Opinion – Page 399
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Get in early: the new JCT agreement
The new JCT preconstruction services agreements allow clients to employ contractors and specialists in a consultancy role before the final contract is awarded
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My digital life: Dominic Papa
This architect roams the bandwidth seeking out news, ancient books, cartoons and inspiring photography. But there’s nothing quite like a real-life Jammie Dodger and a nice cup of tea
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Rush to judgment
I was saddened to read your article concerning the fatality at the Bouygues UK site in Chelmsford (14 November, page 15), and would like to express sympathy from the GMB to friends and family of the victim.
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Take cover
I have just read the latest edition of Ðǿմ«Ã½ and was dismayed by the comments contained in Rupert Choat’s article (31 October, page 72), which looked at the issues faced when the main contractor ceases to trade.
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Anybody fancy £1.5bn?
If the industry believes that sustainable building is going into hibernation, it is time for a wake-up call.
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Bad old days
The lack of cash in construction could usher in a return to mutual mistrust between contractors and clients
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Ðǿմ«Ã½ buys a pint … for Buro Happold
A Scotsman, a Welshman and an Irishwoman walk into a pub …
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We can all learn something
The failures of 19th-century property developers, BAA’s cunning way of working to budget and Jamie Oliver’s efforts to reform school dinners all provide some lessons this week
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Comment
Better than nothing
So much was expected of the pre-Budget report that if Alistair Darling had opened up the Bank of England’s vaults and invited construction firms to help themselves, there would have been a few commentators arguing that he should have gone further.
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Comment
Prepare for a bleak winter on house prices
On the face of it the steady easing over the past three months in the monthly rate of decline in house prices measured by Nationwide is encouraging to those who want to see the market stabilise.For the policy makers there is growing fear that more and more people will find ...
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Bonus watch: Bellway bosses bag £632,500
There's still no sign housebuilding bosses are attracted by the warm glow and good PR they'd get by waiving their bonuses in these difficult times.Latest in line is Bellway. Admittedly the company is not in the same state of crisis as some of its peers but a £275,000 bonus for ...
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Taylor Wimpey debt talks: mind your language
Some of the descriptions of the fraught Taylor Wimpey rescue talks have been pretty euphemistic considering the company's survival is at stake.The housebuilder kicked things off a fortnight ago when it described the pace of talks with its lenders as "a tad disappointing". Which was very restrained.It continued a few ...
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How to save 150,000 construction jobs, earn the Treasury £16 billion and create 200,000 new homes
Imagine that Chancellor Alistair Darling had decided to boost public spending by investing £20 billion of taxpayers' money over the next two years in buying land and building homes earmarked for eventual open market sale.What would be the net result?Well we would have 200,000 more homes to help meet the ...
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The Chancellor's measures are not exceptional enough
I can but agree with the Chancellor that these are exceptional times and they require exceptional measures.My complaint, as I have said before, is that it took rather too long for the bulk of the political establishment to accept the severity of the economic turmoil we faced.And sadly I do ...
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A sea of troubles
Looking into the white wall of fog ahead, it’s impossible to discern a safe haven, or the rocks in between. But, says Richard Steer, that doesn’t mean we should lose sight of what we’re about
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Stamp duty down £500 million a month
The latest figures for tax receipts suggest that the Government is down about £500 million a month in stamp duty revenue.Taking the three months to October the revenue trawled in £2,162 million in stamp duty. This compares with £3,926 million over the same period a year earlier.The bulk of the ...
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Housing figures underline the haemorrhaging of construction workload
The latest starts figures appear to support the view that house building will drop by about a half next year as current projects completed and few if any new sites are opened.That would mean a loss of about £10 billion in construction workload.Put another way that is about half the ...
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Is the frozen housing market beginning to thaw?
Looking at the most recently released housing market data for October it is tempting to interpret it as showing signs of a thaw in a market that has almost frozen solid.On the month transactions rose according to the revenue figures, lending was up according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders ...
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My digital life: David Eastgate
Not your average chief executive, this ex-punk band member spends his online time surrounded by drums and drumming paraphernalia. Unless he’s on holiday, when you’ll find him talking to Ðǿմ«Ã½