Opinion – Page 497
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Comment
An exclusive deal
The respondent, Stainforth, obtained a loan from the appellant company, Lexi, to purchase a property. Stainforth had difficulty in re-financing the loan and asked Lexi if it knew of anyone who might be interested in buying the property. Lexi knew of a property investor who expressed an interest in buying ...
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CommentSummer larks
After a summer break, your diligent correspondent returns with a silly season round-up including a crackdown on peeping Toms in Bahrain, a Google-wide search for Totty and party animals in Cowes
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CommentDont do it, son!
Matt Bastone writes: “Like another recent contributor, I’ve just returned from St Petersburg, where I saw a repair being carried out to a rainwater downpipe. Access was gained by suspending a wooden platform beneath the overhang. As I took the photo the operative was being helped by his mates back ...
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Comment
Window of opportunity
Paul Jackson is by no means the only homeowner to find that planners do not favour his efforts to reduce carbon emissions by upgrading his Victorian house in the Highbury conservation area in north London (4 August).
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Comment
Im backing Jackson
Many councils seem to be trying to get energy policy right, and have written strict requirements in their Local Development Plans to achieve a high standard of sustainability and energy efficiency – often citing BREEAM and EcoHomes standards as the benchmark. Great, but the requirement will probably not apply to ...
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Comment
But on the other hand
Paul Jackson complains that the planners prevented him putting in double-glazed replacement windows in a Victorian house in a conservation area. Good! It’s not just the oversize plastic sections, it is also the blue tinted glass and the peculiar hollow in the reflections that make such windows look horridly out ...
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CommentThe real story
Your news report on the Liverpool demolitions (4 August, page 19) misses the point. The significance of this story is that after weeks of intense negotiation the council has accepted its responsibility for ensuring good design.
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Comment
Precast concrete has matured
While delighted that Bob Barlov of Pascall + Watson recognises that precast concrete is a robust, durable cladding material (7 July, page 90), I am disappointed that he has been allowed to criticise our industry with comments that are obsolete, ill-founded and unjustifiable.
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Comment
An open letter to Tim Byles
Dear Tim, congratulations on taking up the challenge of the £40bn Building Schools for the Future Programme (. I wish you most sincerely every success – our young people and the teaching staff do deserve better learning environments.
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Comment
A word in your ear
Belatedly following up on your 14 June issue, readers who feel that they have problems with alcohol or drugs would be well advised to phone one of these numbers:
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CommentA slippery slope
A consultant wrote a site investigation report for a developer, who sold the site to another developer, whose property was later damaged by a land slip. Now who do you think got sued?
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Comment
A questionable answer
This summer, the PFI M6 toll road was the subject of another High Court case – this time over whether it’s possible to withdraw a claim from adjudication. But Mr Justice Jackson’s ruling on this raises some troubling problems with adjudication itself
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CommentWhat the Poles have done for us
A construction industry without foreign labour is about as viable as a fish on a skiing holiday. So in the midst of the political hoo-ha over immigration, one thing is clear.
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Comment
A quay decision
British Ports engaged Hydro Soil Services to carry out strengthening works to quay wall 205 at Southampton. The contract was a lump sum contract based on the ICE conditions as amended. Hydro in turn engaged Haecon NV to carry out the design of the strengthening works to the quay ...
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CommentAn idiot’s guide to being an idiot
Rudi Klein Novation transfers the risk of design liability to those who may have had precious little to do with the design. How smart is that?
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CommentDon’t poke lions
Tony Bingham Composite companies hold out the promise of tax savings for the self-employed, so of course they are popular – just make sure you understand how they work so you don’t provoke the taxman
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Comment
An unconventional route
Martino Giaquinto As PFI projects go, the M6 toll road has had more than its fair share of disputes, but now one has gone all the way to the Court of Appeal over the usually straightforward issue of provisional sums