More news – Page 4586
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News
‘Get sick and you’re sacked’ contract dropped
Tarmac labour arm NCS has withdrawn a controversial work contract and agreed to pay its operatives sick pay following union outrage over what one lawyer described as a get sick and you re sacked contract. The move comes weeks after construction union UCATT complained about the contracts to ...
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News
Scottish loophole threatens Construction Act
A court's decision to freeze payment to a subcontractor could change industry legislation.
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News
Railtrack’s investment pledge applauded
Railtrack s promise to invest £27bn in Britain s railways over the next 10 years was greeted enthusiastically by rail contractors, despite doubts over government funding. A spokesman for Balfour Beatty, which has carried out almost £300m of work for Railtrack in the past year, and is the largest supplier ...
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News
Deregulation set to slash inspection cost
New rules will free local authority building inspectors to compete with private sector.
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News
Contracting buoys Willmott Dixon profit
Growth in leisure and industrial markets helps group s pre-tax profit rise 12% to £2.52m.
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News
Euro helps plant sales to 10-year high
European construction plant sales reached a 10-year high in 1998 as contractors prepared for a euro-fuelled boom in construction spending, according to a report by Off-Highway Research consultancy. Sales of £20bn for heavy plant and equipment were described as little short of startling , and ascribed to a combination ...
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News
Rugby to close down plants
Materials producer Rugby Group is closing two UK door and window manufacturing plants after the strength of the pound caused a 20% dive in joinery sales last year. The company is now in advanced discussions to sell its joinery and US distribution divisions, so it can focus on ...
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News
Lampl to keep helm when Bovis floats
Sir Frank hints that company may be listed under support services.
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News
Blue Circle fails to impress
Financial crises in emerging markets knocked Blue Circle s pre-tax profit down 7% to £317.6m before exceptionals in 1998. Sales at the cement behemoth were steady at £2.3bn. Asia s contribution to group profit slumped from £32.3m to £10m, although the group has used the market slump as an opportunity ...
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Features
It's a weird and wonderful world
Yorkshire's Earth Centre, the first of 14 landmark millennium projects to open, pushes the green message with a mix of bizarre, fantastic and startling sights.
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Features
The outsider
Stepping down as a regional director of Bovis to take the helm of a family-run firm is a brave move. But it is one that has left Cliff Bryant feeling supercharged .
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Comment
Not the grand opera
First person The refurbished Royal Opera House should be an exhilarating addition to Covent Garden. So why is it so dull?
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Features
Sun, sea and service stations
British consultants are moving in on the Spanish leisure facilities construction market, currently as hot as the Mediterranean sun.
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Features
High-wire act
A new footbridge over London s Royal Victoria Dock is a stunning addition to the landscape, but why was it built asymmetrically 15 m above the water?
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Features
Pros and coms
Faced with a large and complex project for BAA, QS Currie & Brown developed its own software package ProCom to keep track of cost changes. How does it work?
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Features
A little lesson in liability
Once the defects liability period of a JCT Minor Works Contract has expired, a client can no longer file a defects claim. That s what one builder thought but the Court of Appeal disagreed.
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Features
Breaking the speed limits
Adjudication offers rapid, cheap claims resolution, but has been hamstrung by doubts about how the courts would deal with it. After the latest pronouncement, however, everything is becoming clear.
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Features
Construction management
The second of our occasional series explaining procurement methods takes a look at what is involved in construction management.
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Features
Less than zero
Looking behind the headlines of the chancellor s recent budget, there is little to encourage the building industry and some changes, such as those to VAT, may lead to significant extra costs.
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Features
Contract lure
Robert Smith of recruitment consultant Hays Montrose explains why more and more construction workers are turning to fixed-term contracts.