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London’s Wandsworth council has shortlisted five consortia to help it regenerate a major estate next to Clapham Junction rail station. Tenants on the 32-acre estate site support most ambitious redevelopment plan The £1bn Winstanley and York Road scheme will regenerate a 32 acres site creating a new better-designed mixed-use neighbourhood of around 2,000 homes with new retail, leisure, community and office space. The scheme is being promoted as the flagship project in the Government’s crusade to bulldoze and rebuild the country’s worst sink estates. Winstanley and York Road scheme Shortlist Balfour Beatty Infrastructure Investments & First Base Berkeley Group C&C Properties UK & Pinnacle Group Lend Lease Europe Holdings Taylor Wimpey UK Council tenants and owner occupiers are being offered new homes in the development so they…

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New resource from the Considerate Constructors Scheme to capture the social value created through construction London, United Kingdom, 16 March 2016: Building Social Value – a simple way to report on the social value created through construction – has been launched by the Considerate Constructors Scheme for all Scheme registered sites, companies and suppliers. Building Social Value has been developed by the Scheme in conjunction with a number of leading construction companies and industry clients across the UK:  Basildon Borough Council; Kier Group plc; Land Securities Group plc; and Morgan Sindall. By using the Scheme to carry out the report, contractors and clients recognise that gaining a professional, third-party report will help them to evaluate the impact of their construction sites in creating social value. Scheme Monitors will …

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Staff and students from Heart of Worcestershire College rolled up their sleeves, grabbed their toolkits and got down to work as they answered a call to volunteer from BBC One series ‘DIY SOS: The Big Build’. In December last year, construction students from across the College, along with their tutors, headed down to the site in Bidford on Avon to lend a helping hand to Nick Knowles and his team. Getting stuck in straight away Brickwork apprentices, Aidan Woodbine and Dalton Griffiths along with tutor Rob Smith, began helping to construct the main brickwork elevation to the rear of the property before moving on to make alterations to the existing building both internally and externally including creating a feature fireplace wall. Once structural work had been completed …

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Company marks 500th client registration with Considerate Constructors Scheme London, United Kingdom, 8 March 2016: Bellway Homes Limited – one of the UK’s top housebuilders – has been recognised for its long-term commitment to improving the image of the construction industry. The company, which has been in business for over 70 years, reached its 500th client registration with the Considerate Constructors Scheme for the latest phases of The Pavilions development, in Tottenham Hale. Bellway’s The Pavilions is part of a staggering £450m regeneration of the Tottenham Hale area, providing over 1,200 new homes to the north London suburb. A pioneer of considerate construction, Bellway Homes led the way as one of the first housebuilders to register with the Scheme, in 1998. Since then, Bellway Homes has won seven Considerate Constructors …

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The UK construction industry isn’t looking healthy. Output is stagnating and profits are dwindling along with them. With a conservative financial outlook on the industry, many construction companies will soon be forced to head back to the drawing board. This comes after news that the UK’s construction industry put in its worst performance for 10 months in February after the slowest rise in housebuilding since 2013. The Markit/Clips UK construction purchasing managers’ index (PMI) registered 54.2 in February, the lowest figure since last April. Lack of optimism in construction A senior economist at Markit, Tim Moore, said, “Survey respondents noted that underlying business conditions remained favourable, especially in relation to commercial building and infrastructure-related work, but some clients had been hesitant to commit to new projects so far …

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The fear of fire stems from a primitive instinct, one that’s purely survivalist. We know that, despite its inherent usefulness, placing your hand in a fire is about as wise as jumping from the Golden Gate Bridge or hitting a championship boxer in the jaw. But laxness in your fire safety is could prove deadly in the construction industry. Your chip pan going up in flames might cause some cursory damage, but it’s nothing compared to a cavalcade of Calor gas canisters taking out an entire office complex. Fire safety, then, is a problem in all areas of construction work. You have to remain cognisant of your surroundings, ensuring that highly flammable equipment or materials are contained in a safe place is vital to the stable completion …

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« Green buildings » construction seems to be all the rage today as it holds a very important place in today’s environmental policy. The search for carbon neutrality while trying to live in the most sustainable way is a good thing but doing so in “green buildings” is even better. A green building is a “healthy” construction, using natural materials, rejecting the use of toxic substances in the manufacturing of construction materials, limiting negative impacts of human habitat on the environment and reducing energy consumption. Ideally a green construction should adapt to its natural environment and to people, as the inhabitants’ well-being is essential. A green building should implement environmentally-friendly practices in every step of the process: design, construction, maintenance, renovation, demolition and recycling. Sustainable …

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London, United Kingdom, 29 February 2016: The Considerate Constructors Scheme – the national scheme to improve the image of the construction industry – has announced a new star ratings system. Star ratings posters and certificates will be available to use alongside existing Considerate Constructors Scheme signage. This will provide an opportunity for those registered with the Scheme to show to the public how they have performed against the Scheme’s Code of Considerate Practice. They have been created in response to contractors and clients asking for an easy way to demonstrate their considerate credentials to the public. The new US Embassy, which is currently under construction in Nine Elms in Wandsworth, has achieved the top 5 star rating. The site, which is being constructed by B.L. Harbert International, in conjunction …

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UCATT is believed to be in talks to form a “super union” with other construction organisations. We understand that Unite is the front runner to take over UCATT with the GMB and Community other outsiders in the race. UCATT officials are putting a brave face on the move which has been forced on them by a financial crisis. One insider said: “This is all about forming a stronger union for construction workers and Unite would be a sensible place to go with that.” Another union veteran said: “UCATT has run out of money and this move has been forced on them.” It is thought that UCATT officials have now been made aware of the move and any merger would be made official by the end…

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London Mayor Boris Johnson has given final approval for Tottenham Hotspur’s £400m stadium redevelopment at White Hart Lane. Northumberland Development Project also includes homes, hotel and a club museum Spurs now hope to move into the 61,000-seater venue in time for the 2018-19 season. Mace will deliver the stadium with engineer Buro Happold. Concrete and groundworks specialist Morrisroe is currently working on part of the stadium’s foundations. Preliminary work has already begun on the basement level The stadium plans are considered central to the ongoing regeneration of Tottenham, with City Hall already investing £28m in the surrounding area. The club’s Northumberland Development Project also include a hotel, sports centre, health centre, homes and club museum. Mayor Boris Johnson said: “White Hart Lane is already an iconic stadium, steeped in history, and…

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