Opinion – Page 424
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ǿմý buys a pint for … Millbridge
Venue: Pitcher & Piano in Mayfair Ambience: young, bustling and heavily mirrored after-work chainDrinks drunk: 12 pints of Kronenbourg, three white wines, two vodka and cokes, two cokes, two fluffy cocktails, three pints of Guinness, one gin and tonic, three sparkling waters
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Secret things
Another perilous descent into the turbid underworld of the industry’s psyche, where we discover Bouygues’ secret shame, spy on Sir Terry Farrell and make a surprising discovery in the underwear department
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Adjudication matters
It was interesting to see that adjudication for householders carrying out construction works on their properties is catching on (9 May, page 15).
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Bravo for builder-bashing
Sir John Egan is spot on with his castigation of housebuilders, but not all of them I should add.
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The job's the thing
With reference to your consultants’ salary guide feature (16 May, page 42), you herald surveying as being “where the real money is”
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Cutting corners: a warning
I read with interest your Open Mike column about ditching the main contractor (9 May, page 41). As head of development monitoring at Malcolm Hollis, I have also seen developers appointing works packages or trade contractors directly to save the main contractor on cost – and it is not just ...
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Wonders & blunders
Tony Benn finds peace and tranquility in the heart of New York, before going on the warpath against an old foe
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Halifax figures confirm house prices are plunging
The average house prices has been falling by £4,000 monthly over the past three months as the pace of decline in the market has accelerated, according to HBOS figures. In May house prices were down 2.4%.So, if you had your house valued at £199,600 last August (the peak reached by ...
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Wave of job cuts spells more gloom for construction
The Government's confidence booster of "we'll be okay look at our strong labour market" is now starting to look rather shaky.The last pillar of hope for those keen to stop a collapse in house prices was strong employment. That prop appears to be wobbling.They say that the last thing companies ...
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Batten down the hatches here is a construction recession warning
The buyers body CIPS registered the fastest monthly fall in construction activity since it began surveying the industry in 1997. The figure for activity in the housing market was pitifully low.The survey of purchasers sets "no change" at 50, below that is decline, above increase. Well at 43.9 in May ...
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20% hike in two years in cost of home improvement work
Figures from the cost information service BCIS point to an inflation-led threat to the housing repair and maintenance market, as prices rise 20% over two years.Energy inflation, skills shortage and rocketing global materials prices are combining to pump up inflation just at a time when may households are considering staying ...
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Bleak Bank figures confirm downward trend in homebuyers
More desparate news for house building as the evaporation of homebuyers in the UK housing market is further underlined with the release of the Bank of England figures showing mortgages approvals for house purchases in April diving to a new low.Just 58,000 loans were approved to homebuyers, half the figure ...
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Romancing the stone
With fewer and fewer people opting for careers in stonemasonry, it could soon become a dying trade. It’s time we did our bit to attract today’s youth
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Web watch — Warren street
As Alice in Wonderland knew, following rabbits can lead you down a hole. But online you’re just as likely to be followed by the rabbit. Alex Smith introduces the surreal world of construction’s Twitters
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Exclusion clause: Regus (UK) Ltd vs Epcot Solution Ltd
This was an appeal from a decision that an exception clause in its standard terms was unreasonable and unenforceable under the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977 (“UCTA”). The judge’s decision was reported in a previous briefing.Regus (UK) Limited (“Regus”) supplies serviced office accommodation. Epcot Solutions Ltd (“Epcot”) provides professional ...
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Swallow hard
Open mike — Yes, moving to zero-carbon homes is going to be strange at first, but then again we’re living through strange days, says Matt Bell. Pretty soon it will all seem perfectly normal …
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ǿմý buys a pint … for WSP
We’re only a few minutes into this week’s “Pint” and already disaster has struck – ǿմý’s camera is on the blink.