Opinion – Page 574

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    Marketwatch: office special

    2004-06-25T00:00:00Z

    It was billed as 'The Big Comeback' – London's office developers were going to wow us with a spending extravaganza. But as we report, in reality market recovery has been more of a slow burn

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    Diary of an architectural practice, aged 6 months

    2004-06-25T00:00:00Z

    This month staff at Make get technical – from grappling with the photocopier to the weighty matter of voting for their favourite cake electronically

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    *bookbox

    2004-06-25T00:00:00Z

    As thoughts turn to escaping the office for sun, sea and sand, Ðǿմ«Ã½ has compiled its own list of recommended summer reading. And, just so you don't forget work completely, all the books have guaranteed construction-related plots

  • Comment

    A servant may have but one master

    2004-06-25T00:00:00Z

    The Construction Industry Council's new novation form rejects the idea that a consultant can work for a client and a contractor – and be liable to both

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    Legal aid

    2004-06-25T00:00:00Z

    This month, our experts clarify just exactly who is responsible for complying with safety regulations, define what is a 'reasonable' time for completion and break some bad news to a steelwork firm facing a hefty bill …

  • Comment

    You be the judge

    2004-06-25T00:00:00Z

    In our third session, after we posed a tricky hypothetical case back in April, a reader dons a wig and passes judgment – and our question-setter offers his view. Plus another contentious issue to get your teeth into …

  • Comment

    Tom's tower

    2004-06-25T00:00:00Z

    Tom Barker (11 June, page 34) asks us to believe that the building industry is not catching up with the technological ideas that were proposed back in the early 1960s and then sets out to "explode a few myths".

  • Comment

    Timely advice

    2004-06-25T00:00:00Z

    Jeremy Thorp (Letters, 4 June, page 34) may be interested to investigate the provisions of the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998, which provides a statutory right to interest on late payments.

  • Comment

    Dubai-opener

    2004-06-25T00:00:00Z

    Now that Ðǿմ«Ã½ has some understanding of Dubai (4 June, pages 38-42), might I suggest you publish a follow-up article called "All Work and No Play" on the British staff and managers who underpin many of the key subcontractors on construction projects in Dubai. ...

  • Comment

    Condemned to the gutter

    2004-06-25T00:00:00Z

    Although I believe you have captured the enterprising and "can do" spirit that exists in Dubai, I don't think that references to "demanding clients" added anything to the article and are certainly not helpful to British companies working in the region. I am sorry to say that the tone ...

  • Comment

    On the safe side

    2004-06-25T00:00:00Z

    I believe the construction industry is destined to fail in its quest to improve safety unless it begins to place a higher value on human relationships and interaction.

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    There's the rub

    2004-06-25T00:00:00Z

    Regarding Dennis Lenard's comments on being "stuck in the 1980s", as a founder member of Product Innovation in Architecture, I am finding it virtually impossible to get anything other than lip-service paid to innovation. Everybody wants it but nobody will pay for it. The catch-22 scenario is that you would ...

  • Comment

    Still ahead of the Falklands

    2004-06-25T00:00:00Z

    Digby Jones tells us that the sum of £250bn is not a great deal to spend on upgrading the transport system of the world's fourth largest economy (18 June, page 14).

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    An end in sight …?

    2004-06-25T00:00:00Z

    The Brooke Report has been a huge achievement for the RICS, enjoying wide membership consultation and producing a conclusive report within a short deadline.

  • Comment

    A reader writes: Why the Tricorn had to go

    2004-06-25T00:00:00Z

    Contrary to what Owen Luder wrote last month, his Portsmouth shopping centre was ripe for demolition, simply because it failed in so many ways

  • Comment

    Pricey advice

    2004-06-25T00:00:00Z

    This was a claim for professional negligence by a company incorporated to purchase a sea front hotel and adjacent land in Hunstanton, Norfolk, against the solicitors that acted for it on the purchase. The hotel had been purchased subject to three outstanding floating charges on the assets of the seller, ...

  • Comment

    Something about Germany

    2004-06-18T00:00:00Z

    Europe's economic engine is once again in gear, but any UK firms thinking of returning to the market need to know about some recent changes in the law

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    Demons and angels

    2004-06-18T00:00:00Z

    Claims mongerers are chasing ambulances in every walk of life. But adjudication shrived them of their sins in construction, and could be the answer elsewhere

  • Comment

    Designed by parrots

    2004-06-18T00:00:00Z

    Much 'sustainable design' is in reality a few slogans and buzzwords repeated by architects and developers to win competitions and get planning permission

  • Comment

    Hansom

    2004-06-18T00:00:00Z

    This week, key industry players avoid faux-pas with royalty, hire personal protection, look like dummies and drink Pimm's with the dead