星空传媒

Tougher rules for storing diesel on site

Be warned: from this month you will need foolproof containment
As of 1 September, if you keep diesel close to a watercourse, you鈥檙e breaking the law if it doesn鈥檛 have a foolproof, back-up containment system. Failure to comply with the regulations is a criminal offence under the Control of Pollution (Oil Storage) (England) Regulations 2001. Maximum penalty is a 拢20,000 fine. The regulations apply in England where oil products are stored in containers of more than 200 litres. If this is you, you鈥檇 better get out the tape measure because if it鈥檚 10m from a watercourse or 50m from a well or bore hole, it must be contained in a bund. The bund must be built of brick or some other impermeable material capable of holding 110 percent of the volume of the tank itself. (See diagram, right, for details.) The new regulations took effect in March 2002, at which time all new stores had to sit within a bund like this. This month, older stores considered high risk (i.e. near water) have to comply. All stores will have to comply within two years. For complete specifications see Guidance note for the Control of Pollution (Oil Storage) (England) Regulations 2001, available for downloading from www.defra.gov.uk or email us for a PDF at construction_manager@buildergroup.co.uk

Ten tips on using project extranets

From a report by the Construction Industry Computing Association. You can download the report free of charge from www.cica.org.uk

• Know an IT supplier that you simply don鈥檛 get on with? Then avoid them. A collaborative extranet involves a deep relationship and negative feelings or a lack of trust can hurt as much as any system shortfalls
• Don鈥檛 be too obsessive about comparing one vendor鈥檚 list of features with another鈥檚. They鈥檙e still watching each other to see what the market wants, so the absence of a feature may be temporary
• Visit shortlisted vendors and take a peek at the helpdesk in action. A lot of red messages on the screens can be a warning
• If the vendor hosts the service, find out where they store all the data. Some use third-party data warehouses, sometimes not even in the UK
• Discover what the vendor鈥檚 insurance covers. Should one of these third party storage providers go down the drain, so might all your project information
• Pick a supplier with good chances of survival. It鈥檚 still an immature market, so not all will survive
• Establish who owns the data at the end of a project, and how much it will cost to get copies
• Define service levels for things such as a 24-7 help desk and routine maintenance
• Claims of 鈥渘o training necessary鈥� have often been found to be optimistic
• To choose a vendor, set out clear steps leading to a decision. They should include investigating the market, defining your requirements, and inviting tenders

Music to your ears?

Get ready for new sound regs says Tony Dennison
星空传媒 Regulations and their Approved Documents have always been subject to revision, but the pace of change is increasing. Already this year we鈥檝e seen new editions of Part B (Fire Safety) and Part E (Sound Resistance) and next year four more Documents could be revised. The 2000 edition of Part B (Fire safety) was revised on 1 March 2003 to harmonise technical specifications and fire tests across Europe. This stems from the Construction Products Directive. It seeks to break down trade barriers between member states. Construction managers are beginning to notice the way fire characteristics of products are tested and specified. For instance, wall and ceiling linings will soon no longer be Class 0, 1 and 3. The equivalent European classes are B, C and D. Sound resistance regulations have not been changed for years so government took the opportunity on 1 July 2003 to revise Part E substantially. Controls have been extended beyond houses and flats to cover hostels, boarding houses, halls of residence 鈥� basically anywhere you might sleep, save a prison or a hospital. If you鈥檙e building residential structures that are not houses, you鈥檒l need to test sound resistance before carpets, curtains and furniture are installed. (House builders may be exempt. See 鈥楺uick noise facts鈥�.) The new Part E also sets standards for the sound insulation in internal walls and floors in dwelling houses and flats. Standards currently required by NHBC for certain internal walls will suffice. You must also now control reverberation of sound in common parts of buildings, such as halls, corridors and stairwells. Acoustic ceiling tiles and soft floor finishes will help although a supporting calculation is required. Finally, new schools are controlled to ensure sound insulation between rooms, protect rooms from external noise and provide suitable reverberation to ensure good speech intelligibility. n Tony Dennison is manager of Central Southern England for Butler & Young. He will speak on 星空传媒 Regs changes this autumn. See The Knowledge, page 44, for further details. "building residential structures? you must test sound before installing carpets or curtains" Quick noise facts

The new Part E requirements apply to all relevant buildings granted 星空传媒 Control approval on or after 1 July 2003

The House Builders Federation is negotiating with government for an exemption from testing for members who can prove their robust standard details meet Part E requirements. A decision is due imminently

New schools do not necessarily have to be tested. Refer to your Approved Inspector or local authority

Government has agreed in principle to authorise members of the Association of Noise Consultants (ANC) to carry out acoustic tests. This will widen the pool of accredited testers, making it easier and possibly cheaper to test your building

To locate acoustic test providers call the United Kingdom Accreditation Service on 020 8917 8555 or the ANC on 01763 852 958. Visit www.association-of-noise-consultants.co.uk

Approved Docs are available from the Stationery Office or can be viewed at www.safety.odpm.gov.uk/bregs

Brain teaser: What is the Pyramus and Thisbe Club? And how did it get its name?

The literary scholars among you may wish to send the correct answers to construction_manager.co.uk and enter a draw to win a copy of Paul Chynoweth鈥檚 new tome, The Party Wall Casebook, published by Blackwell. And yes, the title is a bit of a hint.

Brain Teaser: What鈥檚 louder?

Go on, which one? Continuous flight augur injected piling, or hammering precast concrete piles? Believe it or not, they are roughly the same, according to research carried out for BS 5228, Part 4, 1992. CFA piling generates between 108 and 111 decibels. Hammering precast concrete piles generates between 107 and 111 decibels. Having said that, research has not yet been conducted into which method is more likely to drive you nuts.

Thanks to Aarsleff Piling for pointing this out.

Really hot topic

Fire safety systems stand out because flaws in the design only show up when it鈥檚 too late, says Farshad Alamdari, managing director of the fire division of BRE. So if you鈥檙e a building control officer or anyone with responsibility for fire safety, check out BRE鈥檚 new guide, Fire safety engineering. Running to just 101 well-illustrated pages, it is designed both to introduce novices and to give veterans a short cut to the volumes of available guidance. We have one review copy and we鈥檒l send it to the first person that answers by email the following question: At what temperature do bricks fuse together? Send to construction_manager@buildergoup.co.uk Otherwise, view the guide as a series of web pages at www.bre.co.uk/frs. You can also buy it for 拢27 at www.BREbookshop.com, or by calling 0207 505 6622.