Opinion – Page 564
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Comment
Way off
Although I’m a strong advocate of off-site manufacture (OSM), I have to take issue with your Offsite supplement (1 October). OSM will only succeed if it can match the design quality and cost effectiveness of traditional building. Few of the featured projects showed any of John Prescott’s ‘wow’ factor, and ...
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Comment
One-eyed jock
Lord Fraser’s report on Holyrood appears to me to be one-eyed, ignoring as it does the plight of the trade contractors involved. The building may well have cost its owners – the taxpayers – £431m but I surmise the cost to its builders, trade contractors and the professional team is ...
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Comment
On different tracks
I don’t claim to be an expert in construction project management, or indeed public transport, but to attempt to compare the state of the railways with construction, as Paul Morrell does (3 September, page 40), is surely wrong. Railways provide a service to the clients – the passengers – who ...
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Comment
Gone with the wind
The objections to on-shore wind farm schemes (24 September, page 70) are classic nimbyism. Would the objectors prefer a nuclear power station on the green fields? At least with wind farms, when they are removed you wouldn’t know they had even been there.
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CommentGive us our money back
Colin Harding The government’s Pensions Bill is proof that it is waging a war against small employers. It is time to take our savings out of the Treasury’s hands
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CommentSeduced by simplicity
Last week Ashley Pigott used the Holyrood fiasco to take a pop at construction management – but easy targets don’t help us understand complex problems
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Comment
Competitive streak
James Foster Under pressure from the EU, the government has reclassified registered social landlords as public bodies. The ramifications for procurement are far-reaching
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CommentIsn’t it obvious?
You may not be entirely surprised to learn that when it comes to construction law the most obvious meaning of a word isn’t necessarily the right one. Context is all
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CommentWonders & blunders
A civilised street with space for everything turns into an eyesore that should have no place on this small planet, says Bill Bryson
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Comment
Rouse … to Simmons
Succession is a tricky proposition, especially when your predecessor has made the job his own. Witness the plight of Jonny Wilkinson, the wunderkind of English rugby, who has been handed the captaincy of his national side last week after an eight-month injury. He has the small challenge of getting the ...
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Comment
The moment to mediate
The claimants Yorkshire Bank, had been involved in litigation with the defendants in respect of four coaches that the claimants had engaged RDM Asset Finance Limited to recover and sell. The claimants at trial had been successful in respect of only one of the coaches, but nonetheless recovered £65,000 together ...
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CommentGreen grass roots
Since politicians clearly cannot be trusted to tackle climate change, it’s up to the lowly masses to make a difference – and that includes designers and engineers
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CommentGood times don’t come cheap
“We’ve had six fantastic years of steady growth. Now it feels much more fragile.”
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CommentThat settles it
So, you’ve dispensed with the expensive lawyer and drawn up the final settlement yourself. Here’s how to make sure the agreement means what it says
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CommentTrouble in the nursery
The Latham payment review panel has failed to produce an ABC for squabbling subbies. Nanny government must decide when to step in, and when to keep clear
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Comment
The dangers of dropping an E
A court found that a developer accidentally dropped a crucial clause ‘E’ from a contract, but then deliberately ignored its own mistake. The judge was not happy …
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CommentHe knew he was right
Construction management has failed several Arts Council projects and now the Scottish parliament. Of course, if those clients had just listened in the first place …