Opinion – Page 613
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Comment
Not a holiday camp
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
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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Following Foster
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
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
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Calling like-minded lawyers
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, ...
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Comment
Safe, unless you're cooking
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 ...
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Read the instructions
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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Comment
Designing for imbeciles
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
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
To all appearances, little has changed since the last Ðǿմ«Ã½ Awards a year ago.
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An offer you can refuse?
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?
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Know your onions
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
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No records, no claim
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. ...
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Bombs on a budget
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 ...
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A voyage to Psychotropia
"Art deco was kitsch and camp and gently surreal, and architects who take themselves too seriously have always taken it too seriously, too." Discuss …
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So much energy, so little time
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
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 ...
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There's no such smell
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 ...