Construction Manager June 2017

CONSTRUCTION MANAGER | JUNE 2017 | WWW.CONSTRUCTIONMANAGERMAGAZINE.COM

JUNE 2017 For members of the CIOB

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CONSTRUCTION MANAGER | JUNE 2017 CONTENTS

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Switchboard +44 (0)20 7490 5595 Editor Denise Chevin 0203 865 1032 07979 245800 Deputy editor James Kenny 0203 865 1031 Production editor Sarah Cutforth Art editor Heather Rugeley Community editor Nicky Roger Redesign art director Mark Bergin Advertising manager Dave Smith 0203 865 1029 Key account manager Tom Peardon 0203 865 1030 Credit control Eva Rugeley Managing director Stephen Quirke

In this issue

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Circulation Net average 31,157 Audit period: 1 July 2015 – 30 June 2016 Subscriptions To subscribe or for enquiries, please contact: Subscription team Tel: 020 7490 5595 subenquiry@ciob.org.uk Or click on link below https://constructionmanager.isubscribe.co.uk Or write to them at: CIOB, 2nd Floor, 1 Arlington Square, Downshire Way, Bracknell RG12 1WA Construction Manager Published for the Chartered Institute of Building by Atom Publishing, 3 Waterhouse Square, 138 Holborn, London EC1N 2SW Tel: +44 (0)20 7490 5595 firstname@atompublishing.co.uk Editorial advisory board Mark Beard FCIOB, Ann Bentley, Ian Eggers, Peter Caplehorn, Harvey Francis, Professor Jacqui Glass FCIOB, Paul Morrell, James Pellatt, Nick Raynsford, Richard Saxon, Andy von Bradsky, Phil Wade Construction Manager is published monthly by Atom Publishing. The contents of this magazine are copyright. Reproduction in part or in full is forbidden without permission of the editor. The opinions expressed by writers of signed articles (even with pseudonyms) and letters appearing in the magazine are those of their respective authors, and neither the CIOB, Atom Publishing nor Construction Manager is responsible for these opinions or statements. The editor will give careful consideration to material submitted – articles, photographs, drawings and so on – but does not undertake responsibility for damage or their safe return. Printed by The Wyndeham Group. All rights in the magazine, including copyright, content and design, are owned

by CIOB and/or Atom Publishing. ISSN 1360 3566

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Prelims 04 CDM Regulations survey 06 Construction’s own Bitcoin 07 Snapshot 08 Comment: Mark Beard 10 Naked homes for London 10 Election wishlists 12 CIOB news 14 Chris Blythe 16 Feedback

18 26 66

Experts 34 ISG’s app revolution 35 Sarah Fox on contracts 36 “Good faith” clauses 38 Mental health strategies 40 Fires and poor workmanship 46 CPD: Wood treatment

Insight • Onsite Game on for construction Buxton Crescent reborn The solution: 234 Bath Road

54 56 60

Community CIOB schools visits Student Challenge finalists Me and my project

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04-16

Prelims

THE LATEST NEWS, PEOPLE AND COMMENT

06 08 10 12 14 16

CDM 2015 reforms fail to hit home SURVEY OF 310 SAFETY PROFESSIONALS SHOWS LIMITED IMPACT OF REFORMS The CDM 2015 Regulations have had limited impact on the construction industry and no apparent impact on its accident rate.

That’s the key finding of a joint survey carried out by Construction Manager and Health and Safety at Work.

The survey suggests that working methods established under CDM 2007 and CDM 1994 have proved remarkably resilient, and the principles of CDM 2015 are struggling to take root.

“CDM 2015 hasn’t led to a step change or resolved all the issues arising from CDM 2007,” said Paul Reeve, business director of the Electrical Contractors’ Association (ECA).

“In terms of exercising the role of the principal designer, the general picture seems to be business as usual.”

Recurring themes in comments from survey respondents were that: a workable system had been made less workable; fees and costs had increased without any increase in safety; and the goal of bringing smaller projects and domestic clients into scope had proved ineffectual.

Less than half (46%) of the 310 respondents rated today’s compliance with CDM 2015 as good or excellent, compared to the 53% who thought that about CDM 2007. Among the 106 members of the Association for Project Safety (APS) in the sample, there was more scepticism: the recalled compliance rate under CDM 2007 was 56%, while current compliance was put at 43%.

Overall, only one in four respondents (24.5%) thought today’s principal designers

CONSTRUCTION’S BITCOIN MARK BEARD NAKED HOMES CIOB MANIFESTO CHRIS BLYTHE FEEDBACK were following the CDM 2015 rules, such as co-ordinating other designers and sub-contractors on safety issues; slightly more (28%) thought that CDM 2007 procedures were being applied on current projects, for instance the CDM adviser writing the construction phase plan; and 39% thought that aspects of both regimes were used in practice.

Respondents’ views on who had fulfilled the role of principal designer suggested that responsibility had been spread fairly widely, with architects, engineers, clients and contractors all taking on the role. However, the professional group that emerged as most likely to take the role were “CDM advisers” acting on behalf of design teams – in reality, former CDM-Cs with a different job scope and appointment terms. This combination was selected by 26% of the sample as occurring “most of the time”, while CDM advisers taking a slightly less hands-on role advising principal designers was viewed by another 19% as happening “most of the time”.

In projects undertaken in the past two years (under CDM 2015), who has fulfilled the role of “principal designer”?

The architect, without an external CDM safety consultant The architect, using an external CDM safety consultant A CDM consultant (principal design adviser) acting on behalf of the architect The design and build contractor (on D&B contracts) The client The lead engineer 0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

n Never n Sometimes n Most of the time

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Vox pop

In your opinion and experience, have firms acting in the principal designer or principal design adviser role:

How has the extension of CDM 2015 to domestic projects impacted safety standards?

n Followed the

8% 25%

correct principal designer methodology under CDM 2015

n Reverted to the

CDM-C’s methodology under CDM 2007

39%

We asked the 26 members of the reader panel about the election.

Here's the results of our straw poll

n Not at all n A slight

6%

positive effect

n A significant

33%

positive effect

61%

n Followed aspects

28%

of both regimes

n Other

Commenting, Reeve said: “About a quarter are behaving in the way the regulations intended, and three quarters are behaving in the way they did previously, by pulling in consultants from the safety arena”. Martin Cox, head of CDM at construction consultancy Pellings, said the survey confirmed his view that CDM 2015 is business as usual. “I’m working for architects as a CDM adviser – in reality they don’t do very much [on safety].

Very few take on the role as intended.”

Reeve added: “When it comes to the principal designer role, the survey suggests that the HSE shouldn’t leave the issue to ‘market forces’. CDM 2015 seems to be helping some clients, but it’s not delivered a step change improvement in this area.”

The survey invited respondents to pick three aspects of CDM 2015 that were “working well”, although the feature that gained most support was “none of the above”. The principal contractor’s construction phase plan was seen as having a positive impact (29%), followed by

clients’ compliance with F10 notification requirements (26%), and the client’s pre-construction information (17%). Least support was given to the principal designer’s co-ordination of other designers or subcontractors (7%), the principal contractor’s duty to consult and engage with workers (12%), and liaison between the principal designer and principal contractor (13%).

On CDM 2015’s impact on projects in the domestic sector, where only those with experience of such projects responded, 62% suggested there had been little impact, although 38% thought there had been a positive effect.

There were 310 respondents, most working in safety-related roles. They included 149 members of International Institute of Risk & Safety Management (IIRSM), 212 members of Institution of Occupational Safety & Health (IOSH), 106 affiliated to the Association for Project Safety, and 67 members of the Chartered Institute of Building. Of these 105 acted as CDM advisers or consultants, and 89 in general health and safety roles. ●

Do you think May is right to call an election now?

85% Yes 5% No 10% Indifferent What outcome do you think would be the best for construction?

25% Return of Conservatives with slim majority 45% Return of Conservatives with an increased majority 5% A Labour-led government 10% A Liberal Democrat-led government 15% Other

What the CDM Regulations were meant to achieve While presented as a less radical update than CDM 2007, the CDM Regulations 2015 amounted to a stealth revolution designed to rewrite safety management on construction projects.

Foremost among reforms was the HSE’s decision to challenge the way safety had been siloed into a specialism for CDM coordinators. It sought to repatriate

risk to where it belonged: to the designers who influence a project’s risk profile from the outset, and the clients who create the working conditions for everyone else.

In the process, it undermined one professional group – CDM coordinators – transferring many of their responsibilities to “principal designers”.

It also declared war on “competence” and multiple safety accreditations, in part by removing the Approved Code of Practice (ACoP).

CDM 2015 also dealt with a requirement to bring the UK’s regulations into line with the EU’s Temporary or Mobile Construction Sites Directive.

How optimistic are you for the buoyancy of the construction market in the wake of the election?

15% Very optimistic: I see construction orders continuing to grow over the next two to three years

40% I’m concerned: we are heading for a bumpy ride and the economy and construction could go downhill in the next 24 months 45% We might see a few blips but overall I think the economy and construction market will be fine 0% I don’t know The opinion polls are predicting and increased majority for the Conservatives. How would this impact construction?

35% Good for construction 25% Have no impact 20% Have a negative impact for construction 20% Don’t know An extended piece on this survey is on our website: constructionmanager magazine.com 5

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Bitcoin: an explainer Bitcoin, a method of recording transactions, – assets, agreements or contracts – across a peer-to-peer network of computers worldwide, is based on the software platform Blockchain.

Data is stored as “blocks”, bound cryptographically together into a “chain”.

This digital ledger cannot be altered, only added to, and anyone on the network can access the latest version at any time.

An industry think tank is working to adapt Blockchain – the technology that underpins the digital currency Bitcoin – for construction, in a move it claims could incentivise collaboration and make payment more transparent.

DotBuiltEnvironment, formerly the BIM 2050 group, is working to develop two prototype applications tailored to construction for the technology: ConstructCoin and the project banking app TraderTransferTrust.

Neil Thompson (pictured), CEO of dotBuiltEnvironment, and former head of digital research and innovation at Balfour Beatty, told CM: “As a collection of thought leaders, including lawyers, architects, engineers, software engineers and computer scientists, we are pooling our resources to create Blockchain prototypes and identify platforms to test them out on. We plan to turn these initial ideas into concrete projects/proof of concepts in collaboration with institutions and other organisations.”

ConstructCoin is a method of commoditising (creating a market for) construction information, rewarding the creator of information with payment in a similar way to how Bitcoin generates value from financial information.

“A spreadsheet of construction information might include a line for data that costs £1 to produce, which the client could buy for £2 when it is completed. This approach could do a lot to incentivise collaboration,” said Thompson.

The TraderTransferTrust app would aim to exploit Blockchain’s consensus system and digital proof of work mechanism to ensure that

News in numbers

A digest from www.constructionmanagermagazine.com

According to research produced by Cambridge University in 2017, there are 2.9 to 5.8 million unique users actively using a cryptocurrency wallet, most of them using Bitcoin.

What next?

Industry gets a Bit of the action WITH TWO PROTOTYPE APPS NOW IN DEVELOPMENT, CONSTRUCTION COULD SOON BE USING ITS OWN BITCOIN-STYLE PAYMENT SYSTEM. BUT WHAT WILL THIS REALLY MEAN? STEPHEN COUSINS REPORTS

750

Keepmoat is teaming up with offsite specialist Elliott to form Ilke Homes, with the aim of delivering 750 modular homes a year within three years.

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After 25 years at Skanska, CEO Mike Putnam is moving on to forge a portfolio career. Gregor Craig, another long-time Skanska manager, is to replace him.

project payment systems “pay-as-you-deliver”.

Payments could be triggered automatically by conditions being fulfilled via a smart contract.

Both applications offer great potential, said Francis Ho, partner for construction at law firm Penningtons Manches: “We can perhaps learn from the USA here, where there are already business organisations which ask clients to donate entire BIM models rich in data in return for assessments and insights into that data.

He added: “It is wonderful to see exciting ideas being developed for longstanding issues in the industry. ConstructCoin could help purchasers and suppliers better understand the impact of new technologies and techniques and to identify trends… The more data we can get, the more we can predict what to expect and where improvements can be made.”

However, established models of doing business could complicate its use, he added: “In construction, the question of satisfactory performance can be complex and is typically dependent on professional judgement, which is difficult to define in an automated system.

“It may be suitable for activities where performance is more easily adjudged on an objective basis, such as where key performance indicators tied into incentive payments post-completion. Smart meters, for instance, could record whether utilities consumption in a completed building is within the tolerances agreed with the contractor and, if so, payment is automatically released from an incentive fund controlled by Blockchain.” ●

4

Architect and Channel 4 TV presenter George Clarke is launching the Ministry of Building Innovation (MOBI), a new scheme in the northeast to attract people into the industry.

£43m Structural and civil engineering consultant Waterman Group has accepted a takeover offer of £43m from CTI Engineering, one of Japan’s top three consulting engineers.

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“Problems can be solved by talking more openly, which doesn’t always happen on male-dominated sites”

WILDE FRY

Monika Slowikowska Golden Houses Developments

Snapshot

Personal touch MONIKA SLOWIKOWSKA WOULD LIKE A MORE PEOPLE-FRIENDLY INDUSTRY

Monika Slowikowska is still unfortunately a rare breed in the sector, as a woman heading up a developer/constructor.

Slowikowska is founder of Golden Houses Developments, a company specialising in high-end residential projects in London, minimum £1m plus. She is on a mission to make working in construction more open and relaxed and a bit more female friendly.

She says: “ I believe construction has a blame culture and things aren’t always talked about

openly in companies. My approach is to bring everyone together, whatever their position, and treat people like people. Problems can be solved by talking more openly, which doesn’t always happen on male-dominated sites.”

Brought up in Poland, she has lived in London for over 20 years. She has no formal construction qualifications but got into the sector through the admin side, working at her brother’s construction firm – rising from administration and procurement to property project manager, before branching out on her own in 2012.

Golden Houses turns over £60m a year and Slowikowska employs 170 of her own construction staff, of which around 5% are women. She has her own joinery workshop, which also works for other companies.

The company expects turnover to reach £80m by 2020 and Slowikowska plans to open a second joinery workshop and create opportunities for new apprentices.

She says being a woman allows her to take a more personal approach to issues that her male

counterparts might not be able to get away with: “Sometimes, in things like health and safety on site, if a worker is disobeying the rules I use the personal approach. I explain and reason with them that their family would suffer if anything happens to them. If this doesn’t work then I speak to the wives. The wives will make the husbands stick to the rules. Fear of family.”

Like other London developers, she is concerned about what might happen in the wake of Brexit – both in terms of confidence in the property market and the workforce. More than half of the capital’s construction workers are migrants. The majority of her staff are from Poland and she has already seen 8% of them return there since the vote a year ago.

“The whole industry is vulnerable and when Brexit does come it could be a huge shock with no back-up plan in place.

“In terms of my company, my back-up plan is to assist my team with obtaining residency status and being the best dominantly Polish company to work for,” she says. ● 7

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Mark Beard Chairman, Beard Construction

The General Election is nearly upon us and it is looking increasingly likely that Theresa May will be returned to 10 Downing Street, almost definitely with an increased majority. What does this mean for the construction industry and how can we ensure that our priorities are heard?

Brexit and the key associated issues of security, trade and immigration are likely to dominate political thinking over the next few years – which on the surface could make it very difficult for construction to gain a fair hearing.

However, looking back to the time of our last female prime minister gives us a very strong steer to how we can ensure we are heard.

In my view, taking a leaf out of Lord Young’s book is the best way of getting noticed by those presiding in the corridors of power. During the 1980s, Lord Young was secretary of state for employment and subsequently secretary of state for trade and industry. Legend has it he was Margaret Thatcher’s favourite minister.

Where every other minister brought her problems, Lord Young brought her solutions – in the process increasingly gaining the prime minister’s ear and favour.

Giving individuals a career start Although it is likely the new government will continue to focus its efforts on major exporting industries, I believe construction has several very proud achievements to communicate; as well as highlighting areas, we can make rapid improvement, which will strongly support the government as it grapples with the secondary challenges arising from Brexit.

Probably our industry’s proudest achievement is the life and career choices we give many thousands of individuals who enter our industry without a formal university education.

At Beard, we recruit each year four men and women directly from school as apprentice carpenters, bricklayers and surveyors. Many progress to become site managers, project managers and contract managers, giving each individual a great start in their career and the

Comment

Let’s show them what we can do AFTER THE ELECTION, THE INDUSTRY MUST BUILD A MUTUALLY BENEFICIAL RELATIONSHIP WITH THE NEW GOVERNMENT – ONE THAT IS BASED ON SELF-RELIANCE

“Where other ministers brought problems, Lord Young brought solutions – in the process gaining the prime minister’s ear”

company a very strong cultural core. Recently, we were delighted to appoint Dean Averies as our Oxford construction director, 25 years after exchanging his school blazer for safety helmet, boots and high-vis jacket.

Ensuring that the CIOB’s excellent recent report Social Mobility and Construction: Building routes to opportunity is at the top of the reading list for Nick Timothy and Fiona Hill, Teresa May’s joint chiefs of staff, would be a good start – but only a start.

The next step is a 10-year road map with clear yearly milestones showing how the industry can complement the new government’s agenda by: l Supporting more fully the life chances of individuals from poorer backgrounds; l Increasing the number of people who successfully complete industry entry qualifications; l Retaining a higher proportion of the individuals we train; l Improving the health of everyone who works in our industry; and l Raising our own productivity, thus allowing us to do more with fewer people – facilitating the downturn in immigration that so many people in this country crave, while avoiding a skills-crisis cliff edge.

Overcoming the issues delaying the setting-up of the proposed Nine Elms construction college in London – planned by Lambeth College, Carillion and Arlington but recently put on hold as a result of merger talks between Lambeth College with South Bank University – would be a major statement of intent.

All of these proposals should strike a chord with Theresa May and her “just about managing” agenda. Two years of self help, hitting the milestones in the road map, will put us in a much stronger position to request government support for pet construction industry projects. In construction, we often proclaim that we are different to all other industries – how better to prove this than by being the one industry that brings the government solutions rather than just problems? ● Mark Beard is chairman of Beard Construction.

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Low-cost “naked homes” are the latest idea to be offered up as a remedy to the UK’s housing affordability crisis and have received backing from London mayor Sadiq Khan.

The concept, developed by not-for-profit housebuilder Naked House with architect OMMX, involves the building of basic houses that are not much more than a shell.

Each of the homes will be presented bare, with no internal walls, floors or finishes, but will be future-proofed by allowing owners to put their own stamp on the design, and extend later.

The mayor has awarded a £500,000 grant to the business and said: “Community-led housing offers the chance to build new homes that Londoners want to live in.”

Designed to appeal to first-time buyers who have been priced out of the capital’s housing market, the homes will sell for between £150,000 to £350,000– a fraction of London’s average house price of £580,000.

Buyers must be earning less than £90,000

What gets the industry’s vote?

AS THE ELECTION LOOMS EVER NEARER, WHAT ARE THE POLICIES THAT WOULD WIN CONSTRUCTION’S SUPPORT?

Naked House gives first-time buyers a start

and local residents will be given priority.

The no-frills concept is to be be tested with 22 apartments on three sites in Enfield, north London, where the council will allow builders to take over derelict garages and car parks.

Neil Double, co-director at Naked House, says: “The idea is already used abroad in countries like Germany. We have been developing it for a while and were approached by Enfield council. Now we’re looking for the right

contractor to take the idea forward. We’re in discussions with various companies.”

It is not only the basic construction that ensures low prices. The cost of land, for example, has been removed in favour of a leasehold arrangement. Occupants will pay a monthly ground rent to the local authority, which owns the land.

To ensure that the units remain affordable in perpetuity, a resale covenant in the lease locks in the original discount for future purchasers.

Double acknowledges that the houses may not suit everyone, but thinks they will particularly appeal to younger creative types.

He says that others have already shown interest. “Currently we're in discussion with five other councils around London, some have approached us and others we have approached.

I think the concept could also be used elsewhere in the UK.” Building will start in Enfield in early 2019, with the homes ready by early 2020. ●

Skills and Brexit With nearly 200,000 EU workers in the UK, the industry is unanimous in its demand for government to make it a priority to guarantee the status of existing EU nationals currently working in the UK and then, as the CIOB puts it, “develop a migration system that ensures the industry continues to attract talent from the EU and across the world”.

“Policies must be formulated to ensure construction skills from across the world are accessible without restriction,” says the RICS. “This must be undertaken while domestic policies are also implemented to upskill the next generation in the UK.” The ICE warned of a “self-inflicted skills crisis”. A rapid loss of 200,000 or more would be disastrous for the sector and make projects unaffordable, it said.

Alongside this, the industry is looking for government support to help to build a sustainable domestic workforce.

Housing At the time of going to press, Labour and the Conservatives had both pledged to build more council housing. Labour’s leaked manifesto revealed an ambition to build more than 100,000 council and housing association homes a year, as well as creating a new housing ministry. The manifesto confirmed a pledge to build a million new homes over five years, and raise the borrowing cap on councils – a demand that much of industry has asked for.

Theresa May has also highlighted its pledge to build more affordable houses.

The last government certainly talked ambitiously about housing – but in the industry's eyes it’s still to deliver. The National Federation of Builders (NFB) programme, states: “Any new government wishing to deliver more than 200,000 homes every year will need to speed up and simplify planning, tackle the spiralling cost of land, continue improving access to finance,

A LOW-PRICED SHELL PROVIDES AN ENTRY-LEVEL LONDON HOME

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Finishing touches are being made to a new £10m opera house opens in early June.

Grange Park Opera’s Theatre in the Woods is being built by historic building specialist RJ Smith with David Lloyd Jones as consultant architect.

The 700-seat theatre – modelled on the shape of La Scala, Milan – is in the grounds of West Horsley Place, a manor house unexpectedly inherited by former University Challenge presenter Bamber Gascoigne.

It will open on 8 June with Tosca, starring the tenor Joseph Calleja.

and harness the intrinsic value of SMEs in tackling the skills crisis.”

The RIBA has also called on the state to deliver good quality homes that meet the needs of society. Speaking when the snap election was called, Jane Duncan, president of RIBA, said: “We need innovative designs and smarter procurement approaches to solving the desperate housing crisis, renewing and expanding our schools and ensuring that we have a sustainable environment that works across the UK.” Infrastructure Investment Continued infrastructure investment was also top of most organisations wishlist for any future government.

The ICE also sees Brexit negotiations as an opportunity to consolidate the UK’s status as an attractive location for infrastructure investment. Ensuring that the Brexit negotiation process does not disrupt this will mean

investors, financiers and developers will continue to have a positive view of the UK, it said.

SMEs The NFB has welcomed measures to increase opportunities for SME housebuilders but maintained that land, along with finance and planning, remains an issue for small builders.

The Specialist Engineering Contractors’ Group said SMEs could be boosted by a future

government bringing in legislation to protect all retention monies in a ring-fenced account, as first step towards zero retentions by 2025, and prioritise review of the Construction Act. It also said that from 2021 all publicly funded built environment work over £1m should be paid using project bank accounts, adding that payment security would guarantee a sustainable supply chain of SMEs. ● For more on the CIOB manifesto, see p12

Regional investment Ramped-up investment in regional areas as well as an equal distribution across the country has been embraced as a policy by much of the industry.

The CIOB would like to see “clusters” of constructionrelated businesses – like science parks – in key regions to act as hubs for excellence to stimulate

innovation and create greater opportunities for networking.

Spreading investment across the UK and promoting regional growth outside the capital is also on the wishlist of the Royal Academy of Engineering. It states opportunities to improve living standards and increase productivity must be available

across the whole of the UK. It proposes that local institutions – such as Local Enterprise Partnerships, Catapult business centres and universities – need to attain consistent, national levels of excellence and their services must be promoted more widely to those who will benefit.

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● The CIOB Members’ Forum is taking place on 18-22 June.

To find out more, see p55. Or go to the website for more details. https://membersforum.ciob.org

Quality top of CIOB manifesto

Five manifesto priorities The CIOB has released its election manifesto, Building the Case for Construction, which lists five priorities for an incoming government.

It is calling for is continued investment in training and skills as well urging the government to recognise and address both the opportunities and risks that Brexit will bring.

INSTITUTE CALLS FOR IMPROVED STANDARDS TO BE A GOVERNMENT PRIORITY

The CIOB is calling on the next government to put the issue of quality at the centre of any construction programme going forward.

The body has made the call in its manifesto in light of a number of high-profile incidents and as the issue of falling quality across the sector becomes more apparent.

A recent investigation in Scotland found defects similar to those that led to the closure of 17 schools in Edinburgh in other schools across various cities, bringing the total number of dangerous buildings to 88. Poor quality workmanship was blamed and the fact that no student or child was killed was said in the report to be “a matter of timing and luck”.

Quality was also in the headlines recently when Bovis Homes announced that it was setting aside £7m to compensate buyers for defects in new homes, recognising that their production processes were “not sufficiently robust in order”.

Falling quality in construction is also cited in BRE Global’s investigations of real fires

CIOB’s big asks As well as the release of its election manifesto, the CIOB has also put together a list of questions that can be posed to prospective parliamentary candidates in the run‑up to the election

1.

The built environment contributes around 6.3% of GDP and employs over 2.9 million people (around 10% of total UK employment).

What do you see as the main issues to support this sector?

(see p40). Alarmingly, the authors say that in 69 of the fires investigated by the BREs Fire Investigation team over the past ten years, the spread of fire could be directly attributed to poor workmanship or design in 21 of these.

Among the 21 were five near misses, one incident involving more than one fatality and one resulting in a single fatality, the investigators warn.

The Institute is now challenging the government to maintain and improve existing standards and states that any new relationship with the EU should not be an automatic race to the bottom leading to cutting costs and compromised quality.

It is also calling on the whole of the construction industry to continue to promote and protect codes and standards.

The subject of quality will be raised at a workshop at this year’s CIOB Members’ Forum in Cardiff, which will aim to highlight the importance of this issue as well as exploring potential solutions. ●

2.

With Article 50 triggered and Brexit soon becoming a reality, what do you see as the challenges and opportunities this will present?

3.

In addition to seeking a positive relationship with the wider European Union, what would you support the government in doing to make the UK an attractive place to do business for overseas construction firms?

In the manifesto it calls on the government to: l Continue support for the Industrial strategy and recognition of construction’s role in improving productivity l Work alongside the construction industry to support a robust system for training and skills development l Recognise and address both the opportunities and risks that Brexit will bring l Ensure quality is at the heart of the nation’s construction programme l Focus on regional investment in construction to rebalance the UK economy Chris Blythe, chief executive of the CIOB, said: “Construction creates and maintains the places that people live, work and play, the infrastructure that supports them and the services that sustain them. And it is vital that those elected to represent their constituents in parliament understand this.

“Our manifesto showcases how construction can act as a solution to major policy issues. Our proposals are interlinked, showcasing the need for a collaborative approach to productivity, skills, quality, investment and Brexit.

“It is crucial that policy makers appreciate the contribution of the construction sector: the decisions made today will be felt for decades and generations.”

4.

What should the government seek to do to ensure the built environment continues to grow in the UK?

5.

What is the state of the built environment in your constituency and what would you do to support it in the next parliament?

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PRELIMS JUNE 2017 | CONSTRUCTION MANAGER

Chris Blythe

Chief executive CIOB

Comment

Housebuilders need to avoid the Ratner effect RECENT ANNOUNCEMENTS MAY NOT HAVE HARMED THEIR MARKETS, BUT THE BIG FIRMS MUST BE CAREFUL NOT TO ALIENATE THEIR BUYERS

Look out for…

President’s dinner REBECCA THOMPSON MAKES HER INAUGURAL SPEECH AS CIOB PRESIDENT IN CARDIFF THIS MONTH

This year we have seen a few “Ratner moments” in the construction industry. A reminder: Ratners Group was the UK’s most successful high street jewellery chain until its chairman Gerald Ratner got up and denigrated its products. He remarked that his store’s earrings were “cheaper than an M&S prawn sandwich but probably wouldn’t last as long”. He wiped £500m off the value of the business, which disappeared from the high street overnight.

Bovis Homes’ admission that it paid £3,000 to persuade homebuyers to move into unfinished homes so it could meet year-end sales numbers has not had the same impact on the business.

This is probably because the homes it sells are worth a bit more than a prawn sandwich – but it does show contempt for the customer.

Likewise, the recent announcement by Taylor Wimpey that it is making a £130m provision due the leasehold contracts issued between 2007 and 2011 to cover the “unintended financial consequence and concern that they are causing” is likely to come back and bite the company.

These had ground rents that doubled every ten years. Then you tie that in with its policy of shifting the freeholds on as soon as possible to “third parties”, with the rights of leaseholders to buy the freeholds seriously degraded.

To say this is unintended does push the bounds of credulity. In a recession, these were a way of selling today and getting the profit back in future by securitising the freeholds. The last thing an investor buying the freehold wants is

a patchwork of properties, some they own and some they don’t. So it makes sense to use loopholes in the law to frustrate the leaseholders.

Taylor Wimpey is not the only housebuilder doing this but, as this “national scandal”, as MP Peter Bottomley described it, rolls out then it will likely be named.

In early May, the Nationwide Building Society came out in a big way against leaseholds and is not going to give mortgages on new-build where the terms are onerous or unfair. That may prompt changes but is of little consolation to those who have properties that are unsellable.

The rub in to all this is the role of so-called professionals. The All Party Parliamentary Group on Leasehold Reform heard that homebuyers are often “pressured” into accepting discounts to use recommended professionals such as solicitors and mortgage advisors to complete the deals. In a survey by the Leasehold Knowledge Partnership, 71% of housebuyers used developer-recommended solicitors.

The Conservative MP Andrew Selous told the APPG in April that leaseholds were despicable.

He said: “For me, this is a spivvy financial director dreaming up on a wet Thursday afternoon how developers can get another stream of income.

We should not be treating homeowners in this way, and I think it is absolutely disgraceful.”

Many would agree. But with unsellable leaseholds becoming more prevalent, we are fast approaching the moment when the comparison with the prawn sandwich becomes a reality. ●

Rebecca Thompson FCIOB will become only the second woman to hold the post of president of the CIOB. She is the founder and director of Thompson Heritage Consultancy.

Prior to setting up her own company, she spent seven years leading works at York Cathedral, the last one as chapter steward.

Thompson will make her inaugural speech in Cardiff on 22 June. If you want to be among the top influencers in

the industry to hear her, contact Sarah Morris on 01344 630710 or smorris@ciob.org.uk.

Individual ticket prices for the event are: CIOB member £89, non-member £99. A table of ten CIOB members will pay £795, or non-members £895.

Also, for further details of the annual conference in Cardiff on June 22, with the first minister of Wales Carwyn Jones, contact Kirsten Ewald on kewald@ciob.org.uk.

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FEATURE JUNE 2017 | CONSTRUCTION MANAGER

In, out, in, out – shake it all about.

Are contracts leading us a merry dance?

Feedback A selection of readers’ comments about news and issues in the industry from www.constructionmanagermagazine.com CM 26/04 Mark Farmer on housing quality Richard Moore

Cost-cutting at the expense of high prices, volume, supervision, profit and fat-cat bonuses for directors. Building control and the likes of NHBC are virtually invisible when it comes to the construction process – never mind quality, just a costly piece of paper to satisfy the purchaser that he’s got a quality home.

The industry has not provided apprenticeships and foremen aren’t what they used to be. Architects design and builders build but ne’er the twain shall meet. It’s all about profit, but thank God there’s still a few good builders left!

Steve Farrell

It would not be difficult for a housebuilder to appoint a third party to check and report on build quality.

There is little point in telling the site team of the findings as they usually want to circle the wagons and deny all problems.

It is a higher management issue, but the main priority seems to be reporting back to the board that all is well.

Quality control is a cost that is not worth spending.

David Powell MCIOB

The housebuilders have all the solutions they need and are not governed by external consultants; they design and build to satisfy market demand. Some do it better than others and the poor ones should fail – and the sooner the better.

Jason Sandland MRICS MCABE

Our professional practice already dispenses “tough love” as building surveyors/engineers, as we inspect for individual and corporate clients on build quality and aspects often overlooked by others – reporting facts. So, if it’s not up to our high standards, we tell the purchaser to either accept that identified shortcomings in quality standards need rectification or walk away – as we are independent, moral and professional.

No conflicts.

CM 01/05 Construction is like doing the hokey-cokey

CM 25/04 No more brickies?

Andrew Gibb

Remember those trucks that could batch and place concrete from the sand, cement and water it carried? Yeah, that again.

Limited scope, huge vehicle maintenance costs, specialist deployment, dodo lifespan.

I will let my brickies know that they are not going anywhere soon!

Andrew Hall

The bricklayers will indeed enjoy their new working conditions. Provided that they're happy on the dole or flipping burgers. Clever inventions but very un-clever forward thinking.

Adam

Good point, Andrew. Lets get rid of plant and machinery and go back to using horses and hard work again.

I can't see this fully replacing anybody, however, it does seem somewhat of a novelty In fact it's a bit of a chocolate teapot.

Afolabi Adesanya

Bricklayers don’t have anything to fear but fear itself, for no amount of skilful invention can replace the essential element of imagination.

Obuks Ejohwomu

I couldn’t agree more with Sarah Fox that most contracts are not created with the output in mind. What I gather from speaking with professionals, particularly in the engineering and construction sector, is that they leave the responsibility of contract wording to the legal department. Hence the “smart” contract alluded to is not commonplace. I often demonstrate in my lectures how project managers can use contracts to achieve win-win and not 50:50.

Kale

Most problems I’ve seen on projects are a combination of things. Frequently a lack of experience, often in the people running a project,

combined with a refusal to face up to problems when it would make a difference, as no one wants to take responsibility for delaying the project.

On the project I’m currently working on, I’ve been highlighting the same design problems in some cases for over two years now, and we’re still struggling to get our architects and engineers – and, indeed, client – to take them seriously, as the design contracts were a disaster in being set up, then not managed at all.

We’re now in a position where it may cost serious money to rectify design problems, or the client will end up with a building that won’t work as intended.

www.constructionmanagermagazine.com Like our magazine, our website is also undergoing a refurbishment. Updated daily with the latest news, it has a wealth of information to help readers do their jobs, with thousands of archived articles on CPD, projects, legal and management. It’s bursting with comment – and you can leave your own. Sign up to our newsletters, produced three times a week, or follow us on twitter @CMnewsandviews.

And if you have any comment on our new design, contact the editor, Denise Chevin: denise@atompublishing.co.uk.

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INSIGHT• ONSITE JUNE 2017 | CONSTRUCTION MANAGER

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Insight • onsite

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TAKING AN IN-DEPTH LOOK AT CURRENT ISSUES AND PROJECTS The video game industry has undergone significant changes from the early days of playing Pong on the Atari. It now generates more revenue than the film and music industries worldwide.

According to the Association for United Kingdom Interactive Entertainment (Ukie), the only trade body for the UK’s games and interactive entertainment industry, UK consumer spend on games was valued at a record £4.33bn last year, up 1.2% from £4.28bn in 2015.

Sales in the UK in 2016 also surged, increasing by 2.9% to £2.96bn.

However, despite these numbers and a growing number of UK-based game companies, many young game design graduates and ex-gamers are being lured by the bright lights of construction, where pay is better and the challenges can be greater and therefore more rewarding. With the emergence of BIM, augmented reality and other

31.6m

Late on a Friday night Tim Hanson is working alone in engineer Walsh Group’s office near London Bridge, poring over plans for the £250m Brighton Marina.

Unhappy with his work, he removes various walls, destroying the entire project. With the touch of a few buttons he rebuilds the structure in minutes.

Hanson is of course on his laptop and works as a 4D visualisation technician at the company. He’s just one of a growing wave of millennials entering construction, swapping Xboxes for hard hats and blending the world of virtual reality and gaming with the built environment.

He says: “With gaming and animation you can bend the rules of design and use it for construction. I think the construction industry is just starting to realise the full extent of the talent it can tap into from the animation and gamers’ community, and how these skills can be applied to projects.”

In 2016 the UK was the sixth largest video games market in the world, with 31.6 million players

CONSTRUCTION RECRUITS GAMING SPECIALISTS TRADITIONAL TECHNIQUES AT BUXTON CRESCENT immersive technologies, the potential for those with a gaming background to influence real change is exciting, and is cited by many as the main draw for joining construction.

Damien Walton, a 4D VR specialist at contractor Mace, says: “When I first walked into the office and saw the way they worked, that was a big thing.

I realised there was a huge technology gap – the designers doing everything in 3D, but then everyone else has drawings.

I thought: we’ve got to be able to do something better than this.”

Walton joined Mace in 2012 after being talent-spotted while on a video games design course at Birmingham Metropolitan College. Joining originally as a trainee CAD technician, he is now a CAD 3D/4D VR specialist.

He cut his teeth working on Birmingham New Street station, where he worked alongside the planning and

SPACE INVADERS CONSTRUCTION COMPANIES ARE SEEING AN INFLUX OF GAME DESIGN GRADUATES AND EX‑GAMERS, TRANSFERRING THEIR VISUALISATION AND DIGITAL DESIGN SKILLS FROM THE VIRTUAL TO THE PHYSICAL WORLD, REPORTS JAMES KENNY

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ILLUSTRATION BY ANDREA MANZATI

CONSTRUCTION MANAGER | JUNE 2017 INSIGHT• ONSITE

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INSIGHT• ONSITE JUNE 2017 | CONSTRUCTION MANAGER

design teams to create 2D/3D visuals, all the while learning about the industry and management techniques.

Walton states that while the challenge of driving change is a key motivating factor, there are more practical reasons that make construction more attractive. He says: “Working on something physical and then seeing the end result definitely has its advantages, as I’m quite hands-on anyway. But being able to physically walk around something, where it’s not just virtual, was appealing and I think a lot of people feel that.”

Another reason for the migration of talent is that, despite it being a young and progressive industry, games development is also highly competitive.

According to graduate careers organisation Prospects, typical starting salaries for artists/animators and programmers in games development are around £19,000 to £25,000, while in construction they are £23,000 to £28,000.

Many graduates looking to join the video games sector are also frustrated by the lack of quality jobs available, and those lucky enough to secure a position with the industry’s largest companies are often disappointed by the mundane realities of video game development.

This is confirmed by Hanson at Walsh, who originally worked in animation,

“I realised there was this huge technology gap – the designers doing everything in 3D, but then everyone else has drawings” Damien Walton Mace

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CONSTRUCTION MANAGER | JUNE 2017 INSIGHT• ONSITE

30%

Construction has an ageing workforce – 30% is over 50

purposes such as understanding crane placements or changes to traffic. It is based on computer game technology and amalgamates programme information such as architectural and structural plans and 3D models to provide viewers with an understanding of complex plans.

This is an example of the benefits that construction can see from recruiting and encouraging gamers into the industry – and companies are starting to catch on.

Engineering and professional services giant WSP is another company that has begun recruiting game designers and graduates with this experience. Calum Sinclair, a visualisation specialist with the firm, started work straight out of university last November. He is one of the new breed of graduates WSP is actively recruiting to be led by UK head of project technology Frank McLeod.

Sinclair studied gaming at Glasgow School of Art and is now using BIM to produce VR models for clients. He was first introduced to the construction industry at a hackathon called Hack Construct, which runs regular events.

He says the potential in the construction industry is what attracted him to apply for a job: “I noticed that construction industry was one that wasn’t adopting quick enough, compared to medical which I was doing some work in before. Also, a lot of what I take for granted in games, people in the construction industry have never seen and it’s great to see people taking these new concepts and ways of working and being excited by them.”

However Sinclair and others admit that, while the potential in the industry is exciting, pushing forward change

Construction

Gaming

Starting salary: Working hours: Career Prospects:

£26,000 40-50 hours per week After five years you could progress into contract management or consultancy. With further training into support services such as health & safety and building inspection with £35,000-£50,000 salary

£20,000 30-40 hours per week After five years, progression to a senior developer, producer or technical director role £35,000-£50,000 salary

Working attire:

Business/casual – suit and tie, shirt and slacks

Lumberjack chic, checked shirt, jeans and trainers, possibly with a beard

visuals and internet advertising when he left university, but found the whole process quite boring.

He says: “I tried animation, working freelance and working for a company, and, while animation in general is very freeing, I didn’t like people necessarily telling me what to do. Also some of the work is so repetitive – the same thing every day – and this just gets frustrating.

The good thing about Walsh is they’re not an enormous company but my ideas are always listened to. I’ve been working on the 4D visualisation tool and been given the time and space to do this.”

The 4D tool is a fully interactive 4D animation package that can be viewed on desktops, laptops, tablets and mobiles on site, and can be used on projects for safety briefings, site familiarisation and logistical

A tale of two industries

If you're a new recruit, how do construction and gaming match up?

Diversity: ONS data from Dec 2016 showed that out of

2.3 million people working in the construction

industry, only 296,000 or 13% were women

According to a 2015 report, the core UK games industry directly employs 12,100 full-time employees. Ukie states that 19% of the industry workforce is female, compared to the UK average of 45%

Project certainty:

Projects or indie games can languish for years and years in development hell and be cancelled at the last minute

Steady. Projects can get cancelled or delayed but picked up by another contractor

Visibility: The final finished project is physically

there for all to see and critique

Hundreds of games are released every day on every platform. Many get lost among the numbers. A game can be good, but if people have no way of knowing about it, it is going to fail

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‘There is so much potential in construction’ “The generation that will be taking over the construction industry grew up on computers and video games”

Matthew Knott left a high-flying role to blend the virtual and real worlds

Sarah Hodges Autodesk

and converting some of the older generation can be difficult, and there are still barriers to breakdown. The construction industry has an ageing workforce – 30% of the industry is over 50. Wafer-thin margins also mean that money to invest in R&D is not as forthcoming – despite an often huge turnover.

Walton says: “The mindset of some people in the construction industry can still be an issue. You’re going from a gaming area where people talk your language, to where they look at you blank faced. So you have to be able to communicate and explain your ideas properly – for example why you want to spend £5,000 on a piece of software.”

Some more traditional workers state that these new younger recruits expect results too fast and are irritated by the slow pace of tech adoption in the industry. One senior consultant recounted how one of their new millennial trainees was embarrassed that the company still used Outlook for its email and considered it a dinosaur technology.

However, most companies – in construction and elsewhere – still use Outlook.

Despite potential culture clashes, there is growing awareness of the potential of gaming expertise and in general old-school attitudes are changing. Sarah Hodges, director of construction business at Autodesk, works extensively with construction companies as well as

in the digital world and believes that the changing age of the general workforce will address this problem and bring both worlds closer together.

She says: “The generation that will be taking over the construction industry grew up on computers and video games.

Those under the age of 35 probably have at least 25 years of experience in a video game and technological world.

“This generation is familiar with graphical user interface and comfortable with manoeuvring through virtual environments so you’ll see this automatically being adopted into working practices in the construction world and elsewhere the industry may adapt, such as teaching gaming elements in engineering degrees.”

Mace’s Walton too points to a greater breaking-down of barriers: “In my first few years I saw some stigma. As soon as I mentioned in a meeting I had a games background I got a blank look. But once they realised that my skillset is beyond a games nerd they started to see the potential for projects.”

He adds: “Our main problem now is actually recruiting people; you need talented game developers, but also ones with the right interests. Not all are suited to construction.

“Video games are an art form and construction is very technical. You need to be able to work in both.” ●

It is not just young millennials that are moving into the industry. Matthew Knott is currently BIM manager for AWW Architects in Bristol, but in his former life he had a long and successful career in the video game industry.

Knott, who is 48, began working for video game publisher MicroProse in his mid-20s and worked on games such as Gunship 2000, X-COM: Apocalypse and X-COM: Terror from the Deep.

He rose quite high in the industry but ultimately decided to switch lanes a few years ago, doing a BIM master’s at UWE Bristol and then joining the construction industry. While his reasons were primarily family related, the element of innovation in construction also excited him.

“I was lured away by the potential of weaving the virtual and actual world, in conjunction with the

BIM Level 2 mandate and the vision for Digital Built Britain. There is so much potential in the construction industry with BIM and new technologies, and there is a skills shortage of those who can bridge the gap between the two industries.”

Since joining the industry, Knott says he has been inspired by the challenges and experiences so far, such as working as a BIM consultant with parliament.

He says the lack of work satisfaction within the games world – particularly for younger people – is a motivating factor that leads people to look elsewhere.

“I was quite lucky in that all of the games I worked on were published, but in the video game industry you can work on a game for three years and then it is scrapped suddenly – all that hard work for nothing. That rarely happens in construction; projects are seen through.”

Questioned about salary differences, Knott says that as he rose quite high in the games industry, he was quite well paid. However the younger graduates interviewed for this article agree that in general the salaries in construction are better than in gaming and other visual areas.

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REDISCOVERING BUXTON’S GEORGIAN GLORY

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