Opinion – Page 613

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    Not a holiday camp

    2003-04-11T00:00:00Z

    A decade after it was launched, journalists have finally been given their first glimpse of Britain's biggest and most awesome building project, Heathrow Terminal 5. There's not much to see yet – just a few cranes and the odd dumper truck rumbling through the dirt (pages 24-27). But this is ...

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    America's playground

    2003-04-11T00:00:00Z

    Was the war against Saddam undertaken to liberate Iraq for the Iraqi people, or to liberate Iraqi assets for US capitalism? The signs so far are rather ominous

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    Hansom

    2003-04-11T00:00:00Z

    This week, our man in the stupid hat is mystified by hand gestures at Terminal 5, gets entangled in a communist plot and has an ethical massage

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    Following Foster

    2003-04-11T00:00:00Z

    If you want to build the next Reichstag, you'll need to be aware of Germany's planning and building laws and how they vary between the federal states

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    Getting what you deserve

    2003-04-11T00:00:00Z

    Why are parties so willing to open themselves up to trouble by beginning work without agreeing a price? A recent quantum meruit case serves as a warning

  • Comment

    Calling like-minded lawyers

    2003-04-11T00:00:00Z

    I read with interest Colin Harding's article "A paradise for parasites" (21 March, page 37). I write as a lawyer who has been involved in PFI deals in the industry (for Carillion and Bechtel) and in private practice with a firm fully committed to Rethinking Construction.Although lawyers, among other advisers, ...

  • Comment

    Safe, unless you're cooking

    2003-04-11T00:00:00Z

    We would like to respond to your leader in the 14 March issue. Although we are aware of the recent court ruling in respect to the Sahib Foods fire in 1994, it would be wrong to assume that the specification of combustible composite panels will automatically create a problem for ...

  • Comment

    Read the instructions

    2003-04-11T00:00:00Z

    Tony Bingham's article "Never trust a copper" (21 March, page 59) raises the issue of low water draw-off, which we feel deserves comment.Many thousands of copper pipework installations are made each year, including those in properties that will use water sporadically (show homes, for instance), and there are very few ...

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    Designing for imbeciles

    2003-04-11T00:00:00Z

    The UK's regulations assume a high level of human stupidity, says Barry Munday – plus Stewart McColl tells of a clash between money and morality

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    The risks of going to court

    2003-04-11T00:00:00Z

    The claimant, Mr Islam, sought remuneration in respect of his services as the chartered accountant during the period May 1999 to July 2001, when he ran the defendant Mrs Ali's late husband's accountancy business. He had received around £72,000 for part of this period and sought about a further £84,000, ...

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    Leading the evolution

    2003-04-11T00:00:00Z

    To all appearances, little has changed since the last Ðǿմ«Ã½ Awards a year ago.

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    An offer you can refuse?

    2003-04-04T00:00:00Z

    Refuse an offer to mediate and you could end up paying the costs of litigation, win or lose. But what if that offer of mediation was just a tactical ploy?

  • Comment

    Know your onions

    2003-04-04T00:00:00Z

    Tony Bingham Here's another take on the controversial case of the architect who got sued after specifying the wrong panels, despite the client's giving false information

  • Comment

    No records, no claim

    2003-04-04T00:00:00Z

    This was an application by the attorney general for the Falkland Islands (on behalf of the Islands' government) for the determination of a preliminary point of law in arbitration proceedings. Gordon Forbes and the government entered into a FIDIC fourth edition contract in 1997 to carry out some building works. ...

  • Comment

    Bombs on a budget

    2003-04-04T00:00:00Z

    This week, our attentions shift to the damage that the war is causing on the home front (pages 22-23). It would be a cruel irony if investment in public services was halted to pay for Iraq just when the contracts are starting to flow. But nobody is under any illusions ...

  • Comment

    Hansom

    2003-04-04T00:00:00Z

    This week, the least cared-for companies are publicly humiliated, a long-lens camera gets an eyeful and how a QS firm is taking on a secret mission

  • Comment

    A voyage to Psychotropia

    2003-04-04T00:00:00Z

    "Art deco was kitsch and camp and gently surreal, and architects who take themselves too seriously have always taken it too seriously, too." Discuss …

  • Comment

    So much energy, so little time

    2003-04-04T00:00:00Z

    I am writing in response to your piece on the government's energy white paper (28 February, page 15), which outlined targets for reducing carbon dioxide emissions from buildings. A few days later, the government announced a much-needed £20m grant aid programme to stimulate the installation of photovoltaic cells in buildings.Fronted ...

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    In safe hands

    2003-04-04T00:00:00Z

    Philip Harris' article on the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations (14 March, page 54) is an interesting approach to the question of how to enforce what he calls "unpopular and ineffective legislation". But if CDM is unpopular, who is going to bother enforcing it if the Health and Safety Executive ...

  • Comment

    There's no such smell

    2003-04-04T00:00:00Z

    I have just been catching up on last week's edition of Ðǿմ«Ã½ and enjoyed the collection of interviews entitled "The children's crusade" (21 March, page 44). However, Jonathan Manser confused me in saying that the smell of wet concrete was one of his earliest memories. In my 35 years in ...