News

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…

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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 …

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Contractors building the £1.3bn Queensferry Crossing have set a new record by creating the the longest free-standing cantilever in the world at 644m. The structure will become the longest three-tower, cable-stayed bridge in the world The bridge deck sections are edging closer and closer by the day as engineers come close to linking the deck sections at the north and south sides of the bridge. When the weight of a 750 tonnes bridge section is lifted the deck deflects by 4m giving the impression the two decks will not meet. Once work is complete on the project in June 2017, the new Queensferry Crossing will stretch 2.7km in length and will include three single column towers and approach viaducts. Galliford Try is part of the four-company…

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Newly appointed Scheme Executive Chairman Isabel Martinson to recruit new Board Directors to take Scheme to the ‘next level’ London, United Kingdom, 19 September 2016: The Considerate Constructors Scheme (CCS) – the national Scheme to improve the image of the construction industry – is recruiting for new Board Directors. Isabel Martinson, who was appointed as Executive Chairman of the Scheme in July 2016, is looking for senior representatives from within and outside of the construction industry to expand the CCS to move to the ‘next level’, to further enhance the construction industry’s image and reputation. The CCS is an independent organisation formed in 1997. Since its formation, it has significantly altered the approach the construction industry takes to those affected by its activities, the construction workforce, and the impact construction has …

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Minister confirms support of Prompt Payment Code and success in changing payment culture New measures to support the Prompt Payment Code (PPC) and drive a culture of better payment practice have been confirmed in a letter to PPC signatories from Margot James, Minister for Small Business and Philip King, Chief Executive of the Chartered Institute of Credit Management (CICM). The letter highlights the significant success of the Code to date, and in particular highlighting the challenges against Code signatories that it says have been ‘hugely successful in achieving fast settlement of invoices, creating dialogue between parties, improving contract terms, and providing constructive assistance welcomed by suppliers and signatories alike’. The correspondence also confirms the future appointment of a Small Business Commissioner to provide help and advice to business, …

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A Scottish Water employee has rescued remarkable pictures giving a unique insight into daily life on a major Aberdeen sewer scheme more than 100 years ago. The Girdleness Outfall Scheme was designed to improve sanitation in the growing city and employed an army of construction workers hand-digging tunnels and using steam engines to help deliver the major scheme. The images date from 1900 and 1901, the last year of the Victorian age, when construction was in full swing and capture the scope of the impressive engineering project. Bob Nicoll, of Scottish Water in Aberdeen, said: “I’ve had the pictures for the last 15 or 16 years. “They were part of some old archive stuff due to be thrown out but I felt they needed to be rescued from that as they show an amazing part of the…

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A property investment fund suspended in the wake of the Brexit vote is set to resume trading. The Columbia Threadneedle UK Property Authorised Investment Fund was one of a number of funds suspended as the EU Referendum result spooked the market. Trading will restart on September 26 as the company described initial market fears as “irrational”. Don Jordison, Managing Director of Property, Columbia Threadneedle Investments, said: “In the short period following the referendum we saw animal spirits drive unprecedented levels of redemptions from daily dealt open-ended property funds. “Much of the earlier commentary now appears slightly irrational and more informed reflection has settled the market. “Any effects of the Brexit vote on the overall UK economy – negative or otherwise – will take many months if not…

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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 commercial customers. If Architects or Surveyors and you require fast turn around building surveys, please give us a try! we currently work for dozens of architects, surveyors 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, first time, Mobile CAD Surveying Solutions can help you. Currently we are working on many Commercial surveys around the country, with a number of domestic and Dimensional Property Surveys around the UK and …

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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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