Opinion – Page 466
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CommentPot calling kettle
The government wastes £2.6bn of its construction spend, then wonders if the industry is efficient enough. What’s really annoying, though, is that it doesn’t have to be like this
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CommentIves rolls the dice
Francis Ives, the charismatic chairman of Cyril Sweett, has the reputation of being an enterprising fellow.
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Propping Up
The claimant, Hart Investments, sought to hold the first defendant, Fidler, responsible for the collapse of part a building that Hart owned. Fidler was a structural engineer and denied responsibility for the collapse. He was employed by both the claimant and the second defendant, building contractor Larchpark.Hart alleged that Fidler ...
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Genesis: the birth of a regulation
Delegated legislation plays a huge part in the life of the construction industry and it makes sense to know how they come into being in parliament
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A missed opportunity?
The new Pre-Action Protocol for Construction Disputes is to be welcomed. But it won’t stop some litigants from giving the other side the runaround.
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A friend in need
I am writing to tell you about my employer Gleeds. In January I suffered the loss of my father and had to go to Greece to make the appropriate arrangements. I had no idea how long I would have to be there, only that I needed to be on the ...
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Backing Brown’s green towns
I was interested to read the article “Brown’s eco new town will fail green test” (18 May, page 9). It is critical that initiatives such as these have the industry’s support. Brown’s eco towns will benefit companies and agencies working on sustainable alternatives to the construction process. By stimulating research ...
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Take the fourth
I read Laurenz Maurer’s useful article (11 May, page 66), but he errs when advising readers “If you are subject to the current … Construction Industry Council (CIC) adjudication terms then notify the responding party that you intend to follow the Scheme instead”.
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CommentHappy as a herring
More zany fun with Britain’s most surreal industry, which this week tries to sell a chief executive while carting around a 12m mechanical plant and coaxing John Prescott out of that broom cupboard
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CommentBuilding buys a pint … for Arup
As I’m meeting Arup for a pint, it’s fitting that the venue is a pub called the Engineer. I’m expecting a sombre place, inhabited by locals drinking at half-a-pint-an-hour beneath the fobbed belly of IK Brunel.
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CommentGet it together
A subcontractor that feels ripped off by the main contractor will hardly sing the praises of partnering. But as long as the whole team is involved, it really can work
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CommentGreen for go
A recent sustainability conference came up with some bright ideas for carbon-cutting products, projects and codes. But the time for talking is over. How do we take action?
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CommentReform is a wonderful thing …
After a decade of busily making the planning system worse, the government has finally given the industry some hope that it might actually improve it.
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CommentGooglitarianism
The next step in Google’s total domination of the internet is iGoogle – a facility that means you no longer need any other websites.
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Why don’t we talk any more?
The Technology and Construction Court’s caseload rose by almost one-fifth last year. But with all this litigation and arbitration, we seem to have lost the ability to negotiate and to mediate