Opinion – Page 556
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CommentMuch done, more to do
Credit where it’s due. When John Prescott and his colleagues gather in Manchester next week to take the pulse of the regeneration effort, they can feel a little pleased with themselves (see pages 40-52).
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CommentSo this is freedom
Lost a tender to a competitor for no apparent reason? Under the Freedom of Information Act you can find out what went on behind closed doors and maybe make a claim …
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CommentChilling thoughts
The M&E engineer on a north London shopping centre paid out £1.25m after tenants complained about the draught. Then it tried to sue the architect …
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What’s your poison?
Asbestos turned into a disaster for construction partly because insurers failed to spot the danger quickly enough. Could they be doing the same now?
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In brow-mopping mode
Clients and lawyers breathed a sigh of relief when the House of Lords overturned a decision that put in doubt the confidentiality of legal advice
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Three reasons to go Belgian
Mark Jackson’s letter (7 January, page 30) raises a number of interesting points on Rudi Klein’s excellent article on single-project insurance (26 November, page 51). However, his final remark, “Rather than being Belgian, let’s be French!”, would have serious drawbacks.
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Dispelling the myth
I have been employed in the construction industry for over 30 years. The majority of this time has been spent in the role of planning and co-ordination and I now spend a proportion of my time involved with time-related disputes.
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Words of experience
Having read your article on aid relief to South-east Asia (14 January, page 15), I would like to draw your attention to my own experiences working in Pakistan and Afghanistan, for several years, in a variety of different organisations.
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The Brick Awards continue to thrive
Last year we not only had record entries and attendance at the Grosvenor House but also, more importantly, a perceptible increase in the quality of the buildings.
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Doing as the Romans did
Mike Taylor of Hopkins Architects casts his mind back – way back – to when brick was used for the world’s greatest buildings …
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On whose authority?
The claimant company Tube Tech International Ltd (Tube Tech) specialised in the cleaning of industrial pipe work and allegedly entered into four contracts for the cleaning of a natural gas plant in Nigeria with the first four defendants (TSKJ) who, it was claimed, was acting as a consortium.The claim was ...
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CommentA morass of ministries
How to provide better representation for the construction industry and keep David Blunkett out of trouble, all in one simple government shake-up
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CommentIt’s so unfair
A court will overrule an adjudicator who has breached the rules of natural justice. An engineer acting under an ICE contract is under no such restrictions …
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CommentEast, west, probity’s best
In donating to the Asian tsunami appeal, generosity is tempered by cynicism over how contracts will be run. But at least the World Bank has found some answers
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The importance of being impartial
Architects who act as contract administrators have an obligation to be fair to all parties. This has dangers that can bring with it serious personal risk
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CommentAnyone for tort?
The law of negligence underpins the legal system. It is therefore just a teeny bit disturbing that the courts can’t seem to decide what it says or who it applies to
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Untying a red tape knot
It was interesting to see that the red tape featured on your cover last week (7 January, page 32) seems to take the form of the webbing often used to save people from themselves. Isn’t that what most regulation is about?
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You forgot Scotland (again!)
You wrote a lot about the the changes to the Building Regulations in England and Wales, but again you fail to mention the Building (Scotland) Act 2003, which alters the building standards system in Scotland from 1 May this year.Sue Bush, building control manager, Inverclyde council