Opinion – Page 401
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CommentThe uses of adversity
No two ways about it: the downturn is depressing for everybody, except perhaps the bankers who kept their bonuses. But, says Gus Alexander, there are crumbs of comfort if you search hard
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CommentWebmaster top tips: Accessibility
Building's webmaster continues his series of handy hints by talking you through how to make your site accessible
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A decade of pay growth and shortening hours for the construction workforce
Whatever the current worries facing those working in construction, they can reflect on the past 10 years with satisfaction when it comes to pay and hours worked.Pay has risen far faster than for most other sectors and the number of paid working hours has fallen.Delving into the 2008 Annual Survey ...
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MJ Gleeson boss bags £70k bonus
When MJ Gleeson chief exec Paul Wallwork announced a pre-tax loss of £21m last month, he warned of more job cuts to follow the 335 already made this year.His £70k bonus - announced this week - must have been pretty hard to swallow for those already shown the door.The company ...
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CommentBuilding buys a pint … for Whitelaw Turkington
“Did you hear about that French guy who got his hand stuck down the toilet today?” Ian Turkington announces before I’ve even sat down. Wow, this is going to be an interesting night.
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CommentWe’ve got the answers!
To such questions as ‘How do you survive the recession using only baked beans and window cleaning fluid?’, ‘Does a large prison sound less scary than a Titan prison?’ and “Where do all the leaves go?’
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Asking the impossible
I read with some interest your article (17 October, page 24) on making owners improve property before letting it out or selling it.
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Monkeying around
The OFT has found some recruitment companies guilty of price fixing. Why is it that nothing surprises me any more?
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Energy challenges
The shortage of assessors caused by the dearth of green projects (24 October, page 50) could be the least of our worries in the looming skills crisis.
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CommentEarn your spurs
As a Spurs supporter and frequent attender at White Hart Lane, I strongly welcome the confirmation of the development plans for a new stadium. However, a critical issue will be accessibility to the new ground.
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Wrapping up waste
Colin Mitchell makes a number of points about the early development of site waste management plans (SWMPs) and the need for mechanisms for identifying, measuring and scoring approaches to SWMP regulations (September 12, page 93).
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CommentScaling new heights
Thanks to Dezirée Lindsay from Dallas who sent us this astonishing picture of a digger clawing its way up a building.
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CommentMy digital life: David Appel
Mr A’s digital life is a pretty normal round of social networking, reading friends’ blogs, watching sport, learning French – and wanting to buy a Batmobile
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CommentHard times
At the time of writing, the Royal Society for Arts was planning a debate on the question: “What kind of economy and society will emerge from the new age of austerity?”
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Permission to appeal
The CaseThis case concerns an application by the claimant, Majorboom, for permission to appeal under section 69 of the Arbitration Act 1996 on several questions of law arising from an arbitrator's award.Majorboom developed a property in Manchester by converting it into flats. Following completion of the flats a company, Stonebridge ...
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It's been emotional
It can't be easy being the boss of a housebuilder at the moment. The incessant flow of bad news must take its toll.But while some are proving they have the hides of elephants, others appear to be wilting under the pressure.If rumours in the square mile are to be believed, ...
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Construction redundancies hit 10-year high and job vacancies drop by a third
The rapidly worsening headline figures for UK jobs are worrying enough for us all. It is a sobering thought to contemplate the pain of 100,000 fewer in fulltime employment and a leap of 140,000 in the number of unemployed over the three months to September.The latest figures for the third ...
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Why bigger contractors were slower to see the oncoming recession
Something that has been puzzling me for some while is why bigger contractors were so slow to accept their may be a recession coming.Up to about springtime in various conversations with fairly senior folk and in notes I'd read from main contractors I noted an air of confidence and talk ...
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House sales plunge further but surveyors see brighter future
The RICS has put an extremely upbeat spin on its latest monthly housing market survey despite the continued collapse in sales.The survey highlights the clear 20% majority of optimists over pessimists among the surveyors quizzed in October about future prospects for sales.This +20 balance in favour of sales increasing in ...