Opinion – Page 386

  • Comment

    Do as you would be done by

    2009-03-13T00:00:00Z

    With our construction supply chain under pressure, I read with great interest your article “Out of credit” (27 February, page 20)

  • Wombling free … and not to be confused with a bear from Peru
    Comment

    These things are important

    2009-03-13T00:00:00Z

    Bernard Cribbins was the voice of The Wombles, not Paddington, who was voiced by Michael Hordern (27 February, page 32)

  • Comment

    Bargain basement

    2009-03-13T00:00:00Z

    I read with interest the articles on markets that could ease the burden of recession and on the complex regulations associated with loft conversions (20 February, pages 46 and 62)

  • Comment

    Ready and willing

    2009-03-13T00:00:00Z

    I am currently studying ǿմý Surveying and the Environment at the University of Plymouth

  • Comment

    Red alert as new orders plunge to record low in January

    2009-03-12T10:51:00Z

    January 2009: the worst monthly new orders figures ever recorded.And with little sign that February will be prove any better, the latest figures for new orders underline the collapse of construction across the board.Every sector - even public non-housing - was down on a year earlier with the exception of ...

  • Comment

    Window shoppers aplenty but buyers dwindle in the housing market

    2009-03-10T14:19:00Z

    There has been a big surge in window shoppers, but no increase in sales. In fact they are a little worse. That is the nub of the latest housing market survey from the surveyors' body RICS.Much will be read into the surge in interest with suggestions that this represents the ...

  • Comment

    Are the leaders of the contracting industry fit for purpose?

    2009-03-07T08:42:00Z

    My attention was drawn to a letter sent yesterday by the Construction Products Association's chairman Adrian Barden to the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform regarding the current plight of the construction industry.It makes hard, clear, well researched and convincing points. It outlines the problems and makes ...

  • Jan Kaplicky and Amanda Levete
    Comment

    Jan and me: Amanda Levete on Jan Kaplicky

    2009-03-06T00:00:00Z

    Jan Kaplicky, who died in January, was a visionary architect whose creativity drove him to test the bounds of the possible, says his former wife and design partner

  • Comment

    Construction output falls off a cliff

    2009-03-06T10:57:00Z

    The last time the construction industry had to puzzle out what to do with output falling as fast as it did in the final quarter of 2008 was when the Rubik's Cube was the must-have Christmas present.Official figures published today show a drop of 7% in construction output over the ...

  • Hansom
    Comment

    So, Mr Bond...

    2009-03-06T00:00:00Z

    This week, I’ve been unmasking a phoney company chairman, burning documents after reading and planning my escape route to the south of France. Whoever said construction wasn’t thrilling?

  • Denise Chevin
    Comment

    Going public

    2009-03-06T00:00:00Z

    The government’s decision to bring out its cheque book yet again – this time for the PFI – is a massive fillip for the industry

  • Comment

    I know where you could start

    2009-03-06T00:00:00Z

    Open mike: The government is pretty keen to get us to cut carbon emissions. So why are its own buildings so lamentably unsustainable?

  • Comment

    We can't do this on our own

    2009-03-06T00:00:00Z

    There is no simple answer to improving the energy efficiency of the UK’s existing housing stock, but it is important to take simple, practical measures that we know will make a demonstrable difference (“CPA blasts energy firms on insulation failure”, 20 February)

  • Comment

    Local jobs for whom?

    2009-03-06T00:00:00Z

    We have a small building business in Waltham Forest, which is about four miles north-east of the Olympic site. We have been in the area for the past 27 years and we employ about 29 men

  • Have you any wool? Apparently it’s a rather good material for insulation after all...
    Comment

    Woolly thinking

    2009-03-06T00:00:00Z

    I read with interest your article on the 16 January titled “five green duds”

  • Comment

    Decoded

    2009-03-06T00:00:00Z

    In your recent article (6 February, page 3), you referred to the Strategic Forum’s tower crane group and stated that the assessment of how safe they are came under the “badge” of the Considerate Constructors Scheme

  • Comment

    Words of warning

    2009-03-06T00:00:00Z

    I attended an interview yesterday to train as a domestic energy assessor (DEA), which I thought was new career with great potential

  • Comment

    Home improvement

    2009-03-06T00:00:00Z

    “Social housing” should only be provided as a short-term solution for those in real need. The idea that someone can occupy a council house for virtually their whole adult life is ridiculous

  • Sir Michael Latham
    Comment

    A confederacy of dunces

    2009-03-06T00:00:00Z

    The post of a chief construction officer is a splendid idea, but it will only work if the holder has real power – and Whitehall may not be willing to let that happen

  • Comment

    ǿմý buys a pancake... for Pringle Brandon

    2009-03-06T00:00:00Z

    It’s Shrove Tuesday, and Pringle Brandon has suggested we meet in town for pancakes. Now London is not overstocked with pancake houses, and the one we choose comes with a long queue of gourmands outside. Luckily PB had the foresight to book a table