Opinion – Page 423
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CommentEgo-friendly
We’re all depressed. Nobody has cash to buy all our wharfside flats any more. But take heart, says Chris Addison, help is at hand in the form of the the insane, the vain and the very, very rich
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Building buys a pint … for Scott Tallon Walker
The London office of Irish architect Scott Tallon Walker is despondent on this rainy Monday evening. Why? Because their colleagues in Ireland are enjoying a bank holiday.
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CommentLet’s hear it for the engineers
New thinking: We’re qualified, skilled and creative, so why do even our colleagues fail to recognise the importance of engineers? Aaron Wall kicks off a series of columns by our graduate advisory board
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A health check
Health and safety regs set out legal requirements for employers to make suitable risk assessments. It’s not as easy as it sounds…
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CommentGeneration gripe
Fed up with eager young pups at work who don’t know they’re born? Or had enough of hearing how it was back in the old days? Email us anonymously with what’s bugging you about the other generations …
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CommentJust desserts
Bouygues gets its own back on your diarist, BCO delegates take delight in Gordon Brown’s travails, and Lord Foster pours his considerable talent into making a really splendid jelly
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Fewer carrots, more stick
A commercial market should never be allowed to test or qualify sustainability – unless you’re not totally serious about the issue (2 May, page 3).
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CommentEmpty nest syndrome
I was delighted to read your article this week on “Dangerous creatures” (30 May, page 34). You highlighted the effect of having a bat present on site. Do you realise that in reality the law goes much further?
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Rotten at the core
Further to your reports on the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) investigation (16 May and subsequently), bid rigging can only operate if there is a central reporting body that holds all the potential bids for the bidding contractors to manipulate.
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A shrewd investment
I read with interest Lindy Patterson’s article on project bank accounts (23 May, page 59) and thought to myself, if she had actually attended, as I did, the conference at the House of Commons that she wrote about, she would have had the opportunity to hear the answers to the ...
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Stick to the day job
Regarding his decision to design a five-star hotel in Dubai (2 June, building.co.uk), Brad Pitt said: “It will underpin not only my values for environment-friendly architecture, but also embrace my career in entertainment.”
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CommentMy Digital Life - Wayne Hemingway
The fashion guru, housing designer and all-round renaissance man loves to use the internet to buy northern soul and pick up artefacts for his museum, but reckons you still can’t beat a bit of fresh air
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CommentState aid
So, is the industry about to enter a more enlightened era? That’s the idea behind this week’s launch of an industry–government manifesto for improving construction’s performance in several key areas, from sustainability in the ecological sense to sustainability in training and recruitment.
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Unemployment jumps but no sign yet of slump in construction jobs
Employment in the wider economy continued to grow but there was a jump of 38,000 in the number of unemployed in the three months to April, official figures show.Rising unemployment is seen as a key factor in determining the shape of the economic slowdown and if it rises sharply may ...
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Mervyn King warns banks on binge drinking
I have a lot of time for Mervyn King's comments. Here's one from today that I think is worth a look. It is from his speech to the British Bankers' Association on "Banking and the Bank of England"."It is often said that the role of a central bank is to ...
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Thousands of homebuyers in negative equity
Figures provided to the BBC by the Council of Mortgage Lenders show that 23,000 homebuyers took out 100% mortgages in the 12 months to March this year.With house prices as measured by HBOS (Halifax) back to the level of January last year, this means that many if not most of ...
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House price falls - but not 'alf
The Guardian yesterday reported that traders were pricing in a 50% drop in house prices over the next four years. Firstly and personally, I think prices may fall quite deeply. But I don't think they will drop by 50% in "real" terms, unless the economy takes a pretty freaky turn ...
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Big freeze in the housing market threatens the wider economy
The May survey from the property body RICS once again points to house price falls - not deep, but widely spread. But the real threat claim its economists is from a freezing up of the market.Official figures point to a drop of about a quarter in the level of transactions ...
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CommentWeb watch - In your face
If people want to build big horses in Kent towns or vast pylons in city squares, all in the name of art, then good luck to them, says Alex Smith. Of course, it helps that these schemes look good on the web too …