More news – Page 2506
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CommentCosting the earth
You may think that, given the importance of a housebuilder’s landbank, there would be a well understood way of valuing it. And you’d be wrong
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Comment
Blame the clients
One aspect of the Office of Fair Trading’s cover-pricing inquiry that seems to have been missed is the effect of clients and their professional advisers
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Comment
Take a cut of future contracts
There may be such a thing as an innocent cover price, if the contractor does not want to bid but does want to show willing. However, cover prices can be used to share the work around and the only reason for that is to keep prices high
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Comment
Doubt its illegality
The 13 roofing contractors that the OFT found guilty of price fixing in 2006 were not engaged in “simple cover pricing”, but bid-rigging
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Comment
Worry about Europe
A key point that was not addressed in the podcast on www.building.co.uk was the future ability of the “guilty” contractors to tender for public works
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Comment
Be ashamed (i)
If a member of the RICS were found guilty of anything “fraudulent” they would be stripped of their MRICS status and would most likely be fired by their employer
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Comment
Be ashamed (ii)
As a registered architect, all I can say is that if I were found guilty of this sort of practice I would be struck off – not given excuses by the government
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Comment
Suspend the fines
Although the process of investigation and the resultant findings were necessary to halt bid-rigging, I among many others will be disappointed by the level of fines imposed by the OFT, which may cripple or close some companies
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Comment
Learn basic morals
Why do the construction companies seem not to understand their own lack of morality?
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Comment
Put your house in order
In a world of short tender periods and poor contract information, clients are expecting contractors to be gamblers
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Comment
Punish the guilty
Cover pricing saves the contractors the cost of tendering and they can agree between themselves who will get the next tender
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CommentThe academy in peril
If you find yourself with a spare hour in Piccadilly, go and see Anish Kapoor at the RA: it’s disturbing, even violent, but it has a lot to say about how art fits into buildings
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CommentWonders & blunders with Fergus Henderson
Restaurateur Fergus Henderson considers a temple to chaos, fine dining and the wet fish trade in the City of London and, er, the City of London
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FeaturesAcademic study: Free your mind
Being good at your job may not depend, it turns out, on getting years of experience under your belt. In fact, spending quality time away from site may be just what you need. Katie Puckett goes back to university to find out why
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FeaturesACT Natural: Thames Gateway green spaces
Developers, architects, councils and government agencies will come together at next month’s Thames Gateway Forum to launch a scheme stressing the importance of green spaces in the South-east’s biggest growth area
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News
Calls to redundancy helpline fall to lowest level in a year
The number of small and medium-sized contractors seeking employment advice has fallen to its lowest level in more than a year, the National Federation of Builders has revealed
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NewsBright young thing
This vibrant structure, designed by Jonathan Clark Architects, is part of a £1.1m extension and partial conversion of a two-storey sixties school in Feltham near Heathrow
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News
Strata Homes renews borrowing deal as it falls £7.4m in red
Northern housebuilder Strata Homes has fallen £7.4m into the red after land writedowns of £2.6m
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News
MJ Gleeson posts £54m loss
Urban housing and regeneration specialist MJ Gleeson has made a pre-tax loss of £54.3m after land writedowns of £44.6m