Contract Journal articles from July 2003

Contract Journal archives from July 2003

Nominal damages.(Alstons Engineering Sales & Services)(Carlton Greer cases)
July 9, 2003... By comparison to London, one imagines the pace of life in Trinidad and Tobago to be rather sedate. Nowhere is this more clearly exemplified than in the processes of the civil law. Last month, in Carlton Greer -v- Alstons Engineering Sales &...

Laing now flourishing in PFI.(Private Finance Initiative)(John Laing)(Brief Article)
July 9, 2003... John Laing has proved that you do not need a construction capability to flourish as a PFI player, said Andy Friend, managing director of the group's subsidiary Laing Investments. "Laing is preferred bidder on 12 schemes, compared with four a...

Think simple but complex.(operator's cabs)(Brief Article)
July 9, 2003... Plant of the future will be "simply complex" according to Thomas Muller, retired concepts manager at Caterpillar. "It is getting harder to recruit operators so the machines have to become simpler to operate," he said. "Children today spend...

Putting contractors on track.
July 9, 2003... In control and prepared to show contractors how cost-effective jobs are done. That is the impression Network Rail's chief executive John Armitt gives as he sits down to talk about rail. Armitt has been in the post for 18 months - since taking...

Broken rails, broken promises.
July 9, 2003... Away from the rail maintenance shambles, the government's record on advancing major capacity enhancement projects has been almost as poor. Now Network Rail is developing a plan for attracting private finance to pay for projects - will it work?...

Ford launches low-floor Transit and LPG Connect.(Brief Article)
July 9, 2003... Ford has added a low-floor Transit to its range and introduced a LPG version of its Transit Connect. With a floor 100mm lower than the standard model, the low-floor Transit is easier to load and has about 50kg of extra payload. Both front- and...

Weston reaches a score on Moxy sales.(Brief Article)
July 9, 2003... Since taking over the UK Moxy dealership a couple of months ago, Weston has sold more than 20 units. Sales director Simon Brown said: "And now with the launch of our new MT41, we anticipate more." Norwegian-based ADT manufacturer Moxy launched...

Hydrex takes control of UK's first Bell B50D.(Brief Article)
July 9, 2003... The UK's first Bell 6x6 B50D articulated dump truck is on trial with Bristol-based Hydrex Equipment. Bell said the trial will last several months and will allow it to evaluate the truck's performance in various UK conditions and help supply...

Expansion set to boost Gap revenue.(Brief Article)
July 9, 2003... Over the next five years, the Gap Group expects to increase revenue to more than 90m from 41.5m in the year to the end of March - a 23% increase on the previous year. Backing this prediction, non executive chairman Nick Kuenssberg said the...

In brief.(Brief Article)
July 9, 2003... Thompson and Liebherr Tyne & Wear-based contractor W&M Thompson has bought three Liebherr excavators. All three are heavy-duty versions with long undercarriages and will be used for earthmoving and demolition applications. Total opts to...

Volvo takes the sting out of outstanding shortfalls.(Brief Article)
July 9, 2003... Volvo Financial Services (VFS) has launched Write-off finance protection for Volvo construction equipment owners. The insurance covers any shortfall between the valuation placed on a stolen or written-off machine by the insurer, and the...

Railway kitout.
July 9, 2003... Since the privatisation frenzy in the mid-1990s, the consumer press has been mostly critical of the private sector's role in the railways - but they have ignored much of the innovation and investment that contractors have brought to the...

Cat and Terex sign deal.(Caterpillar)(Brief Article)
July 9, 2003... Caterpillar and Terex have entered an agreement that will see Cat acquire Terex's worldwide electric-drive mining truck business. Terex will also get the intellectual property of Caterpillar's 5000-Series mining shovel. Terex's eight-model...

Site hand tools fail vibration test.(Brief Article)
July 9, 2003... Manufacturers to reduce vibration levels and contractors to reduce operatives' exposure. Eight types of commonly used demolition hand tools have all failed vibration exposure limits soon to be imposed under European legislation. It is...

Five firms bid for MoD work.(Ministry of Defence)(Brief Article)
July 9, 2003... Five firms are battling it out for a Ministry of Defence (MoD) deal to manage millions of pounds worth of construction work at bases throughout the UK. The work will cover new build and upgrading tasks including accommodation, leisure...

Building Regs boost Taywood test centre.(Building Regulations Parts E and L)
July 9, 2003... Demand set to grow for Parts L and E compliance testing. Taylor Woodrow believes Building Regulations Parts E and L will help stimulate further growth for its materials testing business. Last month, the construction and property group moved...

Alfred McAlpine wins 55m Cambridge hospital PFI job.(Brief Article)
July 9, 2003... Alfred McAlpine's Key Healthcare group has emerged as preferred bidder for a hybrid contract deal at Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge. The scheme, for an elective care facility, is worth 55m and is part traditional and part private finance...

Civil engineering saves Birse's bacon.(Brief Article)
July 9, 2003... Birse's latest annual pre-tax profit of just 1.2m shows that the battle to get the business back on an even keel is still not over. The group's civil engineering wing might now be performing splendidly, but the building division reported nearly...

Achieving the impossible - a 50m defects-free project.(Brief Article)
July 9, 2003... A 50m project for Severn Trent has been completed without a single defect. "Other contractors said it was impossible, but we did it," said managing director Martin Budden. "The number of defects is a high-profile issue for this client and our...

Two to rebid for 20m Scots road.(Brief Article)
July 9, 2003... The Scottish Executive has asked the two contractors left in the chase for a 20m-plus road deal to rebid for the scheme. Balfour Beatty and AWG Construction are the only two firms now involved with the project to improve the A80 in North...

Success for counterfeit power tool campaign.(Brief Article)
July 9, 2003... The power tool industry's campaign against counterfeit tools is proving successful. "Working in conjunction with Trading Standards and the police, the Alliance is collecting and collating more and more data and the evidence gained is escalating...

T Clarke buys Aylward firms to boost regional coverage.(AG Aylward Electrical & Mechanical and AG Aylward EMS)(Brief Article)
July 9, 2003... T Clarke has splashed out 3.4m on two sister mechanical and electrical engineering firms, AG Aylward Electrical & Mechanical and AG Aylward EMS (Maintenance and Minor Works). Based in Kimbolton, Cam-bridgeshire, the two businesses employ 75...

DfES names 11 teams for schools work.(Department for Education and Skills)(Brief Article)
July 9, 2003... The Department for Education and Skills has revealed the members of the 11 design teams tasked with the job of working up exemplar designs for the 5.1bn Building Better Schools PFI programme. Five of the teams will develop designs for primary...

Cowlin and Adventure to supply frameless buildings.(Cowlin Construction, Adventure Group)(Brief Article)
July 9, 2003... Pre-fabricated wide-span frameless buildings are being introduced to the UK in a jv between Cowlin Construction and The Adventure Group. Bristol-based Cowlin is the preferred supplier for Adventure for the new construction product. Invented and...

Firms vie for Notts school.(Nottinghamshire County Council)(Brief Article)
July 9, 2003... Four contractors are hoping to make the grade for one of the biggest private finance schools projects to come up for grabs this year. Nottinghamshire County Council is gearing up to shortlist contenders for its 100m deal, known as the Bassetlaw...

CJ Construction Industry Awards shortlist is out.(Contract Journal)(Brief Article)
July 9, 2003... The shortlist is out for the Contract Journal Construction Industry Awards 2003. See page 13 for the names of those companies in with a chance of winning a CJ Award on 2 October at the Grosvenor House. There are some familiar names on the...

Gleeson wins 15m Salisbury hospital PFI deal.(Brief Article)
July 9, 2003... Gleeson is celebrating victory on a 15m-plus private finance hospital deal in Salisbury. The Canmore group (Gleeson/Parsons Brinckerhoff) has seen off competition from second-placed Amec/Chiltern Securities and third contender Rydon to surface...

Colchester Garrison gets approval.(Brief Article)
July 9, 2003... The massively delayed 1bnColchester Garrison PFI project has finally been given official approval by Colchester Borough Council. The RMPA Services consortium of Sir Robert McAlpine, Sodexho and Atkins was appointed preferred bidder in October...

More youngsters eye a career in construction.(Brief Article)
July 9, 2003... Applications for college construction courses for 16- to 18-year-olds are up by 19% and for 19 year-olds up by a quarter, according to a Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) survey. The survey of 67 colleges revealed that 74.6% thought...

In brief.(Brief Article)
July 9, 2003... Shepherd wins 23m Northern Rock deal Shepherd has seen off bids from Amec and Sir Robert McAlpine to win a 23m contract for Northern Rock in Newcastle. The deal involves the construction of four three-storey office blocks linked around two...

NHBC Trade Talks aims to improve quality of homes.(National House-Building Council)(Brief Article)
July 9, 2003... The National House-Building Council (NHBC) is striving to improve the quality of homes being built with its onsite training initiative, Trade Talks. So far, 100 Trade Talks have been delivered, meaning more than 1,000 tradesmen have been shown...

Benson's new division scores early success.(Benson's northern Home Counties division)(Greenfield Nursery School and Sure Start Children's Centre)(Brief Article)
July 9, 2003... The special works department of Benson's northern Home Counties division has completed its first project four weeks early. The new department completed its modernisation and improvement job at the Greenfield Nursery School and Sure Start...

Irish firm fined for 'poor' safety record.(Galway construction company )
July 9, 2003... A construction company in the Republic of Ireland, with a "very poor" safety record, has been fined a record 357,000 for regulation breaches that that led to the death of a worker. The penalty was the highest ever imposed by an Irish court for...

Second quarter death toll alarms UCATT leader.(Union of Construction, Allied Trades and Technicians )(Brief Article)
July 9, 2003... UCATT has expressed its horror at the news that there have been 26 deaths in construction during the three months from 1 April to 30 June. Fatalities for 2002 stood at 70 compared with 85 in 2001 and 120 in 2000. "If things go on this way, we...

Lack of early project info plagues steel firms.(British Constructional Steelwork Association )(Brief Article)
July 9, 2003... Lack of information on project status continues to be a major problem for specialist contractors. President of the British Constructional Steelwork Assoc-iation (BCSA) Tom Goldberg will tell tomorrow's (Thursday) AGM that the twin problems of...

In brief.(contracts, appointments)(Brief Article)
July 9, 2003... Mowlem wins 5.7m BBC Leicester deal Mowlem has won a 5.7m contract to build a new broadcast centre for the BBC in Leicester. The city centre building will sit over an existing Norman undercroft. Completion is scheduled for September 2004. ...

SAFEcontractors flock to sign up.(Brief Article)
July 9, 2003... Membership of a scheme to help protect businesses from "unsafe contractors" has topped the 5,000 mark. Each client that signs up to the scheme requires all the contractors on its own approved list to undergo the SAFEcontractor vetting process,...

Multi-billion pound road schemes are unveiled.(road widening )(Brief Article)
July 9, 2003... The government will today (Wednesday) outline its multi-billion pound road-widening strategy following a series of multi-modal studies. Transport secretary Alistair Darling is expected to announce widening schemes for 96km of the M25 and...

Network Rail and Balfour wait for CPS.(Crown Prosecution Service)(Brief Article)
July 9, 2003... The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) will this week make its decision over whether to prosecute Balfour Beatty and Network Rail following the deaths of four people in the Hatfield rail disaster of October 2000. Some reports claim that eight...

Metronet checks safety allegations.
July 9, 2003... Metronet has launched an investigation into allegations of theft, poor security and a culture of drink and drug abuse among its maintenance workers on the Tube. The allegations were made last week by an Evening Standard reporter. The reporter...

CITB aims to get funding for the heritage sector and craft skills.(Construction Industry Training Board)(Brief Article)
July 9, 2003... Enticing companies and funding organisations to invest in the heritage sector will be the main drive for the Construction Industry Training Board's first heritage manager Beverley Peters. Appointed two weeks ago, Peters heads up the National...

Lilley survives as Sunley goes under.
July 9, 2003... A management buy-out (MBO) swoop for Lilley Construction, the Glasgow-based builder, was agreed last week just hours before its parent group Sunley Turriff went into administrative receivership. The MBO was led by managing director Keith Hyam,...

BAA managers bailed in fraud investigation.(Brief Article)
July 9, 2003... Three BAA junior managers have been released on bail following a fraud investigation into the handling of maintenance contracts at Heathrow Airport. The unnamed employees, in charge of contracts for BAA, will attend a further hearing in August...

M&E unions threaten war over T5 pay deal.(Machine and Equipment, Terminal Five, British Airports Authority)
July 9, 2003... The 3.7bn Terminal Five project will become "a battleground" if BAA fails to adopt the Major Projects M&E Agreement (MPA), trade union Amicus warned this week. The warning comes as BAA continues to review the implications of accepting the MPA....

Editor's comment.(road construction in U.K.)(Brief Article)(Editorial)
July 9, 2003... Transport secretary Alistair Darling is due to announce a massive increase in road building this week. The announcement will come just a few days after the government was criticised by the Commission for Integrated Transport for failing to make...