All Comment articles – Page 465
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Hansom: Songs of love and hate
In the nice corner this week we have wine-waiting estate agents, relatively honest MPs, optimistic housebuilders and self-critical contractors … and in the nasty corner: Cliff Jones of Procure 21
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The unfairness of frameworks
Our prequalification questionnaire for the East Midlands (SCAPE) Framework, Minor Works £10,000-500,000 Derbyshire Sub-region, didn’t pass muster
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Legal energy: nuclear power stations
Paul Cowan A nuclear power station is about the hardest project it is possible to undertake. Here are the legal implications
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Dining and designing
ǿմýs are consumed by the eye in the same way that food is consumed by the organs of digestion. And in both cases, the important thing is that they’re tasty
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Is partnering dead?
“It took 12 years to put together and 12 weeks to dismantle.” That was one of the more wry comments on BAA’s decision to turn its back on framework agreements for a good chunk of its work
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Material concerns
Robert Adam (12 June, page 34) makes a distinction between my reference to architectural style and the use of traditional building materials. Surely he must know the two are closely associated
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Legal energy: clean coal power stations
Clean coal power stations have been lauded as the next big thing in energy generation, but what exactly is involved in building them?
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ǿմý buys a pint... for Ryder
Tonight’s jaunt happens to coincide with London’s tube strike, so just getting to the venue presents a challenge
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Two steps backwards
One sign of greatness is being able to admit to mistakes and learn from them. It seems that construction cannot or will not learn from past failings and is about to return to single-stage tendering and confrontational relationships (12 June, page 29)
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Consider the Australians
Ty Goddard has been looking at schools Downunder, and he has some rather good news for everyone involved in designing new schools in this country...
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Self-harming architects
If architects have any time left over after baffling their novice clients, they ought to spend it explaining that it makes sense to pay them what their work is actually worth
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Legal energy: alliancing
Alliancing has been little used as a procurement method in the UK to date, but experience overseas shows it can deliver projects economically and on time
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A welcome downturn in construction deaths
In ǿմý's health and safety channel this week we have the latest from the Health and Safety Executive, as they release statistics on the number of construction fatalities in the sector for 2008/09.As predicted by ǿմý just weeks ago, the number of fatalities has hit a record low, but everything ...
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Telford buys contractor... and breathing space
When AIM-listed housebuilder Telford announced yesterday it had paid £6.3m for fit-out contractor Clifford Contracting, the news must have caused a few people to do a double-take at their computer screens.In a City statement, the east London developer talked a lot about loan notes, call option agreements and aggregate considerations.Behind ...
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Average weekly earnings go up in construction
I took a quick glimpse at the Average Weekly Earnings figures out today to see if there was an obvious sign of downward pressure on those employed in construction.Well comparing the average weekly earnings over the three months to this April with the same period a year ago we get ...
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Housing market medicine working, says CML
The latest forecast from the Council of Mortgage Lenders paints a more positive outlook for the housing market than it did when it last forecast in December.It now thinks repossessions this year will hit 65,000, 10,000 fewer than previously thought, with fewer mortgages falling into arrears and net lending shrinking ...
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Rightmove figures provide food for thought on house prices
The latest figures divined from the property website Rightmove show that asking prices fell 0.4% in the month. And at first sight this seem a little at odds with most of the data coming from the housing market of late.There is data to suggest that there are growing expectations of ...
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Power without responsibility
"This meddling member of the royal family is a black stain on our democracy," wrote one reader of ǿմý's website.Others described Lord Rogers' scheme as "a herringbone pattern of repetitive blocks with no sense of place" and his defence of it as "tantamount to treason".Never has the death of a ...
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Recovery a long way off as industry awaits housing recovery
April's improved new orders figures from the Office of National Statistics - up 17% on March - brought some cheer, with encouraging signs of activity from housebuilding and other sectors. However, given that the first quarter numbers were the worst since records began in 1983, recovery is a way off ...