News

Construction industry capacity shortages have prompted Mace to increase its forecast for tender cost inflation in London. The company’s cost consultancy division reports that contractors are now turning down work in the capital as they are able to pick and choose their jobs. With competition falling, margins are rising, it says. The surge in demand has led Mace to increase its forecast for London tender cost inflation from 3.5% to 4.5% for both 2014 and 2015. Outside of London, there is still enough capacity across the UK to meet demand, as well as steady competition. This continues to subdue price increases. Mace’s forecast for average inflation in tender prices has therefore remained unchanged at 2% for 2014, rising to 2.5% in 2015 and 3% in 2016, by which time it is expected …

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A London construction company and the director of a Hertfordshire roofing firm have been fined for safety failings after a worker was seriously injured when he plunged almost six metres through a void for a roof light. The roof light void where the fall occured The self-employed roofer, who does not want to be named, broke and fractured several bones in his back and bruised his diaphragm, lungs and thigh in the incident in Brent on 29 February 2012. He was unable to work for 14 months and still requires hospital treatment for back problems that have forced him to seek alternative employment. The fall occurred while he was under the control of Rickmansworth-based John Donald, trading as John Donald Roofing. The director had in turn been sub-…

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A CONSTRUCTION giant buying up large parts of London is lobbying Camden Council to a build skyscraper at the cost of the community, local residents warned yesterday. Supporters of the Save Swiss Cottage campaign have urged Camden to repeal Essential Living’s proposal to demolish the former Reuters building on 100 Avenue Road to build “long-term private rental” accommodation. The proposed area for redevelopment currently houses one of the few local green spaces, a community centre, Hampstead Theatre and the homes of local residents, including caring facilities for people with disabilities. Save Swiss Cottage member Sarah Gottlieb spoke to the Star about her fears over the construction, including its impact on the community and the inescapable ramping up of housing prices in the area. In her view the …

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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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