News

Construction of a new £13.5m state of the art three-storey teaching block for Horsham’s Millais School has reached the half-way stage. Funded through West Sussex County Council’s School Capital Building Programme, the works will see a new teaching block to house specialist facilities for art, music and technology and new suites for maths and modern languages. Work started in October last year, and Willmott Dixon is currently on track to finish the second phase of works by November this year. Work is currently in the second of four phases and the team are working toward ultimate completion in November 2015. Headteacher Leon Nettley, chair of governors Liz Barnes, Willmott Dixon’s local managing director John Waterman, and project manager Matt Dubber, attended the event with several …

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Calls are growing to scrap the industry’s CIS tax scheme as HM Revenue & Customs launches consultation on reforms to the current system. Chancellor George Osborne conceded that changes to CIS were needed in his latest budget. The tax man is now calling on construction companies for their views on the scheme which is estimated to cost the industry £250m a year in administration. But industry experts believe the Government should be looking at scrapping CIS rather than just tinkering with the way it operates. Howard Royse, construction industry representative of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW), said: “It is important that people working in the industry take this opportunity to tell HMRC exactly what they think of CIS. “We at ICAEW …

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The BBC will start showing a three-part documentary next week highlighting construction work on London’s Crossrail. BBC 2’s Fifteen Billion Pound Railway starts on 16 July at 9pm and follows work on the new train tunnels and stations under London. Crossrail provided exclusive access over two years to the BBC’s producers Windfall Films who spent time with tunnellers and engineers as construction of the new railway progressed. They witnessed the engineering challenges and key milestones including the spectacular tunnel machine breakthroughs. Crossrail Chief Executive Andrew Wolstenholme said: “The documentary series provides a unique insight into the complexity and challenges of delivering Europe’s biggest construction project through the very heart of London. “Every day people walk past our construction sites unaware of the maze of tunnels that are being constructed …

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There’s a lot to consider when thinking about undertaking a home renovation project:  timescale, budget, planning, logistics, the list is endless and can almost be enough to put off anyone.   But even when you’ve cleared your diary and scheduled everything down to the last second, you’ve got a water-tight plan of action and you have set up stall with everything you could possibly need to hand, there is one thing that many people forget or simply ignore – safety! From the most basic of tasks to the creation of a second home escape at the end of the garden with electricity and running water, there are hazards all around, and it is hugely important to ensure you have the correct protection to avoid an …

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ERP and CAD – the perfect pairing Enterprise Resource Planning known as ERP, and Computer Aided Design (CAD) are perfect partners because they complement each other’s basic features and functions allowing for a fully integrated approach in industries such as construction, engineering and architecture. What are CAD and ERP’s basic functions? CAD programmes provide early-on solutions for the planning and execution phase of a project. The main industries using CAD include construction, engineering and architecture. Enterprise Resource Planning is focused on the commercial and administrative needs of a company with some aspects addressing the planning and managerial sections. ERP provides an overview of the business as a whole, allowing for complete visibility across different functions and aspects of a business. It can successfully track the workflow …

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The Government has given Tottenham Hotspur planning permission to build a 58,000-capacity stadium after a public inquiry. Communities minister Eric Pickles has just approved a compulsory purchase order made by the London Borough of Haringey, which will enable the Northumberland Development Project to continue to proceed. More than 95% of the 3 hectare site has been acquired by agreement and work has already begun on the first phase of the redevelopment plan. The order was requested to allow the final phases to proceed and follows a public inquiry. The redevelopment proposals have had far reaching support from local MPs, the London Mayor’s champion for Tottenham and the chairman of the Independent Tottenham Taskforce. Spurs said the announcement “was a very significant step” and now hope to be able to …

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New figures released by the Government show it has smashed its target to roll out project bank accounts on centrally funded jobs. Francis Maude, Minister for the Cabinet Office, said that £5.2bn worth of government construction projects are now being paid through project bank accounts. Maude said: “As part of our long-term economic plan this government is reforming public sector construction and helping develop a more efficient and competitive industry that will lead to more jobs and better value for taxpayers. “To win the global race, we must support the smaller suppliers which are the lifeblood of our economy. We’ve beaten our target on project bank accounts but we will keep pushing ahead to ensure suppliers of all sizes are treated fairly.” The 2011 Government …

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A plumbing and trades tutor from South Gloucestershire has launched a new skills academy to cater for the growing need for trained construction workers. With an emphasis on quality training, small class sizes and one-to-one tuition, Shane McCallum and his wife Nikki have set up the new South West Construction Academy. Based in a 1,600sqft converted barn in the prestigious setting of Eastwood Park in Falfield, the South West Construction Academy will begin by offering a range of plumbing courses, providing a mixture of distance learning and on-site learning and intensive training. Mr McCallum’s business plan is aimed at attracting 36 adult students in the first year, before looking to attract school leavers in year two. Eventually the plan is to broaden to other trades …

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Measured surveys Nationwide and Europe! Mobile CAD Surveying Solutions Ltd  can accommodate either a simple single property floor plan for a domestic or private customer to a complete schedule of buildings including whatever type of data collection the customer requires for a commercial customer. If you are an Architects or Surveyor and you require fast turn around building surveys, please give us a try! we currently work for dozens of architects and designers around the UK, where they haven’t the capacity or staff to handle their own surveys or where they just require someone to make sure the job is done right and first time. Currently we are working on many Commercial surveys around the country, with a number of domestic and Dimensional Property Surveys around …

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The London construction market is now so strong that contractors can “pick and choose” schemes they bid for. Steve McGuckin, UK managing director of consultant Turner & Townsend, said: “The days of builders bidding for every sniff of work are gone. “The confidence in London is now so strong that contractors are able to pick and choose their projects. “Tender prices are still competitive, but with input costs starting to creep up this may not last forever.” McGuckin was commenting on latest official construction figures which have been revised up to show 1.5% growth during the first quarter of the year. That is more than double the original 0.6% estimate by the Office of National Statistics. McGuckin said: “With such a big upward revision to the …

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