News

The Chartered Institute of Building has launched a call for evidence into skills, materials and new technology in the housing sector. The work forms part of a wider coalition – the National Housing Taskforce – which has been convened by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Housing and Planning. The Taskforce, which has already met with new Housing Minister Gavin Barwell MP, is operating across 12 distinct areas of work to take a holistic view of how to tackle the housing crisis, covering everything from planning reform to housing associations, and construction skills to mortgage finance. Each work-stream is being led by a relevant organisation which will submit recommendations to the Taskforce later in the year. The CIOB’s …

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Construction Workers and Asbestos Exposure Asbestos has been used extensively in the construction industry throughout the world. In the UK this material was still being used up to 1999, while in other countries its use was discontinued decades earlier. The reason for no longer using asbestos for insulation, roofing, and other construction components is that inhaling its fibers can lead to health problems. These include the aggressive and most often deadly type of cancer called mesothelioma. The UK has some of the highest rates of mesothelioma because of the extensive use of asbestos and the late discontinuance. The number of cases of this cancer has been rising for decades, as has the number of deaths caused by it. Each year for the last few years, more than 2,000 men …

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The Construction Industry Training Board has raised grave concerns about the government’s planned new apprenticeship levy warning that it could see funding for construction apprenticeships cut by nearly a third. Chiefs at the CITB have warned that contractors may be expected to make up finding shortfalls putting them off taking on needed apprentices. They are now urging contractors to raise their concerns during the Government’s consultation on the levy. The Department for Education revealed details of the planned apprenticeship levy earlier this month. Under plans now out to consultation apprenticeships will be graded into 15 new bands with funding allocated in each from £1,500 to £27,000. Steve Hearty, Head of Apprenticeships at CITB, said: “The Government’s proposed funding bands for framework apprenticeships raise real concerns for the construction industry…

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Highways England engineers and contractors have reopened the M20 after a busy weekend clearing the debris following a footbridge collapse onto the motorway in Kent after it was hit by a lorry carrying a wheeled excavator on Saturday. Motorcyclist suffers broken ribs and lorry driver treated for shock One half of the bridge crashed on to a second lorry on the London-bound carriageway between junction 1 and 4, leaving the other half hanging over the southbound carriageway. A motorcyclist was hurt whose injuries were described as not life-threatening and the driver of the second lorry was treated for shock. Witnesses said they felt “lucky to be alive” after the 170 tonnes section of bridge came down shortly after noon on Saturday in busy traffic at the start of the August bank holiday weekend. Engineers…

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The Rail Accident Investigation Branch has launched a probe into a bridge which collapsed while drilling work was being carried out. The Midland Main Line was closed for two days The bridge at Barrow on Soar partially collapsed onto the Midland Main Line below on August 1 causing rail chaos for commuters as services were suspended. The RAIB said: “At the time of the collapse, drilling work was being undertaken to investigate a depression in the footpath on the south side of the bridge. “There were a number of pre-existing defects in the bridge structure which Network Rail had been monitoring for some years. “Shortly after drilling commenced to take soil samples for analysis, cracks appeared in the footpath, and then the adjacent wall, footpath and the…

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Skills shortages are wrecking the quality of workmanship on construction projects. Scape Group has carried out a major survey of the construction supply chain which highlights the impact of the skills crisis. Sustainability in the Supply Chain found 58% of contractors and suppliers cited shortages as negatively impacting the quality of their workmanship. The problem is worse in the public sector with 85% of managers seeing the quality of their built environment projects negatively affected by skills shortages. Lack of labour is also busting budgets with 80% of public sector respondents and just under 40% of contractors and consultants blaming skills shortages for cost rises. Mark Robinson, Scape Group Chief Executive, said: “Our research has shown that the skills shortage is at breaking point, not only severely…

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Brookfield Multiplex has warned that its £150m Royal Hospital for Sick Children project in Edinburgh will be completed at least six months late after being hit by the collapse of two key trade contractors Brookfield Multiplex is hastily drawing up a new construction programme in the wake of the collapse of Dunne Group and JB Brickwork The project programme, which was already challenged by bad weather and technical construction issues, has now been hit by the collapse of concrete contractor Dunne Group last month and more recently trade contractor JB Brickwork entering provisional liquidation. Building consortium IHS Lothian is responsible for design, build, financing and maintaining the new hospital, with Brookfield Multiplex delivering the build, Bouygues E&S due to handle FM and finance from Macquarie…

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Cutting thousands of construction and housebuilding jobs would be the ‘first nail in the coffin’ for the industry, according to One Way. An analysis by the construction and rail recruitment specialist outlined that a further loss of jobs would prove critical for the construction sector. This comes at a time when the National Housing Federation has said any slowdown in housebuilding would result in the loss of nearly 120,000 construction jobs over the next decade. The UK’s construction sector has also slipped into recession for the first time in four years, with many commentators suggesting the industry is in turmoil and that the government must do more to support housebuilding. Paul Payne, Managing Director of One Way, agrees: “The news that the construction industry has slipped back into …

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Nearly everything nowadays is made with steel. Your sinks are made with stainless steel, the building you’re sat in will have been created from steel structures and your car is made of steel. Steel is a strong and durable material that has a complex fabrication process, especially the development of modern steels which have a larger variety of shapes and sizes. Steel fabrication is the process used to manufacture steel components, which can be assembled and joined together to form complete steel frames which we use in building structures or cars. Frames are generally built en-masse and are readily available from steel stockholders. In some cases the standard frames may not be the correct shape or size for the consumer and new shapes can be created …

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A major new survey on the impact of Brexit on the building services engineering sector has been launched by leading industry trade bodies. Results of the survey will help the Electrical Contractors’ Association, Building Engineering Services Association and SELECT negotiate with Government. Paul Reeve, Director of Business Services at the ECA said: “It’s now up to our sector to help shape UK government policy and to identify the opportunities, and solutions to the challenges ahead.” Rob Driscoll, Director of Commercial and Legal at BESA added: “The referendum vote has created business uncertainty and knocked confidence just when the economy was showing signs of gradual recovery after the financial crash. “However, there is a lot of misinformation and scaremongering out there – the UK is in danger…

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