Category

Clients could face a tax of 0.5% of construction costs if they choose contractors who don’t invest in research and development or skills training. That is one of the ideas in a radical review of the construction industry currently being pored over by Government ministers who commissioned it. The Farmer Review of the UK Construction Labour Model warns the industry faces “inexorable decline” unless major changes are made. It highlights construction’s “dysfunctional training model”, lack of innovation and collaboration and “non-existent research and development culture.” Author and consultant Mark Farmer said the needs of construction firms and the clients who hire them are out of step. He said: “If you buy a new car, you expect it to have been built in a factory to …

Read more »

When it comes to crane mats, many people are surprised to find out that timber mats are very popular in a lot of industries. It’s easy to dismiss wood as a primitive, out-dated material that is best consigned to rustic-style kitchens and artisan bakeries. Since the industrial revolution, we’ve come to rely more on metals – steel in particular – in our industries, so what makes timber so valuable when it comes to crane mats? Timber, it seems, offers several advantages over steel when used for crane mats. Here are a few of the major ones. Timber weighs significantly less than steel Steel is much heavier than timber, as you no doubt already know. The extra weight of steel makes moving the crane mats into …

Read more »

The Government needs to fire-up a massive school building programme to deliver more than 2,000 schools in England by 2020 to meet booming pupil numbers. Over 24,000 extra classrooms required in the next four years The depth of the country’s school places crisis has been thrown into the spotlight in new research for public sector procurement specialist Scape Group. Local authorities now predict the number of primary and secondary school pupils will swell by an extra 729,000 by 2020. To meet this demand the Government needs a radical rethink of it school building programme. This would include setting new targets to build 1,744 primary schools and 378 secondary schools in the next four years. This equates to two new schools every day to meet the shortfall. More than 500 of these would be needed in London alone to head off…

Read more »

Civil engineering contractors are calling on the Government to dump over-bureaucratic EU procurement rules. The Civil Engineering Contractors Association has been carrying-out a year-long study into improving procurement for infrastructure projects. Now the association is calling for action ahead of the Autumn Statement as the Government implements its Brexit timetable. CECA Head of External Affairs, Marie-Claude Hemming said: “Civil engineering contractors are primed to deliver a substantial project workload over the coming years. “Yet their ability to deliver these projects in the most efficient way is increasingly being stymied by burdensome procurement processes on projects large and small. “Research suggests that this burden is caused, in part, by the rules that are enforced as a result of EU procurement regulations. “While some of…

Read more »

Stirling-based Robertson Group is predicting main contractors will have to rebalance margins as project bank accounts become commonplace on public sector work in Scotland. Chairman Bill Robertson predicted a fundamental business model shift as he unveiled another year of strong profit growth to March 2016. He predicted further upward pressure for healthier main contractor margins would result from greater involvement of private sector funders in the industry. Robertson said: “Due to the changing source of funders in our market the group board believes that healthier margins in our sector will be a requirement of participation by funders to major projects and businesses. “Our group companies therefore will continually focus on a growing return on capital and improving risk profile in our projects in preference to growth in volume. “Indeed, in construction, if the intended …

Read more »

The Government is pledging £5bn of public money to accelerate building of tens of thousands of homes. Under the latest plan to galvanise the house building industry, ministers will set aside £2bn of new public borrowing to fund an Accelerated Construction Scheme to make public land with planning permission available to builders. A further £3bn home building fund using previously-announced cash will provide loans to stimulate new building projects where finances are tight. Builders will be encouraged through these funding pots to use more modern building techniques in the hope of delivering homes twice as quickly. Also new rules will be introduced to make it easier for developers to demolish offices and replace them with residential housing on a like-for-like basis. Local planning authorities will be able …

Read more »

The UK construction industry now has a female mascot called Honor Goodsite – created by the Considerate Constructors Scheme – the national organisation established to improve the image of the industry. Honor Goodsite will promote all that is great about the industry, helping to raise awareness and inspire young children to consider a career in construction when they grow up, as well as delivering important messages about children’s safety around construction sites. Honor Goodsite is a structural engineer – a key profession within construction – but one which is still very much underrepresented by women. Only six percent of parents surveyed by the Institution of Engineering and Technology said an engineering career would be attractive to their daughters; the challenge is to help change these perceptions among …

Read more »

The Scottish Government is introducing project bank accounts on public work projects to protect subcontractors from insolvency and payment abuse. Subcontractors on the Royal Hospital for sick children called for project bank accounts after the collapse of Dunne Group last month From 31 October, project bank accounts will be a tender requirement on building projects over £4m and civil engineering projects valued over £10m. The Scottish Government has been co-ordinating trials for a couple of years and contractors received the first project bank account payment from NHS Lanarkshire on two work packages worth £1.4m at Monklands Hospital several years ago. The payment was made under the NHS Frameworks Scotland 2 agreement with Graham Construction. Other schemes where the payments were trialled include Transport Scotland’s Inveramsay Bridge project…

Read more »

Crossrail workers have slammed site welfare conditions after having to walk two miles to use a toilet. One worker said: “It’s an absolute joke down there – how can you run a major project like this making people walk for two miles to use the loo? “We haven’t had a mobile toilet in the tunnel down here for weeks now. “We have to walk all the way to Tottenham Court Road which is two miles away.” Workers are also unhappy about a lack of canteens and a site access system described as “chaotic”. Another source said: “There’s only one turnstile to get on site in some places so the queues are chaotic. “You have to leave early to try and beat the rush and lose out…

Read more »

A £4m construction project currently being undertaken by the Highways Division of North Midland Construction plc (NM Group) to enhance public spaces in Sheffield city centre, has provided one young person with paid work experience that should hopefully help him to kick start his career. The NM Group is installing a new footpath and cycleway scheme designed to improve safety and rejuvenate main routes to the University of Sheffield Campus. The company needed additional members of staff to work on the project and turned to Skills Made Easy for help with its search.  Skills Made Easy is a unique government backed programme designed to help businesses overcome skills shortages in the Sheffield City region and also to help young people develop their skills by connecting …

Read more »