More news – Page 4120
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FeaturesIf I were in your boots
Continuing our occasional series, Andrew Gay, former boss of M&E contractor Drake & Scull, is impressed by Kier's risk-free strategies, dependable reputation and great results. Sound like an 'if-it-ain't-broke-don't-fix-it' business model? No way – here's how to make it even better and a whole lot more dynamic …
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Features
Building market muscles
Effective marketing is a critical way of growing any business, and the building industry is no exception
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FeaturesDavid Pretty
Barratt is Britain's best known housebuilder – but not always for the right reasons. Here its new chief executive tells us how he intends to preserve the firm's legacy, and silence some of its critics.
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Comment
Single cream
Does the JCT's major projects form offer the kind of single point responsibility that those who use design-and-build procurement require? Well, actually, yes
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CommentNo free lunches
Tony Bingham Lost an adjudication? Don't want to pay the adjudicator's fee? Tough. Pay up or risk getting sued – and if you are, you may well end up paying those costs, too
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Comment
Who pays for plan B?
Changing the design that was given planning permission can lead to additional costs, so check that the contract makes it clear which pary is taking on that risk
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Comment
Anything you say …
Judges want the parties to a quarrel to sort it out themselves. Here's how they've been getting this across to those who've had the temerity to bother the courts
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Comment
An impossible job
Peter Rogers' comments seem to be an extension of the debate held within each profession, where the absence of holistic knowledge of every other discipline is lamented.
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Comment
Point taken, but …
I would like to thank Mr Merricks for taking the trouble to reply to my column (27 June, page 34).
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Comment
We're still learning
In response to the claim that project managers are not adequately trained (4 July, page 11), I would like to point out that the RICS has created the Project Management Faculty as part of its Agenda for Change.
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Comment
Margins schmargins
The writer of No leftovers (18 July, page 30) appears to be confused in comparing the margins in contracting with the margins obtained in the manufacturing industry.
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Comment
A fan of John Prescott
Our Romanian carpenter was overjoyed to get a mention in letters (What do you expect?, 11 July, page 32) and has taken to reading Building on a regular basis.
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Comment
A catch-25 situation
My work requires me to inspect commercial and industrial buildings, and to arrange for their maintenance.
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Comment
Problems can and will happen
The article "Whatever happened to Peabody's prefab?" (18 July, page 15) said that high winds and proximity to railway lines contributed to the delayed completion. This is not true.
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Comment
What we're all about
What distinguished professionals from tradesmen was their assumption of social superiority backed up by guaranteed fee rates. Now those have gone, what's left?
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FeaturesMay the best house win
For decades, timber frame has been reigning British champion of modular housing systems. Now a contender has emerged, and an enterprising housebuilder decided to arrange a contest between the two. We report from the ringside in Sompting, Sussex.
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FeaturesWhy are we so fascinating?
Prime time slots are crowded with foppish designers, avuncular engineers, opinionated architects and diabolical builders. We find out what the attraction is, what the programmes are like, how they've changed the perception of building – and how you, too, can get your phizog on the box.
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FeaturesTV Reviews
Building's critic-in-residence reviews a typical week's assortment of built environment programming
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