Contract Journal articles from May 2003

Contract Journal archives from May 2003

Accord wins [pounds sterling]130m Barking housing repair deal.(Brief Article)
May 8, 2003... Support services firm Accord has won a 10-year framework deal worth pound sterling130m to provide full housing repair services to 22,500 council houses in the London Borough of Barking & Dagenham. Under the agreement, Accord will provide a...

Surveys pinpoint skills shortages.
May 8, 2003... n Appropriate training in jeopardy as labour-only and self-employed figures rise. Self-employment is on the increase again just as two new surveys confirm both a continuing high level of skills shortages and the fact that labour-only...

NASC bites the bullet over scaffolding standard redraft.(Brief Article)
May 8, 2003... The National Access and Scaffolding Confederation (NASC) will have to pay the pound sterling60,000 cost of rewriting the British scaffolding standard to meet new European standards by itself, it emerged this week. The new European Standard...

HA offers firms more input but added risk.(Highways Agency)
May 8, 2003... n Industry asked to comment on how best to change road design solution process paper. The Highways Agency (HA) is offering contractors more input but a greater share of the risks in its third consultation on performance specification. ...

HBG bids for ProCure21 as profit inches ahead.(Brief Article)
May 8, 2003... HBG Construction's bid to be one of the dozen principal partners delivering the NHS's pound sterling1.4bn-a-year ProCure21 national rollout has resulted in the development of a tailor-made supply chain involving consultants, M&E subcontractors...

MCG fatalities down for third consecutive year.(Brief Article)
May 8, 2003... Fatalities were down on major contractor sites for the third year in a row, according to provisional figures from the Major Contractors Group (MCG). The fatalities figure for the year to 31 March 2003 is six compared with eight last year,...

First quarter record orders.(Brief Article)
May 8, 2003... First quarter new orders were 5% up year-on-year from pound sterling8.6bn in 2002 to just over pound sterling9bn this year, despite this March being well down on last year. That's not only the highest first quarter ever, it's the highest...

And the winners area.(Brief Article)
May 8, 2003... Four lucky readers and their friends will watch the FA Cup final next week, courtesy of Contract Journal and Bank of Ireland GB. The winners are Nigel Hosking of Wates, Karl Barr of HBG Construction, Tate director of projects and estates...

Accidental death for foreman.(Brief Article)
May 8, 2003... A respected building site foreman was killed at Albion Riverside in London last year while supervising a blind crane lift, Westminster Coroner's Court heard last week. Jack Tangney was working for John Doyle Construction at the development...

Carpenters and joiners can aim for new Master Certificate.(Brief Article)
May 8, 2003... Carpenters, joiners and shopfitters have a new, high-level qualification to aim for: the Master Certificate Scheme. The scheme aims to provide a "challenging, but achievable" goal for craftsmen and apprentices who have completed their NVQ...

Scottish trunk roads contracts lose [pounds sterling]4m.(Babtie, Ennstone and Ringway)
May 8, 2003... n Radical shake-up announced as Babtie, Ennstone and Ringway admit maintenance contracts were mismanaged. Babtie, Ennstone and Ringway's controversial Scottish trunk road maintenance contracts made a loss of pound sterling4m last year. The...

Balfour scoops delayed [pounds sterling]147m M25/T5 road.(Brief Article)
May 8, 2003... Balfour Beatty has sealed the pound sterling147.5m M25 widening (junctions 12-15) and T5 Spur Road contract, as tipped by CJ last month. The award follows a three-month delay by the Highways Agency (HA) in awarding the contract due to what...

Galliford Try jobs go in restructure.
May 8, 2003... n Regional offices will focus on specific sectors with a 70/30 public/private work split. Galliford Try has axed 170 jobs from all areas of its construction division as part of a restructure to stem losses announced at its last interims....

Jarvis in school trouble.(Brief Article)
May 8, 2003... Jarvis' pound sterling59m schools PFI with Kirklees Metropolitan Borough Council has hit further problems after it emerged the contractor has failed to pay some subcontractors. Jarvis was due to complete 10 schools by 31 March, two more by...

In brief.(construction contracts)(Brief Article)
May 8, 2003... McNicholas wins pound sterling14m installations deal McNicholas Group has won a pound sterling14m contract with NTL to carry out residential installations in Kensington, Chelsea and north-west London. The two-year deal follows a similar...

David McLean sets up a partnering deal with SGB.(Brief Article)
May 8, 2003... David McLean has agreed a three-year partnering agreement with access provider SGB. The deal will see SGB provide scaffolding for the contractor across the UK with the exception of the North West of England. David McLean construction...

A winning image of construction.(Brief Article)
May 8, 2003... The construction industry's budding David Bailey's now have an outlet for their work. Contract Journal and the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) have launched the Construction Site Photography Competition to boost the industry's...

Meridian saves AMH and Ingham.(Meridian Business Support acquires AMH Contract Services and Ingham Associates (UK))(Brief Article)
May 8, 2003... Nearly 2,000 jobs have been saved after Meridian Business Support bought the business and assets of construction recruitment specialist AMH Contract Services and Ingham Associates (UK) (part of AMH Holdings Group). Meridian bought the...

Six deaths in one week.(Construction industry deaths)(Brief Article)
May 8, 2003... The Health & Safety Executive (HSE) has voiced its concerns after six fatalities were recorded on sites last week. "What is clear is the number of fatalities that have occurred should serve as a stark reminder as to why everybody in the...

Specialist contractors to promote CSCS card.(National Specialist Contractors Council)(Brief Article)
May 8, 2003... The National Specialist Contractors Council (NSCC) is to launch a major programme this month to promote the CSCS card scheme to its members. Chief executive Suzannah Nichol told CJ that the programme will work in conjunction with the Major...

No training, no gains.(Brief Article)
May 8, 2003... Everyone knows the industry is facing a major recruitment crisis, but the latest reports will only add to the current sense of gloom. It is equally depressing to confirm that the problem reaches from top to bottom. Research by the...

Carillion clinches [pounds sterling]73m DBFO road project in Kent.(design, build, finance and operate)(Brief Article)
May 8, 2003... Carillion has been named preferred bidder for the pound sterling73m design, build, finance and operate (DBFO) roads contract in Kent. The 30-year agreement to build the new A249 Iwade Bypass to Queenborough improvement scheme will see a new...

In brief.(Montpellier seeks to acquire Bullough)(Brief Article)
May 8, 2003... Montpellier ups bid for Bullough to pound sterling7.4m YJL parent Montpellier has increased its bid for Bullough from 12p a share to 14p a share, valuing the firm at pound sterling7.4m. Bullough's board said the original bid on 24 April was...

In brief.(Contract industry briefs)(Brief Article)
May 8, 2003... Wates consortium wins pound sterling25m PFI school The Wates-led QED consortium has been confirmed as the winner of Essex County Council's pound sterling25m PFI schools contract. QED will design, build and operate three secondary schools in...

Five in race for [pounds sterling]35m Herts A505 Baldock bypass project.(multiple briefs)
May 14, 2003... Five contractors will pick up the tender paperwork later this month for a [pounds sterling]35m local authority road deal in Hertfordshire. Not surprisingly, the line-up for the A505 Baldock bypass includes two firms with their headquarters in...

A site to be seen.(SED 2003 )
May 14, 2003... SED 2003 was once again host to a variety of machines and manufacturers. Paul Howard and Colin Sowman took a walk through the Showground to see what was on display. The Showground is where the the madness meets the muck - with plenty of...

How off-site can stack up.
May 14, 2003... With more than 1,000 units scheduled to be built this year, Willmott Dixon Housing claims to build more social housing using off-site construction methods than any other contractor. Chief operating officer Chris Durkin explains to Will Mann why...

Terex seeks foothold in UK rental market.(Brief Article)
May 14, 2003... n Hawk Terex Rental bridges the gap between maker and hirer. Long anticipated attempts by plant manufacturers to establish closer relationships with hirers have taken a step forward with the launch of Hawk Terex Rental. In a move...

New MD oversees Belle move.(Ray Neilson appointed managing director at Belle Group )(Brief Article)
May 14, 2003... Following the successful integration of the production lines from its Chesterfield plant into its Sheen headquarters, the Belle Group has appointed Ray Neilson as managing director. "The transfer from Chesterfield to Sheen is now...

Sky high.
May 14, 2003... This year's SED wasn't an official Cranes and Access year, but there was still a variety of exhibitors and machines on display. Ian Brown spoke to some exhibitors to see how successful the show had been for them. On the EH Hassell stand,...

Perfect partners.(SED 2003 )
May 14, 2003... SED@Hirex made its debut at SED 2003 following a groundbreaking partnership signed last year. Tim Wood and Ross Pearman visited some of the 70 plus exhibitors to get a flavour of what was on offer. Last summer, the first-ever partnership...

CPA: 'products sales pick up'.(Construction Products Association's survey on construction product sales)(Brief Article)
May 14, 2003... The Construction Products Association's (CPA) latest trade survey reveals a buoyant products industry, with almost two-thirds of surveyed firms reporting sales up on the preceding three months and 25% reporting volumes rising by more than 5%....

Brickie shortage delays Tyne work.
May 14, 2003... n Robertson battling to make up time as skills shortage pushes project back 12 weeks. A chronic shortage of bricklayers has delayed work on the [pounds sterling]10m St Ann's Quay project in Newcastle upon Tyne. The design and build...

Taywood ready to replace Bovis on [pounds sterling]300m Manchester hospital.
May 14, 2003... Taylor Woodrow is rumoured to be gearing itself up to prise Bovis away from the [pounds sterling]300m Manchester Children's Hospital PFI contract it is preferred bidder on. A source close to Taywood, the reserve bidder on the project when...

Bosses are blamed for skills Catch-22.
May 14, 2003... UCATTgeneral secretary George Brumwell is blaming employers for what the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) has described as a skills Catch-22 situation. Brumwell said contractors are showing a marked reluctance to take on...

Asphalt moves into alternative uses.(Mastic Asphalt Council promotes asphalt use for floors, tanks and paving)
May 14, 2003... n MAC campaign launched to promote awareness of mastic asphalt for flooring, tanking and paving. The mastic asphalt industry wants to increase its share of the flooring and paving markets. The material is traditionally used on roofs, but...

Crunch time.
May 14, 2003... Probably the noisiest area of SED, the Site Clearance Zone attracted plenty of visitors, and plenty of business - reflecting the buoyant state of the recycling market. Will Mann reports. If ever there was an example of success breeding...

A mixed bag.
May 14, 2003... Geraldine Faulkner found a sense of the unexpected when she visited the Pavilion to review what was on offer this year. Exhibitors in the Pavilion at SED 2003 were not only on the prowl for clients, some were hunting for distributors. Among...

Opencast pay clash alert.
May 14, 2003... Civil engineering contractors working in the opencast coal sector are facing a confront-ation over operatives? rates of pay following increasing union disillusionment with the industry?s five-year-old national agreement on wages and conditions....

Great expectations.
May 14, 2003... The Truck Zone has doubled in size since SED 2002 and exhibitors were virtually unanimous that the number and quality of genuine sales enquiries exceeded expectations. TRUCK magazine's Peter Shakespeare reports. Mercedes-Benz combined its...

Single-drum roller row rages on.(Brief Article)
May 14, 2003... The debacle over the outlawing of single-drum vibrating rollers is continuing with the three manufacturers submitting counter proposals to the Transport Research Laboratory, which will undertake the testing on behalf of the Highways Authorities...

Skydeck reaches new heights.(Interview)
May 14, 2003... Peri's Skydeck aluminium slab formwork system is being more widely used in the UK as contractors recognise the product's many benefits, the company claims. Managing director Carl Heathcote said: "Skydeck's success has been a bit slow to...

Product guide.
May 14, 2003... New Atlas tapper Atlas Copco has introduced a more powerful 700rpm tapper. The new LGB36 H007-Q offers 75% more power, 78% more torque and 43% more stall torque. It weighs less than 2kg. Self-cleaning glass Saint-Gobain has added...

[pounds sterling]20m MoD deals up for grabs.(meshed briefs)
May 14, 2003... Ministry of Defence design and construct deals totalling more than [pounds sterling]20m are on the march. Ulster firm John Graham has snapped up the biggest [ETH] a [pounds sterling]10m scheme at RAF Lakenheath, Suffolk. The project involves...

Safety breaches total [pounds sterling]300,000.
May 14, 2003... More than [pounds sterling]300,000 of fines were handed out to contractors last week for health and safety breaches, including two fatalities. Steel erector William Hare was fined [pounds sterling]75,000 at the Old Bailey for a fatality that...

New man at the top for Amec.(Brief Article)
May 14, 2003... Amec has furthered its status as an international player by appointing Carlos Riva to head up both the UK and the Americas, two of Amec's three 'home markets'. The balance of the Amec group, namely continental Europe, is headed up by Jean...

Taywood tipped for [pounds sterling]50m Newcastle job.
May 14, 2003... Taylor Woodrow is well on the way to winning work worth [pounds sterling]117m. The jewel in the crown is a [pounds sterling]50m negotiated deal for a mixed development at Trinity Gardens, Newcastle-upon-Tyne. The quayside scheme, for local...

Oxford ditches bidders.(Brief Article)
May 14, 2003... Oxfordshire County Council has ditched two local contractors plus one big national name as it moves towards awarding [pounds sterling]48m worth of new build and refurb work. Pitches by local outfits Kingerlee and HN Edwards have bitten the...

Aggies tax gets another Irish review.(Brief Article)
May 14, 2003... A fresh inquiry into the problems caused by the Aggregates Levy in Northern Ireland is to be undertaken by the Northern Ireland Affairs select committee. The British Aggregates Association (BAA) welcomed the news as it follows concerted...

Improved pay should avert Hanson strike.(Brief Article)
May 14, 2003... Hanson is confident that its revised offer to its workforce will eliminate any threat of industrial action. General manager for marketing Brian Garratt said: "Our revised offer takes into account inflation and will give workers a 3.45%...

CITB offers incentives for training.
May 14, 2003... The Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) is pushing forward with its apprenticeship drive by offering companies [pounds sterling]6,000 for taking on and training youngsters. Last year the CITB placed more than 9,000 apprentices in...

In brief.
May 14, 2003... Gifford/WSP to do M25 design work A Gifford/WSP jv is to carry out the design work for Balfour Beatty on the [pounds sterling]148m M25 widening and T5 spur road scheme. The first 35 weeks of the 137-week Highways Agency/BAA contract will be...

DE chief insists partnering works.
May 14, 2003... n Debut Services and Defence Estates employees bond to make partnering a success. Defence Estates (DE) has hit back at Kier chairman and chief executive Colin Busby's comments that it is incapable of partnering with the private sector (CJ...

Bett accepts rival's offer.(Brief Article)
May 14, 2003... More than 93% of shareholders in the housebuilder Bett have voted to accept an offer of 575p a share from rival Gladedale, a privately-owned company run by Remo Dipre. The offer is now unconditional and Bett will soon cease to trade on the...

MoD college at financial closure.(Brief Article)
May 14, 2003... Financial closure on the Ministry of Defence's Sixth Form College has taken three months - the fastest ever achieved for an MoD accommodation project. Interserve and its consortium partner TQ Education and Training were named preferred...

Flood defence charges would hit Thames plan.(Brief Article)
May 14, 2003... Government plans to make developers pay regional charges for the cost of flood defences will wreck the Thames Gateway regeneration programme. The warning came this week from the House Builders Federation (HBF), which is lobbying the...

Strathclyde Police 'reduce' payment on faulty PFI centre.(Brief Article)
May 14, 2003... Reports of a row between Babcock & Brown and Strathclyde Police after problems with the roof of the new Strathclyde Police Training Centre were strenuously denied by both parties this week. The Observer claimed the Strathclyde police had...

O'Rourke tight-lipped over Stone's departure.
May 14, 2003... The Laing O'Rourke Group is remaining tight-lipped over the reasons why commercial director Peter Stone was given one hour to clear his desk last week. Stone was the only ex-Laing member of the O'Rourke main board. A company spokesman...

Integrated teams preferred for DBFO roads contracts.(design, build, finance and operate)(Brief Article)
May 14, 2003... Road contractors have overwhelmingly opted for the use of integrated teams on future design, build, finance and operate (DBFO) contracts. The industry was responding to the Highways Agency's (HA) Improving DBFOs consultation document,...

Mowlem set to team up with Sunley Homes.
May 14, 2003... Mowlem has agreed a partnering deal with Sunley Homes that will see the contractor responsible for constructing about 25% of the housebuilder's new homes. The deal was signed last month and is worth about [pounds sterling]7.5m a year to...

In brief.(Brief Article)
May 14, 2003... Miller wins first NHS LIFT tranche two deal The Miller-led Primaria team has beaten Jarvis and Ballast to be preferred bidder on the Barking & Dagenham and Havering NHS LIFT deal. It's worth up to [pounds sterling]87m over five years and is...

In brief.(several items)
May 14, 2003... CJ reporter scoops news writer of the year CJ's senior reporter Carol Millett was named news writer of the year at the Reed Business Information Awards last Friday. CJ's editorial team was highly commended and CJ was shortlisted for...

DTI runs anti-cowboy scheme out of town.(Brief Article)
May 14, 2003... n Government loses patience and refuses to supply further funds for the struggling Quality Mark initiative. Quality Mark (QM), the government's anti-cowboy initiative, is to be scrapped. A well-placed industry source told CJ the Department...

Joint ventures on the cards.(Brief Article)
May 14, 2003... AI has become one of the top two asphalt groups thanks to its acquisition of Associated Asphalt last year when Stenoak, its parent, went to the wall. "It has given us a strong position and we now have a total turnover in road surfacing of...

Hanson tries to avert strike at brick works.(Brief Article)
May 21, 2003... Hanson Brick will launch a last-ditch attempt to avert strike action at a meeting tomorrow (Thursday) between union officials and senior management of Britain's largest brick manufacturer. The meeting follows the decision by the TGWU...

back bites.(multiple briefs)
May 21, 2003... Wad a result Brummie brickies John Radford, 59, and Alf Cole, 60, have ditched their trowels after scooping [pounds sterling]5.4m on the lottery. The lucky pair, who have been pals since school days, will now be able to buy one of the...

Compliance push ahead of electrical safety regs.(Brief Article)
May 21, 2003... The National Inspection Council for Electrical Installation Contracting (NICEIC) is attempting to get 50,000 contractors to comply with proposed electrical safety regulations. Electrical safety in dwellings has been under scrutiny since the...

Paint is sure sign of polls.(Letter to the Editor)
May 21, 2003... Sir, The article 'Roads patched for polls' (CJ 30 April) would have been amusing if it wasn't so serious . I feel that I could almost have been the author. The fact that councils everywhere have been doing this for years has been...

Buoyant NMC battles skills shortage.(North Midland Construction )(Brief Article)
May 21, 2003... n Expanding North Midland Construction sees turnover grow by [pounds sterling]15m as new regions prosper, but attracting staff remains a challenge. North Midland Construction has plans to expand turnover to [pounds sterling]100m a year by...

Weeks signs [pounds sterling]7.5m deal with French.(Bureau Veritas)(Brief Article)
May 21, 2003... The days of independent trading for Weeks, the consulting group, could well be over following the announcement of an agreed bid last week worth [pounds sterling]7.5m from Bureau Veritas, a private French consultancy. Chief executive Philip...

Fairground attraction.
May 21, 2003... With just 10 days to go until Alton Towers' new water park and hotel opens to the public, the project's main contractor, Shepherd Construction, is under pressure but confident. Tim Wood met construction manager Steve Hudson to find out why. ...

Special Projects lands role in highways consortium.(AMScott consortium)(Brief Article)
May 21, 2003... NMC Special Projects Division has been named in the supply chain for the AMScott consortium, which has won the Highways Agency's (HA) Area 7 MAC (Managing Agent Contractor) deal. NMC will undertake individual improvement schemes up to the value...

Off-site pier plant saves BAA [pounds sterling]1.5m.(Brief Article)
May 21, 2003... n Airports operator partners with contractors to open pier segregation production facility. BAA has taken off-site assembly a stage further by setting up its own manufacturing facility to push forward its [pounds sterling]750m pier...

Friend to replace Forrester as top man at John Laing.(Andy Friend replaces Bill Forrester as chief executive )(Brief Article)
May 21, 2003... Andy Friend is to become the chief executive of John Laing, the former construction and housebuilding conglomerate that has transformed itself into an infrastructure investor. He succeeds Bill Forrester, who will step back to the post of...

Bigger firms facing squeeze on profits.(Brief Article)
May 21, 2003... n Key performance indicators reveal tough times in the engineering construction sector. One in 10 contractors in the engineering construction sector is operating at a loss, according to an industry survey. And the largest firms are said to...

German block on CE marking.
May 21, 2003... n Accusation of protectionism over stand on CE-marked thermal insulation products. Germany has refused to accept CE-marked products for thermal insulation, despite the fact CE marking is now mandatory for all EU member states after the...

Civils fear orderbook slowdown.(Civil Engineering )(Brief Article)
May 21, 2003... A slowdown in civils work is expected over the coming months, despite a rise in workload in the first quarter of 2003, according to the latest trends survey by the Civil Engineering Contractors Association (CECA). The balance of members...

Building costs levelling out.(Brief Article)
May 21, 2003... Anecdotal evidence of costs being stable is confirmed by the latest materials price index from the Department of Trade & Industry. Revised figures for October and provisional figures for November show little or no change for most...

ICEissues partnering addendum.
May 21, 2003... A special ICE Conditions of Contract Partnering Addendum has been published for use with standard forms of civil engineering contract. The addendum aims to deliver the intention of the Latham and Egan reports by establishing an effective...

Jarvis signs up Grimsby Town.
May 21, 2003... n Accountant goes AWOL on day Jarvis signs sponsorship deal with football club. There is nothing fishy about Jarvis' [pounds sterling]250,000 sponsorship of Grimsby Town Football Club, which hit the headlines last week. Far from being...

Home Office lobbies for EU-wide safety fines.
May 21, 2003... Home Office minister Lord Filkin is leading a UK move to close an EU legal loophole where fines for site safety offences in one country are not enforceable on firms from other member states. The minister said: "A significant number of...

Confusion over formwork and falsework.
May 21, 2003... any formwork system, ie. construction of walls, etc, but is incorrect for falsework systems to which the story refers. The falsework system has no relationship with the curing time of the concrete. The concrete in a deck has to reach its...

Colchester PFI planning approval is on the cards.
May 21, 2003... The delayed [pounds sterling]1bn privately financed Colchester Barracks project could receive full planning permission within the next month, according to RMPA Services Consortium project director Charles Barrington. "The planning...

Showing off.
May 21, 2003... Last week as Intermat opened its doors, public transport in Paris all but shut down making visiting the show a job for the dedicated. Colin Sowman and Paul Howard were there to see what was on offer. At its first exhibition as an...