More Focus – Page 545
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Features
How to lose before you start
The Construction Act's payment rules have been overshadowed by adjudication. However, in tandem, they give contractors a super way to pole-axe an unwary client.
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Arbitration usurped
In the first of a new series on dispute resolution methods, we look at how arbitration has failed to achieve the objectives set out for it in the Arbitration Act 1996.
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Let’s get it together
Uncoordinated specifications can result in chaos and even claims. The architect (and its spec writer) could do something about it – if only they could get involved from the start.
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For your eyes only
Lawyer Charlotte Giller on how two new acts will affect an employee's rights to privacy at work.
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Appointments
ContractorsAndy Stoddart has been promoted to managing director of Morgan Sindall.David Thomas has been appointed marketing manager for Ballast Wiltshier’s South-west operation.Martin Doe has been appointed strategic sales and marketing director of Laing’s construction arm.HousebuildersBeazer Homes has appointed Bernard Evans construction director.David Bemister has been promoted to site manager at ...
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Where are tomorrow’s leaders?
The City is beginning to worry that, as contracting’s top bosses edge closer to retirement, the industry is not doing enough to find and groom their successors.
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All change
As chair of the RICS' Junior Organisation, Jacqueline Fearon personifies the young, dynamic image that the body is trying to promote in its Agenda for Change.
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A cautionary tale
Ceramica, a landmark millennium project intended to help regenerate a depressed Potteries town, has been mothballed before it could open. It was brought down by problems that could threaten any lottery project.
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Features
It's Sunny Up North
Forget those rumours of Britain’s north/south divide – at least as far as construction is concerned. Urban regeneration is under way in city centres from Edinburgh to Portsmouth, and the demand for leisure and retail development everywhere points to a national building boom. Ðǿմ«Ã½ takes the temperature across the UK.
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The North-east: Shirtsleeve weather
Geordies are renowned for their love of a good night out, and the construction market in the North-east reflects that, with a dazzling number of leisure developments in the pipeline.The Gateshead Quay regeneration has taken off. Foster and Partners’ £45m Gateshead Music Centre has planning consent and Laing is due ...
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Features
Sunny intervals in South Wales …
The Welsh market is split between the potential boom of the South and the continued stultifying of mid-Wales. In the Welsh capital, a combination of the Cardiff Bay makeover, including the Wales Millennium Centre, the National Assembly and the Millennium Stadium has fuelled an explosion of hotels, bars and restaurants. ...
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… and in the South-west
Bristol continues to attract the majority of developments in the South-west. The hiccup for Crest Nicholson’s £200m mixed-use Harbourside development, refused planning permission and being appealed, is counteracted by the success of the £300m Temple Quay regeneration scheme in the city, which is well under way. Fitzroy Robinson has designed ...
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Features
The South-east and South coast: Scorchio!
Architects and contractors in the South-east are so busy they are pushed to find time to tell you about it. From Oxford to Winchester to Southampton, the story is the same: workloads are heavy, tender prices are up, and skilled, experienced staff are thin on the ground.Reflecting the current housebuying ...
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Yorkshire: Warming up nicely
Leeds is seeing a surge in the housing and leisure sectors. About 3000 new-build flats are planned for the next few years, and a host of new bars, pubs and restaurants are springing up.Sheffield, once deep in the doldrums, is set to be revived. The city received £743m of European ...
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Sunshine in the West Midlands
Canary Wharf could soon be dwarfed by a proposed 900 ft tower in Birmingham as Britain’s second city grows in height and confidence to compete with the capital. Add to that the presence of a Selfridges department store in the new Bull Ring complex, and the word “sexy” may yet ...
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East Midlands: Looking healthy
It’s boom time in Nottingham. The market is doing well in all sectors. Universities are spending money, commercial developers are investing in town-centre schemes and business parks such as the Riverside and Phoenix, and developers are building sheds along the M1 between junctions 20 and 28. Ken Carter, partner in ...
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Features
Cloudy in Northern Ireland
Sustained private investment and European Union funding have transformed the Republic’s economy, and although Northern Ireland has tended to lag behind, it has recently been enjoying its own mini-boom. Despite the political climate, most contractors think the peace process is helping deliver investment to the region.The retail boom precipitated by ...
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Features
Scotland: Mixed temperatures
The new Scottish parliament building continues to be a source of controversy, with latest reports suggesting that the final bill will approach a staggering £200m. At the same time, the parliament is still the main driver of new building around the capital, as businesses jockey for position near the decision-makers.Contractors ...
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Features
East Anglia: Good, but not great
Workloads in Cambridge and Norwich are good, but not spectacular. The market is healthy enough for contractor Fitzpatrick to set up an office to service Cambridge and Peterborough, and consultants in Cambridge reckon that workload is about 5% higher than last year. Stephen Bugg, a partner in Davis Langdon & ...
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What the L is going on?
The government is to change Part L of the Ðǿմ«Ã½ Regulations to make buildings more energy efficient. The way it has done this has driven an angry industry to talk about a conspiracy against it. What’s the DETR playing at?