Opinion – Page 594
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CommentLessons in civility
Construction is an altogether more complex process than it used to be – and this raises tricky questions about how firms should treat each other
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It's how you sell 'em
state agents have traditionally received little warmth or sympathy when cropping up as a topic of conversation. Over the dinner party table, in the pub over a pint or at the school gates, it's very often the same story: "They do very little, for a lot of money". The list ...
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Who cares?
"Once they had my money, they just didn't care," was a common refrain from new homebuyers surveyed by warranty provider Zurich Insurance for its Customer First survey. For all the customer care programmes and defects reduction initiatives, Zurich's survey (page 6), shows customers are still not very satisfied with the ...
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Granting a sultan's wish
Architects are capable of anything – as long as they're given unlimited funds, resources and co-operation, and have no competition. Ah, them were the days …
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Welcoming our guest workers
David Blunkett's imperious asylum policy – outlined in the Queen's Speech – may have profound implications for construction.
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Flights of fancy
I was astounded by the impracticality of the proposed revamp of terraced houses by Shed KM featured in your article "Sex in Coronation Street" (7 November, pages 48-50).
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Utopia – we're almost there
I enjoyed reading the "Not the Egan Review" (24 October, pages 42-49), which could go a long way to creating Utopia in the industry.
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To be remote, be intimate
In relation to your article "Good Morning, Vietnam" (5 September, pages 38-41), I would like to point out that many outsource companies are trying to produce information without knowledge or experience of the UK.
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Not in my name
I was less than impressed with your wild editing of my letter to make a politically correct point (7 November, page 35).
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Full marks for construction training
As a student at Loughborough University studying construction engineering management, I would like to comment on the article about construction students by Kate Allen (14 November, pages 44-47).
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Private space vs open plan
Paul Morrell ("Are you being served?", 17 October, page 41) commented that we ought to know how much well designed offices aid productivity.
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Broken homes
I wonder if the government is aware of the upheaval its new Home Condition Report for surveyors might generate.
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Sound and fury
I got the impression from your article "When walls have ears" (5 September, pages 56-57) that the industry was suggesting a radical new approach, but a method of robust standard details has been working successfully in Scotland for years under the term "deemed to satisfy".
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Legalised coupling
As we became a limited liability partnership in 2001 – admittedly one of the first – we were puzzled by James Bessey's claim (7 November) that LLPs became legal only in April 2003.
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CommentWonders & blunders
I take a dim view of 5000-year-old project management, but look kindly on a 21st-century model of good practice
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Payment barrier
The claimant, Dean & Dyball, had retained the defendant consulting engineers to design an impounding gate across the entrance of a marina. The defendant designed a gate that was manufactured and installed in the entrance to the marina, but that never worked properly. The claimant brought a claim for breach ...
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Beware of the bats
Two recent cases in the Court of Appeal illustrate how tortuous and legalised the planning process has become – especially when animals are involved
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Cos I say so
A recent Court of Appeal case clarifies when an adjudicator has the authority to decide his own authority and whether the parties have to go along with him