Opinion – Page 619
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Reversing ahead
Are reverse auctioning and best value legally compatible for public authorities? EU procurement rules would suggest not. But what if the rules change?
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Publicity is weighed, not read
I was dismayed to see the amount of publicity you gave to the racist British National Party (31 January, page 26). This serves absolutely no good purpose to either your magazine or the industry in general. Your sole reason, presumably, for interviewing him was because he is supposedly a ...
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Rebranding without the spin
In his letter, Andrew Charlett (31 January, page 33) calls for a campaign by the Construction Industry Training Board or the Construction Industry Council to address the industry's poor image among graduates.
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Comment
Loose definitions
I was intrigued to note in this week's issue (31 January, page 38) that you have recently introduced a Building Award that "recognises the contribution of young people in construction".
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Teachers are no slouches
I agree with Graham Holden's comments in last week's letters (7 February, page 35) that in general teachers are well remunerated for their work. My wife, a head teacher of a small country school, certainly earns far more than I do as a local government building surveyor.
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Unlikely inspiration
Your legal columnist Tony Bingham tells us that he has recently been giving a helping hand to the Malta Arbitration Centre, acting as a minor judge in an effort to reduce the huge backlog of civil litigation cases.
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Standard issue
Thank you for mentioning the formation of the Modular Society in your Back Issues section (31 January, page 34).
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A future for communism?
Bull Dunster's plans to build the green homes that the traditional development market will not fund (7 February, page 15) are to be applauded, and could be the thin end of what may become a sizeable wedge.
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Ministry of silly sports
Why are we building one dual-use stadium that wouldn't be used for athletics, and considering a £300m athletics stadium that would only be used once?
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The devil's bargain
John Prescott can't cut a deal with the firefighters, but he's found more compliant negotiating partners in housebuilders.
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A write off
Debeck was engaged by T&E for the installation of air-conditioning services as part of a pharmaceutical development in Basingstoke. The parties reached an oral agreement whereby Debeck agreed to undertake the installation of ductwork for £27,000 plus VAT. The work was carried out by Debeck but no payment was made ...
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Pitch battles
With exorbitant interest clauses and dodgy transfer deals, football is not such a funny old game in the courts. For once, construction can just take a seat and spectate
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CommentGo whistle
You may think that recent court cases mean you can add a clever payment clause to your contract and wriggle out of the referee's award. Think again …
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Right plan, wrong man
There's nothing the matter with Ken Livingstone's vision of a city the size of Leeds in Thames Gateway, but he could never build a political coalition to bring it off
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Intercontinental comparisons
Adjudication has many supporters but few of them would claim it's perfect. So perhaps we could learn a few lessons from how it's done in other countries?
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Balance of payments
Whack a huge interest rate on late payments and it may be considered an unenforceable penalty. Go too low and you fall foul of the Late Payments Act
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Some rights and wrongs
I am sorry if John Smith thought that my letter of 17 January was "a collection of anodyne platitudes" (24 January, page 34).
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Comment
OK lads, just, er, do your stuff
In the light of the recent correspondence on training, particularly John Smith's last letter (24 January, page 34), may I draw your attention to a parallel problem facing site managers?