Contract Journal articles from July 2006

Contract Journal archives from July 2006

Full Nelson.
July 5, 2006... Given that Nelson? Column has only been scaffolded and restored three times in its 163-year history, D+R Scaffold Group knows the monument well. ?This is the second time we have won the job of erecting the scaffolding; it? something of which...

System addict.
July 5, 2006... ?Scaffolders should be given the same protection when erecting, altering and dismantling scaffold as the people who are going to use it.? And the best protection, says Clive Johnson, is system scaffolding, incorporating collective protection...

Peri?s system scaffold is on the Up.(product introduction)(Brief article)
July 5, 2006... Peri said its new Peri Up system scaffolding, which consists of just nine core components, caused such a stir at SED that its sales people are still following up leads. The Work at Height Regul-ations, new European standards and a...

Plant accidents top CPCS agenda.(Construction Plant Competence Scheme)(security measures for construction workers)(Brief article)
July 5, 2006... Trevor Gamble, the new chair- man of the Construction Plant Competence Scheme (CPCS) management committee, is to use his position to focus on reducing deaths and serious injuries involving plant. ?If our workforce is trained and qualified, this...

Doka's tall order.
July 5, 2006... It? being hailed as the tallest building outside London and the highest residential space in the UK. When complete, the 48-storey Beetham Tower will stretch 159m into the skyline of Manchester city centre, with a glass ?blade? extending the...

MEPS predicts wave of steel consolidations.
July 5, 2006... The merger between steel giants Arcelor and Mittal Steel could herald a wave of further consolidations, according to steel industry analyst MEPS. The unprecedented amalgamation of the world? largest and second-largest steel producers,...

Ashtead Group trebles profit.(company sales and earnings)
July 5, 2006... Ashtead Group has announced a trebling of profit to ?67.5m and the retirement of chief executive George Burnett. Ashtead? US division Sunbelt Rentals recorded a massive 62.7% rise in profit (before tax and interest) to ?98.8m, generated...

Peugeot plans Boxer replacement.
July 5, 2006... Peugeot is planning to launch a replacement for its Boxer van in November. The new 300 range Boxer is a direct replacement spanning 3t to 3.5t GVW, while a new 400 range will go up to 4t GVW and offer payloads reaching 2t. Power will...

Business as usual for house wreck machine.
July 5, 2006... The 13t Daewoo excavator that was used by a 52-year-old Essex man to demolish his landlords? house was undamaged and is already back out on hire. Robert Taylor? unexpected demolition of Janice Gledhill? home made the pages of the national...

Plant hire sector set to consolidate.(financial decline of constuction firms)(Brief article)
July 5, 2006... The plant hire industry is heading for a period of consolidation according to David Pattison, a senior analyst with Plimsoll Publishing. A study of the UK? top 1,500 plant hire companies shows that more than one quarter are rated as...

In good form.
July 5, 2006... Formwork labour costs account for 50% of the total costs of placing concrete, including materials costs. This striking statistic has helped formwork system solutions really take off. ?The UK is now a systems market,? says Carl Heathcote,...

Raising construction?s image.
July 5, 2006... For most members of the public, a building site is not the most aesthetically appealing vista. And while conventional scaffold sheeting might shield the passer-by from dust and disruption, it generally does little to enhance the view. All...

Four register for ?67m Brunel campus scheme.(Brief article)
July 5, 2006... bw-brewnell Four firms are hoping to put to bed a ?67m deal to design and build student accommodation in north-west London. Galliford Try, Vinci subsidiary Norwest Holst, Bowmer & Kirkland and Laing O?Rourke have just picked up the...

Two remain in Brum roads bid.
July 5, 2006... contract news bw-brummage Two firms have locked horns in the final run-in for a ?2.2bn PFI highways maintenance deal PFI for Birmingham City Council. Amey and the Birmingham Street Services consortium (Vinci/Laing Roads/Ringway/WSP Group)...

Bramall scoops ?25m housing association deal.
July 5, 2006... contract news flash bw-chevrolet Bramall Construction has shut out four rivals to unlock a ?25m deal to upgrade homes for Wakefield-based Chevin Housing Association. Mears, Mitie and two local outfits ?- Strategic Team Group and...

GrantRail to fast-track rail line.
July 5, 2006... bw-granted GrantRail has coupled up to a ?16m deal on National Rail? West Coast Main Line project, aimed at delivering faster journey times between key cities such as Birmingham and Manchester. The design and implementation scheme is...

Quality counts as Willmott Dixon scoops school deal.(St Helens Council)(remodelling the school)(Brief article)
July 5, 2006... bw-helen Willmott Dixon has entered into a ?15m partnering deal with St Helens Council to redevelop a school at Denton? Green. Bids were assessed on the basis of 80% weighted in favour of quality over price. The project involves...

Leeds City urged to reduce tender list.
July 5, 2006... The Civil Engineering Contractors Association (CECA) has written to bw-nineofem Leeds City Council to complain about the has ignored concerns from the Civil Engineering Contractors Association (CECA) over the number of firms the council...

Four in gear for ?13m Beds bypass.(Bedfordshire County Council)(roads construction plan)(Brief article)
July 5, 2006... bw-rigid Four firms are tussling for a ?13m roads deal for Bedfordshire County Council. The line-up for the Ridgemont bypass is Birse, Norwest Holst, Jackson and Edmund Nuttall. Work on site is due to kick off in September. ...

Wimpey clocks on for ?30m mixed-use project in Brum.(building plans at central Birmingham)(Brief article)
July 5, 2006... bw-wimpee George Wimpey City is expected to start work this year on its first scheme in central Birmingham. The deal is a ?30m mixed-use development at Bromsgrove Street, near the Bullring. The project includes 183 apartments and...

Evangelising e-auctions.
July 5, 2006... There is something of the evangelist about Peter Wooliscroft. The former head of the NHS ProCure 21 programme is now part of the Office of Government Commerce? (OGC) construction and facilities maintenance efficiency unit. His brief is to...

Costain launches its ?war on waste? drive.(waste management)(Costain Group PLC)
July 5, 2006... Costain has launched a new sustainability campaign to help reduce waste on its sites. Based around a DVD called Save It, the campaign will focus on improved materials and resources management, recycling and re-use of materials. Launching...

Last in, first out is illegal.
July 5, 2006... The traditional redundancy policy of ?last in, first out? is now definitely illegal. That is the official advice from the Advisory Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) in its guidance on the new age-discrimination legislation that takes...

Planning regs restrict opencast mining sites.
July 5, 2006... Opencast coal mining is suffering unfairly from a planning presumption against new sites, according to Bob Blackman, TGWU national construction secretary. In a briefing to MPs, Blackman said Scotland has introduced a 500m planning buffer...

EasyBuild contributions increase 20%.
July 5, 2006... Basic weekly contributions to construction? EasyBuild stakeholder pension scheme will rise by 20% to ?3, with effect from the employers? August payment schedule, the B&CE benefits company has announced. The increase was agreed as part of...

What?s going on within? Taylor Woodrow Construction.(interview)(Interview)
July 5, 2006... How many days annual leave? Between 25 and 28, in addition to bank holidays. The figure depends on a person? role in the company and their length of service. Can you take them when you want? Pretty much. A number of sites close...

Costain closes overseas arm.(Brief article)
July 5, 2006... Costain is closing its international division at a cost of around ?13m. Last year the division ran up a loss of ?2.9m. No figure has been put on the number of redundancies, but some of the division? 550 employees are expected to be...

Rollalong Hire?s ?11m MBO.(management buy-out)(management buy-out of Rolla-long Hire)(Brief article)
July 5, 2006... Nick Hickton has led an ?11m management buy-out of Rolla-long Hire, the hirer of portable accommodation. Rollalong operates across England from eight regional centres, offering offices, secure stores, welfare units, toilets and classrooms....

White Young Green buys Irish firm Nolan Ryan.(Nolan Ryan partnership)(Brief article)
July 5, 2006... White Young Green (WYG), the consultancy group, is paying ?9.7m for Nolan Ryan in a move that will boost its presence in Ireland. Nolan is a cost management business with clients in both the public and private sectors in the Republic of...

Firms report strong trading.(financial reports of business enterprises)(Financial report)
July 5, 2006... Balfour Beatty is one of a whole batch of construction companies to report that trading performance in the first six months of the year was good. Balfour? statement added: ?Cash generation and working capital performance have also been...

Hanson reaps global rewards.(Hanson Aggregates UK)(Brief article)
July 5, 2006... Globally, Hanson enjoyed a 10% upsurge in operating profit in the six months to 30 June compared with the first half of the previous year ? but the position in the UK was less rosy. The group? latest trading statement reports that Hanson...

James Bros sold to management.(Brief article)
July 5, 2006... Michael Pryke and John Charles have led a three-man management buy-out (MBO) of James Bros, a fabricated steel specialist based in Poole, Dorset. Pryke had been senior contracts manager, with Charles also having held a contracts manager?...

Laing O?Rourke Australia set to pay ?30m for Barclay Mowlem.(Carillion is to sell Barclay Mowlem, the construction group, Australian division)(Brief article)
July 5, 2006... Carillion is to sell Barclay Mowlem, the construction group? Australian division, for ?30m to Laing O?Rourke Australia. With a head office in Sydney, the operations are focused in the construction markets in Australia and south-east Asia....

MJ Gleeson sells Concrete Repairs to management buy-out for ?3m.(Brief article)
July 5, 2006... MJ Gleeson has sold its Concrete Repairs Ltd (CRL) division to its management for ?3m in cash. CRL? management is acquiring the business through a company, called Rangelast, created specifically for the management buy-out (MBO). CRL will...

Nelson's Column restoration prompts timber investigation.(Brief article)
July 5, 2006... The Greater London Authority (GLA) has moved to tighten up procurement methods for timber products on its construction contracts following the revelation that ?illegal? wood from Papua New Guinea is being used in the restoration of Nelson?...

Olympic contracts will be mindful of risk.(Brief article)
July 5, 2006... The Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) will not be placing unnecessary risk on contractors when letting contracts to deliver infrastructure for the Games, according to its chairman Jack Lemley. Answering questions on what form of procurement...

Bidding blueprint for London 2012Olympics contenders to be put to the test.
July 5, 2006... The Olympic task force of the Strategic Forum has launched its 2012 Construction Commitments document for those looking to bid for future work from the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA). Many believe the document, drawn up in consultation...

TfL: ?new roads unsustainable?
July 5, 2006... The construction of any new roads in London would be ineffective and unsustainable, according to Transport for London? (TfL) long-term transport planning document Transport 2025. The report, designed to determine London? long-term vision...

Games will not cause an excessive workload.(planning of construction industry on the infrastuctures on the basis of olympics)(Brief article)
July 5, 2006... The construction industry will have the capacity to deliver the 2012 Olympic Games and will not be hit by inflationary costs due to excessive workloads, according to the Construction Products Association? economics director Allan Wil?n. ...

Construction industry is too often ?misunderstood?
July 5, 2006... Contractors must destroy the breeding ground for crisis within their organisations, be more open with the media and do away with preconceptions if they are to come away with their reputations unscathed from problem contracts during the Games?...

London under starter's orders.
July 5, 2006... The Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) must understand that it cannot gain the construction industry? interest in building the Olympic Stadium if all the risk is to be borne by contractors. This was just one word of advice from Alan Willby,...

Wembley plagued by more setbacks.
July 5, 2006... The completion of the ?757m Wembley stadium project faces further delays after claims by main contractor Multiplex that client Wembley National Stadium Limited (WNSL) has not begun some of the works required to achieve practical completion. ...

New benchmark developed for building control.(Brief article)
July 5, 2006... The Department for Communities and Local Government has unveiled a new system of performance indicators and updated performance standards to increase compliance with the current building standards. The new building control measures, drawn...

Steel has strong green credentials, says Corus.
July 5, 2006... Steel manufacturer Corus has defended steel? environmental credentials as a building material. At a recent seminar, the company outlined a raft of arguments to encourage people to look beyond the metal? high embodied CO2 levels. Steel...

Shredded tyres banned from landfill.
July 12, 2006... The ban on tyres entering landfill is being extended to cover even shredded tyres from 16 July, unless they are being used for engineering purposes. However, the exception allowing tyres of more than 1,400mm in outside diameter to be...

Goodyear puts the brakes on.
July 12, 2006... Goodyear has released a new tyre for regional haul trucks that is said to offer up to 25% longer life and "significantly increase" braking performance in wet conditions. The Regional RSH II (regional haul steer) tyre is available in all...

CBI boss set to take up advisory role for JCB.(appointment of Sir Digby Jones in JCB Company Ltd)(Brief article)
July 12, 2006... Sir Digby Jones, the director general of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) has undertaken a fact-finding tour of six of JCB's UK plants ahead of taking up a position as an advisor to the company on government and international...

Revenue drives up tax for private use of vans.
July 12, 2006... New benefit-in-kind rules due to come into effect next April will see a massive hike in tax liabilities for employees who take their employers' vans home at night. Currently, the annual tax liability on an employee using a company van for...

Record profit marks Pettifer turnaround.(Pettifer Construction)(Brief article)
July 12, 2006... Pettifer Construction is on for a record performance this year after its trading in the year to 30 September 2005 was impacted by large contracts being delayed. "We'll produce a turnover of ?55m in this current year [to 30 September] and...

Tool hire sector will reach ?1bn by 2009.
July 12, 2006... The tool hire market can expect annual growth of 6% to 10% from 2006 to 2010, pushing its overall value to ?1bn by 2008/9, according to a study by AMA Research. The study, which puts the current market value at ?830m (at hire prices),...

Lavendon Group reports a 17% rise in revenue.(financial reports of Lavendon Group )(Financial report)(Brief article)
July 12, 2006... A pre-close statement from Lavendon Group indicates a 17% year-on-year revenue increase for the first half of 2006. UK revenues increased by 25% in the first half, largely due to the acquisition of Panther Work Platforms, Kestrel Powered...

Agg Industries subsidiary buys Ash Solutions.
July 12, 2006... Paragon Materials, a subsidiary of Aggregate Industries (AI), has purchased a majority stake in North Lincolnshire-based Ash Solutions. The company, which trades in ash and ash products, will become a part of AI's cementitious division,...

Swedish is best for Clearwood.
July 12, 2006... Cornish joinery firm Clearwood has been forced to look direct to Swedish timber producers to meet its growing need for high-quality timber. The company said its increasing requirements for green split timber had seen it outgrow UK...

Concrete repair market continues to grow.(Brief article)
July 12, 2006... The UK market for repairing concrete has grown by more than 12% in the past two years, according to a survey by the Concrete Repair Association. Last year, the sector grew by more than 5%, which follows on from a 7% surge in 2004, and...

Leicestershire quarries in demand.(Brief article)
July 12, 2006... Leicestershire County Council is considering upping capacity at five quarries to meet an anticipated shortfall in sand and gravel. No new sites are involved but Brooksby, Cadeby, Husbands Bosworth, Lockington and Shawell quarries are set to...

Verry ambitious.
July 12, 2006... After a successful career with some of Europe's biggest brands, including SmithKline Beecham, British Steel, Del Monte and most recently a seven-year stint with Phillips Consumer Electronics, Craig Jones was looking forward to a well-deserved...

JF Finnegan to build ?18m warehouse.
July 12, 2006... bw-catesby Sheffield-based JF Finnegan has taken an ?18m warehouse scheme in south Yorkshire. The 40,000m2 single-storey facility will be built at the Firstpoint Business Park at Balby, near Doncaster, for developer Catesby. Over...

Former directors' appeal to delay court hearing refused.(Brief article)
July 12, 2006... bw-elvis The High Court has rejected pleas by two former construction company bosses to put back the start of their attempts to challenge their disqualifications from directorships. The action against William Berry and John Aviss is...

Sentinel Housing picks five for ?150m contract.
July 12, 2006... bw-foiveofem Five outfits start work next month on a ?150m housing deal spanning three counties. Kier, Mansell, Geoffrey Osborne, Hill Partnerships and Buckinghamashire firm Fusion will be tackling the scheme for Sentinel Housing...

120m Greenwich Decent Homes scheme awarded.(Brief article)
July 12, 2006... bw-greens Four firms have locked into a ?120m deal to revamp thousands of homes acrossin south London. Greenwich Ccouncil has awarded partnering contracts to three private-sector outfits. Apollo will tackle the borough's central area; Makers...

Five contest ?180m Midlands framework.(Brief article)
July 12, 2006... bw-scape Five firms are vying to take part in a unique procurement experiment worth up to ?180m-plus and claimed to be able to save contractors and clients "thousands of pounds". Bluestone, Skanska, B&KBowmer & Kirkland, Interserve...

Costain in the fast lane for ?29m Oxfordshire bypass.(Brief article)
July 12, 2006... Contract news bw-wolves A ?29m-plus roads deal in Oxfordshire looks to be coming Costain's way. Insiders say the contractor is accelerating past four rivals for the ?29.2m viaduct replacement scheme. The news leaves Edmund...

Editor's comment.(Editorial)(Brief article)
July 12, 2006... Time to fix the healthcare blues Reviews of public procurement programmes are occasionally necessary, sometimes useful, but often deeply frustrating for the private sector. The current Department of Health (DH) review of the major...

Boost for housebuilders.(housebuilding market )(Brief article)
July 12, 2006... The housebuilding market is recovering, according to first-half trading statements from George Wimpey, Wilson Bowden and Bovis Homes. Wimpey reported a rise in UK completions of 24% to 5,854 units. However, the average selling price showed...

Good buys for Carillion/Galliford.(recent acquisitions)(Brief article)
July 12, 2006... Carillion and Galliford Try are progressing well with their recent acquisitions. In a first-half trading statement issued last week, Carillion said the integration of Mowlem is "progressing well" with cost synergies running ahead of...

Booming Spade Oak makes most of its resources.(Brief article)
July 12, 2006... Spade Oak, the Foster Yeoman-owned asphalt and macadam surfacing contractor, generated a 61% boost in pre-tax profit to ?2.4m in the year to 31 March as turnover rose 27% to ?33.9m. Chairman Michael Wellington told CJ: "We increased trading...

Workers give thumbs-down to raising retirement age.
July 12, 2006... Government plans to raise the state retirement age give rise to serious occupational health concerns, according to John Jory, deputy chief executive of construction's B&CE benefits company. Jory was commenting on independent research, which...

Government mulls compensation fund.
July 12, 2006... The government is considering setting up a special compensation fund after the widow of a Scottish building worker was left 'in penury' despite being awarded more than ?250,000 in damages following the death of her husband, John Stupart, in a...

CJ Pearce collapses.(Brief article)
July 12, 2006... CJ Pearce, the Telford-based construction group, has gone into administration and its entire workforce of 60 made redundant. It had no ongoing contracts. Simon and Daniel Plant have been appointed as joint administrators working for SFP, a...

On the road to recovery?
July 12, 2006... The first hints of recovery in new construction orders have begun to appear. Orders in the three months to May reached a total of ?12.6bn in value, which represents an increase of 14% against the previous three months and 9% against the three...

Whatever happened to arbitration?
July 12, 2006... Once upon a time, not so long ago, arbitration was the only means of dispute resolution provided for in most standard forms of construction contract, meaning that if the parties had a dispute that they were unable to resolve between themselves,...

Site remediation costs may fall to developers.
July 12, 2006... Developers, housebuilders and utility companies could be held liable for remediation works on their sites, even if contam- ination occurred before they took ownership of the land, following a recent ruling in the High Court. The case of...

Consolidation facilities cut down project costs.
July 12, 2006... The use of consolidation centres for products and materials is providing projects with average cost savings of around 2.5%, according to Gary Sullivan, managing director of construction logistics services at Wilson James. Latest research...

Speedy Hire hits the FTSE 250 big time.(Brief article)
July 12, 2006... Strong organic growth and a spate of recent acquisitions have propelled Speedy Hire into the FTSE 250 for the first time. Speedy chief executive Steve Corcoran said: "Our entry into the FTSE 250 is another milestone in the development of...

British Aggregates Association slams DEFRA review.(Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)(Brief article)
July 12, 2006... The British Aggregate Assoc-iation (BAA) has voiced its concerns over the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs' Review of Waste Strategy. It said that it was "regrettable" that the main emphasis of the review appeared to be...

Flood projects face value test.
July 12, 2006... The Environment Agency (EA) is to revolutionise the way it decides future capital works programmes for flood defence projects. Speaking at the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs' (DEFRA) 41st Flood & Coastal Management...

Workload optimism hampered by worker shortage.(Brief article)
July 12, 2006... Specialist contractors are expecting an increase in workload, but are unable to bid for work due to the low number of skilled and experienced applicants. The news comes as part of the National Specialist Contractors Council's latest State...

Gap buys J&S Plant to plug network holes.(Brief article)
July 19, 2006... Gap has purchased J&S Plant of Lincoln, the plant and tool hire division of contractor Johnson & Smith, for a sum around ?900,000, plus ?450,000 of net debt. J&S Plant has a turnover of around ?1m, a fleet of 150 plant items, more than...

Quarries face WAH ban on non-conforming kit.(Work at Height)(Brief article)
July 19, 2006... Health and Safety Executive (HSE) inspectors are threatening to issue improvement notices on the plant used in quarries, even as industry representatives met the chairman of the ISO committee looking into access and egress from machines. ...

Counting the cost of fraud.
July 19, 2006... Fraud is costing western European engineering and construction companies more than ?1.2m per incident, significantly higher than elsewhere in the world, with one-third of respondents describing the impact as serious or very serious, according...

Five firms win pioneering ?1bn framework.
July 19, 2006... Mansell, HBG, Kier, Mace Plus and Warings have beaten 15 other contenders to win a ?1bn regional framework contract. The scheme, revealed by CJ on 17 May, will deliver building works across south-east England for up to 74 local authorities....

Contractors guilty of sitting on payments to subbies.(Brief article)
July 19, 2006... Main contractors are increasingly withholding retention monies on completed projects from their M&E subbies despite industry attempts to replace the practice with partnering. According to the latest annual figures from BSRIA, subbies report...

Digitachs blur sales figures.(Brief article)
July 19, 2006... Figures released by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) show truck registrations plummeted 51% in June, to 2,755, but the year-to-date figures were ahead by 4.3%.The statistics provide further proof of the scale of the...

Saints rolls out anti-siphon unit.
July 19, 2006... Saints Transport has fitted its entire truck fleet with an anti-siphon device which, manufacturer Tiss Trailer Security claims, will pay for itself within weeks. The Easy-Fit Float Chamber is designed to prevent fuel theft using a 'float...