Construction manager June 2018

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JUNE 2018 For members of the CIOB

GRENFELL ONE YEAR ON

ONE YEAR ON

HOW HAS CONSTRUCTION CHANGED SINCE GRENFELL?

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CONSTRUCTION MANAGER | JUNE 2018 CONTENTS

06/18

Switchboard +44 (0)20 7490 5595 Editor Will Mann 020 3865 1032 will.m@atompublishing.co.uk Associate editor Neil Gerrard 020 3865 1031 neil@atompublishing.co.uk 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 Circulation Net average 30,699 Audit period: July 2016 to June 2017 Subscriptions To subscribe or for enquiries, please contact: Subscription team Tel: 020 7199 0069 Or go online at: https://constructionmanager.isubscribe.co.uk Or write to us at the address below: 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

In this issue

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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 Grenfell one year on 06 Hackitt report 08 Clerk of works 10 Modern slavery 12 Serpentine Pavilion 14 Chris Blythe 15 Feedback: Readers’ views

16 20 24 26 28 32

38 39 40 42 44 58

Experts Planning permissions Green tech and planning Residents and refurbs Managing risk clauses NEC contract interpretation Training and recruitment

46 48 50

Community CIOB AGM in Canada Pupils build a classroom Armed forces special

Insight • Onsite Housing: Offsite progress Housing: Microhomes Housing: Dementia house Housing: St Albans museum Construction equipment Data round table

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04-15

Prelims THE LATEST NEWS, PEOPLE AND COMMENT

06 08 10 12 14 15

HACKITT REPORT CLERK OF WORKS MODERN SLAVERY SERPENTINE PAVILION CHRIS BLYTHE FEEDBACK: READERS’ VIEWS

Analysis

Grenfell one year on: how has construction changed?

The enormity of the tragedy at Grenfell Tower in London prompted a great deal of soul searching within the construction industry.

In all, 71 lives were cut short, sparking a public outcry and triggering an independent inquiry by Dame Judith Hackitt into building regulations and fire safety (see p6), as well as a full-blown public inquiry, the first phase of which kicked off on 21 May. In her final report, published on 17 May, Hackitt said she had uncovered “deep flaws”

GUIDO VAN NISPEN

ALMOST A YEAR HAS PASSED SINCE THE GRENFELL TOWER FIRE. THE TRAGEDY SET OFF ALARM BELLS IN CONSTRUCTION, PROMPTING CALLS FOR A CULTURE CHANGE AND AN OVERHAUL OF QUALITY MANAGEMENT. BUT HOW MUCH HAS REALLY CHANGED? NEIL GERRARD AND WILL MANN SPEAK TO FIGURES FROM ACROSS THE INDUSTRY in the current system and urged a radical rethink. And she warned that a combination of ignorance, indifference, a lack of clarity on responsibilities and inadequate regulation had created a culture issue across the sector, which she described as a “race to the bottom”.

So what, if anything, has changed in the year since the disaster?

Unfortunately, the answer is “not much”, according to Phil Wade, operations director of developer First Base.“There certainly has

not been a culture shift, more of a focus on trying to disentangle the myriad conflicting regulations we seem to have created, which is more about ‘rules’ than culture,” he told CM. But Mark Beard, executive chairman of Beard Construction, has seen a change in attitudes. He said: “Over the last 18 months, there has been a gradual realisation that the quality of what we produce as an industry is unsatisfactory.

“The Grenfell tragedy was the primary event that has driven this change in thinking, but

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CONSTRUCTION MANAGER | JUNE 2018 PRELIMS

Grenfell one year on: CM’s reader panel views What impact has Grenfell had on the construction industry

For daily updates on the latest news, go to constructionmanagermagazine.com

the Scottish schools’ brickwork failings, and more widely the CIOB quality commission has highlighted concern about poor workmanship to our customers and the wider public.”

Shelagh Grant, chief executive of the Housing Forum, echoed that view.

She thinks that Grenfell has sharpened the focus on quality, culture change and the appreciation of risk, at least as far as the Housing Forum’s members are concerned.

“We’ve noticed greater exchange of information and participation in good practice in a number of ways,” she said. “Client members have reviewed procurement methods and cost/quality weightings, piloted contract management to take more ownership of risk and increased their use of clerks of works.

“Developers, contractors and consultants are pushing forward with measures such as value management, requirement of photographic evidence of all fire breaks, increased quality assurance processes and early involvement.”

An overriding view is that quality management needs to improve.

Richard Saxon, former chair of BDP and now an independent consultant, said: “From my point of view as an architect, the big challenge from Grenfell has been to the idea that supervision of the builder by a client representative is not required,” he said.

“I started practice when architects supervised, plus a clerk of works. As design-and-build advanced, one of its arguments was that supervision was no more necessary than in car manufacture: quality control was now built in.”

In his view, that thinking is now discredited: “What is now very obvious, as failure piles on failure, is that the onsite, subcontracted industry cannot control quality or be effectively regulated.

We need to reinvent onsite supervision, using new technology, move more to factory-made quality, and restore the golden thread of responsibility from client, through designer to contractor.”

Paul Nash, immediate CIOB past president and chair of its Construction Quality Commission, sees the need for “fundamental change”.

“Over the last 18 months, there has been a gradual realisation that the quality of what we produce as an industry is unsatisfactory” Mark Beard, Beard Construction

There needs to be a better understanding of the behaviours that have been promoting or preventing the delivery of quality, he reasons.

“Over the last year I have spoken to many people in our industry about the issue of quality and what needs to be done to improve it,” Nash said. “Their views are echoed by the findings of our ‘call for evidence’ and point to the need to both improve the way in which quality is taught through the education system, and how it is delivered through the lifecycle of a project. The CIOB is developing solutions that will seek to address both these issues and will be launched later this year.

“One year on from Grenfell I think we have a better understanding of what changes are needed, but to succeed we need to change attitudes to quality in our industry and that will take time, and probably legislation, to make it happen.”

Beard thinks it will be a “long haul” for construction to regain the public trust.

“There has definitely been a heightened focus on external cladding materials, fire protection, fire stopping and the like over the last year, but in my view this is only a start,” he said “As an industry, we need to voluntarily go beyond what Hackitt demands and radically change our culture to such an extent that ensuring highest possible quality of every element of the building is taken as seriously as ensuring everyone goes home safely.”

Wade believes little can change until business models are fundamentally altered. “Until we break the attitude of ‘minimum cost’ and instil a ‘maximum value’ ethos in parts of our industry, people will always try to find ways to bend the

Mike Smith, managing director, Corniche Construction Grenfell has focused the industry at all levels on current practice and where changes for compliance are needed. It has woken up the manufacturers of insulation products and fire barriers. Hopefully the practice of budgeting at realistic level will take away the “value engineering” exercises that take place.

Peter Egan, EGStructures The industry has found that it needs to change its approach to retrofit, but is its approach one of risk reduction or is it taking a real stance on ethical design? Our FM and design departments need to take a realistic look at projects and how they are implemented, with a greater understanding of compartmentalisation and void barriers.

Christine Gausden RD, University of Greenwich Sadly, I have seen very little change. There are the occasional clients seeking to reintroduce the role of the clerk of works and this has to be a positive step but lack of skilled personnel means this will not be easy to facilitate.

John Adams, director, BIM Strategy Grenfell has had a profound impact on the digital leaders in our industry. It has steeled their resolve to make sure issues which could have been picked up through model analysis and digital quality checking are taken seriously. The release of PAS1192-6 has been received in a much more serious way.

rules and will always find reasons to justify why they are doing it,” he said.

However much change takes place and however quickly, from now on customers will be holding contractors’, architects’ and engineers’ feet to the fire, Beard predicts.

“Customers will increasingly ask us searching questions about how the project team will deliver the expected level of quality,” he said. “We as an industry need to have believable and actionable answers.” ● 5

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Should residents be at the heart of residential refurbs? Page 40.

Industry awaits clarity after Hackitt review REPORT PUTS BUILD QUALITY IN SPOTLIGHT BUT GOVERNMENT CONSULTATION ON COMBUSTIBLE MATERIALS RAISES QUESTIONS OVER ITS IMPLEMENTATION.

BY NEIL GERRARD

Dame Judith Hackitt’s Independent Review of Building Regulations and Fire Safety has left construction waiting for greater clarity on how it will be implemented – after the government announced a consultation on banning combustible materials within hours of the report’s launch.

Hackitt’s review, commissioned after last year’s Grenfell Tower fire, called for “a very different approach to the regulatory framework covering design, construction and maintenance of high-rise residential buildings”, which "recognises they are complex systems where the actions of many different people can compromise the integrity of that system".

She attracted criticism for not recommending a ban on flammable cladding, but said this “would not address the root causes” of the problem.

“I have tried to fix the system... not just the problem with cladding,” Hackitt added.

“There is insufficient focus on delivering

Hackitt key recommendations l New Joint Competent Authority (JCA) for buildings over 10 storeys. l 'Duty holder’ with safety responsibility for whole building, answerable to the JCA. l Three ‘gateways’ to prove regulation compliance, covering fire, build and design. l Higher competence levels for building industry, monitored by an overarching body. l More effective product testing. l Contracts must not compromise on safety.

the best quality building possible, to ensure that residents are safe and feel safe.”

Former construction minister Nick Raynsford said the materials consultation announcement following the report clearly indicated "a gulf between the government’s position and Hackitt’s”.

“The government wants a prescriptive approach and she hasn’t provided that,” he said, and questioned whether the government would drive through Hackitt’s proposals.

“My instinct is that most social landlords would like to start afresh and undertake a thorough appraisal of their buildings’ fire safety,” Raynsford added. “They would like to follow a prescriptive approach but that has not been provided.”

However, the review's spotlight on build quality was welcolmed. CIOB chief executive Chris Blythe said Hackitt's report would bring the issue of quality in construction to the fore.

He said: “What the review has highlighted is that our industry is failing to consistently deliver the right standards of safety and quality in the buildings and infrastructure that we create.

“The conclusions from Dame Judith’s report will have far reaching implications across the sector, from those designing buildings right through to the construction and occupancy of them.

“It is clear that professionalism needs to be at the heart of this change and the CIOB is ready to play its part.” ●

Questions over Hackitt’s impact on procurement practices The Hackitt recommendations may not end contract practices which can lead to poor build quality, according to Assad Maqbool, partner at Trowers & Hamlins, who also sits on the Housing Forum.

“The report rightly asserts that the priorities and drivers set out in procurement processes and

the structuring and terms of contracts can encourage poor behaviours that lead to poor outcomes,” he said.

But those poor behaviours could only be tackled with “a very prescriptive and authoritarian set of rules” absent from the report, Maqbool argued.

“Without such prescription, there is likely to be little impact as a result of the contractual and procurement recommendations: bars on value engineering that in any way impact safety will be only be enforceable by reference to minimum standards (i.e. the building regulations).

“Layering of additional obligations in relation to fire safety on the responsible parties pursuant to the CDM Regulations will still lead to contractual allocation of risk no matter that ‘accountability’ might not be transferable, and clients are unlikely to voluntarily agree to a minimum level of profit for contractors,” he said.

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PRELIMS JUNE 2018 | CONSTRUCTION MANAGER

How does the day start for a clerk of works?

Initially it is about getting to know the contractor and the client and the design team. Once you have done that, you check the architects’ and engineers’ drawings and specifications, because that is our bible. When you are au fait with what is being built, most of the day is spent outside going around the different parts of the construction, comparing what is being built against the standards.

What do you do if you find a problem?

We normally point it out to the site foreman rather than stopping the work. We are the eyes and ears of the client rather than someone who can actually say stop the work unless there is a health and safety issue. If an issue isn’t put right then we put it on our report at the end of the week and it is discussed with the client, project manager and contractor who will either agree with you or not.

A day in the life of a clerk of works UNTIL THE GRENFELL TOWER DISASTER AND PROBLEMS WITH SCHOOLS IN SCOTLAND, THE CLERK OF WORKS WAS STARTING TO BECOME AN ENDANGERED SPECIES. NOW THE ROLE IS IN DEMAND AGAIN. NEIL GERRARD ASKS TONY MOBBS, MANAGING DIRECTOR OF CLERK OF WORKS SERVICES FIRM HICKTON, ABOUT A TYPICAL DAY

How are you generally received on site?

We get two types of reactions. We get some contractors who don’t really want you there because you are telling them what to do and they know how to do it, and others are grateful for a second pair of eyes. Site foremen are very busy – they are looking at programme, time and cost whereas we are only looking at quality so often we are picking stuff up that they can go back to their subcontractors with. In the main they like it. But they won’t tell you that.

Surge in enquiries for clerks of works HICKTON MD REPORTS 60% RISE IN DEMAND IN SCOTLAND

Enquiries for clerks of works have surged since the Grenfell Tower disaster, according to one provider, and could increase further after the Hackitt Review recommended their use.

In Scotland, where Hickton worked on remedial work for the defect-hit PFI schools, Tony Mobbs (left) told CM that the company had seen a 60% jump in demand.

How do you win contractors over?

A lot of it is talking to them and getting to know the names of the subcontractors and the team on site and understanding that they have got a job to do. Then you just point out where the line is for quality and once they realise that they can’t just build anything and you will pick them up, it is agreed where that line is.

What are the most common defects you find?

Usually it is quite standard – a door not fitting properly in a fire compartment wall, damp-proof membranes not joining up with damp-proof courses, poor plasterwork, poor joinery, poor plumbing and electrical coiling. A lot of what we find is sorted out during the work. The big issues are to do with fire protection.

You need to understand what is required at the start so that when subcontractors are putting pipes through walls, they know whether or not a compartment is there. Often, they will put a four-inch pipe through a wall, thinking it is not a compartment – but it should actually have a collar and intumescent paint, and there should be a gap between the pipe so you can get the collars in.

Another common one is when you have a compartment wall between bedrooms – typically you need blankets on the ceilings or the wall, carrying on up into the ceiling void, and that is invariably missed. ●

That was part of a 20% increase in tenders nationally, which was on top of a 20% increase last year, driven partly in response to Grenfell, he said.

Asked why the use of clerks of works had been less in demand until recently, Mobbs said: “I have been to several interviews trying to suggest to clients that they need a clerk of works and often they reply:

‘Well, I have got a design team and I have got a competent contractor. One of them must be looking at quality so why should I pay for your fee?’

“That is a fairly standard response until you then start talking about how, apart from our fee being relatively small, everyone makes mistakes and a second pair of eyes helps the process. A lot of clients buy into that eventually.”

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Analysis

Modern slavery: changing the conversation MUCH OF CONSTRUCTION IS UNAWARE HOW COMMON WORKER EXPLOITATION IS. BUT, AS A NEW CIOB STUDY SHOWS, CRIMINAL ELEMENTS CAN INFILTRATE THE SITES OF EVEN MAJOR CONTRACTORS. NEIL GERRARD EXAMINES THE REPORT

It’s now three years since the Modern Slavery Act became law but, despite the problem being rife within construction, much of the industry is still doing a poor job of acknowledging or addressing worker exploitation in its supply chain.

That is the focus of a new Chartered Institute of Building report, Construction and the Modern Slavery Act, Tackling Exploitation in the UK, released last month.

Emma Crates, the report’s author, found there was “little doubt” that UK construction supply chains are at risk of being infiltrated by criminal activities such as modern slavery.

A recent Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply survey found that 58% of construction procurement managers were fairly or very confident that they did not have modern slavery in their supply chains. But Crates says: “It is highly improbable that they are correct.”

She warns that industry overconfidence could be down to “the common misconception that immigration – or right-to-work checks – will also detect modern slavery”.

In fact, the National Crime Agency (NCA) estimated in 2014 that there were between 10,000 and 13,000 victims of modern slavery in the UK and by summer 2017 it was speculating that the real figure was considerably higher.

Because the crime is hidden and government figures only record cases that have successfully come through the multi-agency reporting process, it’s hard to get a true reflection of the scale of the problem. But in 2017, victims in the UK were identified from 116 countries, including

819 British citizens. Vietnam, Romania, China and the UK were the top source countries for adult labour. But several eastern European nations – a major source of recruitment for UK construction – were also high on the list.

The CIOB’s report highlighted the fact that modern slavery shouldn’t be viewed in isolation, but tied up with other exploitative p ra c t i ce s s u c h a s h e a l t h a n d s a fe t y breaches, banning of unions, blacklisting, illegal wage deductions, excessive working

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CONSTRUCTION MANAGER | JUNE 2018 PRELIMS

Taking action on modern slavery

13,000

The National Crime Agency (NCA) estimated in 2014 that there were between 10,000 and 13,000 victims of modern slavery in the UK

How construction firms are tackling the issue

hours, withholding of passports, bullying, intimidation and squalid accommodation.

It pointed to a number of “systemic” factors that put workers at risk, including business models based on outsourcing (with 99% of the industry made up of SMEs), reliance on labour agencies, a high percentage of migrant workers, very low margins, and a lack of labour standards enforcement in the sector.

“The tone is being set at the top of supply chains as many public and private sector clients create an environment that is pricing out legitimate players and facilitating unethical operators,” Crates warns.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, it also found that the response from construction to the Modern Slavery Act 2015 has been sluggish.

Under the act, all businesses with a turnover above £36m have to publish an annual transparency in supply chains (TISC) statement on the activities they have carried out to combat modern slavery internally and in supply chains.

Crates describes initial responses as “patchy”, with construction lagging behind other industries in the quality of disclosure and many companies publishing their reports late.

Construction has made good progress on training and awareness programmes, with major contractors trying to reach further into supply chains but the sector still trails others.

The CIOB called for a “changing of the narrative” among firms, so that there is more acceptance of the risks of modern slavery.

It has launched a Routemap to Fair Business which sets out steps for raising standards for all workers and suppliers, encouraging a more proactive approach to tackling systemic issues.

Independent anti-slavery commissioner Kevin Hyland welcomed the CIOB’s work. He says: “This new report… provides clear ways for responsible companies to tackle slavery and ensure their labour supply is protected.

I hope to see many construction businesses taking up its recommendations and making real changes, so that it can set an example to other high-risk sectors.”

For CIOB chief executive Chris Blythe, the solution lies in adopting better work principles as a means to curbing exploitative practices.

“We need to change the conversation that we have with clients, our peers and the media,” he argues. “Suppliers and labour agencies should be rewarded for finding and reporting problems, contractors need to promote fairer business models and clients need to be more explicit about their ethical expectations. This goes to the heart of professional leadership.”

He adds: “It’s time to get real about the challenges facing UK construction. Contrary to public perceptions, modern slavery is not confined to small illegal operators. Criminals are attracted to big business because of the greater profits that they can earn. Unscrupulous labour providers, operating in the grey area of the law, are also creating misery for thousands of British and foreign workers.” ● How firms have responded to the act

16%

Undertaken site inspections

22%

Conducted minimum wage and immigration checks

26%

Introduced procurement policies complying with the Modern Slavery Act Provided training to employees and suppliers on slavery risks and compliance Mapped supply chains to understand risks

26%

Reviewed supplier contracts

28%

Sought assurances from suppliers that they are compliant with the legislation Completed a modern slavery statement

25% 26%

30%

Lendlease

Lendlease launched a review of company procedures in light of the Modern Slavery Act, led by head of strategic procurement Andy Fulterer. The firm focused on its auditing – developing questions on modern slavery as part of the Achilles BuildingConfidence system it uses for its health, safety and quality audits.

“The idea is not to catch suppliers out, but to upskill them,” Fulterer says.

Lendlease has also embedded a five-minute awareness video on modern slavery into its induction process to reach the large numbers of non-directly employed labour on its sites.

Additionally, staff undertake a yearly ethical training course in which they watch a video and answer questions. This is regularly updated to reflect changes in legislation.

Skanska

Skanska has slimmed down its preferred list of temporary worker agencies and now uses fewer than 10 labour-only agencies.

Working with an agency aggregator, it has more visibility of the make-up of its workforce, says Harvey Francis, group HR director and executive vice president of Skanska UK. Every year, a third-party provider carries out a two-day audit of Skanska’s labour suppliers, combined with labour checks on site. The firm rebalanced some selection criteria to focus on team behaviours – on some projects, commercial criteria account for only 30% of the score.

Skanska revised its code of conduct for employees in 2016, expanding sections on human rights and modern slavery, and has published a code of practice for suppliers.

Marshalls

Marshalls won CIOB praise for its “exemplary” work in India and other high-risk sourcing countries. But Chris Harrop, its group marketing and sustainability director, admitted it had done more work internationally than domestically until the Modern Slavery Act prompted it to look at the UK. It entered a partnership with antislavery NGO Hope for Justice in January 2017.

The firm has developed a policy where if a problem is suspected in UK operations with no immediate threat to life, it will contact law enforcement, the GLAA and Hope for Justice simultaneously to allow all parties to liaise.

Marshalls trains its 2,500-strong UK workforce online on modern slavery every year, as well as appointing modern slavery ambassadors.

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Aecom’s Michael Orr demonstrates the HTC Vive headset

The Aecom VR team engineering this year’s Serpentine Pavilion VIRTUAL REALITY PLAYS A KEY ROLE IN AECOM’S ENGINEERING OF THE SERPENTINE PAVILION, WHICH OPENS THIS MONTH. WILL MANN MEETS THE TEAM USING THE TECHNOLOGY TO BRING FRIDA ESCOBEDO’S 2018 DESIGN TO LIFE

Escobedo’s Serpentine Pavilion design uses roof tiles on a steel frame to create a lattice effect.

Seeing is believing with virtual reality (VR).

Wearing the HTC Vive headset which Aecom’s design team is using for the 2018 Serpentine Pavilion, it feels almost literally like stepping into the lattice-walled structure designed by Mexican architect Frida Escobedo (see box).

The lighting has been set to 11am on a summer’s day, the sunlight is bright with sharp shadows on the roof tiles which make up the pavilion walls and wind blows the leaves in the treetops. Inside, the mirrored ceiling is starting to take shape and the reflection off the pool is shimmering. The effect is astonishingly realistic.

Carlos Lopes, Aecom’s VR manager, is not yet satisfied though. “I need to add birdsong – VR can feel a lonely place,” he says.

Aecom, now in its sixth year delivering the engineering design for the project in London’s Hyde Park, started work in December.

Principal engineer Michael Orr is working on his fourth Pavilion. “VR is used to get a sense of how the space would feel, which would be hard to communicate with 2D plans,” he says.

“It is time-consuming getting to the VR stage but we are getting faster each year.

“The process starts using the Rhino 3D modelling application – architects like using that as a blank canvas – and we use the Grasshopper plugin to parametrically design the structure,” Orr explains.

“We then take the Rhino/Grasshopper model, and move it into 3DS Max – a graphics program typically used for gaming – to build up the VR model,” adds Lopes.

The lattice tiles sit on a 3m-high steel frame and the tile pattern has dictated engineering and loading requirements, Orr says.

A HoloLens augmented reality (AR) headset demonstrates the steelwork structure. In the AR environment – where your physical surroundings can be seen – the pavilion structure resembles a jailhouse, with two rows of thin vertical bars, and wall-width solid steel members in between, marking the join between the 1m by 1m modules which make up the frame.

These are being fabricated off site, with tiles attached, by contractor Stage One. The tiles – 10,000 in total – each have four holes, to slot over the steel frame. They are supported with a “sleeving system” which fits over the bars in the frame. “Every tile sits on a steel tube and washer, meaning each tile is independent and if one comes out the whole thing won’t come crashing down,” Orr explains.

“One concern about the frame was people leaning against it,” he says. “So we tested it inhouse using the 3D model, then validated that with a full-scale factory mockup, which included giving it a good shake.”

The roof canopy is supported by structural supports, concealed inside three walls – 3m, 4m and 5m long – which define the boundaries of the space.

“At night, a strip of LED will wash the walls with light, while spotlights are dotted around the ceiling,” says Lopes. “The night visualisations in VR will be fascinating.”

The pavilion opens later this month. ●

Frida Escobedo’s 2018 pavilion design This year’s Serpentine Pavilion is influenced by architect Frida Escobedo’s Mexican homeland.

It sits on a 20m by 12.5m rectangular footprint defined by freestanding cantilever walls with two entrances. The inside of this courtyard is partially covered by a curved roof canopy,

a trapezoid on plan, 17.5m at its longest point and 10.75m at its widest, and set at an angle to align with Prime Meridian in Greenwich. The courtyard also features a pool of water outside the covered space.

Both internal and external walls use tiles stacked on a

steel framed structure to create a lattice effect, otherwise known as a “celosia” – a traditional breeze wall common to Mexican architecture. The intended effect is of sharp contrast between areas of dark shadow and bright light – and how they change during the day.

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Former CIOB president David Llewellyn dies PRESIDENT OF THE CIOB IN 1986/87 PASSES AWAY

Chris Blythe

Chief executive CIOB

Comment

Born in 1930, he built the family firm Llewellyn Group through the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s to be one of the most significant privately owned construction groups in the country, in conjunction with his brother John.

He received his CBE for voluntary work for government. For 19 years he was on the statutory committee which advises government on Building Regulations, and for six years he was its chairman. He was also a key driving force behind the formation of the British Woodworking Federation.

CIOB report trio named among top modern slavery influencers Three people closely involved in the Chartered Institute of Building’s (CIOB) recently published report on worker exploitation in construction have been named among the top influencers on modern slavery.

CIOB chief executive Chris Blythe, Emma Crates, who researched and wrote Construction and the Modern Slavery Act, Tackling Exploitation in the UK, and professor Jacqui Glass at Loughborough University’s school of architecture, who was quoted in the report, were all named in the 2018 Annual UK Top 100 Corporate Modern Slavery Influencers’ Index.

Chris Harrop, sustainability director at products firm Marshalls, was also named for his promotion of ethical supply chain practices.

Don’t let Grenfell obscure construction’s smaller tragedies WHILE IT’S IMPORTANT TO MAINTAIN A FOCUS ON LEARNING FROM THE LESSONS OF THE GRENFELL TOWER DISASTER, WE MUSTN’T FORGET THE CONSTRUCTION-RELATED DEATHS THAT DON’T HIT THE HEADLINES, ARGUES CHRIS BLYTHE While the current focus is rightly on the outcome of the Hackitt Review of building regulations and fire safety following Grenfell and will be so throughout the year, we cannot forget the impacts of the industry elsewhere.

I recently attended a conference on construction logistics and the contrast between deaths happening within construction hoardings and those construction-related deaths outside was a shock.

Last year around 30 construction workers died within the hoardings, with 120 people killed on the roads by construction-related vehicles.

Looking more widely it set me thinking about the consequences of when other things go wrong. Nothing brings it into sharper focus than the collapse of Carillion. Much has been said about the impact on Carillion’s supply chain and there have been notable number of subcontractor failures.

What do not hit the headlines are the lost opportunities. In the case of Carillion we have two major hospital constructions stalled, the

Royal in Liverpool and the Midland Metropolitan in Sandwell. It is estimated that the latter will take at least another two years before completion and that depends on how much deterioration takes place before work restarts. The Royal in Liverpool, due to be opened later this year, will miss that target and will be lucky to be ready by the end of 2019. It is hard to estimate how many people might lose their chance of treatment because of the delays.

With an incident like Grenfell, we have a national disaster and a huge amount of resources and media attention go into making certain it does not happen again. But the others, happening each and every day, are individual tragedies. We build to make people’s lives better; we fail when we don’t, so what can we do to improve?

We all agree our business model does not work. The level of subcontracting that goes on means control is difficult and the scope for making a fair return is lost in non-value adding activity. With due respect to the excellent work being done by our migrant workforce, they have been the substitute for investing in training and skills. But it is not sustainable.

How we improve the quality, sustainability and the professionalism of our industry is a challenge and requires a step-change in employment practices. Brexit does present the industry with an opportunity to take greater responsibility for ensuring that the industry has a well-trained and sustainable pipeline of employees that meet the future skills needs.

Innovations in digital and offsite manufacturing will have huge implications for how we will work in the future and securing that employment with the right legislative framework is essential.

Getting people to own their work and own the responsibilities that their work entails might make a Grenfell less likely. It could also see people thinking through the risks they create through the logistics challenges and also deliver major works on time.

National disaster or local tragedy – to those affected, the result is still the same. ●

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Contractors beware: clients are hungry for cost certainty, p42

Feedback Mace’s Marc Reynolds talks to the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee

A selection of readers’ comments about news and issues in the industry from www.constructionmanagermagazine.com CM 04/05 Building control Robert Jones

Murphy v Brentwood removes a Local Authority Building Control responsibility for economic loss, which has for 20 or so years allowed local authorities to starve their building control of resources, both technical and financial.

This, with the diminished role of site engineers and clerks of works, has removed the onsite checks and balances.

The last disaster that made central government concern was Ronan Point 50 years ago (killing four people). Will the current government now provide the necessary resources and statutory controls to enable the building control professionals to fully protect the public in an environment that is becoming more densely populated?

Tim Fenn

Building control officers need more training. You just have to look at them reviewing door blower test results!

Also it would help if they surveyed every house, not just a sample. If significant problems arise they should take the knock on their insurance?

CM 02/05 Report slams Kier Preston Neunie

It is alarming that the construction sector seems to keep making the same mistakes.

With the advent of more and more design and build contracts, clients need to be very clear on the outcomes they want and place more vigour in the early stages to ensure the design and product is right.

Darren

Clients need to be more proactive in ensuring quality and fitness for purpose.

Contractors are not going to improve on their own.

Buildings don’t get to this stage in one brief moment, there will have been months of making do and accepting work as “good enough” for now with a view to correcting at some later date. Then it just snowballs on from there…

Derek Higgs

The construction industry has already chased away 500,000 British builders who have emigrated because the bosses wanted cheaper labour. If you don’t employ people who know what they are doing, you will never get a quality product.

CM 14/05 Modern slavery Paul Steels

The law of diminishing returns: marginal productivity combined with the fragmentation and pressure to adhere to/meet the government’s strategic policies/targets within the industry is the open door in which these criminal gangs operate.

Joe Devine

No surprises here. Much the same theme as the Latham report Constructing the Team in 1994, the Egan report Rethinking Construction in 1998, the Government Construction Strategy in 2011, and Construction 2025 published in 2013, with the added twist of slavery and criminal intent.

Collaboration, fair contracts, ethics: never going to be reality while the industry is run by the stock market!

CM 02/05 Mace boss: Offsite not seen as ‘tried and tested’ Hugh Thomson

Developing an offsite manufacturing solution definitely is not an easy task. This has been done successfully by others ranging from small to very large projects though.

I personally developed a modular offsite design/ manufacturing process for a major power supplier in Canada for distribution and transmission substations.

Perhaps those speaking to the committee should spend time talking to those in the industry that have successfully implemented offsite construction techniques.

Ian Heptinstall

Interesting the claim that “institutions and funders just want to see tried and tested solutions”.

So the current approach to projects delivers high reliability and great ROI for investors, does it? I would say “the devil you know” is more appropriate.

Steve Townsend

Mace are right in my view.

There is a way forward though and it requires throughput guarantees for a company that invests and uses the factory approach.

David McCormick

But aren’t the “tried and tested” solutions the very “solutions” that lead to poor quality, late delivery, cost overruns and lengthy legal disputes?

Neil

Interesting comments considering I have worked on at least five Mace sites that have had some form of offsite prefabrication that I ran. It was tried and tested and seen as a must in mechanical services.

Provide your own feedback on latest industry issues by posting comments online at www.constructionmanagermagazine.com or emailing the editor at construction-manager@atompublishing.co.uk

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16-36

Insight • onsite TAKING AN IN-DEPTH LOOK AT CURRENT ISSUES AND PROJECTS

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IS OFFSITE REALLY HOUSING’S PANACEA? POLITICIANS ARE SETTING GREAT STORE IN OFFSITE MANUFACTURED HOUSING DELIVERING IN BOTH NUMBERS AND QUALITY. MOMENTUM IS GATHERING PACE BUT ARE FACTORY-MADE HOMES REALLY ON THE ROAD TO BECOMING MAINSTREAM? DENISE CHEVIN REPORTS

Above and facing top: Urban Splash’s hoUSe modular homes are installed in Manchester

HOUSING: MICROHOMES HOUSING: DEMENTIA HOUSING: ST ALBANS CONSTRUCTION EQUIPMENT DATA ROUND TABLE On paper, the stars couldn’t be any more aligned to nurturing a revolution in housebuilding. A post-Brexit labour market, a public outcry over poorly built traditional homes, and a government pressuring the industry to build 300,000 homes a year – they all play to the strengths of building in the factory, rather than on site.

And sure enough, an explosion in activity is taking place, with new players continuing to come into the market, albeit with hurdles still to clear. When Construction Manager took the temperature in November 2017 there was considerable optimism in the market.

Since then the first houses from Ilke Homes – the modular housing business formed by housing contractor Keepmoat and Elliott Group, aiming to deliver 750 homes a year – are arriving on site. Tide Construction has planning permission for the world’s largest modular building in Croydon, reaching 42 storeys. Laing O’Rourke has announced a “gamechanging” offsite partnership with developer Stanhope and housing association Network Homes to deliver hundreds of dwellings across the south east.

Meanwhile, regeneration specialist Urban Splash is cranking up its modular housing delivery and has bought the offsite construction business from materials giant SIG. One new player, a business called nHouse, even used crowdfunding – a construction first – to

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3,000

L&G has pledged to build 3,000 new homes a year from a new factory near Leeds

raise £1m to launch its first prototype show house at MIPIM 2018.

In another potential milestone, Berkeley Group has the go-ahead to build a modular homes factory in Ebbsfleet.

The commitment from a volume housebuilder is “a significant step” says Dennis Seal, chair of Buildoffsite’s Residential Hub, who reports a surge in interest in modular housing with volumetric, steel frame and timber growing equally.

A more quantitative measure of quickening pace and appetite for disruption can be seen in the number of schemes that have been accredited by BOPAS – the accreditation scheme for homes built with modern methods of construction, which has backing from RICS, Buildoffsite, Lloyd’s Register and warranty provider BLP Insurance. In 2017 BOPAS awarded 20 certificates – double the number in 2015. In 2018 already more than 10 have been certified, with more than 40 in discussion.

Interestingly, BOPAS sees the biggest growth in activity coming from volumetric systems, with UK manufactured products dominating (see graphs).

Jeff Maxted, director of technical consultancy at BLP, says: “The rapid growth is coming from across all accommodation sectors – student accommodation, the private rented sector and for sale.”

That’s not to say, however, that progress is entirely smooth. L&G, which has pledged to build 3,000 new homes a year from a new factory near Leeds, says it will now roll out its first homes in June. When the initiative was originally announced it had initially hoped to complete its first homes in the summer of 2016 and to have “a large pipeline” in place by early 2017.

The Aecom factory planned for First Base’s Silvertown Quays development,

“The rapid growth is coming from across all accommodation sectors – student accommodation, the private sector and for sale” Jeff Maxted, BLP Insurance

Country of manufacture BOPAS registrations by country of origin

n UK 38 n Ireland 3 n Europe 7 n Eastern Europe 2 n China 3

System types BOPAS registrations by type of construction

n Timber frame 11 n LGSF 8 n Modular 21 n Panelised 6 n CLT 3 n SIP 4

Charting the growth of offsite The rise of BOPAS registrations 0

60

2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

n Registered for BOPAS n In discussion

which had plans to build 3,000 homes, is “paused” (see box, p19). And the most audacious plan on the scene came apart at the seams in February when Your Housing Group announced it has pulled out of its £2.5bn offsite construction joint venture with China National Building Material Company and energy firm WeLink to build 25,000 homes over five years from factories in the UK. WeLink said it planned to continue its drive into UK housing, and recently signed a memorandum of understanding with Swansea council.

Despite these blips, the prognosis for change remains bullish. Mark Farmer, the author of Modernise or Die, the report published in October 2016 calling for radical change, is certainly optimistic, saying: “The pace of change is quickening.

Although many in the industry will not see or feel it, there are significant things afoot that will start to fundamentally change the way we design and build.”

This will be through a combination of two factors. First, new disruptors continuing to enter the market. And second, a seismic shift which is seeing Tier 1 contractors and some large consultants increasingly viewing “construction as manufacturing” and creating platform or system-led design approaches which break down buildings into standard components to be pre-manufactured.

Examples include Aecom, Atkins, Mace, Arcadis and Bouygues (see box, p19).

Says Farmer: “The future-proofed ones are using digital platforms and fabrication as their route to market – not the ‘cottage industry building traditionally in a shed’ approach we have been used to. Whether the industry accepts more design standardisation for manufactured components will be tested later this year by the GLA work I am doing with Bryden Wood.”

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Below: Swan Housing Group handles the whole process: modular homes are assembled in its Basildon factory, then transported to its sites to be built

Farmer, who is chief executive of Cast Consultancy, is referring to the research project commissioned by the London mayor which aims to build more flexibility into offsite. It is widely acknowledged that to maximise the benefits of design for manufacture and assembly it is necessary to agree the designs early in the process. But although some designers would argue that this is no bad thing in a post-Grenfell landscape, it necessitates clients committing to one supplier early on, and consequent nervousness around security of supply.

Jaimie Johnston, head of global systems at Bryden Wood, says that what they are looking to come up with is a kind of design code that will suit both architects and manufacturers, which would allow design integrity and systems to be more interchangeable. “It’s a massively needed piece of work,” he says.

There’s a will in government to make offsite work, though the mechanisms could be stronger. Alongside development and innovation funds that provide incentives, Homes England is understood to be considering introducing requirements for offsite homes to be built on land it releases, or tied to any grant, providing more pipeline and encouraging investors into the market.

The government has also charged Farmer with bringing down another barrier: the resistance among insurers and lenders. The aim is to get the leading companies to agree a standard approach to certification of offsite systems.

“It is important to reorganise the new build housing assurance and warranty market and ensure more consistent, robust standards and quality-led control of modern methods of construction are put in place so we do not repeat the mistakes of the past and let systemic failures occur,” says Farmer.

Putting offsite to the test Home Group puts different technologies through their paces As part of the three-month Great Exhibition of the North in Gateshead, starting this month, housing association Home Group is developing a site called the Innovation Village, which will trial five modern methods of construction, three heating systems and a range of “smart technologies”. It aims to assess different construction approaches for its planned programme of 10,000 new homes between now and 2022.

The whole project is an exemplar of how quickly homes can be built if the will is there, says Brian Ham, Home Group’s development director. The pilot will see 41 homes constructed, of which 36 will be from offsite methods.

Of these, 16 are volumetric, supplied by three different manufacturers, nine are from a panelised light steel frame product and 10 are to be made from aerated concrete panels.

The scheme went in for planning permission in January and started on site in March, with the homes expected to be completed by the end of the year.

It will be monitored by the BRE during construction and occupation.

The other major sticking point is cost. For some providers the sums still don’t stack up – a point made recently

by Joanne Roney, chief executive of Manchester City Council. “The challenges of modular are greater than hoped,” she told Inside Housing magazine. “For us the biggest barrier is finding a product that allows us to use all our available land – regardless of size – and still beat the price points of traditional

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Cutting out contractors?

Consultants and manufacturers buddy up build methods.” Roney said the council was still hopeful it can be done.

With construction costs higher in the south, modular is more attractive in some areas than others, though it scores well on quality and speed of delivery.

Swan Housing Group is managing to tick all those boxes, by taking all the risk itself and cutting out margins along the supply chain by handling the whole process, as developer, builder and asset manager. The Essex-based housing association has invested in a factory in Basildon to build 300 homes a year from cross-laminated timber modules under a brand called NU build.

Manufacturing specialist Paul Williamson joined Swan Housing in early 2016 to lead it. He says: “We’ve recently gained BOPAS certification and our first 10 new homes will be built by the end of the year. Because we’re vertically integrated we’re taking out costs – others want to devolve risks. I think you also have to factor in the enormous costs of remediation given the defect rate that can come with traditional contracting.”

He also sounds a note of caution – pointing out that talk of deskilling can lull the sector into believing setting up a modular housing factory is easy.

“We’re taking out the handcraft from housebuilding and making the process

“The impact of offsite construction in residential in the affordable sector is still limited because modular doesn’t stack up financially” Michael Cleaver, Housing Forum

repeatable – that’s not deskilling.”

Michael Cleaver, director at the Housing Forum, remarks: “The reality is that the impact of offsite construction in residential in the affordable sector is still limited because modular doesn’t stack up financially; it’s more expensive than traditional build.”

Steve Turner, director of communications at the Home Builders Federation, makes a similar point: “All the volume housebuilders are looking at offsite in some shape or form – but a lot of things still need to be proved before it becomes a mainstream solution. It will not lead to a step change in how we build things in the immediate future.”

This won’t deter the disruptors – nor should it. As most in the market agree, if we are to deliver 300,000 new homes a year there’s more than enough room for innovators and traditionalists. ●

Developer nHouse used crowdfunding to raise £1m to launch its modular house protoype

A potentially disruptive trend in the offsite sector is the emergence of new partnerships between consultants and manufacturers, or consultants and developers – potentially cutting out the contractor “middle men”.

One of the most ambitious of these players is Aecom, which has teamed up with Rogers Stirk Harbour & Partners to design a factory-made housing system, taking on board lessons from schemes they have worked on together, including homes for the YMCA. However, the widely publicised partnership with First Base, announced in April 2017 to deliver 3,000 modular homes from a factory in east London as part of the £3.5bn regeneration of Silvertown Quays, is on hold – pending discussions around construction finance and potential new owners.

Starwood and Lendlease are said to be in the late stages of appraising the 25ha site, and in April it was reported that Indian developer Essel had made an approach to purchase it from current developer the Silvertown Partnership – a consortium of Chelsfield Properties, First Base and Macquarie Capital.

Relationships with First Base remain excellent, says Peter Flint, chief executive buildings and places EMIA at Aecom, though the project has “gone quiet” for the moment.

Aecom, meanwhile, has established a factory in Newark where it is building a prototype which will see 95% of each unit fitted out in the factory. The lightweight units use timber frame with a lightweight steel exoskeleton and Aecom is working with the University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre to streamline

the production process. One unit will form a one-bedroom flat; two units will make a two or three-bedroom apartment.

“There is lots of market interest and at this stage we’ll act as design and build partner to clients,” says Flint.

The production line can produce 250 units a year – with extra production lines coming on stream if demand increases. Looking ahead, Flint says Aecom may well set up regional factories to get around transportation issues.

“There is certainly no shortage of people wanting to buy into our approach,” he says. “We can see half a dozen really big players in this space which will be transformative for the industry.”

Other consultants are also hoping to make their mark, though plans are embryonic.

In November consultant Arcadis announced it was working with offsite specialist Caledonian to design and make modular housing. The idea is that Arcadis’ support in design and construction management will allow Caledonian to focus on manufacturing and delivery.

Also dipping a toe in the water is Atkins, which is entering the residential market with a product it hopes to develop in partnership with local authorities to provide affordable homes.

These will be built from a kit of parts designed by Atkins and manufactured in China.

Called MetroHome, it can be configured to suit layouts including detached, semidetached and town houses.

Using the MetroHome concept Atkins is working with the London Borough of Lambeth to deliver four twobedroomed homes scheduled for completion this summer.

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1.2m

ZEDpod says it could provide 200,000 to 250,000 new homes from the 1.2m public parking spaces in the UK

CAN SMALL BE BEAUTIFUL? THE LAST FEW YEARS HAVE SEEN THE EMERGENCE OF NEW ‘COMPACT’ HOUSE BUILDERS – BUT ARE SMALLER HOMES REALLY THE ANSWER TO THE HOUSING SHORTAGE? NEIL GERRARD SPEAKS TO KEY PLAYERS IN THE MARKET AND ASSESSES THE POLICY BACKDROP

ZEDpod has a total floor area of 38 sq m and can be erected in four hours

Could building smaller and smarter hold the answer to Britain’s housing shortage?

With advances in design and technology, new players have emerged in the housebuilding market, offering compact solutions that can cost significantly less than the traditional alternatives.

But while smaller homes may make sense in property hotspots like London where land is at a premium, they still have hurdles to clear at a policy and insurance level, not least because of concerns over the amount of living space they provide and their build quality in a post-Grenfell housing market.

H o w e v e r, f o r t h e d i s r u p to r s leading this emerging sector, they are at least part of the solution to the UK’s shortage of homes.

“There is an answer to the housing crisis – if anyone allows it to happen,” says Bill Dunster, principal of ZEDfactory and the architect behind ZEDpod, an ingenious zero-carbon housing solution designed to “float” above parking bays, making use of urban land that would otherwise only accommodate cars.

Originally designed to be as wide as one 2.5m parking bay, they are now one and a half parking bays wide, giving a total floor area of 38 sq m and meeting the nationally described space standard – which was introduced in 2015, and adopted by the Greater London Authority as part of its supplementary

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FISHER STUDIOS X3

CONSTRUCTION MANAGER | JUNE 2018 INSIGHT• ONSITE/HOUSING

The Kiss House is a configurable modular home that comes in a variety of sizes and finishes

Building small: other key players

“A really badly designed 400 sq ft unit doesn’t provide a better quality of life than a very well designed 200 sq ft unit”

Other specialist developers are making headway in the growing sector

Kieran O’Donnell iKozie

planning guidance, though not by all local authorities.

Superinsulated, they offer noncombustible cladding materials, triple glazing, heat recovery ventilation and reduced energy consumption during daylight hours to the point where it can be met for much of the year from roofmounted solar panels.

Dunster explains that he came up with the ZEDpod, which recently appeared at Ecobuild and takes four hours to erect, because he was “horrified” at how difficult it is to find land to build affordable homes.

“It seemed to me that land was the most expensive commodity and also the hardest to find and get hold of,” he says.

“If you look at pretty well any of our big cities, you will see huge areas of blacktop used for parking. It occurred to me that if we could come up with a system where you could just park your home above the existing use, then we could probably get quite a few windfall plots.

Dunster estimates that at a ratio of one home for every five parking spaces, ZEDpod could provide 200,000 to 250,000 homes from the UK’s 1.2m public parking spaces, without releasing any land designated for housing.

Also entering the market is iKozie.

The first iKozie home was craned into place in the back garden of a house in Worcester last year for homeless

charity The Homeless Foundation, as “move-on” accommodation helping the homeless transition from hostels into independent living.

Director of iKozie Kieran O’Donnell is a trustee of the charity but hopes that his firm can commercialise the concept.

The iKozie measures a cosy 17.25 sq m but still manages to fit in a bedroom, shower room, living area and kitchen, including a washing machine.

“The original concept came from the frustration of having to try and find homes for people, particularly for single occupancy and all that is available are really horrible bedsits or one-bedroom flats,” he says.

O’Donnell, who runs a development company that builds to rent, claims that there’s a diminishing return on the rental income of a property at anything above 37 sq m (400 sq ft) and that a single person needs no more space than that.

“A really badly designed 400 sq ft unit doesn’t provide a better quality of life than a very well designed 200 sq ft [18.5 sq m] unit,” he argues.

Fortunately for O’Donnell, the city council in Worcester hasn’t applied the nationally described space standards, allowing further potential development of his solution, which is made from a modular steel frame and insulation panels with cladding on top, meeting all building regulations and

Mitcham in south London.

Each 28 sq m unit cost around £50,000 built and fitted on site. Another scheme, which includes a nursery and community facility, is due in south-west London soon.

Pocket Living: Builds small, affordable homes, for sale in the capital at around 20% below the typical market rate. In 2013 it won a £21.7m, 10‑year loan from the mayor of London to build 400 homes by 2016. Recently completed projects include 53 one‑bedroom, 38 sq m homes in Mapleton Crescent, Wandsworth (pictured), designed by Metropolitan Workshop.

The mayor last year invested £25m in Pocket Living to start on at least 1,059 new homes by March 2021, with a third expected to be built off site.

Y:Cube: YMCA’s Y:Cube modular home programme was designed in partnership with Rogers Stirk Harbour & Partners. The first Y:Cube site opened in 2015 in

Uncle: Rental apartment brand Uncle, backed by Canadian property firm Realstar, specialises in studio and one-bedroom apartments in London and Manchester. Studios in its Stockwell development range from 19 sq m to 23 sq m, although in Manchester a typical one-bed is 42.4 sq m and in Elephant & Castle it’s 53 sq m.

U+I: Developer U+I has produced a prototype called Town Flats, which aims to allow middleincome renters the chance to live in central London (zones 1 and 2). The rental-only properties are between 19 sq m and 24 sq m with varying floorto-ceiling heights to achieve usable volumes of space. U+I claims the concept will ease the pressure on transport systems, while nurturing heart-of-the-city communities.

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Are microapartments under threat in London?

Post Grenfell, space standards are again in the spotlight

“There are various things we are trying to address with Kiss House. One of them is quality.

There are so many complaints about quality of housing” Adrian James, Kiss House

achieving an A-rated Energy Performance Certificate (EPC).

The business has applied for planning permission for another small development of 30 units, which he hopes will be the first of many.

Meanwhile, Kiss House, which provides modular homes made of cross-laminated timber (CLT), offers a larger solution, starting at 70 sq m for a two-storey, two-bedroom building.

Ordering one of its Passivhaus flat packs will be akin to ordering a car, says director Adrian James, the architect who devised the award-winning concept as a one-off panelised home for a project in a village in Oxfordshire.

He explains how he and fellow director Mike Jacobs shared the frustration that with every house they built they “basically had to reinvent the wheel”.

The firm has not yet built one of its modular homes and is still looking for the right fabricator for its fully modular solution, but it has orders for several over the next 12 months.

“There are various different things that we are trying to address with Kiss House,” says James, whose homes cost around £2,000 per sq m. “One of them is quality. There are so many complaints about quality of housing. Another is Passivhaus. We absolutely must be as sustainable as possible but in a way that is more about high performance

The iKozie fits living, sleeping and kitchen space into 17.25 sq m

comfort levels. And speed of construction matters hugely too.”

All three businesses admit the industry is still very much in its infancy and barriers still exist. “Every now and then another politician pops up and says: ‘We have got to solve the housing situation – we are looking at different technologies’,” says James.

“The technology is entirely secondary. It is much more to do with politics. It is about planning legislation and land ownership. That is the sticking point.”

But he concedes that powers given to local authorities to establish development companies (in part as a result of the 2011 Localism Act) have helped.

Meanwhile, O’Donnell is concerned that mortgage lenders are still sceptical of smaller, pre-fabricated homes.

“High street mortgage lenders don’t like modular build and they tend not to lend on anything under 300 sq ft [28 sq m],” he points out.

Dunster thinks that the housing white paper has gone some way to helping, by implying that the government may consider reducing space standards (see box) and building over car parks.

He is also optimistic about the welcome focus on build quality. “The quality agenda is coming,” he says.

“The industry now needs to almost reinvent itself.” ●

The last few years have seen the emergence, mainly in London, of “micro-apartments’ which have been designed as small as 26 sq m, rather than the 37 sq m minimum required by The Greater London Authority’s (GLA) Supplementary Planning Guidance, thanks to special dispensations. But could such microscopic dwellings soon be consigned to the history books?

Architect Andy von Bradsky, former chairman of PRP and now working as a full-time design and delivery adviser to the Ministry for Housing Communities and Local Government, thinks they could.

“It is very interesting that in London, the one area that the most pressure to relax space standards has been exerted, the GLA is clearly coming down against it,” von Bradsky says.

The market for micro-apartments has, in his estimation, “moved backwards”. While the government’s white paper on housing suggested a more flexible approach to space standards, von Bradsky has seen little evidence of it happening.

“I think, post Grenfell, anything that might be a direction towards lower standards is not likely to get much traction at the moment,” he says.

That doesn’t mean that such homes won’t be built though, because permitted development rights allow office-to-resi conversions with no planning scrutiny, with areas from 18 sq m through to 25 sq m for a single unit, von Bradsky points out.

A spokesperson for the mayor of London said: “There is no doubt that significantly more homes must be delivered if we are going to meet Londoners’ housing needs.

However, Sadiq [Khan] believes that strong space standards are one of the most effective tools we have to ensure that new homes are of good quality, fit for purpose and meet the needs of residents now and in the future.”

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I n s u lat io n

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INSIGHT• ONSITE JUNE 2018 | CONSTRUCTION MANAGER

3 2 5

Design for dementia house: ground floor 1. Open plan living area 2. Downstairs bathroom (clearly visible from living area) 3. Option of downstairs bedroom 4. Extra windows for added natural light 5. Lift

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Open-plan layouts, glass doors on cupboards, contrasting colours – some of the design ideas trialled in a new “demonstration house” for dementia sufferers, which opens later this month.

There are over 850,000 dementia sufferers in the UK, and it affects one in six people over the age of 80. State care costs £40,000 per person on average.

In an ageing population, this terminal condition will become an increasing strain on the NHS and society as a whole.

Keeping people in their homes The £300,000 pilot project at the BRE Innovation Park near Watford involves refurbishing an existing house and partners include architect Halsall Lloyd and Loughborough University.

“There is clinical evidence that the dementia process can be slowed down if sufferers stay in their own homes, whereas the condition is likely to accelerate if they are moved,” explains David Kelly, BRE group director. “So if this design template proves successful, it will be beneficial for dementia sufferers, their families and the National Health Service. Everyone wins.”

The terraced house being refurbished by local fitout contractor Bracey & Clark is an old stable block. “We opted for a refurbishment rather than a new build as the whole idea is to keep people in their existing homes,” says Kelly.

The house is designed around a couple dubbed “Chris and Sally”. “It is based on a series of dementia personas, created by healthcare ergonomics specialist Sue Hignett, which run from A to D according to severity, where persona A – Alison – has the initial signs, and D – David – is the most severely affected,” explains Jacqui Glass, professor in architecture and sustainable construction at Loughborough University.

CAN YOU DESIGN A HOME THAT DELAYS THE ONSET OF DEMENTIA? THAT’S THE AIM OF A NEW HOUSING PILOT. WILL MANN EXPLAINS

the bathroom from a sitting position in the lounge. It stops people getting disorientated.”

In the decor, there is method in the colours and their intensity. “Light reflectance value is very important,” Halsall explains. A black doormat, for example, could be perceived as a hole.

Dark fittings could become trip hazards.

“The light reflective values of each of the interior fittings have been calculated so that a dementia sufferer can see a clear difference between them. The walls and floors and doors all have different values, as do kitchen units and worktops.

The curtains have a different colour to the leading edge so people don’t get confused when trying to draw them.”

“The idea is to show how the house can be adapted for all stages of dementia,” she says. “So symptoms in the A persona are likely to be mental function – people feeling confused, forgetting where things are, so interventions will be subtle design changes.

At the other extreme, for the D persona, the house has been adapted for people with serious mobility issues, so the floors are smooth for wheelchair use and there is space for a lift.”

The principles from Design for Dementia, a book researched by Bill Halsall, partner at Halsall Lloyd, and Rob MacDonald from Liverpool John Moores University, have informed the approach to Chris and Sally’s home.

“The biggest physical interventions are the creation of an open-plan downstairs area, the addition of a ground floor toilet and shower, and the lift,” says Halsall. “The open-plan layout helps give visibility of, for instance,

Colour-coded wayfinding The design resists the temptation of garish institutional colours. “Sadly, for the ageing eye, colour fades to grey – it loses the blue and green end of the spectrum before the red and orange end,” says Halsall. “However, we don’t want people to feel like they’re living in a care home – they wouldn’t have an orange front door in their own home.

So the Chris and Sally house will be mostly pastel colours.”

Cupboard doors are glass-fronted – an aide-memoire for what’s inside them – and there is plenty of natural light and colour-coded “wayfinding”. There are simplified services controls and, longer term, smart home technology – a neighbouring BRE project – could be incorporated, says Kelly.

“The house will act as a show home and allow developers, care providers and families to see options for adapting homes to help people with dementia,” he adds. “Eventually we would like the design principles to be incorporated into standards for new-build housing.” ●

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DESIGNING FOR DEMENTIA

“The light reflective values of the interior fittings have been calculated so a dementia sufferer can see a clear difference between them” Bill Halsall, Halsall Lloyd

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The UK's best read digital construction resource.

Exclusive news, views, interviews, debate and case studies on all the latest digital technologies from 3D printing and robotics to off-site manufacturing and virtual reality.

How digital technologies are creating efficiencies and productivity for firms across the supply chain from designers to contractors and product manufacturers.

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Project stories and case studies to guide you through BIM adoption.

www.bimplus.co.uk

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21/05/2018 16:19

INSIGHT• ONSITE/HOUSING JUNE 2018 | CONSTRUCTION MANAGER

2,000

Around 2,000 bricks recycled from the demolition phase will be used as part of the larger housing block

The facade of the former museum (top right) has been retained as part of the development (below right). The town house gable ends (left) have been formed using structural steel

SAVING FACE IN ST ALBANS A RETAINED VICTORIAN FACADE ON A ST ALBANS HOUSING DEVELOPMENT REQUIRED AN ELABORATE SYSTEM OF TEMPORARY WORKS FROM MAIN CONTRACTOR MORGAN SINDALL. WILL MANN REPORTS

Local authorities are building houses again. And when land values are as high as they are in St Albans, it’s not hard to see why. The local council is redeveloping the site of the former Museum of St Albans (MOSTA) into 10 town houses and, given that comparable p ro p e r t i e s i n t h e s u r ro u n d i n g conservation area go for north of £1m, it stands to make a tidy return.

This is St Albans City & District Council’s first residential development since the coalition government’s 2012 housing reforms relaxed the rules on what local authorities could borrow and spend. The council appointed Morgan Sindall as main contractor, through the Pagabo framework, for the two-stage contract. Architect Mark Bell was novated to the contractor for the second stage.

Elaborate temporary works It is a tricky job technically. The centrepiece of the scheme is the Victorian facade from the old museum, which had to be retained as a planning condition.

This meant an elaborate system of temporary works had to be designed and erected during the seven-week first stage, which began in May 2017. An additional challenge during this stage was bringing the project within the council’s £5m budget, which Morgan Sindall achieved largely by resequencing the works to take four weeks off the programme.

The site is tight, facing on to Hatfield Road to the south, and extends back 50m but is only 16m across at its widest point.

The retained facade runs for 62m around three elevations, forming a square bracket shape, with gables at either end.

The longest elevation faces east, where the development is separated from a school by a narrow public right-of-way.

“It is like working on an inner-city London site, with little room for storage,

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CONSTRUCTION MANAGER | JUNE 2018 INSIGHT• ONSITE/HOUSING

Client St Albans City & District Council Main contractor Morgan Sindall Architect Mark Bell Architects

Structural and civil engineer PEP Scaffold and facade retention Reunited Scaffolding

so we’ve had to organise the deliveries on a JIT [just-in-time] basis,” says Paul Barrett, Morgan Sindall’s project manager for the MOSTA scheme.

The limited footprint was a factor in the design of the temporary works structure. “The concept was created by Morgan Sindall’s in-house temporary works business and designed and assembled by scaffolding contractor Reunited,” says Barrett.

With space restricted, the 21m-high tube-and-fittings scaffold structure was ballasted with concrete kentledge blocks, buried to a depth of up to 2m. Some 15 cu m of concrete was used for the kentledges, which are set out around the exterior of the retained facade. Steel shear beams support the scaffolding structure, which is fixed with 15mm diameter rods, drilled into the facade, and timber boards set flat against the walls.

“The buttress design for the scaffold was our only option as we needed to keep the temporary works within the footprint of the site, and we couldn’t put any support inside the retained facade as we were starting work on the foundations for the new homes,” explains Barrett. “It also had to be constructed from tube-and-fittings because of the flexibility this offers.”

The first stage also included enabling works, including asbestos strip, demolition of the original museum plus a bungalow to the rear of the site, and groundworks. Exhibits, fixtures and fittings were taken by the council to the museum’s new home in the town hall.

“One unusual feature of the first stage was the discovery of a time capsule, which dated from the original museum building’s construction,” says Barrett. “It included a copy of the Herts Advertiser and St Albans Times published on 16 July 1898 and a Victorian halfpenny.”

Demolition and asbestos removal Red Hammer Masonry and facade repairs Flahive Brickwork

Structural timber Crendon Structural steel Tubular Erectors

Five town houses have to be built inside the retained facade, another immediately outside its northerly gable end, with the remaining units forming a block of four at the rear of the development, at a right angle to the original building. The house on the northern end of the main block sits outside the gable end, which becomes an internal party wall. “This was tricky to engineer as the new build relies structurally on the retained wall,” he says.

The new-build blocks use traditional strip foundations with a brickwork sub structure then a beam and block ground floor. The floors are timber supported with Posi-Joists, with underfloor heating.

The 21m-high housing blocks have a cross-gable vaulted roof design, to replicate the original museum building. The roof structure includes both trusses and cut timber, plus 13 tonnes of structural steel for the gable ends and the longest roof spans which run to 5m.

“The steelwork provides extra structural stability with the steel gable ends almost acting as a lintel,” explains Barrett.

An additional consideration for the temporary works was the support it needed to provide for the permanent structure of the main block during construction, and this dictated the sequencing. “The scaffold structure had to be designed to support the steelwork in the roof,” says Barrett. “Initially we

Programme (stage two) 67 weeks (completes summer 2018) Value £4.8m

The temporary works structure was ballasted by concrete kentledge blocks, buried up to 2m in the ground

built up the brickwork, then installed the scaffold crash deck. Then we erected the steelwork and only after that the timber.”

The project includes repairs to the retained facade of the museum, which actually comprised two buildings joined together. A northern section, roughly the same size as the existing, was added in the 1960s using the same Victorian style but with a concrete render. “This will be stripped off, and all the brickwork repaired and repointed, by our specialist brickwork supplier Flahive,” says Barrett.

“Around 2,000 bricks recycled from the demolition phase will be used as part of the larger housing block,” he adds.

High-spec finishes In keeping with the conservation area – local heritage group Look! St Albans was influential in the scheme’s design – high specification finishes are being used throughout. New bricks have been picked to match the retained facade, and use Flemish bond and English garden wall bond, with Wienerberger Koramic Tempest tiling on the roof. Windows are bespoke timber double glazed and front doors are solid oak. Internal finishes include oak staircases, with glass or timber balustrading, plus porcelain floor tiles and engineered oak flooring.

The second stage programme runs for 67 weeks, with the scaffolding to be removed during June and July, ahead of final completion later this summer.

Interestingly, St Albans council is using Local Authority Building Control for the project, rather than NHBC, in another sign of a culture shift in housing development. The council is planning a major redevelopment of the St Albans Civic Centre site, and after completing two land acquisitions in the area, is likely to manage the development project itself rather than use a private developer. ● 27

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22/05/2018 15:13

INSIGHT• ONSITE JUNE 2018 | CONSTRUCTION MANAGER

WHEN MACHINES TAKE CONTROL

Potter Plant Hire used 40 machine control units for its work on the Leeming to Barton motorway extension

EARTHWORKS IS GOING DIGITAL – NOW IT’S ABOUT THE DATA NOT JUST THE DIRT. THE ROAD TO FULL AUTONOMY MIGHT BE A FEW YEARS AWAY, BUT ALREADY MACHINERY ON CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS IS DELIVERING EFFICIENCY GAINS FROM USE OF DRONES, DATA AND OTHER DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY. NICK DREW REPORTS 28

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22/05/2018 15:29

CONSTRUCTION MANAGER | JUNE 2018 INSIGHT• ONSITE

30%

Manufacturers say digital technology can increase productivity by at least 30%

Earthworks has always felt detached from the rest of the construction industry, as the machines and their operators are chiefly engaged at the front end of projects.

But just like the rest of the built environment sector, earthworks has been quietly undergoing its own digital revolution, which is now becoming far more integrated into the wider construction industry, as technology starts to support greater levels of understanding and decision-making.

Recent advances in digital technology used with construction machinery are offering significant productivity improvements. Equipment manufacturers such as Komatsu and Caterpillar are leading the way in machine control technology – where 3D terrain models and global positioning system (GPS) tracking are used to position and guide earthmoving equipment – and say that at least a 30% increase in productivity is possible, sometimes much more.

Productivity potential Major contractors are also beginning to recognise this potential. Victor Snook, head of digital at Balfour Beatty Construction Services, says the move away from paper and adoption of digital technology by construction managers is opening up potential productivity improvements in the earthworks sector.

“Through the use of onsite connected technologies, using cloud-based solutions like 360 Field, we are working with our supply chain partners to digitise processes and streamline data management,” he says.

“For example, where we use site location codes now to enter digital information, in the future we will be able to use GPS location data to fill in material

Rising in the east “The digital earthworks journey is only just beginning.

The massive datasets in future will give managers real-time decision-making capabilities” Mark Taylor, BAM Construct

delivery tickets, inspection tests, adjust plans, access models and much more.

“Drone data and photography, synced to the cloud, will provide automated reports on earthworks progress.”

Balfour Beatty has already successfully employed digital technology on the earthworks phase of the 20.1km Norwich bypass scheme (see box, p31). Snook says use of data to drive similar projects in future will become more commonplace.

“With all data from connected earthmoving machines, devices and drones saved and sharable from the cloud, construction managers on earthworks projects will have a much greater understanding of what work has been done, whether they are on programme and what next steps to take,” he says.

“We know this is all going to be possible, as we are already working on selected projects where we have created data-rich models. These models are accessible from iPads and use software that can work out the required cut and fill volumes, linking to surveying data, including 3D models from photo telemetry imagery and point cloud surveys.

“With drone data reducing the cost and improving the quality and speed of surveying, we will be able to look at yesterday’s work to plan for today, tomorrow and beyond.”

At another main contractor, BAM Construct’s digital manager Mark

Komatsu’s intelligent excavator brings Japan’s ‘smart construction’ to the UK Japanese manufacturer Komatsu has been at the forefront of digital technology in the earthmoving sector, driven partly by the national government’s vision of “smart construction” – where automation plays an increasing role in the building industry to combat a predicted worker shortage.

Komatsu’s integrated machine control solution is also available in the UK. The company’s PC210LCi excavator (below) comes with automatic real-time digging control, and uses GPS receivers which combine with onboard software to show earthworks progress on the in-cab display (above).

Somerset-based groundworks contractor

Gartell & Son has been using the Komatsu PC210LCi since 2016, across all aspects of its groundworks contracts, from bulk excavation to drainage and trimming.

Director Andrew Gartell says: “There is no daily rigmarole of setting up lasers and depth receivers on the excavator and relying on our engineer to visit each site to set out prior to works being able to commence. With the LCi system we can get to site, carry out machine pre-checks on arrival, set up the base station and start work quickly.

“Another advantage of the intelligent machine control system is safety. No operatives or groundworkers are walking or working in close proximity to the excavator, as the surveying and setting out can be carried out from the safety of the office and cab.”

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22/05/2018 16:37

INSIGHT• ONSITE JUNE 2018 | CONSTRUCTION MANAGER

Drone data synced to the cloud increases efficiency and reduces the cost of earthworks surveying

Drone capabilities take flight How drones and RFID tags are changing earthworks

“Software can examine thousands of pictures and identify issues in real time” Victor Snook, Balfour Beatty Construction Services

The use of drone photography for surface modelling of site topography is becoming a key part of project planning and monitoring in the earthworks sector.

As drone capabilities become more advanced, their benefits will only increase, says Mark Christian of global drone specialist Airware: “The coming together of datasets onto a single ‘canvas’ is the next level. It will have a transformational impact on programme timings and logistics.

“In the case of earthworks, drone data will link with GPS-connected devices and RFID tagged materials.

If the project manager wants to know where the right-sized aggregate is and how much is in stock, the closest fleet to move the aggregate, and where the nearest machine is to grade it, this data canvas will provide that information.”

And it can help the supply chain, he adds: “For example, the canvas could be shared with the structural steel team so they can see the earthworks progress and site layout to help plan their production and site delivery.”

Taylor says the new technology can help de-risk earthworks projects for construction managers.

“The digital earthworks journey is only just beginning. Construction managers of the future could well have navigator as their title. This is because the massive datasets that will be available in the future, will give them real-time decision-making capabilities, to manage sites and programmes much more effectively.

“The real-time aspect of digital construction is going to be very beneficial, but equally important is the overall collection and use of information, to improve future project outcomes.”

Data collection, management and analysis will be at the heart of how digital technology will be employed in the earthworks sector, says Taylor.

Motorway speed

Highways England pilots machine control The speed of adoption of technologies like 3D machine control has accelerated thanks to projects like the 19.3km Leeming to Barton motorway extension – delivered by the A1M2 Consortium – which was the first fully 3D machinecontrolled and surveyed site, funded by Highways England.

At its height, earthworks specialist Potter Plant Hire, led by Giles Potter, had 40 machine control units in operation, from various equipment manufacturers, all supported by Trimble’s 3D machine

“If we record everything we do, we can also compare, contrast and benchmark different approaches, sharing this information with our supply chain, so everyone can learn from it,” he says.

“This will then help us make the best, most efficient decisions when it comes to earthmoving.”

He adds: “Having a clear understanding of the digital workflows on a project helps us to work more efficiently with suppliers, so we can all understand each other’s information needs properly and ultimately deliver projects more efficiently.”

At the equipment manufacturer level, Caterpillar says take-up of machine control and digital technology among earthworks hirers and contractors is steadily rising.

Mick Knight, head of infrastructure and construction projects for Caterpillar control system, supplied by Sitech. All of the information generated by the Trimble system was used by surveyors on site and linked into a BIM model.

Potter explains: “We used two Trimble ‘base stations’, to cover the whole of the project site and each day we were able to assess our progress using the model.

“This gave us forward insight to plan the arrival of equipment onto site, schedule works around harsh weather conditions and react immediately to 3D model changes. This was particularly important when it came to the accuracy of the sub-base layers of the new road – which had to be to the millimetre – as compaction levels varied across the site, requiring more material in certain areas.

“Right from the start of the project, the digital construction approach really set a benchmark. Modelling earthworks in BIM before work began helped the earthworks team identify where to excavate and place material across the site.”

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22/05/2018 15:30

CONSTRUCTION MANAGER | JUNE 2018 INSIGHT• ONSITE

Onboard data in real time

Norwich bypass uses production measurement dealer Finning UK & Ireland, says: “With the cost of technology reducing and more factory-fitted solutions available, we are now seeing the opportunity for increased scalability, with real-time solutions previously only used in mining now being applied to earthworks projects.”

Knight says the key to the successful use of data on earthworks is to compile the information from each machine into one central database, so that construction managers can access live dashboards, or automated reports.

“This can include how earthworks are progressing, by overlaying data on the surface model, the health of assets on site for maintenance planning, right down to the individual payload performance of a single machine,” he explains.

“The benef its of having this information at their fingertips is the greater connection construction managers can have to the operator community on site, as the data will measure productivity, accuracy, maintenance costs and therefore the true cost per tonne of material moved.”

Cost and carbon savings A welcome knock-on benefit should be cost savings from fuel economy and reduced maintenance, Knight says.

“Stakeholders will be able to address a whole range of cost and carbon issues, associated with activities like high levels of machine idling or waiting time and poor site haul road maintenance. These issues not only contribute to increased fuel burn, they are also responsible for increasing maintenance costs and overall machine availability.”

The next step on the digital journey for the earthworks sector is likely to be artificial intelligence.

As one of the largest road projects currently under construction, the Norwich bypass is the first of its kind to use onboard Cat advanced production measurement data, to support the earthworks management of the project.

Main contractor for the project, a 20.1km dual carriageway which runs from Attlebridge to Postwick, is Balfour Beatty. The earthworks

is being delivered by P Flannery Plant Hire, under the eye of operations manager Niall Hester.

“For this project we have a completely new and matched connected fleet with payload monitoring technology,” he says.

“This includes more productive ejector trucks and hybrid excavators, both in-cab monitors ensuring they are achieving best fill rates, which optimises fuel burn per tonne on each cycle.

Sensors on the machine body send and receive data

Balfour Beatty’s Snook envisages onboard software using data about the site to make intelligent decisions about how the machine executes earthmoving operations.

“With mobile equipment capable of using GPS and camera technologies, you could easily see machines collecting more useful site-based data,” he says. “With images from numerous devices taken across a construction

“No matter where the units are working on the project, data can be sent and received in real time. For our team on site, this data is sent via VisionLink into the Caterpillar online portal. This means that our managers and the Balfour Beatty team can login from any connected location.

“Being able to measure and calculate data, including the tonnes per load, tonnes per cycle, distance travelled per day, and how many litres of fuel a machine burns per hour, each day – we can have a clear picture of where we are in the programme.

“This has allowed us to manage the project more effectively as we know, through GPS, where the machines have been working and the amount of earth that has been moved. So each day both teams are learning more about the performance of the equipment and therefore how to optimise the management of the site.”

site, the software can examine all these thousands of pictures, and identify trends or issues in real time. What this could mean for earthworks projects is that the first level of risk analysis and reduction would be driven by the data.”

Ultimately perhaps, it raises the slightly unnerving prospect of giant earthmoving machines which are capable of learning on the job. ● 31

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INSIGHT• ONSITE JUNE 2018 | CONSTRUCTION MANAGER

PHOTOGRAPHY BY JULIE KIM

The annual BIMplus round table of experts came together to debate the ins and outs of data creation, collection and use

GETTING THE RIGHT DATA AT THE RIGHT TIME

AS WE DIGITISE THE INFORMATION PROCESS, RECEIVING THE RIGHT DATA AT THE RIGHT TIME SHOULD, IN THEORY, BE HAPPENING. BUT IS THAT THE CASE? EXPERTS DISCUSS WITH DENISE CHEVIN

Getting the right data at the right time is critical to the success of construction’s digital transformation agenda.

Collaborating with shared models that can then be used meaningfully for maintenance and asset management will only deliver much-needed efficiencies to the industry if we nail this challenge.

As the data used to create models is increasingly exported into VR and AR headsets, or micro devices, the challenge becomes ever more prescient.

It was in the context of this need that experts from across the sector met at the offices of law firm Penningtons Manches for the annual BIMplus round table to discuss data – what we need, what we’re getting, whether the industry can pull off seamless transfer of data that’s both accurate and timely? Can the treasure trove of data be stored, filed and accessed in useful format? If not why not, and what could we be doing better?

Denise Chevin: How important is data to BIM and why has it become the new buzzword in government?

David Jellings: BIM really is simple – it’s access to information you need when you need it. That information is based upon data. Data is just numbers but once structured it becomes information and means something; then when it’s applied it becomes knowledge and after experience it becomes wisdom.

We have to start creating data – if it’s not there or configured we can’t share it, and if we can’t share it we can’t use it, and if it’s changed or corruptible or inaccurate then BIM will make things worse, not better. Unless we have data veracity then BIM Level 3 will never work and BIM Level 2 can’t work.

Alex Lubbock: Data is critical to us. We are there to support the government to deliver projects better, therefore not having a line of sight in terms of operation delivery of programmes is an issue. Getting better line of sight is about having structured data available at the right time. My role is not to nail the best BIM Level 2 contract ever, it is looking at systems and process re-engineering based on quality data to inform insight to provide best value for money.

You have to understand what you are asking for. In BIM language that would be: What do I need to know to drive my organisation? What do my decision-makers need to know about the business to make leading changes, rather than looking at lagging indicators of performance?

Digital gives us that opportunity.

The public sector for social infrastructure buys the same thing many times in a bespoke way – therefore takes no efficiency in what it procures and this does not support the supply chain to align behind what we really want. We have recognised this and are working

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CONSTRUCTION MANAGER | JUNE 2018 INSIGHT• ONSITE

Alex Lubbock (centre, with Denise Chevin and Marek Suchocki): “Data is critical to us”

“Everybody understands the benefit of working this way but it’s still maturing and there is a long way to go – but we are beginning to see the benefits” Alistair Kell, BDP

on a more efficient way to engage a fragmented supply chain that is challenged on margins and own operation models.

If we can move to a more standardised approach then it gives us a huge opportunity to help the industry move forward. By moving to a manufacturing approach by 2019 in conjunction with the Construction Sector Deal and the Industrial Strategy, there are mechanisms to collaborate with industry. It's not new but now we have the digital tools and data make a market shift.

DC: Where are we now in terms of getting the right data then?

Jon Harris: Are we getting the right information and is it consistent? It depends where you sit in the project lifecycle but I will say no. It’s a mixed bag but as for digitally integrated working between different disciplines, that is still a big issue. Plus, for a Tier 1 contractor, the time given to evaluate the tender information is often not enough, sometimes the information we get is not structured and fit for purpose or isn’t at the level of definition (LOD) indicated. We have to go through a process of evaluating it, and are there some tools evolving to support this process? Kind of – but the practice of “design and dump of unstructured data” is still there.

Alistair Kell: Capturing and analysing data isn’t happening in any uniform way across any organisation yet but

Sponsored by

management policy, ask some basics so at the end of project you can populate your asset management more effectively. You don’t suddenly want to be doing COBie [Construction Operations Building Information Exchange] data validation when no one understands you and you get no value. It’s about good practice, not best practice, and moving forward in incremental steps together, leveraging standards. It starts with clients knowing what they need from the supply chain and specifying up front.

The really important part is realising we are all clients: if you’re representing an infrastructure client they might have an Employers Information Requirement (EIR) but that would go to Mace to deliver it, but they are also a client to their supply chain, so they must specify their needs.

It’s a cascade and if you break that at any point that’s when we don’t have

everything is still changing and in an early stage. We are talking as if it’s fully developed, as if all the information is standard and as if appointments are clearly understood with deliverables, but it’s still far too immature.

That’s not a negative view – BIM 2 is a stepping stone to improving everything and we are still on that journey.

Everybody understands the benefit of working this way but it’s still maturing and there is a long way to go – but we are beginning to see benefits. Let’s keep the faith and have evangelists.

Marek Suchocki: You have to understand where you are as an organisation and get some understanding on how you can participate in the process. Shooting for the moon isn’t going to happen at all.

Where can you get benefits if you’re a client? If you’re a client and currently have no relationship to your asset THE PANEL

Alex Lubbock Head of digital construction at IPA, the government’s Infrastructure and Projects Authority

Alistair Kell Principal at BDP and head of information technology and process

David Jellings Managing director, BIM Object

Eddie Tuttle Associate director, policy, research and public affairs, CIOB

Edonis Jesus BIM leader at Lendlease and chair of BIM4Heritage

Francis Ho Construction lawyer, Penningtons Manches

Jon Harris Director of BIM, Mace

Richard Bates Associate and BIM manager, Alinea Consulting

Riz Cader Consultant, Rider Levett Bucknall

Marek Suchocki EMEA sales development executive, Autodesk 33

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Edonis Jesus: “Where is the key data for someone who is going to be maintaining this heritage building?”

the data. But if you want perfection no one will deliver that. Ask for simple stuff up front and keep it simple through the process and we will get somewhere.

DC: Is putting data requirements in a contract the answer?

MS: As usual the dysfunctional procurement routes that pervade the industry and see the wrong parties only brought in when it’ s too late was flagged as a major problem in terms of generating the right data in formats that would be useful further down the line. Perhaps writing data requirements in the contract could help.

AK: We are talking as if BIM Level 2 is a thing in itself – it’s not. It’s many different things to many different people with many different tasks across whole life of building. But if I don’t know what you want to make of the data, I will work the way I work in a standard way and it won’t be immediately valuable.

Jon Harris (left, with Riz Cader): “Sometimes the information we get is not fit for purpose”

It’s that joined-up approach with the Asset Information Requirements and Employers Information Requirements.

But contractual aspects are holding us back: the industry doesn’t understand what it should be briefing for and how contracts should be shaped so that BIM is embedded not an appendix.

Francis Ho: There are different markets though. The major clients can take a world view of projects. The ultimate cost of the facility is in the lifecycle – operations and maintenance and they then have what outputs they need from construction from which they create what they need to get from BIM. But most contracts aren’t put together that way. Two-stage tendering is perfect for contractors who get involved early in design, get involved in the BIM model and can bring their key suppliers into the BIM model. But how can you do that if you’re getting it for the first time with only six weeks to look at it? When you’re also looking at IRs, looking at contractual terms and pricing? There’s a huge amount to do.

Contracts in an ideal world are put in place as soon as possible but that’s not how things happen. Contracts are done at a quite late stage when the design is already done. And how do we get mid-size developers to invest in this?

It’s difficult. Do they really care about asset management? The public sector does, but not private.

DJ: Contracts have to support the process – standards have to address the problems. The way I look at the data conundrum is that we know what the end game should be, but there has to be a clear understanding in the industry of the benefit of doing that – it’s only the recognition of the importance and benefit of data that will drive the culture change.

“We know what the end game should be, but there has to be a clear understanding in the industry of the benefit of doing that” David Jellings, BIM Object

DC: What are the best ways of delivering data for FM? Edonis Jesus: Defining data needs a lot of work. We mostly use COBie data so that gives us good guidance in terms of data requirements but not focused on operations and maintenance.

BIM4Heritage is trying to define where is the data that will actually inform later the maintenance and repair, the health and safety – where is the key data for someone who is going to be maintaining this heritage building?

Riz Cader: When BIM was coming into play we looked and asked what information we need to run the building.

You design and build it for five years but you operate it for 60 years. We quickly decided COBie wasn’t the right route for us and in 12 years I’ve never used it.

We went to CAFM [computer-aided facilities management] and used that data to fill in employer’s requirements so at completion the BIM file produced probably 80% of what was required.

And so we always "start with the end in mind” by going to the client and asking what information they need to run the building.

Some clients have full CAFM system and some have an Access database, and so we tailor the information we require from the contractor and designer based on what the client wants. Asking for everything isn’t always of value for the client.

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IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE CR-2017-009254 BUSINESS AND PROPERTY COURTS OF ENGLAND AND WALES COMPANIES COURT (ChD) IN THE MATTER OF AXA INSURANCE UK PLC AND RIVERSTONE INSURANCE (UK) LIMITED AND IN THE MATTER OF THE FINANCIAL AND MARKETS ACT 2000 We’re hereSERVICES and supporting CIOB NOTICE members and their families in need…

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that, on 17 April 2018, AXA Insurance UK plc (the (“Transferor”) and Help and (the support formade members facing RiverStone Insurance (UK) Limited “Transferee”) an application (the “Application”) to the High Court of Justice, Business anddifficulties Property Courts at of England work and Wales, Chancery Division of the Companies Court in London (the “Court”) pursuant to section 107(1) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 amended)and (“FSMA”) for an Order: Advice on(ashealth welfare, accidents and injuries (1) under section 111 of FSMA sanctioning an insurance business transfer scheme for the transfer facing and insurance policies of a portfolio of when public liability and financial employers’ liability to the TransfereeAssistance written by the Transferor (see footnote) on orpressures before 31 December 2001 (the “Transferring household Business”) carried on by the Transferor (the “Scheme”); and Guidance support with 112 and 112A (2) making ancillary provision inand connection with thewhen Schemedealing pursuant to section of FSMA. personal debts A copy of a report on the terms of the Scheme prepared in accordance with section 109 of FSMA, assistance for members andhas been approved by an Independent Financial Expert, Mr Philip Tippin of KPMG LLP, whose appointment by the Prudential Regulation Authority, (the “Scheme Report”), a statement setting out the terms of their families facing hardship the Scheme and containing a summary of the Scheme Report, and the full Scheme document are availableHelp free of with chargecosts at http://www.axa.co.uk/help-and-advice/business/insurance-transfer/. of short-term, skills based training Supporting documents and any further news about the Scheme will be posted on this website so you may wishVisiting to check formembers updates. You can requestto freehelp copies and of any advise of these documents by atalso home writing to or telephoning the Transferor using the contact details below.

Helping with housing, employment, The Application is due to be heard on 14 September 2018 by a Judge of the Chancery Division of Building, Fetter Lane, London EC4A 1NL, United the Companies Court of thedisability High Court at The Rolls and other concerns Kingdom. If approved by the Court, it is currently proposed that the Scheme will take effect on 1 October 2018. members...

Any person who claims that he orSupporting she may be adversely affected by the carrying out of the Scheme has a right to attend the hearing and express their views either in person or by a legal A member overseas with a young family and recently made representative. redundant faced anxiety hardship. offered affectedThe by theFund Scheme but doesadvice not intend to adversely Any person who claims that they may beand attendand the hearing maysupport make representations about theemployment Scheme by telephone in writing… to the financial until alternative was or secured solicitors named below or the Transferor using the contact details set out below.

“I would like totothank you mobilizing financial support from Any person who intends appear at the for hearing or make representations by telephone or inthe writing Benevolent Fund andto your in communication. andsincere preferably at is requested (but is not obliged) notify response his or her objections as soon as possibleMy least five days before the hearing of the Application on 14 September 2018 to the solicitors named thanks for the way you have worked with me in keeping below or to the Transferor using the contact details set out below. a dignified approach to my circumstances. I will always If the Scheme is sanctioned by the Court, it will result in the transfer to the Transferee of all the appreciate theliabilities support shown the Benevolent Fund “. that a contracts, property, assets and relating to theby Transferring Business; notwithstanding wouldFund otherwise beapproached entitled to terminate, acquire or claim an to interest or right or to person The was by amodify, member struggling manage treat an interest or right as terminated or modified in respect thereof. Any such right will only be his finances for makes very provision young children. enforceable to the extent thewhile Ordercaring of the Court to that effect.We were able to advise and support this member towards achieving 29 May 2018

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The helpline will be open from 9.00 a.m. to 5.00 p.m. on Monday to Friday UK time “I cannot be more appreciative to how the CIOB Ben fund(excluding has bank holidays). been towards my family.

Those three payments have gone a long Postal address: The Company Secretary, AXA Insurance UK plc, 5 Old Broad Street, London, wayUnited Kingdom easing enormous pressure on me and my kids in the last EC2N 1AD, few months. As l continue to make serious decisions about my Email: partvii.UK@axa-uk.co.uk

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Note: The Transferring Business comprises business carried on by the Transferor under previous names: Provincial Insurance Company UAP Provincial Insurance Plc; AXA Provincial available via Limited; our dedicated webpage: Insurance Plc; and business assumed by the Transferor from Orion Personal Insurances Limited; The www.ciob.org/about/ciob-benevolent-fund State Assurance Company Limited; Guardian Assurance plc; AXA General Insurance Limited (under Company Limited, GRE (UK) Limited and Guardian Insurance former names United British Insurance Contact: Frank MacDonald 01344-630780 Limited); Guardian Eastern Insurance Company Limited; The Royal Exchange Assurance; Caledonian fmacdonald@ciob.org.uk Insurance Company Limited; British Equitable Assurance Company Limited; Atlas Assurance Company Limited; AXA Insurance Company Limited (under former names Hodge General and Mercantile Insurance Company Limited and Westgate Insurance Company Limited); The Dominion Insurance Company Limited; Essex and Suffolk Insurance Company Limited; The Motor Union Insurance Company Limited; British Equitable Assurance Company Limited; Legal and General Registered Charity 1013292 | Registered Company 2733932 Insurance Limited; and Guardian Royal Exchange Assurance plc.

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INSIGHT• ONSITE JUNE 2018 | CONSTRUCTION MANAGER

7

Richard Bates, Alinea

6

Jon Harris, Mace

6

Riz Cader, Rider Levett Bucknall

6

Alistair Kell, BDP

7

Edonis Jesus, Lendlease

4

4

David Jellings, Alex Lubbock, BIM Object IPA

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Marek Suchocki, Autodesk

4

Eddie Tuttle, CIOB

6

Francis Ho, Penningtons Manches

Are we getting the right data at the right time? The panel deliver marks out of 10 DC: Does better data mean better quality?

RC: With the issue of poor quality very much on construction’s agenda, the topic turned to the role digitisation should play – if only we could get the data right.

MS: If you can define what you need then you can check you got what you asked for. If I need a weatherproof membrane in a bathroom facilitated by tiles and I want it to be consistent across the estate – how you realise that doesn’t matter, as long as you have performance requirements you can check it.

AL: If the data is accurate then increasingly that standard repeatable process will mean you get a better quality product. But we are talking about empirical analysis of stuff. You can talk about processes and improving quality of manufactured production but at some point there still has to be a response that is emotional.

Eddie Tuttle: If you’re buying a car you get a quality product at the end of the day, but is that the case buying a house? We have huge issues with the business model – we have a supply chain which is barely at BIM Level 1 and it’s really conceited to think we are further ahead than that. A client or government should be driving it further.

DC: Looking to “tomorrow’s data” – are we building the right foundations for the future?

“Key things like data capture and data management need explaining to clients. If you start collecting data today, in 10 years’ time you won’t have to pay for it again” Edonis Jesus, Lendlease

FH: What do we do in the future? These assets are in use for decades so should we be thinking about capturing more data on the basis that in future we will have tools to identify it. Technology firms are capturing all the data they can.

Are we limiting ourselves?

EJ: We need to think longer term. We have tech like AI capturing data, the smart building approach, even the smart city.

AL: The smartphone can tell me when the next bus passes by, if it’s on time, how long it would take me to walk or should I jump in a taxi. Google Maps understands traffic flow and it can predict traffic jams at different times of day – that’s all going to be in this space. That’s connected data and valuable. And buildings will move towards that inevitably.

Richard Bates: The idea of collecting more stuff for what we may or may not be able to do with it in future is important: if we collect it now we can figure out later what to do with it. But if we haven’t got that consistency and that data to start with how we know we can trust it, we don’t know it will ever be useful. Or maybe computers can figure it out in future?

EJ: These issues come down to poor education and the need to explain the bigger picture to people. For example, the aim of the government implementing digital technologies is to improve productivity in construction so the bottom line is increased by 1% then wages go up – it’s actually explaining the policy in context of industry and economy.

Most of my time is spent trying to explain to clients the bigger picture of the benefits of BIM implementation for them. Key things like data capture and data management need explaining to them. If you start collecting data today, in 10 years’ time you won’t have to pay for it again. A survey you pay for today you will need again in five years’

BDP’s Alistair Kell: “The generation that was born with technology is coming into our industry with a different mindset”

time if you haven’t recorded that info somewhere – try to make them think in longer term. It might even be 100 years’ timeframe – capital expenditure is 50% and operational is 80 so how to use that data to create efficiencies.

Not just clients need this education – most of the industry needs to understand the implications. Then they can see it will help them exchange with others and improve their own performance and contribute to other people’s performance.

AK: The generation that understands and was born with technology is coming into our industry with a different mindset and provided we can keep them positive and not go into contractual niceties then actually there’s something potentially quite exciting on the horizon.

AL: We must stop focusing on a narrow pool of talent and start branding construction as the exciting industry it is – the talent is out there. ●

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EXPERTS JUNE 2018 | CONSTRUCTION MANAGER

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Experts KEEPING YOU IN THE KNOW ON LEGAL, TECHNICAL AND PROFESSIONAL ISSUES

40 42 44 58

Emily Murray Bircham Dyson Bell

Housing

Planning permissions rise – but will housing supply?

A RECORD NUMBER OF PLANNING PERMISSIONS IN 2017 OUGHT TO SIGNAL A RISE IN NEW HOME COMPLETIONS. BUT OTHER ISSUES, SUCH AS HELP TO BUY AND DEVELOPER LAND BANKING, CLOUD THE PICTURE. EMILY MURRAY EXPLAINS

The latest data from the Home Builders Federation (HBF) reports that planning permissions were granted for over 350,000 new homes in England in 2017 – the highest number since it began reporting in 2006, and a 21% increase on the previous year.

Meanwhile, the latest government figures for new-build housing, released last November, show that 217,000 new homes were delivered between April 2016 and March 2017 – an increase in supply of 74% over the past four years.

So, do these two sets of positive data indicate that housing supply – which has become an increasingly central policy issue – is heading in an upward direction, and that the government will achieve its target of delivering one million new homes by the end of this parliament?

The HBF has been keen to partially credit changes to the planning regime for the increase in the number of permissions granted. The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), published in 2012,

INVOLVING RESIDENTS IN REFURB MANAGING RISK CLAUSES NEC CONTRACT DISPUTE TRAINING AND RECRUITMENT aimed to simplify regulations, streamline the planning process, and ultimately increase the supply of new homes. In particular, the NPPF includes a “presumption in favour of sustainable development” – which is considered beneficial to developers because it shifts responsibility onto the local planning authority to demonstrate that a proposed development is inappropriate.

However, while the rise in permissions granted could be linked to the planning regime changes, other factors have also no doubt contributed, including the improvement in the economy since 2012 and the Help to Buy scheme introduced in 2013.

In any case, increasing planning permissions may not automatically lead to a rise in housing supply. A criticism levelled at housebuilders is that despite successfully securing planning permissions, they are not building out sufficiently quickly, or at all, and instead are “land banking” – sitting back and watching the value of the land grow until such time as it can be built on more profitably, sold on at an inflated price, or simply sat on as an asset.

The HBF has refuted the allegations, and has said it awaits the results of the Independent Review of Build Out, led by Sir Oliver Letwin MP. He is due to issue his report before the autumn Budget.

Housebuilders hope Letwin’s report will show that delays in building out plots are mainly due to planning permissions not yet being implementable – because they are outline permissions, or because building is held up awaiting local authority discharge

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CONSTRUCTION MANAGER | JUNE 2018 EXPERTS

Planning for the home of tomorrow Green technology such as mini turbines and electric car charging points are starting to appear on homes around the country – but how are they affected by planning legislation? Salvatore Amico explains

“Should the review support the allegation of land banking, then the government will likely introduce measures to counter this” of planning conditions. Should this be the case, the housebuilding lobby will likely renew its calls on the government to implement measures, including a revised NPPF, which reduce the time between outline permission being granted and build out starting.

Conversely, should the review support the allegation of land banking, then the government will likely introduce measures to counter this. There has been rhetoric to that effect already from prime minister Theresa May, who said in March: “I want to see planning permissions going to people who are actually going to build houses, not just sit on land and watch its value rise.” She suggested local authorities should be able to blacklist developers with a poor history of not building promptly.

Letwin’s report will be anticipated by both sides of the debate with keen interest, and should ensure housing supply remains a hot political topic for the rest of this year.

Emily Murray is an associate at Bircham Dyson Bell.

Residential units approved in England Planning permissions, 2011-2017 0 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

100,000

200,000

300,000

176,209 195,300 217,488 239,310 260,778

2016 2017

293,127 351,169

Whether mini wind turbines or electric car charging points, our homes are changing as new technology emerges – but how is this affected by planning law?

Features such as solar panels and turbines are permitted development and do not require planning permission from the local authority.

However, there are limitations and conditions that must be observed. With panels, one condition is that the “equipment on a building should be sited, so far as is practicable, to minimise the effect on the external appearance of the building and the amenity of the area”.

The installation must also “not exceed above the highest part of the roof (excluding the chimney) and should project no more than 200mm from the roof slope or wall surface”.

Turbines have similar conditions. They can only be

fitted to a detached house and must comply with Microgeneration Certification Scheme Planning Standards (MCS 020) or equivalent. Also, while the first turbine installed would be permitted development, any more at the same property would require an application for planning permission.

The next big renewables developments will be energy storage. Tesla already offers batteries for storing solar and wind energy for use at peak times. These facilities have no defined section in planning legislation so they are being treated by local authorities as “sui generis” – literally meaning “of its own kind”. In planning terms, this means permission would be required for battery storage facilities.

However, it’s likely that scaled-down batteries which are incorporated into a home

will be included as permitted development, as with solar panels and turbines.

Meanwhile, the growth in electric cars – forecast to be one-third of new vehicles sold by 2025 – means every home will need its own charging point. Currently, these only require planning permission when over 1.6m in height for ground-mounted units, or more than 0.2 cu m in volume for wall-mounted units.

Permission may also be required if the points are fitted near a highway or listed building, otherwise they will typically fall under permitted development.

Broadly, planning legislation is still behind the pace of technology – leaving plenty to think about when planning the home of the tomorrow.

Salvatore Amico is head of town and country planning at Attwaters Jameson Hill.

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EXPERTS JUNE 2018 | CONSTRUCTION MANAGER

Assad Maqbool Trowers & Hamlins

The Housing Forum recently published an advisory note, Best Practice Refurbishment Procurement and Delivery, which recommended new approaches to how residential refurbishment programmes should be initiated, procured and delivered. It was also submitted to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.

Perhaps surprisingly, the central theme of the advisory note is the importance of full and proper stakeholder engagement.

The advisory note, which stemmed from a round table attended by industry experts and government officials, recommends that residents are involved throughout the inception and delivery of schemes, to ensure that projects and objectives are properly prioritised, and to provide oversight to the decision-making.

If it is recognised that resident engagement is of key importance, the next step is to acknowledge and budget for a cost to the project to ensure that such engagement is valuable.

Large housing owners and landlords may have resident liaison officers whose knowledge of estates can provide useful insight from residents on priorities and literally unlock doors – avoiding “failed entries”, where a contractor has priced for refurbishment work on a property, but is unable to get access then puts in a claim for costs for time and resources wasted.

Appointing a resident’s friend Of course, tapping into this insight might not be possible unless residents are given the benefit of professional advice when projects are assessed. It is therefore recommended by the advisory note that client bodies appoint an independent “resident’s friend” to assist in the process of resident consultation.

The advisory note specifically recognises that there is a risk to successful project outcomes that is posed by homeowners.

Leaseholders who are absentee landlords or bought under right-to-buy schemes but are “asset rich and cash poor” will likely resist the cost of improvements and place pressure on

Legal

Should refurbs have residents at their heart?

A NEW HOUSING FORUM STUDY SAYS RESIDENTS SHOULD BE MORE INVOLVED IN ESTATE REFURBISHMENT. ASSAD MAQBOOL EXPLAINS

“Encouragement should be given to wider informal consultation with residents that might improve outcomes” landlords to carry out the minimum amount of work, to the minimum legal standards, for the lowest cost.

The statutory consultation requirements for landlords to recover costs by way of variable service charges – commonly called a Section 20 consultation, from section 20 of the 1985 Landlord and Tenant Act – contain the checks and balances to ensure that landlords do not abuse their power by instigating works that are unnecessary or do not provide value for money.

Section 20 consultations have some notoriety for preventing landlords from recovering costs that were properly incurred, because of a lack of adherence to the strictly stated consultation processes set out in the relevant regulations – in England, the Service Charges (Consultation Requirements) Regulations 2003. However, more recent case law has given some leeway to recover service charges for the cost of works where any failure to comply with the strict requirements of the regulations does not prejudice the interests of leaseholders.

The principles entrenched in the regulations remain that service charges must be based on the agreement to pay, as set out in the relevant lease, must be reasonable and value for money, that landlords should allow some competition for contracts to carry out the works, and should try to provide information to, and take on board, the opinions of leaseholders.

Of most difficulty is the justification of “reasonableness” and “value for money” required when the works might be considered to be “improvements” to existing properties.

Landlords will need to justify any additional cost that is incurred because the works are to a higher standard than might be required by law or by the relevant lease agreements.

However, justifications can often be made on the basis of whole-life cost and, perhaps, on the need to improve building safety standards.

Landlords are often understandably concerned with avoiding the pitfalls of the statutory service charges consultation regime, which might lead to the risk of non-recovery of the costs of a project. Frequently, the consultation might be limited to a rigid, formal process which only follows the black-letter of the regulations.

But this might remove the opportunity for residents to add value to the project. Guidance is available, and encouragement should be given to wider informal consultation with residents that might improve outcomes by focusing on proper planning and specification of projects. ● Assad Maqbool is a partner at Trowers & Hamlins

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09/05/2018 16:28

EXPERTS JUNE 2018 | CONSTRUCTION MANAGER

Mike Wing Quigg Golden

Legal

Contractors beware: clients are hungry for cost certainty IN AN UNCERTAIN ECONOMIC CLIMATE, AND WITH TIGHTER STATUTORY REGULATIONS LOOMING POST GRENFELL AND CARILLION, CONSTRUCTION CLIENTS ARE DEMANDING MUCH GREATER COST CERTAINTY. CONTRACTORS NEED TO BE CAREFUL, WRITES MIKE WING

Contractor risks are on the increase.

Future migration controls may restrict access to labour for the construction sector – currently estimated as needing 50,000 new people per year – while in a post-Carillion and Grenfell world, statutory regulations are likely to get much tighter.

Meanwhile, as investors pump increasing amounts of money into the property sector – £2bn into the UK’s build-to-rent market, for instance – the large pension and insurance funds which stump up this cash are focused on reducing risk and protecting shareholder returns, meaning they want certainty of price.

With this combination of factors, it’s no surprise that clients are now increasingly requesting bespoke contractual agreements which tightly manage risk around cost, not limited to guaranteed maximum price contracts. These focus on cost and time risks related to employer-instructed changes and employer delays.

Where the client is seeking cost certainty, what challenges does this pose for the contractor? Clients are making determined efforts to exert tighter control over the contract sum, reducing wherever possible the number of scenarios where the contract sum or target cost (where relevant) might change.

A typical starting point is to remove opportunities for the contractor to claim for changes, including the more conventional grounds for which the contract sum may change. For example, an employer request to “open up” the works on completion for inspection is typically a cost recoverable by the contractor when no defects are found – but increasingly clients are insisting that the contractor bears this cost regardless. Another example is where antiquities are discovered on the site – here again employers are trying to pass all associated costs on to the contractor.

Faced with such propositions, contractors should carefully consider whether it is possible or even reasonable to attempt to calculate the

risk premium. A more prudent approach may be to return to the negotiating table and revise the problematic clauses.

The drafting of bespoke clauses aimed at preventing the contractor’s entitlement to additional time in the event of an employerculpable change event is another area of concern.

This follows the ruling in North Midland Building Ltd v Cyden Homes Ltd where a bespoke amendment to a JCT Design and Build Contract (2005) in effect relieved the employer of any risk associated. The amendment read: “Any delay caused by a relevant event which is concurrent with another delay for which the contractor is responsible shall not be taken into account”.

This in effect prevents the contractor from any entitlement to an extension of time in the event his own delays are concurrent with employer delays. Clearly, this places a significant risk burden on the contractor, which would have to be reflected in his pricing of the works.

Other bespoke clauses have sought to reduce costs that can be recovered as “defined costs” under the NEC3 form.

Balance of risks At what price do these efforts to minimise the employer’s risks come? The balance of risk shifts quite considerably on inclusion of these bespoke clauses. That risk, combined with the risks of the current environment, is likely to result in two outcomes: a significantly increased premium to carry out the works, or failure by the contractor to achieve the agreed price for the works. Worse, there is the probability of further time and cost spent resolving the inevitable dispute.

It is understandable that with the current backdrop, the employer will seek opportunities to manage his risks and increase cost certainty.

However, this will come at a price, and therein lies the issue. It seems very unlikely indeed that a contractor may be able to price with any certainty some of the bespoke amendments we’re starting to see requested. ● Mike Wing is a senior consultant at law firm Quigg Golden.

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Construction Enquirer - Advert (255x208).pdf

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11:21

EXPERTS JUNE 2018 | CONSTRUCTION MANAGER

Sarah Alexander Dentons

Legal

SSE v Hochtief: lessons on NEC contract interpretation A £100M PAYOUT ORDER, FOLLOWING A COMPENSATION CLAIM BY SSE AGAINST HOCHTIEF RELATING TO A 2009 TUNNEL COLLAPSE, HAS SIGNIFICANT IMPLICATIONS FOR DRAFTERS OF NEC CONTRACTS. SARAH ALEXANDER EXPLAINS

The collapse of the headrace tunnel in 2009 led to the dispute between SSE and Hochtief

A recent decision by the Inner House of the Court of Session has provided the construction industry with some rare guidance on the interpretation of NEC contracts. The ruling on SSE Generation Ltd v Hochtief Solutions AG and Another, which involved a dispute arising from the 2009 collapse of the headrace tunnel at SSE’s Glendoe hydroelectric scheme in the north of Scotland, ordered the contractor to pay out over £100m to the utility client.

SSE was seeking to recover its losses following the tunnel’s collapse, when it was forced to engage a third party after its original contractor, Hochtief, refused to carry out repair works.

A pivotal issue in the decision was the impact of the inclusion of option M in the contract.

Under clause 80.1 of NEC2, at takeover SSE assumed certain risks which included loss or damage to the parts of the works taken over.

The exception to this was loss or damage occurring before the defects certificate was issued due to a defect that existed at takeover.

Under clause 81 of the contract, this was a contractor’s risk. However, option M provides that: “The contractor is not liable for defects in the works due to his design so far as he proves that he used reasonable skill and care to ensure that it complied with the works information.”

SSE’s position, when the case was heard at first instance in 2015 and 2016 by Lord Woolman, was that a defect did exist before takeover – as a result of Hochtief’s failure to install the requisite level of support in the tunnel.

In response, Hochtief argued that, under option M, it was not liable for defects which existed at takeover – provided that it had used reasonable skill and care. Lord Woolman agreed, stating that in his view option M “placed an important brake on liability.

Hochtief did not guarantee the works. Instead it accepted the familiar and lesser obligation of ‘reasonable skill and care’.”

Turning to the appeal on this point (among others), which was heard in late 2017, Lord Glennie expressed the view that Lord Woolman had confused two separate points. Option M

“Lord Glennie concluded that although there was a defect, it was not due to the contractor’s design of the works, but instead resulted from how the design had been implemented” only operates as a brake on liability for defects in the works due to the contractor’s design. The first step is to consider if there is a defect. If a defect is established, the next step is to consider whether it is one for which the contractor is liable – whether there has been a failure to use reasonable skill and care to ensure the design complied with the works information.

Lord Glennie concluded that although there was a defect, it was not due to the contractor’s design of the works, but instead resulted from how the design had been implemented. In those circumstances, option M did not engage, and the defence of having used reasonable skill and care to ensure that the design complied with the works information was not therefore available to Hochtief. As a result, the court found Hochtief liable for the cost of the repair works.

Given its value – more than £100m – and that the majority in the inner house disagreed with Lord Woolman’s first instance decision, there may yet be more to come from this dispute.

However, until such a time that the dispute is looked at by the Supreme Court, what can parties take away from this recent decision?

Although this dispute may concern the provisions of NEC2, clause X15.1 of NEC4 is similar to option M, so this judgement remains widely relevant. When identifying the design element of any works, contract drafters ought to consider carefully the distinction between where the design ends and where actions to be taken in implementation of the design may begin. ● Sarah Alexander is a senior associate at law firm Dentons.

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l Expand your knowledge online l Stay up to date with the latest techniques and technology l 100s of free CPD articles available

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COMMUNITY JUNE 2018 | CONSTRUCTION MANAGER

46-55

Community WHAT’S HAPPENING IN YOUR PROFESSIONAL BODY

48 49 50 54 55

PUPILS BUILD CLASSROOM PLANNED SITE VISITS ARMED FORCES SPECIAL AWARD WINNING MEMBER MEMBER BENEFITS

MACPEPPER

“The Members Forum is a unique event allowing members to influence the direction of the CIOB”

Policy

Canada calls CIOB MEMBERS LOOK FORWARD TO AGM AND MORE IN TORONTO

The CIOB and its members will be gathering in Toronto on 9 July for the CIOB AGM along with the Members Forum and the Global Student Challenge finals.

Held at the Westin Habour Castle Hotel, Toronto a key item on the agenda is the installation of the new CIOB President.

The CIOB’s Members Forum is a unique event, allowing members to

influence the direction of the CIOB. The CIOB feels this approach improves its understanding of the views, needs and aspirations of its stakeholders.

And for the first time the GSC finals leave Hong Kong to also take place in Toronto. The GSC is the annual student competition which asks full time construction students to act as a board of directors in regional challenges with winners earning a grand final place.

Hosting the GSC final in the same place as the Members Forum allows finalists to take part in Members Forum activities and network with senior construction professionals from around the world.

All finalists and their tutor will be flown out to Toronto, with all expenses paid. The winners receive mentoring from senior construction professionals; and a cash prize of £2000 for the winning team. ●

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CONSTRUCTION MANAGER | JUNE 2018 COMMUNITY

Event

Community is edited by Nicky Roger nicky@atompublishing.co.uk

Arbitration experts talk dispute resolution JOINT CIOB EVENT TACKLES TRICKY ISSUES INITIATIVE

Event

Young people taking part in the CIOB challenge

CIOB challenge winner wows at Parliament MYKINDAFUTURE REVEALS TALENT AND POTENTIAL IN YOUNG MINDS Each year the CIOB runs a challenge designed to engage young people from 14-19 in professional careers in construction in partnership with MyKindaFuture.

MyKindaFuture is an initiative to help 14-19 year old explore career options. It allows students to build an interactive CV they share with employers and it gives them the opportunity to meet with employers, gain work experience and take part in challenges they set.

Partnership

CIOB renews collaboration with leading architect body INSTITUTE CONTINUES RELATIONSHIP WITH CIAT IN NEW MOU The CIOB and the Chartered Institute of Architectural Technologists (CIAT) have reinforced their commitment to collaboration and partnership by renewing their Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).

This alliance between the Institutes, which has been in place since 1997, continues with its principal aim of strengthening the links between construction

management and architectural technology. The Institutes are committed to providing joint events, collaborating on consultations, and promoting career paths and disciplines in the built environment.

Members of both organisations are encouraged to network and can benefit from a 25% reduction on the standard rates for those aspiring to dual membership.

Past CIOB challenges include improving a leisure centre with rewards including a finale day and cash prizes. Other businesses taking part in the initiative include Nestlé, Channel 4, Deloitte, M&S and HSBC. The CIOB is committed to working with schools and colleges, teachers and parents to promote the industry and the range of exciting careers in construction through outreach work and the development of professional apprenticeships.

This year’s CIOB challenge is to reinvent a piece of disused land to make a vibrant public space for the local community.

Entrants were asked to consider accessibility, the environment and the needs of local community groups when producing their designs.

Wi t h o ve r 6 0 a p p l i ca t i o n s t h e competition was tough.

The finalists were invited to Parliament in April to show their designs to MPs and CIOB staff and members. The winner received £100 plus a work shadowing opportunity with an industry professional of their choice.

Chi Onwurah, the MP for Newcastle upon Tyne Central and Shadow Minister for Industrial Strategy sponsored the day. Four finalists presented their submissions and the overall winner was Mahanoor Syed. Her winning proposal put sustainability at its heart including kinetic energy, solar solutions, green walls, fuel cells and energy-saving measures. It also made provision for all age groups and created a community resource. ●

To learn more about mykindafuture visit www.mykindafuture.com

Members of the CIOB and the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb) came together recently for a joint event on the subject of ‘Alternative Dispute Resolution’ (ADR).

Hosted at the Arcadis offices in Kings Cross, a speaker line-up consisting of experts Anthony Abrahams MCIArb , Chris Blythe, Peter Collie FCIArb and Francis Ho, assembled to deliver an informative conference on ADR and its role within the construction/building industry.

Members were welcomed by CIOB chief executive, Chris Blythe OBE. CIArb’s director general Anthony Abrahams gave an insight into the role of the Institute. His speech continued into the differences in ADR methods, the benefits over litigation and multiple interesting analogies which highlighted the importance of choosing the correct methodology in resolving disputes. He also offered persuasive statistical reasoning for the need to integrate ADR into businesses and why it is vital to develop effective resolution clauses within contracts.

Abrahams was followed by Penningtons Manches’ partner Francis Ho – who leads the CIOB Contract and Procurement SIG – who discussed the way in which the industry must evolve to incorporate the need for ADR routes such as adjudication, arbitration, mediation, conciliation and expert negotiation.

Renowned dispute specialist Peter Collie FCIArb concluded with a talk in reference to ‘the common sense approach’ and a comprehensive illumination on dispute boards: their approach to disputes, previous successes and developments in major organisations whom have established Conflict Avoidance Panels.

The speakers were followed promptly with an engaging question and answer session which clarified issues such as site attendance from potential Dispute Boards, the political correctness of noticing issues, mutual IT systems and the role of sub-contactors within disputes.

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COMMUNITY JUNE 2018 | CONSTRUCTION MANAGER

“ The whole school – some 240 pupils – worked to make their vision a reality”

Below: the vision for the 'learning pod' at Writtle Junior School

Inspiration

Primary school children build own classroom AN INSPIRING INITIATIVE IN ESSEX GETS CIOB SUPPORT Scotland

Members celebrate at Scotland dinner

AWARDS AND CASINO MAKE EVENT A SUCCESS

School children in Essex are inspired to become architects, builders and quantity surveyors following a unique initiative in their school.

Head teacher at Writtle Junior school asked their children three years ago what their ideal classroom would look like and the result has been the 'learning pod'. The project has seen the involvement of Chris Chivers, CIOB

CIOB in Scotland held its 2018 Annual Dinner, sponsored by Contract Scotland and Competence Matters in April with around 300 guests enjoying speakers, and the event’s popular Fun Casino.

The CIOB Open Award 2018 was presented to Angus MacLeod for his

Past President, and Mike Bradburn MCIOB from Fairfield Holdings.

The w hole school – some 240 pupils – worked to make their vision a reality.

The children held brainstorming workshops to develop ideas which were drawn up by NeobardBurnson architects; a pupil designed the company logo ‘Konstruction Kids’; they secured planning permission and are now in a position ready to build. The vision includes rainwater harvesting, bird nests with webcams, a green wall and allotments.

The pupils have been involved every step of the way, meeting with solicitors, holding facetime conferences, meeting with the council planners and during the summer term children at WJS will be donning hi viz and hard hats to work alongside professionals to actually build the pod and learn the skills required at each stage of the project.

“This has been a fantastic way to promote construction to school kids,” says Chia Oh, member services & eEvents co-ordinator for the Chelmsford and Ipswich hubs. “The project has cost nothing so far – just people’s time and effort and it also already has the support of a design team, a groundworks company, an electrical wholesalers and a soil investigation team.” ●

services to education and the wider Built environment, presented by Ron Sutherland, Chair of Edinburgh Hub (pictured).

Students from Glasgow Caledonian University who won the 2017 Global Merit Challenge also attended ahead of their 2018 finals in June.

A charitable collection raised just over £3100 for Alzheimers Scotland.

Other sponsors included Aird Group of Companies, McLaughlin & Harvey, MPMH Ltd, Multiplex Europe, Nordan, Novus Property Solutions, NWH Group, Stewart & Shields, Training LMS, Veitchi and Wm Tracey Ltd.

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CONSTRUCTION MANAGER | JUNE 2018 COMMUNITY

Site visit

Three Snowhill trip planned Careers Week BOOK NOW TO SEE THREE SNOW HILL TAKING SHAPE

Event

Trips planned to multi-million museum build SITE VISITS WILL TAKE MEMBERS ROUND THE DERBY SILK MILL Members can look forward to following the progress of the Derby Silk Mill project with a series of site visits planned by the Nottingham HUB. Th e n ew £ 1 6.4 m ‘ M u s e u m o f Making’ at Derby Silk Mill – the site of the world’s first factory – will be redeveloped by Speller Metcalfe into an inspirational new museum, telling the story of Derby and its people’s industrial heritage and their legacy as innovators in industry.

Midlands-based Speller Metcalfe will start work on the project, which is being delivered using the IPI (Integrated Project Insurance) procurement model. IPI is a nonco n f ro n ta t i o n a l , c o l l a b o ra t i ve approach and one of the preferred p ro c u re m e n t m e t h o d s s e t o u t in the Government’s 2011-2015 construction strategy. The model aims to eliminate the blame/claim culture within a project by creating a shared risk, alliance contract between all members of the project team.

Des O’Neill, group managing director for Speller Metcalfe said the firm is excited to be working on the project.

“Having been main contractor on the UK’s first IPI project at Dudley College we have seen first-hand the benefits of the model and appreciate how rewarding and beneficial it is to work with a client that is committed to

engaging and working collaboratively with their project team from inception to completion.”

The museum is set to open in 2020, in line with the 300-year celebration of the Silk Mill.

Nottingham HUB will organise visits across the project lifecycle with the initial visit planned for September. ●

Correction

NEW NOVUS LAUNCH A new NOVUS group is launching in Edinburgh with a launch party taking place on 21 June at 6.30pm at the Edinburgh dungeons to then move on to Brewhemia in Edinburgh at 7:45pm for drinks and snacks and networking.

For details contact ndrake@ciob.org.uk

Members in Birmingham can visit the Three Snowhill site in Birmingham on June 14, where the BAM team will take them on a second site visit since the project began, to see progress on the largest single speculative office building under construction in the UK outside London.

Three Snowhill is the landmark office building at the Gateway to the Birmingham Business District and the next element of the hugely successful Snowhill Estate. Its striking and distinctive architecture will be matched by the character and quality of the office space within.

A year on from the previous CIOB visit the project is now in the final 12 months. Attendees will see the completed 19 storey steel frame, curtain walling well progressed as well as MEP first and second fix to numerous floors, partitions and first fix preparation for various finishing trades.

Artist impressions have been released by developer Ballymore and its funding partner M&G Real Estate which committed £200m to the project last year. The finished building will have 420,000 sq ft of grade A office space and be 17 storeys tall.

Register online at CIOB Events to attend the site visit.

Below: Three Snow Hill is due to complete in 2019

“To th lay th e

In the April Community we reported on the Novus Bright Futures Challenge taking place at Ballymore’s Wardian site (p54).

It should have read the EcoWorld Ballymore Wardian London. An image of the judges and winners appeared with the incorrect story on p55.

Ma

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COMMUNITY JUNE 2018 | CONSTRUCTION MANAGER

Armed forces special

Armed with the skills for management JUNE 30 MARKS ANNUAL ARMED FORCES DAY WHEN THE CIOB WILL ONCE AGAIN PROMOTE CAREERS IN CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT TO THOSE WITH A MILITARY BACKGROUND. The skills gained serving in the military have immense value to construction management. The CIOB has various initiatives to help military personnel fill construction management skills gap including developing a specific route to membership for ex military staff and ardently supporting BuildForce – the CITB-funded initiative which assists ex-armed forces personnel in finding suitable positions in construction.

Buildforce has delivered talks to CBCs and Training Partners of the CIOB in the past on how they can utilise the scheme to fulfill skills gaps they may have.

If you are interested in how to recruit from the military sector into construction download the CIOB brochure ‘Arming the Construction Industry for the Future” at www.ciob.org/sites/default/files/ Armed_Forces_brochure.pdf ●

Building in a war zone TWO CIOB MEMBERS SHARE THEIR EXPERIENCES OF CONSTRUCTION IN EXTREME AND DANGEROUS ENVIRONMENTS Paul Gardener FCIOB construction manager, Balfour Beatty “I was working on the Crossrail project as a construction manager at Whitechapel Station for Balfour Beatty Major Projects when I was asked by the Army to support the regular units preparing and deploying to South Sudan.

I was ‘called up’ as a reservist to support 32 Royal Engineers on Operation Trenton 3 (July 2017 to January 2018). I am an ex regular soldier – now reservist, serving with 299 Para Engineer Squadron Royal Engineers.

Me, 14 others from my airborne unit, along with 15 men from a Royal Engineers Commando reserve unit – all volunteered and reported for duty at the mobilisation centre in Nottingham.

After UK-based trainingI was attached to the Specialist Team Royal Engineers (STRE) as a Class 1 Military Surveyor. This role enabled me to be involved in almost every engineering task that the task force were asked to undertake by the UN. I surveyed and set out on a daily basis using GPS kit and automatic levels and basic string lines.

My first location was a small UK camp in a place called Malakal. Malakal has a Protection of Civilian (POC) site for 30,000 internally displaced persons (IDP’S).

The people in the POC camp have an average space of 1.2 m squared each.

The tasks in Malakal included carrying out surveys for the UK camp infrastructure, surveying and setting out UN helicopter Pads and collaboration with the other Troop Contributing Countries (TCC’s).

As this was the wet season the mud/dirt roads are almost not recognisable as actual

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CONSTRUCTION MANAGER | JUNE 2018 COMMUNITY

Carrying out a GPS survey in Malakal

Paul on a Rwandan helicopter, heading on leave roads. This presented a huge logistical challenge for any resource planning for materials and equipment. Basically, if you cannot get it on a UN controlled helicopter – you wait until the dry season when vehicles can move on the dirt roads.

My second location was Bentiu. Bentiu is a much larger POC camp that Malakal, housing up to 130,000 IDP’s. The main effort in this location was to get started on the UN Hospital site, within the ‘wire’ of the UN compound, as well as building hardened accommodation for the camp and future hospital staff. We also improved the camp infrastructure and security.

Again, my main role was to lead the survey team in gathering survey data for the UN, both within the UN site and also outside on the POC camp side.

This data was then expertly converted to Cad by the Royal Engineers STRE draughtsman and then presented to the UN (as the client).

I also assisted with liaising and planning with the UN project managers and other TCC’s, especially the Indian Horizontal Maintenance Engineering Company (HMEC) and the Ghanaian Police.

As a Chartered Construction Manager I could never take my safety hat off, but instead of whining about any safety concerns, I was very pro-active in bringing civilian standards of site safety management to the mission.

I introduced a Point of Work Safety Brief and held briefing sessions for all of the junior commanders (Lance Corporal and Corporals). These were the young men and women directing the sappers on site and controlling the work.

This briefing sheet was also used to engage and verify the understanding of the locally employed contractors (LEC’s) who were operating hired plant machinery and were very much a big part of the tasks.

The construction management style of the army is certainly different that in the civilian world – but that does not mean any worse. Discipline is always prevalent and soldiers are expected to do as they are told to the best of their ability. This does not mean they will blindly follow – I witnessed many fantastic safety culture conversations between the youngest sappers and their chain of command.

The Royal Engineers are very highly trained individuals (in a multitude of trades) that operate in tight-knit sections and troops. It is when these various trades are all chipping in and working together that you can really appreciate how good they are. Regardless of trade – if a task needs doing, it is done, sometimes in the worst conditions athat you could imagine: wet season, dry season, snakes, malaria, yellow fever, dengue fever, wild dogs, conflict, and ecoli to name but a few examples.

I would definitely recommend any civil engineering and construction employers take on service leavers from the Royal Engineers. I would also recommend that some of the more senior ranks and officers consider a future professional chartership with the CIOB. I have been fully supported by Balfour Beatty throughout this process.

Balfour Beatty is committed to the Armed Forces Covenant and also provides a number of military programmes for armed service leavers.

Read more about the training and skills Paul undertook for this role on p58.

Graham Skeer FCIOB Managing director, Skeer Environmental Surveying Solutions Ltd

“If a task needs doing it is done, sometimes in the worst conditions: wet, dry, snakes, malaria, yellow fever, wild dogs, conflict and ecoli to name a few ” Paul Gardener

"I was one of the many thousand who arrived on the Falklands straight after the war. We had to build very fast, so we had somewhere to live; if you didn’t build it you lived in the empty containers. My job was P.C. (production controller) which meant you were part Q.S., materials coordinator, ship manifest manager to allocate materials, plus lots more.

When you arrived on the island you were allocated an area to work. My area was structures north west: ATC Complex, fast jets, navaids, air pilots accommodation, fire station and the fuel storage at Mare Harbour.

We had one haul road from the Merchant of England – the ship anchored to the island where ships from the UK would unload materials for Mount Pleasant.

Services were very basic: we had little or no utilities, no television, no radio, other than any portable radio you brought with you and one telephone to call home in a phone box made of three pieces of plywood nailed together.

The island was bleak and windy, with snow and sunshine all before lunch time. To excavate you had 3m deep of peat and bog, plus the unfortunate discovery of deceased Argentinian soldiers frozen or shot in combat.

Challenges included the measurement issues of quantities; getting around on a daily basis; programming and progressing your schedule; locating your material from other groups who had used it for their projects.

We received a daily site ration delivered by Land Rover to site, and the labour force shared double bunk rooms although junior execs had their own room and senior execs had room and a shower!

It was a long way from the the large facility we left behind.

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COMMUNITY JUNE 2018 | CONSTRUCTION MANAGER

Dean Kelly

Meet a member Dean Kelly, project manager at Mace and European vice chair of Novus

Craig D'Ovido collecting his professional of the year award, one of two in a year

Member success

Winning streak THE PLAUDITS KEEP COMING FOR SOUTH WEST CONSTRUCTION MANAGER St Thomas Church in Somerset, blending old and traditional methods

CIOB Member in the south west Craig D’Ovido is celebrating after a win at regional excellence awards in April. Craig won the Non Residential Construction Professional of the Year in the LABC Building Excellence Awards 2018.

This win follows hot on the heels of his firm D’Ovido Bros Ltd winning Somerset Building Control Partnership for Best Public Service Building locally and highly commended regionally for St Thomas Church, Wells extension and alterations. The firm was also recognised last year as Somerset Building Control Partnership’s Best Local Builder 2017 and received highly commended for one of its projects, The Old Guardhouse, in Wells – the conversion of a former 18th Century Napoleonic Prison into luxury flats and office space.

D’Ovido Bros was set up 47 years ago by Craig’s father and his two brothers and Craig, who has 27 years

industry experience, has been the firm’s contracts manager for seven years. He says no two jobs are ever the same. “The St Thomas project was particularly interesting as old and new methods were used: one of which was the use of a lime screed floor with underfloor heating laid in it. The sub-base was not the normal type 1 but recycled glass-foamed gravel. It was something new to me so I took the time to visit Ty-Mawr located up in the beautiful Brecon Hills overlooking a lake. We had a crash course in how to mix up lime screed and the basic technology of how the system works, which prepared us for the large area we had to undertake at St Thomas’ Church.”

Following his regional win, Craig will go forward to the LABC Building Excellence Awards Grand Finals in London in November. ●

Tell us about your professional life I began my career in construction as an apprentice carpenter in 2005. In 2011 I then became a construction site manager and after five years was offered my current position at Mace.

In parallel with my day job I gained my construction management degree via the higher apprenticeship route.

I am also involved with the CIOB at numerous levels. I am the Novus chair of Truro, the European Novus vice chair and I also represent Novus on the Education, Qualification, Standards & Practice Board.

My time on the EQSP board, is extremely fulfilling as it gives Novus a voice within CIOB at this level. The opinion of Novus members is extremely valued by the CIOB and I think this sets the CIOB apart from other institutes, giving young professionals opportunities alongside our careers.

Why did you choose construction?

My interest was sparked from woodwork at at school but I had no idea of the paths I could take or where this could lead. Consequently, I opted for an apprenticeship, choosing carpentry. I was (and still am) of the opinion that it would form a good basis for my career as I would obtain practical knowledge and experience.

What change would you like to see in the industry?

I would like to see a shift in how construction is marketed to the next generation of trades people and professionals. I work closely with schools and universities to highlight the roles that are available in the industry however, I believe the key to encouraging emerging talent into construction is through increasing both their teachers’ and parents’ understanding of the industry and the opportunities available.

What do you do outside of work?

I enjoy going to support Arsenal (I believe this highlights my commitment to even the most challenging causes).

I enjoy scuba diving and spending time with my 3 year old son, Leo.

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CONSTRUCTION MANAGER | JUNE 2018 COMMUNITY

Membership affiliations Membership of the CIOB brings with it many benefits, including exclusive access to discounts and special deals on products and services that could enhance your professional development, help your business or boost your earning power.

MASTER YOUR PROJECTS WITH ONE-STOP, DEFINITIVE CONSTRUCTION INFORMATION Developed by IHS Markit and NBS, the Construction Information Service (CIS) is an online tool to access current regulations, construction standards, technical advice and industry news on building, engineering, design and construction processes. Updated weekly, the CIS offers a powerful search engine to find authoritative information for every stage of the construction lifecycle from design and completion to operation and ongoing use.

Easy-to-use search filters allow you to query 26,000+ documents from 500+ publishers, accessed by PC, tablet or smart phone.

Subscribe to the CIS today to: • Complete projects accurately and on time • Keep pace with new technological advances • Receive automated document change alerts • Use project folders to help you organise and manage your documents • Link from CIS to NBS Specification products • Access our collection of UK construction catalogues, equipment information and CAD drawings.

Contact us for a free trial today: email CustomerCare@ihsmarkit.com or call 01344 328 300.

PREMIER BUSINESSCARE HAS BEEN ARRANGING INSURANCE FOR CIOB MEMBERS SINCE 2013 AND UNDERSTANDS THE UNIQUE AND SPECIFIC DEMANDS OF THE CONSTRUCTION SECTOR. As an insurance broker they arrange insurance for small contractors through to large construction companies. From single professional indemnity policies through to more comprehensive commercial insurance policies that can include liability cover, contract works, directors and officers, personal accident.

The construction industry can be a risky business; insurance must be a top priority for any construction industry professional to protect you, your customers, employees and others around you.

Their insurance advisors understand that every business is different and each requires cover to protect against the unique risks it faces. They’ll help you protect your business and livelihood through recommending the right insurance to match your business needs.

So even if your needs aren't simple, they make arranging your insurance easy and hassle-free.

So talk to them today on 0330 102 6158 or visit www.premierbusinesscare.co.uk/CIOB

The CIOB and ITN Productions are producing a programme exploring the role of the construction manager and the impact buildings have on lives today. 'Building a Legacy' will form part of an extensive communications campaign featuring CIOB members, industry partners, government partners, and relevant journalists, writers and bloggers. Contact Nathan Wilson at ITN Productions Nathan.wilson@itn.co.uk or 020 7430 4052.

Recipro can help your organisation save mondy, reudce waste and help communities.Fourteen per cent of materials ordered each year end s up as waste and Recipro finds a home for this material, and ensures it gets used for its original purpose, keeping them out of the waste stream, therefore reducing costs. www.recipro-uk.com/ ciob-and-recipro

Elecosoft’s construction management software is relied on by many CIOB members. We can help identify the best solutions for your projects.

View this recording of a webinar on how to improve project progress reporting – Introduction to Site-toOffice reporting https:// tinyurl.com/yaefd99h.

Email: info@elecosoft.com, or call +44 (0) 1884 261700. www.elecosoft.com

Ever use a smartphone or tablet at work? Ever thought about what would happen if you dropped it?

Ever actually drop it?

Not good eh?

This is when you remember you are using a consumer device on-site and it's not up to it. It's time for your mobile to go rugged.

Get your exclusive CIOB Members trial at www.weareconker.com/ ciob-trial. As used by Balfour Beatty, Skanska, Keltbray…..and thousands more, UK & globally.

Chase de Vere are independent financial advisers who understand the financial needs of busy professionals,. They are completely impartial and highly rated for client service. They will provide help, guidance and advice to CIOB individuals and company members. www.chasedevere.co.uk/ building-futurestogether.aspx

Free2Move lease services offer multi-marque solutions, flexible rental periods and mileage up to 150 000 miles. You can select models combining low CO2 emissions, taxation and innovative equipment; reduce fuel consumption and ease daily life for your drivers www.peugeotcontracthire. co.uk/index.php/ciob

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TO ADVERTISE YOUR POSITIONS ON THESE PAGES, CONTACT TARIQ MOORE ON T: 020 3475 6813 Tariqm@media-shed.co.uk

THE BOTTOM LINE IS: IT’S NOT FOR EVERYONE. IS IT FOR YOU? Quantity Surveyors – All levels Competitive Salaries • Nationwide When you’re a Murphy Quantity Surveyor, there’s no hiding. You have to stand up and be counted.

We aim to recruit and develop the best talent. So we’re not just looking for skills, we’re looking for the drive and determination to make yourself – and us – better.

Under the direction of our Group Commercial Director, Chris Green, we’ve challenged ourselves to be the professional face of the construction industry, building trust with customers for a winwin relationship. Our goal is a world where all our Quantity Surveyors have a degree and are professionally qualified, or working towards it. And for the right people, we’ll make it happen.

The right people are those who share our core values: working as one team, always delivering, never harming, striving to innovate and to act with professionalism and integrity at all times. They’re people who can see the bigger commercial picture, throw themselves into fresh challenges and find hidden depths.

Because at Murphy, it’s what’s underneath that counts.

For more information and to apply please visit www.murphy-isitforyou.co.uk

www.murphy-isitforyou.co.uk

Hundreds of the best jobs in construction.

Recruitment news and insight.

Employers seeking CIOB members.

www.constructionmanagerjobs.co.uk

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Get a global view of the built environment Global Construction Review tracks the complex flows of money, ideas and talent to provide a world view of the built environment business.

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TRAINING & RECRUITMENT JUNE 2018 | CONSTRUCTION MANAGER

Forces to be reckoned with “I assisted in any aspect of the civil engineering and construction side of the mission that was asked of me” Paul Gardener, Balfour Beatty

Job spotlight Paul Gardener Balfour Beatty

SKILLING UP FOR SUDAN PAUL GARDENER, A CONSTRUCTION MANAGER WITH BALFOUR BEATTY ON CROSSRAIL, WAS SECONDED

BY THE ARMY TO SUPPORT THE REGULAR UNITS PREPARING AND DEPLOYING TO SOUTH SUDAN

How did the attachment come about?

I am a former regular soldier and now serve in the reserves and I received a voluntary call-up – when a reservist is asked if they would like to be officially called up for mobilisation. I was allowed to take a year’s special leave by my employer Balfour Beatty. I have since returned to Balfour Beatty Major Projects in the nuclear sector.

What skills were asked for? How equipped were you for the role?

I am fortunate that I am multi skilled within the military. I am a qualified driver, airborne combat engineer and class one military surveyor. These “trades” have been obtained through years of regular and reserve training.

I felt very equipped for the role.

Tell us about the training you had to undergo I basically rejoined the army for one full year, spending six months in the UK training and six months on an operational tour in South Sudan. The time in the UK was spent practising using our respective trades to carry out likely

construction tasks that may arise out in theatre.

This was an opportunity to get hands-on with the setting out and surveying equipment and to also work alongside the regular soldiers.

We also had the opportunity to talk with some South Sudan nationals and discuss the cultural aspect of the UN mission.

Were there any crossovers with the role of military surveyor and your position in “civvy land”?

It was good for me to get back on the tools – and refresh my setting out and surveying skills, but on this project I was not in my usual civilian position of construction manager. That is not to say that my civilian skills were not utilised.

I assisted in any aspect of the civil engineering and construction side of the mission that was asked of me. I was also heavily involved in the site safety side, working alongside the Specialist Team Royal Engineers clerk of works. ●

Hundreds of the best jobs in construction.

Recruitment news and insight. www.constructionmanagerjobs.co.uk

Andy Parker, Morgan Sindall’s director of defence, on the value of employing ex-servicemen Forecasters predict that more than 230,000 new recruits will be needed by 2020 to meet construction’s needs.

As a major contractor, Morgan Sindall has led a number of initiatives to address the skills challenge. In 2013 we became a founding partner of BuildForce, an alliance of employers, industry bodies and charities that support military service leavers to gain experience in construction. It recognises that their skills are directly transferable and relevant to the construction industry.

Each year, approximately 14,000 military personnel leave the armed forces. During their careers, many will have experienced challenging, high-pressure environments that demand qualities such as teamwork, leadership and project management.

This professional training is invaluable and often makes them ideally suited to a second career in the construction industry. With all new ex-military employees, where required, we ensure that they receive the right training for the role they are recruited into.

I have experienced this transition first hand. I started my 27-year RAF career as an airman, progressing through the ranks before being commissioned in 2001. During my service, I undertook management roles both in the UK and overseas. I then went on to specialise in infrastructure, completing my master’s degree in facilities management before leaving the service in 2010.

I understand how ex-military personnel can quickly become effective employees and adapt their skills to suit the demanding conditions of a construction site. There are immeasurable benefits on offer from serviceleavers and existing veterans in this industry.

Across the UK, Morgan Sindall has formed partnerships with military charities and organisations to connect service leavers with training and job opportunities. Our South West Region has partnered with the Royal Marines Charity, enabling several Royal Marines to secure work placements on major construction sites in the region.

Morgan Sindall recognises that former military personnel acquire highly soughtafter, transferable skills and we encourage service leavers to consider the opportunity to start a rewarding second career in the construction industry.

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JUNE 2017 For members of the CIOB

CONSTRUCTION MANAGER | SEPTEMBER 2017 | WWW.CONSTRUCTIONMANAGERMAGAZINE.COM

CONSTRUCTION MANAGER | JULY/AUGUST 2017 | WWW.CONSTRUCTIONMANAGERMAGAZINE.COM

CONSTRUCTION MANAGER | JUNE 2017 | WWW.CONSTRUCTIONMANAGERMAGAZINE.COM

CONSTRUCTION MANAGER | MAY 2017 | WWW.CONSTRUCTIONMANAGERMAGAZINE.COM

MAY 2017 For members of the CIOB

JULY/AUGUST 2017 For members of the CIOB

SEPTEMBER 2017 For members of the CIOB

3D PRINTING

WOMEN IN CONSTRUCTION

BUXTON CRESCENT

ONSITE AT LORD’S NEW WARNER STAND

WHAT WOMEN WANT

ON SITE AT VINCI’S £50M SPA REFURB

LOUGHBOROUGH UNIVERSITY ALUMNI TALK CANDIDLY ABOUT CONSTRUCTION

3D PRINTING AND THE RISE OF RAPID BUILDING

COUNCILS BEGIN TO BUILD AGAIN

constructionmanagermagazine.com

constructionmanagermagazine.com

constructionmanagermagazine.com

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REDISCOVERING BUXTON’S GEORGIAN GLORY

NEW HOPES FOR HOUSING

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CONSTRUCTION MANAGER | FEBRUARY 2018 | WWW.CONSTRUCTIONMANAGERMAGAZINE.COM

CONSTRUCTION MANAGER | JANUARY 2018 | WWW.CONSTRUCTIONMANAGERMAGAZINE.COM

JANUARY 2018 For members of the CIOB

HERITAGE

OFFSITE MANUFACTURING

CMYA 2017

RESTORING GOVERNMENT INSIDE PARLIAMENT’S VAST RENOVATION PROGRAMME

CELEBRATING THE INDUSTRY AT ITS BEST

COAL DROPS YARD KING’S CROSS

CONSTRUCTION MANAGER | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2017 | WWW.CONSTRUCTIONMANAGERMAGAZINE.COM

CONSTRUCTION MANAGER | OCTOBER 2017 | WWW.CONSTRUCTIONMANAGERMAGAZINE.COM

OCTOBER 2017 For members of the CIOB

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THE HOW, WHY, WHAT, WHERE AND WHEN

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FEBRUARY 2018 For members of the CIOB

KISSING AT KING’S CROSS BAM BRINGS HEATHERWICK’S DESIGN TO LIFE

11-PAGE CONSTRUCTION MANAGER OF THE YEAR AWARDS SPECIAL

FACTORY SETTINGS

HAS OFFSITE’S TIME FINALLY COME?

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30,699* The largest circulation of any UK construction magazine.

58,000 Email newsletter circulation reaching CIOB members and other construction professionals.

Unparalleled access to the key decision makers leading the UK construction industry. *ABC audited July 2016 to June 2017

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Official fuel consumption figures in mpg (l/100km) for the Ford Transit Base 290 L2 H2 FWD: urban 36.2-40.4 (7.8-6.9), extra urban 42.8-44.1 (6.6-6.4), combined 39.8-42.2 (7.1-6.7). Official CO2 emissions 184-174g/km.

The mpg figures quoted are sourced from official EU-regulated test results (EU Regulation 715 /2007 and 692/2008 as last amended), are provided for comparability purposes and may not reflect your actual driving experience. *If you trade in any Car or Commercial Vehicle that is registered up to and including 31st December 2010 you can receive between £2,000 and £7,000 (Excl. VAT) Scrappage Saving off the Recommended Retail Price of a New Ford Commercial Vehicle. Offer available on Ranger, Transit Courier (Excl. New Transit Courier – 2018.75MY), Transit Connect (Excl. Tourneo and New Transit Connect – 2018.75MY), Transit Custom (Excl. New Custom – 2018.5MY), Tourneo Custom (Excl. New Tourneo – 2018.5MY) and Transit models only. New Ford Commercial Vehicles must be contracted between 1st April and 30th June 2018 (the “Contract Date”) and registered between 1st April and 31st December 2018. Scrappage vehicle must have been registered to the customer for at least 90 days before the customer’s Contract Date. Customer savings of £2,000 to £7,000 (Excl. VAT) available dependent on model line. Offer not available in conjunction with any other Ford Promotion. Available to retail customers only (Excl. Privilege and Ambassador). For more information please see ford.co.uk/scrappage

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