Contract Journal articles from August 2006

Contract Journal archives from August 2006

Bidders' anger at Academy design work.
August 2, 2006... Bidders are threatening to pull out of the race for the Partnerships for Schools (PfS) ?1.6bn Academy schools framework deal unless the level of competitive design work is reduced. Fourteen bidders are vying for just six places on the...

New BSF guidance welcomed.( Building Schools for the Future )(Brief article)
August 2, 2006... New guidance aimed at speeding up the delivery of the government's ?8bn Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme provides a more prescriptive regime for local authorities hoping to enter Waves Four to Six. The guidance, published...

Gleeson fined after worker hurt.(Brief article)
August 2, 2006... MJ Gleeson has been fined ?35,000 and ordered to pay costs after a worker was crushed at a site near Huntington in March last year. The worker, Colin Beamish, 48, was hit and fractured three vertebrae when mortar containers fell from a crane....

Accidental verdict for Willmott site deaths.(Brief article)
August 2, 2006... An inquest into two deaths on a Willmott Dixon site was told last week that the bolts had been loosened on the 40m-long jibs of a crane, which collapsed, causing two workmen to fall to their deaths. The incident happened in February last...

A-Plant spends ?500k on trackers.
August 2, 2006... A-Plant has invested more than ?500,000 in tracking devices from Enigma Vehicle Systems. The system, called Enigma Skyline, centres on a mobile GPRS (general packet radio service) device, which provides internet tracking. A-Plant staff...

Arcomet to sell Potain range in Ireland.(Manitowoc Cranes Inc.)(Brief article)
August 2, 2006... Arcomet has signed a deal with Manitowoc Crane Group (MCG) to distribute the full line of Potain tower cranes throughout Ireland. The move builds on Arcomet's relationship with MCG in the UK. MCG vice president of sales and marketing in...

Caterpillar's Q2 results provide record revenue.(Caterpillar Inc.)(Brief article)
August 2, 2006... Caterpillar has reported its highest-ever quarterly revenue and profit, as it released its results for the second quarter of 2006. Sales and revenue climbed 13% compared with the same period in 2005, reaching ?5.7bn. Profit jumped to...

FTA slams new London scheme.(Freight Transport Association )
August 2, 2006... The Freight Transport Association (FTA) has welcomed London mayor Ken Livingstone's delaying of his Transport and Air Quality Strategies in preparation for a London Low Emission Zone, but branded the overall scheme a "dog's breakfast". ...

Hewden rejigs cranes focus.
August 2, 2006... Hewden has proposed changes to its cranes division that will see a shift in focus to cranes of up to 100t and the creation of a more local presence. The proposal, which is currently in consultation with staff, would result in a...

Power Plant picks Kubota.
August 2, 2006... Power Plant Hire is set to switch to an all-Kubota mini fleet, having signed a deal to buy 150 of the machines in the next two years. The firm has already taken delivery of an initial 26 units, including 10 KX36-3 1.5t minis, seven U25 2.5t...

Free safety training booklet.
August 2, 2006... Generation Training has launched a 40-page booklet that details over 30 courses aimed at improving safety and best practice in the workplace. PASMA, IPAF and BLMA are all represented, together with other specialist courses catering for a...

Operators must share manslaughter burden.
August 2, 2006... The Construction Plant-hire Association (CPA) has welcomed the introduction of the Corporate Manslaughter Bill, but warned that it still wants to see individual workers take more responsibility for their own actions. The reaction follows...

Contractors mixed up over Lafarge cement.
August 2, 2006... Lafarge has failed to make clear to contractors that it has replaced its full-strength, Blue Circle-branded Portland cement with a lower-strength blended product, according to a contractor from the Isle of Wight. The Newport-based...

London fire puts timber in spotlight.
August 2, 2006... The recent fire that destroyed a part-built, six-storey block of timber framed flats at Colindale in north-west London has sparked further debate on the safety of timber as a building material. The Modern Masonry Alliance (MMA) has gone so...

Wolseley ready to meet rising demand for pipe.
August 2, 2006... Wolseley is considering upping capacity and introducing 24-hour working at its steel pipe fabrication centre in Essex in anticipation of continued rising demand for offsite construction methods. The proposals follow a tenfold growth in...

Debate over school cooling methods hots up.(Brief article)
August 2, 2006... News that school classrooms are being abandoned due to room temperatures exceeding 36?C has been blamed on bad design and the failure to take advantage of the principles of thermal mass inherent in concrete. Andrew Minson, head of framed...

Aggregates recycling boost.
August 2, 2006... Aggregates recycling capacity in the UK has increased by more than three million tonnes per year since the instigation of capital grant funding from government recycling body WRAP. Between 2004 and 2006, WRAP provided capital grant funding...

Amec infrastructure division worth ?1?
August 2, 2006... The shock verdict of an in-depth report by stockbroker group ABN-Amro on Amec is that its planned de-merged Infrastructure division - which contains all the group's construction operations - could end up with a value of less than zero or a...

Cheshire PFI win for Gleeson JV.
August 2, 2006... A joint venture between Gleeson and Harvest Housing has rung Cheshire County Council's bell for bw-cheeshire an estimated ?100m PFI housing deal. Nn W-w This means curtains for the only remaining contender -- Cruden/Arena Housing. A...

Price concerns may leave lone bidder for Glasgow museum.
August 2, 2006... bw-muse Mystery surrounds who is still bidding for thea high-profile ?60m Zaha Hadid designed Riverside Transport Museum project in Glasgow amid claims that the scheme is "almost impossible to price". The project, designed by controversial...

Wilts road put on backburner.
August 2, 2006... bw-wilted A ?20m roads project in Wiltshire County Council's ?20m Brunel Link and Harnham relief road around Salisbury has fallen foul of the regional transporttranport board's list of priority schemes. The South West Regional Assembly...

OGC seeks contract form rationalisation.
August 2, 2006... Fears of a government snub for the JCT standard forms have been sparked by a recent meeting between the Office of Government Commerce (OGC) and the various publishers of standard forms of construction contract. This is said to have focused on...

NAECI binned as NJC gets revamp.(National Agreement for the Engineering Construction Industry )(National Joint Council )
August 2, 2006... Lewis Sampson, independent director of the National Joint Council (NJC) for the engineering construction industry, is to step down in September as part of a fundamental revamp of the sector's industrial relations structure. Employers...

East Enders get together to boost Olympic skills.(the East End of London )(Brief article)
August 2, 2006... Five boroughs in the East End of London are combining to ensure that local people and businesses gain the maximum employment and contract opportunities associated with the 2012 Olympic development. The boroughs are to launch a local labour...

Jarvis still in the red as latest results reveal loss of ?58m.
August 2, 2006... Jarvis is still not out of the red. The group's latest annual results, covering the 12 months to 31 March 2006, show a pre-tax loss of ?58m. Twelve months ago, it was highly doubtful that Jarvis would ever issue another set of financial...

Rok settles on ?1.25m with former director.(Rok property solutions plc)(Mark Kay.)(Brief article)
August 2, 2006... Rok has paid ?1.25m to settle a long-running dispute with former director Mark Kay. The dispute related to Rok's acquisition of his business several year ago. Kay had claimed for more than ?5m, plus interest, for amounts he was allegedly...

SMC eyes Olympic work as orders rise.(SMC Group)(Brief article)
August 2, 2006... SMC Group, the architect and design business, has announced an increase in its workload. The total construction value of the projects that it is working on runs to ?1.2bn. These represent stage fees for SMC running to more than ?17m. SMC's...

Skanska turnover jumps 27%.
August 2, 2006... Skanska UK's turnover in the first half of 2006 jumped by more than a quarter to ?420m as a result of expansion in all three of its operating divisions. The underlying margin has remained steady at 3.2%, said chief executive David Fison....

Health check.(Galliford Try Ltd.)
August 2, 2006... The three-year, ?192m Northampton Schools PFI project for construction work on 41 schools has been described as a "benchmark investment in schools" by local councillor Joan Kirkbride. For Galliford Try, the main contractor, it's a significant...

Disqualified director targeted companies.(Brief article)
August 2, 2006... More details of the activities of the disqualified director William Berry have emerged. Last week, CJ revealed that at a High Court hearing he was banned from being a director for 11 years for acting as a shadow director while disqualified...

HA fine-tunes CAT assessment procedure.
August 2, 2006... The Highways Agency (HA) is to introduce its third round of Capability Assessment Toolkit (CAT) assessments of contractors and consultants on a scheme-by-scheme basis, rather than using a blanket approach. CJ understands that the HA will...

DfT demands HA review after cost over-runs report.(Department for Transport )(Highways Agency)
August 2, 2006... The Department for Transport (DfT) has commissioned an independent review of the Highways Agency's (HA) approach to cost estimating and project management. The review's conclusions are due to emerge in the autumn The DfT was reacting to...

CSCS cards likely to be obligatory by 2008.(Construction Skills Certification Scheme)
August 2, 2006... All construction sites are likely to adopt a fully CSCS-carded workforce policy by 2008. CITB-ConstructionSkills' acting head of certification and registration, Mark Bodger, made the prediction in the lead up to yesterday's (Tuesday)...

Construction suffers three fatalities in one week.
August 2, 2006... There were three fatalities on construction sites last Tuesday taking the total number of construction deaths for the year to 19 - a reduction on the total of 26 this time last year. The first fatality occurred at 12pm during ground...

Decision delayed on CIS card case.(Brief article)
August 2, 2006... The judge presiding over what could be a landmark case against HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has delayed his decision until later this year. The decision by deputy High Court judge Andrew Simmonds QC follows the summing up of both parties in...

Highways firms face fines for road blockages.
August 2, 2006... Contractors and highway authorities could face millions of pounds in extra costs. This follows a ruling at the Court of Appeal last week that widened their responsibilities to include clearing road surface obstructions. The ruling in the...

HSE makes mobile plant plea.(Health & Safety Executive)(Brief article)
August 9, 2006... The Health & Safety Executive (HSE) has renewed its call for construction contractors to use mobile plant with caution after a man was struck and killed by a telehandler "during a reversing manoeuvre" last month. Peter Prunic died in a...

JLG bags ?5.5m A-Plant contract.(Brief article)
August 9, 2006... JLG has won its biggest order of the year, thanks to a ?5.5m deal to supply A-Plant with powered access equipment. The order makes up a large proportion of the ?8m earmarked by A-Plant this year for new investment in powered access...

NCC honours best trainees.(National Construction College )(Brief article)
August 9, 2006... The National Construction College (NCC) marked 40 years of training at its annual awards ceremony on 27 July. The college recognised 46 apprentices for their framework completions, 27 of whom were presented with awards of achievement. ...

Wilkinson Star has seen the light.(Brief article)
August 9, 2006... Wilkinson Star has launched a 7m-high telescopic lighting tower package, which has the capability to link together with other packages to illuminate large areas from one power source. The Starlight Link 70-M4 can use either mains power or a...

Power4's biodiesel breakthrough.
August 9, 2006... Temporary power and lighting specialist Power4 has supplied its biodiesel-fuelled generators and lighting towers to a hire customer for the first time. Events specialist AD Powerhouse used several Power4 generators and lighting towers...

Strong Q2 sees Terex in optimistic mood.(Brief article)
August 9, 2006... Terex has raised its outlook for 2006, following positive second quarter results that saw year-on-year sales rise 18%. The company now expects sales to increase by between 17% and 22% in 2006, climbing to between ?4bn and ?4.2bn. Sales for...

New BRE research centre.
August 9, 2006... A new research centre to develop innovative materials and building products has been established at the University of Bath. The BRE Centre in Innovative Construction Materials is a research and development partnership between the...

Currys to sell solar power on the high street.
August 9, 2006... High-street electrical retailer Currys has announced plans to sell solar panels from three of its stores in Greater London. The company will provide a free 'house assessment', as well as a consultation with a technical adviser. It...

High demand puts panel prices up.(Brief article)
August 9, 2006... Ongoing price hikes for primary panel products - particleboard, MDF and OSB - have been blamed on high demand, coupled with supply shortages, as well as soaring costs. "At this point in time, all three factors are putting a squeeze on the...

Renewable initiatives hit by software snags.
August 9, 2006... Innovative products to deliver renewable energy to new dwellings are being held back by failings in the systems used to assess compliance with building regulations. According to the Construction Products Association, the problem is caused...

Aggregates and concrete sales fall.(Brief article)
August 9, 2006... The latest figures from the Quarry Products Association (QPA) and the Builders Merchants Federation (BMF) have painted a gloomy picture of the market for construction products and materials. According to the QPA, sales volumes of both...

Media war rages over Wembley scheduling.
August 9, 2006... A huge row over the scheduling of client works has further soured relations between Multiplex and client Wembley National Stadium Limited (WNSL) and threatens to further delay practical completion and handover. At issue are the...

Summer cold hits volumes.
August 9, 2006... New construction orders in the second quarter of 2006 are up - but only just, growing just 1% in value to ?12.4bn, compared to ?12.2bn in Q1. That's according to the latest data from the Department of Trade & Industry, which highlights the bad...

Amec group secures ?120m Scottish PPP.(Brief article)
August 9, 2006... bw-barty The Amec-led Inspired consortium has lived up to its name and emerged as preferred bidder for a ?120m PPP schools deal in Scotland. The group, headed up by Amec, has registered successchalked up victory on East Dunbartonshire...

HBG Properties rejects ?100m Brum city deal.
August 9, 2006... Contract news bw-brewXI At the eleventh hour, HBG Properties has pulled out of buying a 0.8ha city centre site in Birmingham that would have led to the construction of a ?100m mixed- use scheme. The council's cCabinet regeneration...

HBG clinches ?100m Welsh hospital deals.
August 9, 2006... bw-coomree HBG Construction has , one of Gwent Healthcare NHS Trust's three supply chain partners, has scooped its first two hospital -building schemes projects totalling ?100m-plus under the Welsh Heath Estates' new Designed for Life:...

Morgan Est to build A68 bypass.
August 9, 2006... Contract news bw-keithy A Scottish road deal that has taken around 10ten years to get off the ground has finally got a contractor on board. Morgan Est is understood to have accelerated past its only remaining rival, a Morrison/Hochtief...

Six pack make shortlist for EP's 38ha Kent regeneration.(English Partnerships)(Brief article)
August 9, 2006... Contract news bw-malled Six developers have made the shortlist for the redevelopment of a former hospital site near West Malling, Kent. The line-up for the deal, which centres on creating a neighbourhood of homes and community...

Kier wins ?24.5m deal from Newlon Housing.
August 9, 2006... Contract news bw-newlon Kier has netted a ?24.5m housing deal as part of its framework agreement with Newlon Housing Trust in London. The job involves building 211 flats on the site of the former T&W Ide glass factory in Stepney....

Willmott Dixon to profit from procurement trial.
August 9, 2006... brian.warner@rbi.co.uk bw-scaped Willmott Dixon has held off four rivals all vying to take part in a unique procurement experiment worth up to ?180m. The scheme is mastermined by Nottinghamshire-based organisation Scape System Build,...

Trio share Scots housing work.
August 9, 2006... bw-skotty Three contractors have crossed the threshold to share in ?70m- worth of housing work for the West of Scotland Housing Association. Cruden, Ashleigh and CCG are the firms that have secured a four-year framework agreement with...

BAM group wins ?70m West Mids BSF scheme.
August 9, 2006... bw-sollysolly The BAM PPP group has chalked up a victory on a ?70m-plus Building Schools for the Future (BSF) deal in the West Midlands. This means that Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council has now expelled a pitch from the only other...

The green dream.
August 9, 2006... Contractors who continue to see sustainability as an afterthought to their core business risk alienating clients who are increasingly placing environmental issues on a par with other considerations. The results of a survey by Overbury, seen...

Flatpack future.(Panaloc )
August 9, 2006... Anyone who has ever recklessly tried to put together a flatpack cupboard without consulting the instructions knows that this usually results in several mismatched pieces of wood bolted unsteadily together, and a mysterious pile of leftover...

Affordable housing and fit-out shine for Morgan Sindall.
August 9, 2006... Two of Morgan Sindall's four operating divisions generated operating margins of more than 5% in the first half of 2006: affordable housing and fit-out. Collectively, the two generated an operating profit of more than ?20m. By contrast,...

Tarmac posts ?80m half-year profit despite difficult market.(Brief article)
August 9, 2006... Tarmac has reported an operating profit of ?80m in the six months to July, in line with business expectations, but well down on the figure of ?96m in the same period last year. Chief executive Robbie Robertson said: "It has been a busy...

Taywood hits ?160m profit.
August 9, 2006... Taylor Woodrow, the international housing development company, has unveiled an interim pre-tax profit of more than ?160m, with more than half of this total being generated by Taywood's North America Housing division. The group's latest...

New PfS boss cracks whip on school work.
August 9, 2006... Partnerships for Schools (PfS), which oversees the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme, has signalled a move to a more collaborative regime with this week's appointment of Tim Byles as its new chief executive. Byles,...

The Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act revised.
August 9, 2006... For many years, the doctrine of privity of contract was a fundamental feature of English law, meaning that it was only the parties to a contract who could rely upon or enforce the terms of that contract. The consequence of this was that if...

Galliard hit by ?15k fine.(Galliard Homes Ltd.)(Brief article)
August 9, 2006... Loughton-based Galliard Homes has been fined ?15,000 and ordered to pay ?7,000 in costs after one of its workers suffered serious cement burns while carrying out screeding works on a floor of a housing project at Marble Arch, London. Kevin...

Tough times continue for construction.
August 9, 2006... UK construction firms are continuing to face tough financial conditions in the first three months of the year to June, according to a report by Euler Hermes. The UK Cash Flow & Profit Report for the second quarter of 2006, compiled through...

Rabbits leave contractors hopping mad.(Construction Industry Research and Information Association)(Brief article)
August 9, 2006... The growth in rabbit populations is hindering the construction, engineering and agricultural sectors, according to research group the Construction Industry Research and Information Association (CIRIA). Burrowing rabbits have been blamed for...

Redworth loses award case.(Redworth Construction)(Brookdale Healthcare )(Brief article)
August 9, 2006... Redworth Construction has failed at the High Court to enforce an adjudicator's award of more than ?200,000 against Brookdale Healthcare with regard to the construction of four group homes and a day-care centre in Wyboston, Bedfordshire. ...

Specialists miss out on partnership gains.
August 9, 2006... Specialist contractors hold a mainly negative view of partnering and have given it limited take-up, according to research by the University of the West of England. The report, produced by Jim Mason of the university's faculty of the built...

Costain hands over proposal for Gerrards X.
August 9, 2006... Tesco has now received Costain's report into design solutions for its proposed ?25m store at Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire, following the partial collapse of a 320m-long rail tunnel at the site in June last year. Costain was asked to...

ODA releases green principles for 2012.(Olympic Delivery Authority)
August 9, 2006... The Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) has released its draft sustainability principles for delivering infrastructure for the 2012 Olympic Games. The 12 principles, which will be followed by a detailed Sustainability Strategy next spring,...

Q2 workload improves, but fuel hikes create a problem.(Brief article)
August 9, 2006... Construction output was up in the second quarter, but rising energy costs are driving up tender prices, with skills shortages adding to the headaches. Civil engineering contractors are experiencing the strongest rise in workload in nine...

CLC goes national.
August 9, 2006... Peter Armitage is a bit sceptical about the value of the press. "I worry that if we shout too loudly about the contracts we've won, rivals will muscle in our patch, and some of our other clients will stop calling us because they think we're too...

Derbyshire in plea over BSF contract.(Building Schools for the Future)
August 16, 2006... Derbyshire County Council is at the centre of a parliamentary debate over its plans to deliver its ?250m Building Schools for the Future (BSF) scheme using a variant model. The scheme, which was due out next February, has been delayed as...

OGC to trial radical project-wide cover.
August 16, 2006... The government is to trial a radical new form of project-wide insurance on about 10 public sector schemes. The move is part of the government's drive to improve public sector procurement efficiency following the Gershon review. It will be...

Lateness caused by extra security, claim T5 workers.
August 16, 2006... Angry Amec workers at Heathrow's Terminal Five (T5) site claim they are being penalised for the increased security checks introduced following last week's terrorist alert. Site sources say Amec workers' pay is being docked if they arrive...

One in six plant firms are running at a loss.(Survey)(Brief article)
August 16, 2006... One in six plant hire companies reported a loss last year and for 18% of them this was their second loss making year, according to Plimsoll Publishing. Surveying results from 1,500 companies involved in plant hire, the bottom quarter...

GGR-Unic rolls out crane duo.
August 16, 2006... Having been appointed as UK distributor for German plant manufacturer Paus, GGR-Unic is set to launch two cranes. The first is Paus' 1.2t capacity Skyworker self-erecting crane, which comes mounted on a 2.1m-wide, self-powered trailer...

Sales rise 20% as Case appoints new dealers.(Brief article)
August 16, 2006... UK sales of Case's core products are up by 20% compared to the same period last year and some product lines have increased by 40%, said vice president George Russell, who declared himself "more than satisfied". He said the UK is easily...

Wash and go.(Hanson Aggregates Inc.)
August 16, 2006... It may not be rocket science, but as the quarry industry braces itself for another round of wrangling over the legality of the Aggregates Levy, Hanson Aggregates is turning the situation to its advantage. While many other businesses are busy...

OGC warns firms not to comply with swindlers.(Office of Government Commerce)(Brief article)
August 16, 2006... More than 100 firms were last week contacted by fraudsters posing as representatives of the Office of Government Commerce asking for confidential information. The swindle came to light when OGC officials were contacted by project managers,...

Cormidi does the double.(Brief article)
August 16, 2006... Cormidi UK said its sales have doubled since last year, largely thanks to the launch of its 6.50 High-Tip tracked compact dumper at SED. The firm indicated that it has sold 40 machines in the past three months and has secured a deal with...

Guide helps cut use of water.(Construction Industry Research and Information Association's guidance on the cut in water consumption)(Brief article)
August 16, 2006... Research body CIRIA has launched new guidance to advise practitioners in the office and hotel sectors on benchmarks for achieving reductions in water consumption. Designing Water KPIs and Benchmarks for Offices and Hotels allows managers...