Opinion – Page 600
-
CommentA reader writes: A state of gradual collapse
In the latest of our columns by Building readers, Gavin Clarke reveals the awful truth about the Scottish construction market – and tells us who's to blame, too
-
Comment
Desperate measures
Two important themes are emerging from Kate Barker’s inquiry into why we build so few houses.
-
CommentWonders & blunders
Comedian Tony Hawks is uplifted by Gaudí's Barcelona buildings, but just finds the Design Council's offices funny peculiar
-
Comment
The root clause
The appellant, Hewden Tower Cranes Limited, had hired out a crane to the first respondent, Yarm Road Limited, to construct a building at Canary Wharf. The contract between Yarm and Hewden incorporated, among other things, the Model of Conditions of Plant Hire and Yarm's standard terms and conditions. The crane ...
-
Comment
Secret squirrels
Confidentiality is not the preserve of film stars and BBC journalists – obligations of confidence are intrinsic to your common or garden construction contracts
-
CommentThe arrangement
Subbies beware: a client that finds it's hired a dodgy contractor may promise to pay you direct – and then try to wriggle out when it all goes spoon-shaped
-
Comment
The yuppies will save us
Not so long ago, it seemed many UK cities would be better off as farmland. Now, thanks to retail therapy and loft living, we are seeing a great transformation
-
Comment
BigBoy666 vs Ladeeezman
The chat room isn't just a place for lonely hearts and insomniacs. It can be used for online mediation – avoiding the costs of hotel rooms and full-time lawyers
-
CommentRubber chicken: Chickens, sheep and Cowes
Construction’s regatta in Cowes is a great opportunity to get sunstroke, eat raw meat and be tucked up in bed by 9pm with your landlady’s carrot cake
-
Comment
Four acts, one scene
The claimant, Thames Water, sought to recover its full costs of work carried out on a sewer necessitated by the construction of the Jubilee Line by the defendant, London Underground. London Underground contended it was only liable for 82% of the expense incurred by Thames Water as the work to ...
-
Comment
Cut to the bone
If anybody on a site ever heard the great and good discussing Egan reforms, it would sound like a sermon on brotherly love delivered in the middle of a firefight
-
-
Comment
Be serious
The sordid tale of the cocaine-fuelled rise of an industry boss and his debauched nights of three-in-a-limo … Oh, alright, it's about a new form of contract
-
Comment
Brief encounter: Trust or bust
Do partnering contracts promote co-operation, or are they doomed attempts to legislate for virtue? Here the father of PPC2000 faces two of his critics …
-
Comment
School ties
In adjudications involving non-payment, the outcome can depend on which school of thought your adjudicator belongs to. Finding out early on can save you a fortune
-
Comment
No more neighbour-proofing
The news that new homes may not be subject to acoustic insulation testing (29 August, page 13) demonstrates that housebuilders are more worried about their financial returns than the plight of their end users.
-
Comment
Hold your horses
I was astonished to read the news item claiming that 70% of all commercial properties could be made unusable by the effects of global warming (5 September, page 11).
-
Comment
Trust the experts
In your article about the impact of global warming on buildings (5 September, page 11) you gave us a set of doom-and-gloom statements from "experts" Nick Cullen, Geoff Livermore and Bill Dunster.
-
Comment
He started it
I see Luke Wessely is in your columns again trying to tell us all how good he and other trade contractors can be (5 September, page 36). In a perfect world, maybe.