All Comment articles 鈥� Page 490
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Comment
Act on training now
It is exciting news that the newly formed UK Contractors Group will be making the skills shortage a priority (9 January, page 15)
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CommentSomething to shout about: Deafness claims
Money matters聽Construction is a noisy business, and employers increasingly face claims from workers whose hearing has been impaired. But now, says Jim Byard, that may be about to change
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NHBC figures show new home starts down 47% in 2008
The number of NHBC registrations to start building new homes fell to 106,894 in 2008, a drop of 47% on a year earlier.But it is the comparison of the final quarter of 2008 with that of 2007 that brings the true scale of the trauma in the house building market ...
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Construction output to fall to 1996 levels by 2011, says forecast
Remember the pleasure and pain of Euro '96, the rise and rise of the Spice Girls, This Life and Chris Evan's TFI Friday on TV, John Major as Prime Minister and Swampy digging in against the road builders?Well some of it came flooding back to me when I realised that ...
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Mortgage lending at 2001 level spells more bad news for home sales
Mortgage lending last year was down about 30% on the 2007 figures and in the final quarter was running at well below half the peak level, according to the latest figures from Council of Mortgage Lenders.CML expects the level of lending to drop further in coming months, which may well ...
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Construction job vacancies collapse
Record redundancies may be the headline in today's news bulletins and tomorrow's papers as the ranks of the unemployed creep towards 2 million.But in the detail of today's labour market figures of more concern to the thousands of redundant construction workers now looking for new jobs is that vacancies are ...
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Plunging sales rates in 2008 and the threat to new housing development
The latest figures show that home sales in 2008 were down 43% compared with 2007, but scarier than that is the drop in level of property transaction over the second half of last year.This poses a real threat to even "technically" viable housing schemes.Sales are running well below half of ...
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Will construction win or lose from collapsing hope in the UK economy?
We are heading into the worst peacetime economic slump since the 1930s, according to the latest forecast by the highly regarded ITEM Club.This marks a massive collapse in hope for the UK economy. Just three months ago the ITEM Club's autumn 2008 forecast carried the sub headline "...the recession in ...
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Most local builders are now shedding jobs as workload collapses
The latest survey of local builders by their trade body FMB paints a grim picture with workload, inquiries and employment plunging.This throws into question how focused the Government is on saving jobs in the construction industry.If saving jobs is top of the agenda it should think a lot more about ...
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Did monthly new orders really hit an all time record low in November 2008?
I have been seeing a lot of "worst ever" and "worst since at least" stories about the November new orders figures.I am conscious that so many statistics are being thrown around at the moment that it is confusing. And there is enough distress out there as it is.So I thought ...
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CommentNot a problem, a solution
Like collaborative working, being sustainable was a child of the boom years.
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Payup time
We have recently completed the fit-out of the offices of Maidstone council鈥檚 鈥渙ne-stop-shop鈥�, and were genuinely pleased to have our invoice for the architectural work paid in just 15 days
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CommentYou鈥檙e part of the problem
鈥淏SF Schools: Why is it so difficult?鈥� was the web headline of an article in your 9 January issue.
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CommentThat was then, this is now
The recession gives us the opportunity to explore new ideas, says Gus Alexander. And, who knows, we might even get to think beyond the certainties of our home-owning democracy
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CommentDo I know you?
The 拢1.6bn, 150,000m2 Westfield Centre in west London was opened on 30 October 2008
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CommentGreen Tape: Sustainability regulation
To keep up with environmental regulations, contractors must build sustainability into their contracts
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Every man needs protection: Financial security
These days, it takes nerve to enter into ordinary commercial relations. But luckily for all you cowards out there, what you lack in courage you can make up for in paperwork
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Hurrah for eco-towns!
It would be surprising if developments of the scale of new towns were not the subject of debate and controversy, but your article on eco-towns (19 December, page 19) fails to do justice to the scale of the ambition behind the programme.