Outnumbered?

Just a note to say how much I enjoy reading Construction Manager, especially the Month in Numbers feature. However I was slightly bemused to see the 7.1m “number” in the June issue. I thought at first you were talking about 7.1 metres, only to discover you were referring to 7.1 million of the imperial unit of square feet! Considering our industry has been metric since 1971 (or thereabouts) I reckoned you must mean 153,000 square metres or therabouts, if my maths is correct. Sorry to sound a bit pedantic, but we don’t want to go the route of the vegetable sellers - especially as a lot of work these days is linked to EU funding and legislation.

You’re not pedantic. It’s a good point well made: but even now some units are still considered (and sold) as imperial (think 2’6” doors or a 2’ by 4’ piece of wood); undeniably many workers - including those born after 1971 - think in feet and inches. And look at real estate hoardings... people are still selling office space (as was the case in last month’s Month in Numbers piece) in sq ft. It’s a mixed-up world, for sure!