Opinion – Page 493
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CommentFull steam ahead, all guns blazing
As a lobbying group the construction industry acts like a bunch of weekend sailors on a pleasure cruise. James Wates thinks it needs to turn itself into a disciplined navy
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CommentWonders & blunders
David Bellamy worships the Natural History Museum where he learned about botany, but rails against City Hall for its swarms of security guards
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CommentSomething has to be done
Nine out of 10 sites are delayed by the apparent inability of gas, electricity and water suppliers to do what they’re in business to. They can take six months to produce a simple quote. They can charge you £4,000 before they begin to think about putting in a water mains.
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CommentWages of fear
Endangering the minimum wage is just one of the claimed hazards of the new age discrimination law. The bloggers have uncovered even greater depths of influence.
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CommentNet result
For the fans, the Arsenal stadium is a great result, but architecturally it’s in the second division
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CommentFloored by a contract
A contractor has withheld £250k from a flooring firm and told it the contract states it has to arbitrate directly with the client. How can it best recover the money it is owed?
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CommentThat’s the way the money goes
Less than a third of all construction employers contribute to the levy for training, yet the entire industry benefits. Still need convincing? Read on…
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CommentPrefabrication in the sixties
Now and then — David Rogers on the government’s endless efforts to get the industry to embrace modern methods
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CommentIn a packed page
… this week we bring you airborne executives, amphibious journalists, frustrated ministers, belligerent philanthropists, disguised contractors and engineering gourmands …
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CommentDont panic!
We all hope we’d cope in a crisis, but few of us plan for one. In the first of our security series Angus Darroch-Warren explains what to do when the nightmare scenario strikes …
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CommentA culture of risk
Denise Chevin’s leader about the economic impact of Eastern European workers on the UK construction industry (25 August, page 3) makes a lot of sense.
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College farce
The news that the National Construction College is facing closure (29 September, page 28) is the most ridiculous thing I’ve read in Building for years – we’re building the Olympic site on top of everything else and shutting down the facility we need to train people at the same time? ...
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Almshouses for the future
I read Mark Leftly’s blog on freeing up controls on retirement homes (26 July, www.building.co.uk/blogs) with incredulity. Perhaps he ought to talk to some people a bit closer to retirement.
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We’re already hands-on, John
I read John Spanswick’s column (15 September, page 32) with some amusement. Perhaps if he were to open his eyes, he would realise that there is, in fact, intelligent life outside of the headquarters of the Major Contractors Group.
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CommentThe Wiltshire Evel Knievel
After our whistlestop world tour of safety blunders, we’re back in Blighty this week to witness a (hopefully) death-defying stunt involving a motorbike, a couple of ladders and a nice, slopey roof.
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