Opinion – Page 595

  • Comment

    Hansom

    2003-11-21T00:00:00Z

    This week, our man with the Fred Astaire cane sees a colleague pressed into a press launch, gets a lesson in fluency and catches up on the future of retail

  • Comment

    Green ideas, grey areas

    2003-11-21T00:00:00Z

    Carbon-counting websites, environmental profiles, tax breaks for investors in renewable energy… Good ideas? Well, only if they're thought up by the right people

  • Comment

    Wonders & blunders

    2003-11-21T00:00:00Z

    Simon Allford raises a cheer for a much-loved oval but is unable to celebrate one of the world's most famous squares

  • Comment

    The good book

    2003-11-21T00:00:00Z

    Professional negligence claims are often of the 'there but for the grace of God' variety, so a guide on the subject may help you swing things in your favour

  • Comment

    Losing made easy

    2003-11-21T00:00:00Z

    Designers who contravene health and safety legislation can be pursued by the criminal courts or by any number of aggrieved parties through the civil courts

  • Comment

    I think we need to talk

    2003-11-14T00:00:00Z

    Email and CAD have revolutionised information exchange, but unless everyone is using the same system, technology can create more problems than it solves

  • Comment

    A case of foot and mouth

    2003-11-14T00:00:00Z

    If you think an adjudicator has no right to decide a dispute, be careful about what you say – you can lose the right to have the court overturn the result

  • Comment

    A watertight sieve

    2003-11-14T00:00:00Z

    It's an all-risks insurance policy! Every single risk is covered! Nothing's left out! It's completely watertight! You can't lose! Unless, of course … Oh dear …

  • Comment

    When the neighbours can hear you

    2003-11-14T00:00:00Z

    We all adore the French but anyone planning to get involved in construction operations there needs to be aware of their potential liabilities to the neighbours

  • Comment

    One mean industry

    2003-11-14T00:00:00Z

    They talk a lot about sabotage on site, but maybe they ought to look for the guys who wrecked the industry's labour relations … with apologies to Raymond Chandler

  • Comment

    Hansom

    2003-11-14T00:00:00Z

    The battle of the biscuits gets dirty, basic functions for mathematicians and why have one washing machine when 10 will do?

  • Comment

    Why retentions are good …

    2003-11-14T00:00:00Z

    To counter Tony Bingham's argument in "Ask the aspidistra" (31 October, page 50), here are a few words in support of retentions:

  • Comment

    Stop bashing the subbies

    2003-11-14T00:00:00Z

    As an ex-specialist subcontractor, now practising project planning and delay analysis, I wanted to thank Tony Bingham for his article on subcontractors' delivery (24 October, page 61).

  • Comment

    Gis' a job

    2003-11-14T00:00:00Z

    A suggestion to the powers-that-be at the Health and Safety Executive, regarding an untapped "eyes and ears" resource (10 October, page 11, and 24 October, page 43).

  • Comment

    A (credulous) reader writes

    2003-11-14T00:00:00Z

    Congratulations on your review with 50 great ways to improve the industry (24 October, pages 42-49).

  • Comment

    No need for pre-nups …

    2003-11-14T00:00:00Z

    Regarding "Eat your heart out, J-Lo" by Luke Wessley (31 October, page 35): With certain contractors or subcontractors a pre-nuptial agreement is a must – but there is a way round this.

  • Comment

    … and what about quality?

    2003-11-14T00:00:00Z

    I see that Luke Wessely takes issue with lawyers who "focus on whether you used the specified number and type of fixings" rather than "whether you've done a good job". Isn't a check against specification a right and proper measure of how good a job is?

  • Comment

    I just have to say it

    2003-11-14T00:00:00Z

    I will fall into the elephant trap set by your anonymous correspondent regarding the "tired debate over the RICS" (Letters, 24 October, page 36) and comment that he is either completely clueless as to what a quantity surveyor does or he is a disillusioned QS with very poor training.

  • Comment

    By Jove, I think you've got it!

    2003-11-14T00:00:00Z

    Reading your front cover on 24 October, showing on-site babies with hods, I asked myself: What hare-brained schemes are they going to promote this time?

  • Comment

    Lessons in sight and sound

    2003-11-14T00:00:00Z

    Bexley Business Academy is a radical new school that will change the way education buildings are designed in the UK.