Opinion – Page 614
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Know your onions
Tony Bingham Here's another take on the controversial case of the architect who got sued after specifying the wrong panels, despite the client's giving false information
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No records, no claim
This was an application by the attorney general for the Falkland Islands (on behalf of the Islands' government) for the determination of a preliminary point of law in arbitration proceedings. Gordon Forbes and the government entered into a FIDIC fourth edition contract in 1997 to carry out some building works. ...
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Bombs on a budget
This week, our attentions shift to the damage that the war is causing on the home front (pages 22-23). It would be a cruel irony if investment in public services was halted to pay for Iraq just when the contracts are starting to flow. But nobody is under any illusions ...
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A voyage to Psychotropia
"Art deco was kitsch and camp and gently surreal, and architects who take themselves too seriously have always taken it too seriously, too." Discuss …
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So much energy, so little time
I am writing in response to your piece on the government's energy white paper (28 February, page 15), which outlined targets for reducing carbon dioxide emissions from buildings. A few days later, the government announced a much-needed £20m grant aid programme to stimulate the installation of photovoltaic cells in buildings.Fronted ...
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In safe hands
Philip Harris' article on the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations (14 March, page 54) is an interesting approach to the question of how to enforce what he calls "unpopular and ineffective legislation". But if CDM is unpopular, who is going to bother enforcing it if the Health and Safety Executive ...
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There's no such smell
I have just been catching up on last week's edition of Building and enjoyed the collection of interviews entitled "The children's crusade" (21 March, page 44). However, Jonathan Manser confused me in saying that the smell of wet concrete was one of his earliest memories. In my 35 years in ...
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We're all taxmen now
The Inland Revenue intends to introduce a new scheme for policing tax collection, and once again it shifts the onus onto you, dear reader
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Pleasure and punishment
What has compensation for the mental anguish caused by a holiday from hell got to do with the construction industry? Rather more than you may think, alas
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Dumb or what?
The drive to deliver high-value, high-quality design is being hampered by a class system that prevents architects and engineers from talking to specialists as equals
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CommentGet your retaliation in first
Contractual documentation fosters an atmosphere of trust and co-operation between parties in which fairness and mutual … oh, lordy, who am I kidding?
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Homes comfort
Whenever housebuilders meet nowadays, they can be seen staring intently at one another and muttering, "this is going to be an interesting year". Never ones to talk down business, what they are really saying is: life is pretty damn difficult. The industry is facing more demands than ever before, with ...
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Why don't we build more houses?
Despite record growth in house prices, the number of new homes we build continues to decline. Housing output per head of population in the UK is lower than in any other major western economy. This trend is unlikely to reverse in the next few years. It is the ...
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Imhotep & Sons
The first ever architect was so successful, his descendants became pharoahs. Now, 4500 years later, the profession is still plagued by the unreliability of dynasties
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Lost clauses
An architect can't just put the RIBA adjudication provisions into a contract with a homeowner and hope for the best. If he doesn't draw attention to them, they may be worthless
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At the mercy of the panel
The combustibility of cladding panels is a hot topic, and it's left one architect facing millions of pounds in damages and building owners struggling to afford insurance
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It's still all to play for
I want to respond to Steve Elkin's letter (14 March, page 34), which criticised the Construction Industry Training Board for "pulling the funding" of Regional Construction Careers Groups.
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Vote of no confidence
Harking back to Tony Bingham's "Blair vs Hussein" article (28 February, page 50), I would find in favour of Mr Hussein.