had ...
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Construction workforce grows by 30,000 - it's official, but surely it's wrong
The official labour market figures suggest that the construction workforce is growing. Surely this can't be the case?When I eagerly opened the latest press release on Labour Market Statistics this morning, I was looking for some clues as to how much damage has been done to the construction workforce.The official ...
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The beast of inflation may be in retreat, but it can still bite
As if the confusion over the credit crunch's causes and effects is not enough, we now have the related confusion over inflation. What is a good level for inflation to fall to if deflation is a fear?We have just experienced a steep decline in inflation with the CPI measure dropping ...
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What's going on at Panceltica?
What is going on at structural steel specialist Panceltica?The Qatar-based company defied the downturn by floating on AIM in March and had been hailed in the City as one of the few success stories of 2008. The share placement was heavily over-subscribed.The £86m-turnover group uses technology that means large-scale housing ...
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CommentIt’s just too sad to be single: Single-stage tendering
Why would any client want to revert to the old method of single-stage tendering when life with two-stage tendering is so much clearer, simpler and cheaper?
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CommentGet a truck load of this: Collaborative working
A lot of folk are fed up with talk of collaborative working. And no wonder. Too often it’s just another name for risk dumping
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CommentOral agreements
The CaseThe claimant applied for summary judgment to enforce an adjudicator's decision whereby the defendant was ordered to pay £12,449.70, plus VAT and interest.The claimant was a subcontractor employed by the defendant to manufacture, deliver and install three full flights of stairs from a basement to the second floor of ...
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Not just the economy, stupid: New legislation
Last week’s Queen’s speech was a tad light on legislation – no bad thing given what else there is to think about. But here are some of the things coming up for us in 2009
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CommentMy digital life: John Corley
This fit-out specialist is a bit of a cool kid, really – he downloads the latest Russell Brand videos to his BlackBerry, catches up on The Killers’ latest releases and pursues his once-a-day Wii habit
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CommentBuilding buys a pint … for McDowell + Benedetti
For a nine-person architectural practice inhabiting one corner of a down-at-heel fifties office block north of the City of London, McDowell + Benedetti have a happy knack – well, gift – of mixing with the rich and famous.
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CommentLet the games begin
The industry heaves itself into its tracksuit this week, with football sponsorships, ODA stunts, a sporty rebranding, and some deeply unpleasant goings-on at Ashton Town FC
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Can we have the bill, please?
Peter Kilby is correct in stating that a bill of quantity (BoQ) is a good method of procurement (7 November, page 41).
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A message for the RICS
Peter Kilby’s article mourning the death of the BoQ came as a surprise: I had no idea they were no longer seen to be a necessary part of the tendering process.
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No to nuclear
There is much to be welcomed in the new report from the Committee on Climate Change about how to cut emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.
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Change is coming
Rupert Choat’s article on 28 November (page 59) concerned penalties which public bodies might incur, if they did not comply with European Procurement legislation.
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CommentThe idiot’s guide to architecture
Although designing ‘pastiche’ buildings is not yet a criminal offence, the received view is that they certainly shouldn’t be built. This is not just untrue, it’s dumb