Opinion – Page 596
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Comment
Fain would I dwell on forms
JCT standard contract forms may be very useful, but are they truly works of literature? As far as copyright law goes, yes – so make sure you remember this
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Comment
Pay and display
If adjudicators do not get their fees, they can't simply withhold their decision. But even if they do, that's not grounds for challenging the decision itself
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Comment
Self-inflicted crisis
It is certainly true, as Georgia Elliott-Smith points out (Sitelife supplement, October 2003), that construction is a lot younger and more dynamic than people think – or at least it should be.
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Comment
Jacks of all trades
We run a postgraduate course for construction industry professionals, Interdisciplinary Design for the Built Environment, at Cambridge University, and we tackle the issues raised in the letter “Radical thinking” (10 October, page 36).
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Comment
Be specific
A two-stage procurement strategy for the Chemistry Building for Queen Mary University of London was described as "traditional" (18 July, page 64), presumably in the expectation that readers were familiar with the procedure.
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Comment
A tale of two monarchies
“There is no more miserable human being than one in whom nothing is habitual but indecision,” wrote William James, Henry’s smarter brother, in his Principle Of Psychology.
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Comment
Check the expiry
Tesco was understandably peeved when one of its superstores burned down, and it wanted cash back. But was the claim past its sell-by date?
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CommentCruel and usual treatment
You contractors get stroppy when your subbies fail to deliver, but the culprit is often the dodgy, lazy, time-honoured ways of the good old British building industry
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Comment
Defective thinking
What do defects have to do with retentions? Nothing. Zero. Zip. Zilch. Nada. Sweet Fanny Adams. But just you try telling the government that …
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Comment
Would you like some more money?
Not only are your labour-only subcontractors entitled to holiday pay, but if your arrangements for giving it to them are unclear, you could end up doling out twice
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Comment
Bye-bye, Bambi
The Be Collaborative contract is another adorable newborn legal fawn taking its first unsteady steps towards the combine harvester of the construction industry
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Comment
Who'll take on apprentices?
I'd like to respond to the news of a new training board (3 October, page 3).
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Comment
Fit for a comedy sketch
With reference to Roger Knowles' letter (10 October, page 36) and the rather tired debate over the RICS, may I point out that architects, engineers and solicitors all have their own specialisms yet remain quite content to practise under the generic banner of their profession.
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Comment
Show a bit of initiative
I was encouraged by the story "Clarke: Skills council will end need for foreign workers" (3 October, page 13).
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Comment
Do one job well
We have been watching several professional organisations agonise over agendas for change for some time now, among them the RICS and the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators.
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Comment
Not so special
Your article "The Techmeisters" (26 September, page 74) was either written with tongue firmly in cheek or you fell under the spell of snake oil salesmen intent on cornering a market.
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Comment
Hearing you loud and clear
I read your news item about housebuilders being spared the need to test their houses for adequacy of sound resistance (29 August, page 13) and thought, what a shame.
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Comment
More to restore …
I recently watched Restoration on BBC2. Like many, I was both interested and depressed.
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CommentHow can you say that?
The Treasury would have us believe that the PFI can do no wrong. But, as James Nesbit points out, its data makes genuine comparisons impossible