Excellence April

APRIL 2017

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BUDGET 2017 Insight and expert opinion from the industry at large.

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FLEET IN FOCUS 2017 Van on the Year award-winners unveiled.

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THINK SMART John Stokoe on construction and the smart city boom.

PAGE 4-5 UK INFRASTRUCTURE SHOW PREVIEW

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BEFORE

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AFTER

WELCOME to the latest edition of UK Construction Excellence – celebrating the very best in British building.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Philip Hammond, has delivered his first - and last - spring Budget. His message was clear - there were to be no shock announcements, no seismic shifts. Despite Brexit uncertainties, this was very much business as usual and the UK construction industry took great interest.

As part of our in-depth Budget coverage, UK Construction Excellence examines the implications for contractors large and small, and gauges reaction from the industry at large.

Elsewhere, we have word from the Van of the Year Awards 2017, John Stokoe - Head of Strategic Business Transformation at Dassault Systèmes EuroNorth – considers the role of construction in our smart cities boom, and Mark

58 The Off-site Approach: Mark Enzer on the advantages of off-site construction.

Enzer - Chief Technical Officer at Mott MacDonald - explores the advantages of an off-site approach.

All this and more can be found inside, along with contributions from guest commentators and breaking news from Great Britain and beyond.

Robert Atherton Publications Editor

80 Innovating Wales Prime Minister signs £1.3Bn Swansea Bay City Region deal.

84 One Bankmore Square First-class office accommodation for the 21st century.

Publications Editor Robert Atherton

General Manager Ian Parker

Designer James Ormerod

Production Manager Gareth Trevor-Jones

Publications Officer Abigail Burr Sales Administrator Sarah Livesley

Creative Digital Seamus Norton

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The UK Infrastructure Show – Constructing the Future, taking place

highest rate in a decade.

at Olympia London on Thursday 20 April, is a must-attend event for those working in all areas of infrastructure, from construction to technology, as UK infrastructure investment is set to reach a record high of over £500bn and a building boom is under way in the UK’s large regional cities, with construction finally returning to levels last seen before the 2008 financial crisis.

Officially supported by CompeteFor – the leading infrastructure supply chain service – and many major ongoing and future infrastructure projects including HS2, Thames Tideway Tunnel and Transport for London, the inaugural UK Infrastructure Show 2017 will provide exhibitors, sponsors and delegates with a unique opportunity to engage, connect and collaborate with a vast array of key projects, a captive audience of 800 decision makers and influencers representing all areas of the supply chain.

Key findings from the latest Crane Survey report that the volume of office construction in London has increased by 4% over the past six months to an eight-year high of 14.8 million sq ft. Birmingham and Leeds are also building offices at the

REGISTER FOR YOUR COMPLIMENTARY PLACE

Make your business known, build valuable relationships and develop market insight that create lasting competitive advantage by exhibiting or sponsoring at this event. All on one day, in one place at the UK Infrastructure Show 2017.

Contact our team today to discuss how your organisation can book one of our six remaining exhibition stands. Call 0845 270 7066 or email exhibitions@ ukinfrastructureshow.co.uk.

LONDON OLYMPIA

The UK Infrastructure Show 2017 is FREE to attend for anyone working in the infrastructure sector – SMEs, Prime Contractors and representatives from major projects across the UK. To register for your complimentary place, simply click here.

WHAT CAN YOU EXPECT AT THE UK INFRASTRUCTURE SHOW 2017?

KEYNOTE ARENA The Keynote Arena at the UK Infrastructure Show 2017 will showcase presentations from some of the organisations charged with setting the strategy of future infrastructure plans as well as some of the major projects currently under way across the UK. Do not miss out on this unique opportunity to hear from a range of the most important speakers in the infrastructure industry.

OPPORTUNITY AND TRAINING ZONES Designed to educate delegates on the key issues common to large-scale infrastructure projects,

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these zones will take you through all you need to know in order to make the most of the supply chain opportunities available in this sector. You will also hear from representatives from some of the UK’s leading projects, both those under way and those planned, with details of supply chain opportunities available to organisations like yours.

Delegates can attend sessions in the following zones at UK Infrastructure 2017:

enables businesses to compete for contract opportunities linked to major public and private sector buying organisations.

• Zone 1: Supply Chain Opportunities – Transport and Rail • Zone 2: Supply Chain Opportunities – Energy and Nuclear • Zone 3: Skills and Capabilities Training Zone

We are delighted to be working with some of the largest infrastructure projects currently under way across the UK.

COMPETEFOR SUPPLY CHAIN ADVICE HUB CompeteFor is a free service that

The CompeteFor Supply Chain Advice Hub is the go-to place for any organisation looking to improve their procurement capability, get a complimentary profile check-up or have your questions answered.

PROJECT PARTNER PAVILIONS

Our project partners, HS2, Thames Tideway Tunnel and Transport for London, will each have a dedicated Pavilion within the Product Showcase Exhibition. Come along and meet with representatives from these projects to learn more about the supply chain opportunities open to organisations like yours.

PRIME CONTRACTOR ENGAGEMENT VILLAGE The UK Infrastructure Show Prime Contractor Engagement Village will allow visitors the opportunity to meet directly with many of the key Prime Contractors currently engaged in the delivery of live projects, providing an insight into possible opportunities for developing ongoing working relationships.

If you wish to book an appointment for this area, visit the Engagement Village at 11am on the day of the event; bookings will be taken from 11am to 2.30pm on a first come, first served basis.

WWW.UKINFRASTRUCTURESHOW.CO.UK

Civil engineering drives construction industry growth THE UK construction industry recorded sustained growth in February according to the latest Markit/CIPS UK Construction PMI figures.

The construction PMI reading for February was 52.5, up slightly on January’s 52.2 and above the growth threshold of 50.0. January saw the industry suffer a slight blip as it recorded the weakest rise since last September.

The main driver for growth in February was civil engineering, taking the place of housebuilding as the strongest performing sector. Residential building grew at its slowest pace for six months, while commercial building activity dropped for the first time since last October.

There was more good news for the construction industry in terms of employment, which continued to increase despite new business growth being at its lowest level for four months. Respondents to the survey cited a resilient economic backdrop and renewed client confidence following last June’s Brexit vote as key factors in February’s growth.

The weaker sterling rate continued to put pressure on the industry in terms of price hikes for imported materials however, with reports of the higher costs causing delays on decision making. Firms also indicated the second-fastest rise in input costs since August 2008.

Optimism within the industry over

the coming 12 months remains strong however, with 48% predicting an increase in business and only 13% expecting to see a downturn. A major reason behind the industry’s positivity was the continued demand for new housing, boosted by the Government’s recent housing white paper.

Tim Moore, Senior Economist at IHS Markit said: “February’s survey data highlights that the UK construction sector has rebounded from its postreferendum soft patch but remains on a relatively slow growth trajectory.

“Weaker momentum in the house building sector was a key factor weighing on construction growth, alongside a renewed fall in work commercial projects.”

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£7Bn of Midlands Engine opportunities available to international investors THE Government has launched a portfolio of 19 projects at its first MIPIM pavilion, demonstrating a commitment to the Midlands Engine, including £7Bn of opportunities for international investors.

The portfolio comprises some of the most exciting investment opportunities across the Midlands, including major infrastructure, regeneration and business development projects, which were showcased at the largest property trade show, attended by over 5,000 investors from over 90 countries.

The opportunities are some of the most transformative developments across the region on a global stage, including large-scale regenerations of city centres in Birmingham, Derby and Nottingham, the National Space Centre in Leicester, and the first purpose-built business district in Coventry.

International Trade Minister, Mark Garnier, said: “MIPIM is the world’s leading real estate conference and exhibition and, through the first UK government pavilion, we are taking advantage of the opportunity to engage with this important sector.

“The Midlands Engine Investment Portfolio will enable us to harness the

strong potential and accelerate the growth of the region by showcasing some of the most exciting investment projects across the Midlands. It will also enable us to build on the region’s strong record of attracting foreign investment.”

Sir John Peace, Chairman of the Midlands Engine, added: “The Midlands Engine Investment Portfolio demonstrates our ambition. We have some truly incredible projects available this year; whether it is investments that have been borne as a result of HS2 or smaller projects that will deliver real change, economic growth and jobs for of our cities. Investors will not only be investing in projects that will deliver significant return on investment, but will be driving growth in our region and acting as a catalyst to create the environments where our businesses can thrive.

“The work we are doing in the region is a clear sign to the international investor community that the UK is open for business and that the Midlands is at the heart of this offer.”

The portfolio was compiled by the Department for International Trade in partnership with the Midlands Engine, following the publication of the Midlands Engine Strategy and the recent Midlands Engine Trade Summit.

A full programme of events took place over four days, bringing together city and regional leaders with private sector investors and developers. Nine

regions had the opportunity to pitch investment-ready pipeline schemes to an investor order, and sessions ran on such topics as HS2 Places, modular housing and garden cites.

The projects included in the portfolio are: • Birmingham Curzon (over £500M) • Birmingham Smithfield (over £500M) • Drakelow Park, Derbyshire (£360M) • Friargate, Coventry (£700M) • Grantham Southern Quadrant, Lincolnshire (over £200M) • Heart of the City, Derby (£165M) • Loughborough University Science and Enterprise Park, Leicestershire (£625M) • Nottingham City Centre (over £1Bn) • Peppermint Park, Holbeach, Lincolnshire (over £150M) • Redditch Eastern Gateway, Worcestershire (over £100M) • South Kestevon Regional Offer, Lincolnshire (over £100M) • Springfield Campus, Wolverhampton (over £125M) • Stoke-on-Trent City Centre (over £310M) • The Boots Enterprise Zone, Nottingham (over £100M) • The National Space Park (over £75M) • Tudor Cross, Bolsover, Derbyshire (£175M) • UK Central Hub and HS2 Interchange, Solihull (over £2Bn) • Wolverhampton Canalside and City Interchange (over £155M) • Worcester Growth corridor (up to £300M)

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Shortlist for £1Bn Silvertown Tunnel down to three THREE contractors have been shortlisted for the design, construction and financing of the proposed Silvertown Tunnel.

Transport for London (TfL) has revealed that Cintra Global Ltd, Hochtief PPP Solutions GmbH and Skanska Strabag are the contractors being consideration for the £1Bn project.

The development will create a new twin-bore road tunnel for East London, which would begin construction in 2019 subject to final planning approval from the Secretary of State.

Currently, the project is undergoing a six month planning review with the Secretary of State’s decision due to be made in autumn of this year.

It is envisaged the tunnel will help create job opportunities in the area, enable local employers to access new markets, and reduce the environmental impact of traffic congestion.

The successful bidder will be required to implement measures that lessen the impact of construction on the immediate area. These will include curbing road usage from construction vehicles, engaging with the community, and employing 150 local apprentices.

Leon Daniels, Managing Director of Surface Transport at TfL, said: “It’s great to see such a strong shortlist of bidders to design, finance, build, and maintain the new Silvertown Tunnel.

“The tunnel will be essential to help tackle congestion and reliability in east and south east London, as well as transform cross river bus services and support planned growth across the wider area.”

The Silvertown Tunnel is due to open in 2023 and will help tackle traffic congestion at the nearby Blackwell Tunnel.

Peel unveil plans for next phase of £5Bn Liverpool Waters scheme PEEL has unveiled plans for the next phase of the £5Bn Liverpool Waters scheme as new construction plots are released.

The development is being described as a “world-class destination” situated on Liverpool’s iconic waterfront - one that will breathe new life into an area that has, over a period of years, fallen into disrepair.

The scheme, which will redevelop 150 acres of historic dockland, is one of the largest regeneration projects of its kind in the world today.

The Central Docks neighbourhood will encompass a high specification business and leisure district with over 2,000,000sq ft of mixed-use floor space, including 750,000sq ft of first class office accommodation in Liverpool’s city centre.

Over 1,000 new waterfront apartments in buildings up to 44-storeys high will also be created, alongside a 17 acre public park overlooking the River Mersey and the Leeds and Liverpool Canal.

Several interested parties have already visited the eight new plots on-site to see the investment opportunities first-hand, and it is

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expected that by the end of 2017 up to £300M worth of construction work will have begun.

Lindsey Ashworth, Director of Development at Liverpool Waters, described the scheme as a “unique opportunity” for investment - one that is already attracting significant interest.

“Our ambition has always been to create a waterfront for the world, a sustainable environment with stunning views where people and businesses can flourish together,” said Lindsey. “Unveiling this southern part of the Central Docks neighbourhood marks the next chapter in the Liverpool Waters story and brings us one step closer to re-establishing Liverpool’s waterfront as a gateway to the world.

“Although the masterplan for Liverpool Waters was announced ten years ago, progress has so far concentrated on the Princes Dock neighbourhood, the new home of the Cruise Liner Terminal, with the bulk of effort going on behind the scenes to secure detailed planning permissions. By the end of this year, the team at Liverpool Waters are expecting to see over £300M of construction work starting on-site.”

Derry Building Services Limited employs over 220 people across two offices in Birmingham and Newark. The firm is one of the most technically advanced Mechanical and Electrical Design and Build Contractors in the UK and recently started working with Leeds College of Building as part of its commitment to the development and training of talented people.

The company currently has eight apprentices training with Leeds College of Building on its Heating & Ventilation (Industrial & Commercial) Apprenticeship. They are all either studying towards a Level 2 or Level 3 NVQ Diploma, and spend either five or six, two week blocks, studying at College every year.

Brian Hughes, Director at Derry Building Services Limited says: “We take a lot of pride in how our apprentices are trained and it’s very reassuring to be working with such an experienced provider like Leeds College of Building. The College has a proven track record for delivering excellent quality and consistently high levels of training and support. In fact, we have already recommended Leeds College of Building to another regional business as a result of our positive experience.”

All of the apprentices will spend either two or four years on the course and then have the opportunity to progress onto higher education levels at the College. The training covers all areas of design and installation as well as the commission of large heating and air conditioning systems into a wide range of

buildings including offices, hospitals, schools, shopping centres and leisure complexes.

With detailed training on everything from installing water and heating systems through to pipework installations, system testing and design, it’s both a very practical and highly technical course.

Brian adds: “Having the right people in place with relevant skill-sets and training is absolutely vital in a business like ours. We are different to most other Mechanical and Electrical Contractors because we directly employ all our people, which gives us complete control over every stage of a project including

the aftercare. That way we feel we can give our clients continuity of service from our initial estimate to the final handover of the system, and it’s through quality training and development of our people that we can deliver this.

“Leeds College of Building is allowing us to make good on our promise of only having the most talented and highly qualified people on our books, and we are very much looking forward to a long-lasting relationship with the College as we continue to invest in the next generation of experts within the building services industry.”

Leeds College of Building offers a huge variety of Apprenticeships in a wide range of traditional trades including heating and ventilation, brickwork, carpentry and joinery, electrical, painting and decorating, plastering, plumbing and wall and floor tiling.

It also has a range of Technical Apprenticeship routes such as surveying, transport planning, architectural technology, building services and civil engineering together with two Higher Level Apprenticeships in Construction Management (Sustainability) and Facilities Management, which offer university equivalent work based education. These courses offer an alternative to a full-time degree.

Leeds College of Building is a training provider under the new Apprenticeship Levy scheme, which starts in April 2017.

TO CONTACT LEEDS COLLEGE OF BUILDING FOR MORE DETAILS CALL 0113 222 6008, VISIT WWW.LCB.AC.UK OR EMAIL MARKETING@LCB.AC.UK

Network Rail apprentices inspire young people during NAW2017 IN celebration of National Apprenticeship Week 2017, a team of apprentices, work experience students and engineers from Network Rail’s Thameslink Programme have visited schools local to London Bridge station, to inspire young people to consider an apprenticeship on the railway.

Since 2012, the Thameslink Programme has benefited from 89 apprentices working across Network Rail, and delivery partners Costain, Balfour Beatty Rail and Siemens Rail Automation.

Many of the apprentices have gained experience on the London Bridge redevelopment project, increasing their skills on track and off, working across both the front-line railway and commercial side of the business.

The retention rate for Network Rail’s apprenticeship scheme is far higher than the national average for engineering, with 75% of those that complete the scheme choosing to go into employment with Network Rail, compared to the national average of 55%.

Recently, the team visited Octavia house and Walworth Academy.

Presentations and workshops were held by apprentices who shared

their journeys and experiences with hundreds of students.

Annamarie Compton, Network Rail Consents Manager for London Bridge station, had this to say: “The London Bridge station redevelopment project is proud to be involved in the 2017 National Apprenticeship Week and we hope to build on the successes of our well-received 2016 programme.

What makes our programme work so well is the continued support of our own apprentices, many of whom have been employed from the local area, who are taking the time to participate in a number of school visits and site activities to share their journeys and to display the skills they have learned.

The students respond really well to the apprentices, who do a great job of promoting the range of exciting opportunities an apprenticeship with Network Rail can bring.”

“We have a fantastic team of apprentices who are always ready to help inspire the next generation,” said Amy Nott, Training Skills Co-ordinator at Costain. “The students they meet tend to respond very well and their interaction offers a positive experience and insight into apprenticeships on the railway. This year we’ve another

fantastic week long programme of events and we hope to reach more students than ever before.”

“The best thing about being an apprentice is that I am studying and gaining experience, all while earning a salary,” added Isaac Jones, a Commercial Apprentice with Network Rail. “My Network Rail apprenticeship has a lot of variety; I get to work across the business and learn on site.

I would definitely recommend an apprenticeship at Network Rail and on the railway to other young people who are considering their options.”

The Thameslink Programme is part of Network Rail’s Railway Upgrade Plan, to transform North-South travel through London by modernising landmark stations, introducing new, longer trains and increasing journey options for the millions of passengers that use one of the busiest stretches of railway each year.

Network Rail apprentices are guaranteed a job upon completion of the three year course and more than four in five (83%) of those who started in the scheme a decade ago are still working for the organisation today.

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Leamington Spa social housing project complete MORE than 80 new homes have been delivered as part of a £13M retirement scheme overseen by Pick Everard.

The multi-million pound project to transform Leamington Spa’s social housing offering is now complete, delivering 81 new homes for local residents over the age of 55. An ageing population has made this a particularly important project, as the need for high quality sustainable housing continues to skyrocket.

The homes have been built at the new Sayer Court, which replaces the previous 1960’s building. This marks Warwick District Council’s first housing scheme for more than 30 years. Work began on-site in May 2015, with the promise of

energy efficient “Lifetime Homes”.

Paul Gibbs, Associate at Pick Everard and Project Manager for the development, said: “We delivered Code 4 for Sustainable Homes, in line with the Council’s plans to deliver energy efficient housing across the town – which means that carbon emissions are 25% less than the minimum standard.

“This was achieved using a biomass boiler which supported the reduction of carbon dioxide and, in conjunction with the thermal efficiency of the building fabric, has reduced energy costs enormously.

“I’m proud our team has been involved in such a transformative project. It’s an

exciting time for the town and as our specialism in residential developments grows we’re delighted to be able to support Warwick District Council and its plans to invest in and support the growing population of Leamington Spa.” Councillor Peter Phillips, Warwick District Council’s portfolio holder for Housing and Property Services added: “These beautiful high quality, energy efficient, sustainable and most importantly affordable homes, which have been developed for Warwick District Council, have set the benchmark for the future of council housing in our district if not nationwide. I would like to thank Pick Everard for helping to turn the council’s vision into reality.”

Funding announced to improve railway for passengers ADDRESSING the Railway Industry Association’s Innovation Conference, Rail Minister Paul Maynard announced up to £9M in support of UK business as part of an innovation competition to develop solutions for national and international railways. The Department for Transport (DFT) is to make the funding available via Innovate UK.

passengers while simultaneously driving down operation expense.

The competition will help to create better railways through the Rail Technical Strategy and Rail Capability Delivery Plan for 2017, which outlines a joint industry vision.

Mr Maynard said: “We are delivering the biggest modernisation programme in rail since the Victorian era. But industries like automotive and aerospace spend many times what rail spends on research and development.

This has to change. We have got to accelerate innovation in rail. It’s what passengers deserve and expect.

The focus here is on two priority areas, the first being to create high-value, low-cost railway innovations which increase the value of rail services to

The second will improve customer experience through station design and performance. Customers will benefit from a more sustainable rail industry that offers better services, better journeys and better value.

“This is why we are working with Innovate UK to launch a rail innovation competition offering investment of up to £9M, which will help to deliver the industry’s Rail Technical Strategy.

“We want participation both from within the rail sector and from organisations with little experience of working in rail. Winning back customer confidence is a big challenge for the industry and successful innovation will play a big role in delivering that.”

Funding is available, by way of an application, to any size of business.

Each project should include at least one small or medium sized enterprise.

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£220M investment to tackle road congestion TRAFFIC hotspots across the country are set to receive millions in funding to upgrade junctions, roundabouts and traffic signalling, Transport Secretary Chris Grayling has announced.

Collectively, the schemes, which are due for completion by spring 2020, are worth around £110M. Each will reduce congestion and journey times in their respective regions and improve safety overall.

Two larger projects, worth £30M, will see the creation of an unbroken stretch of dual carriageway on the A69 between Hexham and Newcastle.

FMB welcome new construction apprenticeship standard THE Federation of Master Builders (FMB) have welcomed the Government’s introduction of two new apprenticeships in bricklaying and plastering.

The FMB expressed concerned that the Government’s ambition to deliver three million apprenticeships by 2020 would lead to quality over quantity in apprenticeship training.

However, with apprenticeship standards set to increase, the Government has demonstrated its commitment to working with the construction industry to create quality, career-led apprenticeships.

Research by the FMB shows that two thirds of construction SMEs believe that the overall quality of construction apprenticeships had decreased during the past 30 years, with 70% of all construction firms saying they would be more attracted to taking on apprentices if the quality of construction apprenticeships improve.

Brian Berry, Chief Executive of the FMB, said: “Given that it is construction SMEs that train two thirds of all apprentices, the Government is right to back the FMB’s mission to increase the quality of apprenticeships.

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“The Government’s Trailblazer process is all about putting control back into the hands of the employer to ensure that apprenticeship training actually reflects what’s required in the workplace. It is the employers – large and small – who have given up their time to shape these two new high quality apprenticeship standards and they should be commended. What this means is that the bricklayers and plasters of the future will have a much higher minimum skill level than they do currently. All bricklayers will be able to build arches and chimneys and all plasterers will be able to install drylining, and apply solid and fibrous plaster. These broad skills will future-proof the individuals from forthcoming recessions and ensure that we don’t lose them from the construction industry at the first sign” Sarah Beale, CEO at CITB, added: “Approval of the bricklaying and plastering Trailblazer apprenticeship standards is fantastic news for learners and industry alike. They will help young people get the skills they need for successful, rewarding construction careers while ensuring the country has the bricklayers and plasterers it needs to build the many projects in the pipeline.”

A new junction worth £14M will also be built on the M11 to provide an additional route into Harlow, cutting journey times and unlocking housing developments.

A further £110M will be invested on roads improvements, with details to be revealed at a later date.

As announced in the Chancellor’s Budget, the North of England is set to receive £90M of investment to remedy the region’s congestion pinch points.

Highways England has identified four schemes worth £6.4M - two to improve the A595/A66 junctions at Great Clifton and the Fitz Roundabout, as well as the A585 at Norcross and Junction 3 of the M55. A further £21M has been set aside for general roads improvements in the North West.

These projects will all by underway by winter 2018.

Transport Secretary Chris Grayling said: “We are making the most extensive improvements to roads in the last 40 years, investing a record £23Bn to keep our country moving and make journeys faster, better and more reliable for everyone.

“We are also spending a further £1.3Bn over the course of this parliament to relieve congestion and provide important upgrades to ensure our roads are fit for the future.

“These schemes announced will provide quick relief to millions of drivers and save them from getting stuck in traffic.”

Quantity Surveying and Construction Conference 10 May 2017, London We have selected eminent industry figures that will help you consider the crucial challenge of modernisation in the construction industry.

At this must-attend event you will benefit from: • Hearing an update on the UK Government’s approach to driving digitisation in the industry.

• Revisiting Mark Farmer’s report on the UK Construction Labour Model, six months on from its publication.

• Reviewing a case study on BIM for construction clients.

Join peers from across the UK and Ireland to be at the forefront of your profession and gain six hours of valuable CPD learning.

Book online today: rics.org/qsconference2017

Heathrow 2.0 to create a centre of excellence in sustainability SPEAKING at the British Chambers of Commerce’s Annual Conference, Heathrow Chief Executive John Holland-Kaye unveiled Heathrow 2.0 - a new sustainability leadership strategy which aspires to make Heathrow a centre of excellence for the aviation industry. The strategy outlines ambitious goals to reduce the industry’s environmental impacts while maximising economic opportunities throughout the UK.

Heathrow 2.0 puts forward targets to deliver a sustainable future for aviation. It includes an aspiration to make growth from a new runway at Heathrow carbon neutral, and the use of 100% renewable electricity at the airport from 2017 in a major step toward creating a zero-carbon airport.

It also proposes establishing an airside ultra-low emission zone by 2025, to improve quality of life through cleaner air.

Heathrow 2.0 was drafted with input from environmental groups, academics, community leaders, as well as Heathrow colleagues, passengers, commercial partners and suppliers.

Heathrow 2.0 also lays out new initiatives for the benefit of local communities – including a voluntary Quiet Night Charter seeking to at least halve by 2022 the number of flights on non-disrupted days leaving late after 11:30pm. A “Fly Quiet and Clean” league table is to be launched, which will publicly rank airlines according to their noise and emissions.

As part of Heathrow 2.0, the airport has invested an initial £500,000 in its first R&D incubator to minimise aviation impacts like noise and carbon emissions. Heathrow will consult leading experts to identify participants from the aviation industry, academia and business. By the end of the year, more funding sources will also be identified so that the incubator can open its doors in 2019.

Finally, Heathrow 2.0 aims to deliver a better working place for colleagues by creating 10,000 apprenticeships by 2030 with a third runway, and publishing a roadmap in 2017 setting out how to transition Heathrow’s supply chain employees working at the airport

to meet the London Living Wage.

Speaking to participants at the BCC conference, Heathrow Chief Executive John Holland-Kaye said: “Heathrow 2.0 is a step-change for our business, and accelerates the shift in our industry towards a sustainable future for aviation. By focusing on the long-term, and through working together, we can deliver a world-leading economy - innovative, competitive, successful and sustainable. And we can create a future where our business, our people, our communities, our country and our world, can all thrive.”

Virendra Sharma, MP for Ealing Southall added: “While no airport is without its environmental impact, Heathrow has gone a long way over recent years to address the concerns around pollution and noise. I am particularly pleased to see that the airport has a clear plan to reduce the number of late-running evening flights which I know will be welcomed across the local community.

Heathrow has set itself ambitious goals which I intend to hold them to.”

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Government unveils post-Brexit Digital Strategy THE Government has launched a Digital Strategy to keep the country ahead of its competitors as the UK moves towards exiting the European Union.

available across the country. Included in the strategy are plans by Lloyds Banking Group to provide face-toface digital skills training to 2.5 million people, charities and SMEs by 2020.

The strategy places skills, infrastructure and innovation at the heart of the Government’s ambition for Britain to lead the world in the digital economy.

Barclays will teach basic coding to 45,000 more children and assist up to one million people with general digital skills and cyber awareness. And Google, as part of their commitment to five hours of free digital skills for everyone, will help boost digital skills in seaside towns.

A new Digital Skills Partnership will see the Government, businesses, charities and voluntary organisations collaborating to ensure Britons have the skills required for jobs in their region and raise awareness for the digital training opportunities on offer.

More than four million free digital skills training opportunities are to be made

Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport Karen Bradley said: “The UK’s world-leading digital sectors are a major driver of growth and productivity, and we are determined to protect and strengthen them.

“This digital strategy sets a path to make Britain the best place to start and grow a digital business, trial a new technology, or undertake advanced research as part of the Government’s plan to build a modern, dynamic and global trading nation.

“To do that, we will work closely with businesses and others to make sure the benefits and opportunities are spread across the country so nobody is left behind.

“There should be no digital divide – every individual and every business should have the skills and confidence to make the most of digital technology and have easy access to high quality internet wherever they live, work, travel or learn.”

Student accommodation in Sheffield secures planning approval CROSSLANE Student Developments - part of the Crosslane Group - has announced that Brass Founders, Sheffield is on schedule to open in time for the 2017/18 academic year.

The development includes a 437bed, new build premium student accommodation property. This follows full planning approval, and a number of bookings have already been made through Crosslane’s letting and operational management company Prime Student Living.

Brass Founders is comprised of three residential blocks of six, seven and eight-storeys - each with solar panels - and outbuildings which will have a green “living” roof. The high specification brick and glass facade features a U-shaped formation, which creates a large private landscaped courtyard in which residents can study and socialise.

a games room, on-site gym, cinema/ multimedia facilities, study zones and meeting hubs. Separately, there is a luxury kitchen and an 18-seater dining area. These ideas are the result of an in-depth consultation to identify what students expect from their accommodation.

Will Prew, Contracts Manager for principal contractor Create Construction, said: “As the main contractor for Brass Founders, we are delighted to be working with Crosslane on this exciting scheme in Sheffield.

A great deal of planning, effort and

determination by all involved has ensured that the development is on track and on budget for opening in time for the 2017/18 academic year.”

Kate Kingston, Managing Director of interior designer Kingston Shaw, added: “Crosslane’s Brass Founders building is centred around an attractive large outdoor courtyard that residents can enjoy. We wanted to bring the outside into the interior design of the building by using natural elements like wood and earthy colours, creating spaces that are functional and sophisticated.”

Of the 437 beds, 144 will be high specification self-contained studio apartments and 293 premium ensuite bedrooms in clusters of up to six, sharing a lounge, kitchen and dining facilities.

The ground floor will have dedicated community space, with such areas as

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CIOB mine for next generation of construction workers AS part of its efforts to attract the next generation of construction workers, the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) has released its Craft Your Future lessons on all versions of Minecraft.

Teachers, construction professionals, and young people will be able to use ‘vanilla’ versions of Craft Your Future, developed by the CIOB, and learn about the value of construction management through Minecraft.

In collaboration with The Gameworkshop from Denmark and the Danish Architecture Centre, each CIOB lesson lasts between three and six hours and will see groups of students work together usually in teams of three or four.

Bridget Bartlett Deputy Chief Executive at the CIOB said: “There are 16 hours of lessons freely available for teachers, CIOB members and other professionals

The lessons are targeted at 12 to 14 year olds and take place in Newtown, a specially created virtual city in Minecraft, to design, plan, collaborate and build solutions that develop a sustainable future for all its citizens.

to use in the classroom. We want as many people as possible to have access to these lessons and have worked hard to develop a solution that works on all Minecraft platforms not just Minecraft Education.

“The beauty of Minecraft and our lessons is that they are open source.

Anyone wanting to teach them can and has access to all the supporting tools they will need. We are already seeing a mixture of construction employers and schools in the UK and the US using these lessons to inspire the next generation of construction managers.”

The influence of Minecraft has seen the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure (Northern Ireland) announce that it will provide free licenses to over 200 schools and 30 libraries in Northern Ireland to engage young people in city planning and construction.

The lessons cover four areas of construction, maintenance, restoration, new build and refurbishment and allow users to take on real life scenarios such as restoring Battersea Power Station.

Willmott Dixon to deliver 1,500 homes in partnership with Hounslow Council HOUNSLOW Council’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Lampton 360, will work alongside Willmott Partnership Homes - part of the Willmott Dixon Group - to provide 1,500 homes with an initial development value of £90M. The homes will be a mix of tenures with 40% affordable, 40% open market sale and 20% private rent.

The Council is hoping to deliver 7,200 homes in the designated Hounslow and Feltham town centre housing zones by 2026. The first site up for development is Nantly House on Lampton Road which will provide 74 new homes and commercial space. A further five of the identified 11 sites will follow later this year.

Willmott Partnership Homes’ Chief Operating Officer, Charlie Scherer, was full of praise for the unique joint venture which could unlock new housing. He said: “Our joint venture with Lampton 360 is an

16

excellent example of how a forward thinking London borough, in this case Hounslow, can speed up the unlocking of their surplus land to create new homes for their residents by bringing in added capacity that can deliver ambitious, multi-site programmes.

“Working in a truly collaborative, 50/50 joint venture will allow us to blend our knowledge together to accelerate the provision of much needed new housing available for all tenures.”

Howard Woollaston, Chair of Lampton 360, echoed Mr Scherer’s sentiments, saying: “The link-up with Willmott Partnership Homes will help Hounslow accelerate the delivery of affordable housing on its sites and generate revenue for the borough by unlocking value within its land assets.

The complimentary skill-sets will see Lampton 360 lead on identifying sites and gaining planning permission, while Willmott Partnership Homes will add its construction, sales and marketing skills to deliver the new homes.”

Alfriston School/Duggan Morris Architects Š Jack Hobhouse Design tm-studio.co.uk

Good Posture is Cost Effective

by Anthony Hill, Managing Director, Aalborg DK

“

Students frequently miss lectures when seating is

uncomfortable. They also need comfortable accommodation

with good and versatile seating.

”

Have YOU heard such comments?

Are they representative views, and if so what should be done to raise attendance and study?

Does the furniture you provide fit all sizes of both male and female students? E.g. 1.5m – 2.1m tall, and both thin and of varying width and weight.

UK is apparently surprised that many UK students prefer Dutch and other EU universities, which cost less and are more innovative. Scandinavian universities such as Aahus and Copenhagen have both understood and spent hugely on good and comfortable equipment to assist concentration and enjoyment.

Students ENJOY the company of like minded colleagues to learn and enjoy. Many look for a companion to share love/life/enjoyment, the better the environment and the background pleasures it brings the more likely is the recommendation that university gives out.

Active students from Loughborough University pound past my door each day. Young, sweaty, energetic and want to be a Paula Radcliff or a male equivalent. Some overdo it and spend time at Loughborough Clinics after injury. Some spend time in the same clinic after too much time not studying and trying to cram three years into three months at a badly designed desk.

Many of us have become used to poor seating, much related to school desks and chairs. Children as young as five years old are now complaining of back ache.

Slouching on soggy chairs at home using laptops or watching TV and too little exercise doesn’t help.

Badly designed school desks and chairs make matters

worse and only recently have school and college bursars begun to understand that well made postural furniture reduces discomfort and shuffling aiding students achieve better grades. It’s now medically accepted that students should both stand and sit.

Ergonomically correct furniture must relate to both the person and the task.

Many have not a notion of how good furniture should work to suit the wide range of shapes and sizes we cover. If a college lecture lasts an hour or more it’s essential that pain doesn’t prevent learning.

We all need inspiring with good habits and it’s a disgrace that over 40% of later workplace absenteeism is the consequence of back pain. No matter how expensive the adjustable chair, if the desk height is the bog standard 720mm then discomfort is guaranteed!

Sit/stand desks have been the norm in Scandinavia for over thirty years, here some are even claiming it’s a new idea!

Alongside is some idea of how we should be sitting, much higher than at present, which with electric lift desks, the ability to also stand. Architects mostly use high stools, Churchill did much of his writing at a high desk. My company produces a large range of desks and chairs, available in many shapes and finishes, together with saddle stools which allow high seated comfort, especially useful for IT work in a busy environment.

Sitting should be a pleasure not a pain. Learning ditto!

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Is diversity the only way to solve the housing crisis?

OVER the last 30 years, the Conservative Party’s main pillar of housing policy has been to commit to increasing the amount of home ownership in the UK. In this time, home ownership has gone up significantly, but we are still in the midst of a housing crisis. Too many people live in substandard accommodation and have little hope to be able to buy a home.

While net new additions to the housing sector continue to rise, achieving one million new homes by 2020 is not a certainty.

The recent housing white paper’s move to a more mixed tenure is a welcome shift in policy, moving away from ownership as the main focus of UK housing policy. While home

22

ownership is not an abandoned policy, a more diverse tenure mix is clearly now the Government’s direction. The Government is trying to encourage more institutional investment, to create more private rented developments.

Institutional investors take a longterm view, much less interested in the short-term rise and fall of sale prices but dependable rental income. This should give families more long-term security about their rented home, not having to face annual rent hikes as short-term landlords try to cash in while they can. The English Housing Survey shows that private rented accommodation (currently mostly small scale) compared to other tenures has a higher rate of homes not being classed as “decent homes”.

With a longer-term view, institutional investors are keen to ensure that the homes they build remain a good investment throughout the home’s life. This means homes built to higher quality, that are resilient to future climatic conditions are of key importance from the outset. Many large institutional investors are already investing in high quality sustainable homes; Aviva investors are part of a joint venture with Blueprint at Nottingham Trent basin using Home Quality Mark as the tool to ensure a higher level of quality. In Manchester, Legal and General have recently bought into the BREEAM Communities development by PEEL at Media City, Salford - another site we are expecting to see Home Quality Markaccredited homes on soon.

How homes being built is also likely to diversify, with talk of developments reserved for homes built offsite.

The diversity in housing policy is not just about tenure, but also who is building the new homes. Gavin Barwell MP, the Housing Minister said we are “too dependent on a small number of large developers”.

Encouraging smaller developers is a key part delivering one million homes by 2020. 46% of people surveyed by the Home Builders Federation said they were unlikely to consider buying a new home.

The perception around new homes is still one of poor quality design and workmanship. While this is the case still too often, there are an increasing number of smaller builders in particular who are trying to attract the “46%” into new homes with features and performance

that is beyond their expectation. Egg Homes and Lumiere are both using Home Quality Mark to help them communicate the benefits of their new homes to what is essentially a new audience. Homes that are more sustainable, better for our health and wellbeing, and have low running costs become key factors to 2nd, 3rd and 4th time house buyers. The Government also believes that more diverse homes will encourage people whose children have left home and no longer need large family homes to downsize to a home that works better for the later years of life. Places for People are using Home Quality Mark to ensure homes built for people later in life are really being built for their needs.

How homes being built is also likely to diversify, with talk of developments reserved for homes built offsite. Offsite, or factory built homes, should have the same or better performance than traditionally built homes. In a factory, quality control is usually more easily scrutinised, and costs and waste can also be controlled ensuring a product that could well be better value for money. Offsite construction could also tackle other issues such as construction dust, noise and traffic (particularly positive to the local communities of urban sites) but also help with labour shortages. However, as Crest Nicholson’s CEO, Stephen Stone, recently pointed out, some factories currently are 90% EU labour, which is higher than most traditionally built London sites. It may well be the case that many of these jobs are done by machines, leaving a need for different skills in the sector - skills to improve design, efficiency and overall quality.

In order to get acceptance from local communities, a more diverse housing policy must ensure that homes that are delivered to householders (and their existing communities) are of

high quality and low environmental impact to ensure everyone’s health and wellbeing is improved. The white paper suggests that homes built near railway stations are to be encouraged, something that not only means that the new homes are automatically well connected, but could limit the impact upon existing roads (as people may not need a car). It is a balance though, as without additional sound insulation from external noises (currently there is limited regulations in this sector), and the correct ventilation strategies (both of which the Home Quality Mark outlines) homes near railway lines could well become a nightmare to live in.

Public opinion regarding the quality of new homes could undermine all of the Government’s good intentions. One top ten house builder has a “Victim’s Group” on Facebook with over 1,200 members. Current customers share stories of things gone wrong with their home, and potential customers may well be put off from buying a home from this particular house builder.

Ten years ago, customers were not as powerful as social media has helped them become today. It isn’t only the housebuilders as now the traditional organisations that provide warranties are becoming drawn into the debate leaving a “trust shortfall” amongst consumers. As the Home Quality Mark evolves, trust from consumers is something that we will increase and build upon.

There is no single answer, but a combination of diverse homes, with different tenures, built in efficient ways that are in locations that people want, to high standards of quality and sustainability is the only way to achieve the housing targets that have been set.

By Gwyn Roberts, Homes and Communities Team Leader at BRE

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ATTEMPTING TO DEFEAT A SMASH AND GRAB ADJUDICATOR’S DECISION It appears that I am not the only decision maker troubled by the increasing volume of so-called Smash and Grab adjudications.

In these types of action, a claiming party seeks to be paid its application value regardless of the true value of work actually undertaken. Arguments regarding unjust enrichment and the like fail, not because there is no basis for such an accusation, but because current law provides that where a paying party has neglected to issue a compliant Payment Notice or Pay Less Notice the paying party must pay the Contractor’s application in full.

Payment or Pay Less Notices

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are required by a relevant construction contract’s terms or the Statutory Scheme for Construction Contracts (“Scheme”) where the Parties have failed to agree compliant terms and the Scheme applies in default. The notices must be served in the right form and in time otherwise the Contractor’s claim is payable in full, regardless of any hardship or perverse consequences that might flow from such a result.

So, what can a paying party do when it is on the end of a decision that requires it to make a payment that it knows is patently incorrect? Well, one course of action might be to seek a Part 8 declaration from the

Court that the adjudicator was wrong, either in regard to the timing or content of the relevant Payment and/or Pay Less Notices, and that the Payment and/or Pay Less Notices issued were valid and no payment was due.

In these circumstances, the paying party will issue Part 8 proceedings seeking a declaration to that effect. The Contractor may also issue its own enforcement claim or the parties may agree that, if the paying party loses its Part 8 claim, it will pay the sums awarded by the adjudicator in any event. These types of cases all have a degree of co-operation

in them and relate to very discrete points that a Court can deal with in a very short hearing or, more often than not, on a documents only basis.

Regrettably, however, there appears to be an increasing trend for parties to try and use Part 8 declaration proceedings to re-run an entire adjudication case before the Courts. This type of action is seen as an abuse and will, in most cases if not all, be resisted, leaving a paying party that has failed to issue a valid Payment or Pay Less Notice finding itself picking up a hefty legal bill in addition to having to pay the original adjudicator’s decision.

These sorts of issues arose in Hutton Construction Limited -and- Wilson Properties (London) [2017] EWHC 517 (TCC) in which His Honour Mr Justice Coulson clarified the position the Courts will take in relation to spurious attempts to avoid an adjudicator’s decision through part 8 declaration proceedings at the very start of his judgement.

“1. This is a summary judgment application by the claimant, seeking to enforce the decision of the adjudicator, in the sum of £491,944.73.

The defendant does not raise any issue as to the adjudicator's jurisdiction, nor is it said that there was any breach of natural justice.

Instead, the defendant seeks to defend the summary judgment application on the grounds that the adjudicator was wrong to reach the conclusion that he did and that, in consequence, there should be no judgment in favour of the claimant. The claimant denies that this is a legitimate approach on the facts of this case.

have an adjudicator’s decision set aside by the court where either all parties, including the adjudicator, agree that the decision is wrong or the issue on which enforcement is resisted is on a self-contained point, which requires no oral evidence or any other elaboration than that which is capable of being provided during a relatively short hearing.

2. As I pointed out to the parties during the course of argument, the defendant's stance is an increasingly common one amongst those who are dissatisfied with an adjudicator's decision. It raises fundamental points of principle and practice concerning the enforcement of adjudication decisions. For that reason, having informed the parties that I would enter summary judgment for the claimant and would not permit the defendant to raise their challenge in defence of the claim, I reserved this Judgement.”

Other than in these very limited circumstances, the only option currently open to a paying party that is disappointed with an adjudicator’s decision is to adjudicate on a later payment cycle if this option is open to it or to arbitrate or litigate the dispute afresh.

Peter Vinden is a practising Arbitrator, Adjudicator, Mediator and Expert. He is Managing Director of The Vinden Partnership and can be contacted by email at pvinden@vinden.co.uk. For similar articles please visit www.vinden.co.uk.

Summary The general principle remains that it is not open to a defendant to seek to avoid payment of a sum found due by an adjudicator by raising the very issue on which the adjudicator ruled against the defendant in the adjudication in Part 8 proceedings. Part 8 proceedings may, however, be used to

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Why construction should copy football and focus on youth DON’T worry, this isn’t going to resemble a Buzzfeed article where we make a tenuous link between two seemingly unconnected entities. OK, but hear us out at least. For the football fans among you who listen to any sort of phone-in, watch Gary Neville on a Monday night or read the sports press, you’ll know that the sport is constantly harping on about the importance of youth and why they should be invested in and trusted. Some would say that’s a fair argument, after all, as Sir Alex Ferguson found out investing in youngsters can make all the difference.

And while we’re not suggesting that focusing on youth could help you to develop a workforce akin to the ‘Class of ‘92’, it could actually help to tackle one of the most critical issues currently facing the industry - skills shortages.

The dearth of talent in the construction industry has been well publicised, but perhaps not as well as it should have been. A lack of professionals, both skilled and unskilled, could potentially have a critical impact on the industry and could ultimately affect productivity and even make projects grind to a halt in the not so distant future.

So what is being done to tackle them?

As many of you will be aware, there’s been a big push to bolster the number of apprentices in the industry and we have launched our campaign, ‘One Way Into Construction’ to encourage more youngsters to enter the field.

26

There are also a whole host of smaller initiatives aimed at the end of the workforce who either left during the recession, have recently retired or have moved away from the field for their own reasons.

However, what we haven’t seen is a proper push to promote opportunities to youngsters at an age where they might actually be influenced to want to pursue a career in construction.

Currently, the vast majority of employers engage with people doing their GCSEs, or who are at college, most of whom have already decided what they want to do or, crucially, what they don’t want to do.

Part of the issue is certainly down to the external image of the industry. To most, it’s seen as digging ditches in the dirt and while we all know there is undoubtedly an unglamorous side to working in construction, not enough is being done to promote the good aspects, of which there are many, and the potential a career can hold. People joining the industry have the chance to work on projects that can change lives, skyscrapers that can shape city skylines and use technology like drones and driverless vehicles that professionals in other fields could only dream about.

And let’s not forget that many of these people are earning considerably more than many of those working in more ‘professional’ industries. It may not seem like an ideal job when you’re

500ft up in the rain, but trust me, there are thousands of people who would love the chance to get away from their desk and join you if they had the chance.

The fact more people don’t enter the industry is largely down to the fact that we don’t actually engage with youngsters to the extent that other industries do, so most people don’t actually have an idea that this sort of potential is on offer. The likes of technology and financial services employers engage with children at a young age and promote the exciting opportunities they have, so why doesn’t construction?

Unfortunately, we’ve now gone past the stage where everyone could have sat down and debated the detail of a major initiative targeting youngsters. Skills shortages are here, they’re real and they could have a critical impact before you even realise it, particularly if freedom of movement laws change and we lose a chunk of the existing workforce.

Construction accounts for around 8% of overall GDP and few other major industries would allow themselves to get in such a concerning state. So why not take a lesson from football, invest in youth and see if kids can help construction get back on its feet.

By Paul Payne, Managing Director of One Way

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Concrete for Life

Will the sharing economy reduce the need for construction?

TECHNOLOGY is transforming the world at a rapid rate. The shared, or gig, economy is using technology to maximise the use of assets that, in traditional markets, would be underutilised. Cars, second homes, offices and Wi-Fi are just some examples of everyday items that sit idle for most of the time. The transport market especially has seen the emergence of new types of services that offer ways to ease the pressure within growing urban populations. For example, a typical car lies unused for approximately 23 hours a day. This represents a tremendous investment in overcapacity – both for car owners and for the public authorities that provide and maintain public infrastructure.

The space that sits unused within office blocks, industrial spaces, hotel valet car parks, leisure centres, residential blocks, council-owned land, all lie empty for certain periods of time.

For example, a car park within a block of residential apartments is typically empty between 8am-6pm and a car park within an office block is mostly empty between 6pm-8am. That time where the space is empty is worth money, and it simply requires a model to connect the resource with willing consumers.

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One model is catching the eye of local councils, landowners and even environmentalists – the re-use of idle building space for extra car parking; an issue that over-crowded cities have battled with increasingly as they continue to grow in population.

ParkBee is an Amsterdam-based (with a London office just opened) technology start-up that has developed a simple model that ‘unlocks’ the underused private car parks in congested cities for the benefit of public use. This simple model helps landlords generate large extra revenues by opening their car park space for the public at times it would usually sit empty. For the public, opening more areas that are available to park in means that drivers spend less time searching for parking (which reduces emissions) and for cities, this model helps lessen the need to build any new car parks.

Landlords are using the platform to make large profits on their sites. For example, since working with ParkBee in 2015, a site owner in Overtroom, Amsterdam, has made over €250,000 per year on just 30 parking spaces. The property can also collect additional BREEAM rating points. There is no universally agreed definition of ‘sustainability’, however BREEAM

argues that sustainability is the use of an asset to its full potential, therefore this model has a positive effect on the property’s value.

Drivers are also benefitting from this model. Being able to park in a once under-utilised space means the costs of parking are dramatically lower than other local parking.

So how does this affect the construction industry?

Put simply – by maximising a city’s under-utilised assets, we drastically reduce the need for construction. The example described above refers to parking, however the shared economy can come in many different forms within the built environment.

Hypothetically speaking, if we lived in a shared-economy utopia, and every empty home were to be utilised effectively, we would drastically reduce the current economy’s pressure to build new homes. The same can be said for office space, which is another booming market within the shared economy, as proven by the likes of WeWork.

By Ariana Alexander-Sefre

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Why is engineering skills shortage more acute in MEP? THE disturbing idea that the UK does not have enough skilled people to keep the country’s lights on is finally gaining traction.

Vocational training has zoomed up the Government’s agenda with a new levy effectively forcing big business to invest in apprenticeships.

It’s in response to decades of underinvestment in training across industry, not least in the construction and utilities sector, and it seems Brexit may make the situation worse if foreign workers leave the UK, voluntarily or otherwise.

One area where the skills shortage is particularly acute is MEP, something that we experience in our business when it comes to attracting and retaining highly skilled engineers.

Every time there is a recession, the construction industry is hammered. After the 2008 crash, there was no safety net for the sector as there was for banking, and construction was the last of the UK’s big industries to emerge from the downturn. With every slump, people have left the profession and not returned.

Consequently, there is a shortage of skills across the board, and engineering as a whole is also suffering. Last year, a report

by Engineering UK revealed Britain needs to be producing 69,000 more engineers than it is currently producing every year just to meet industry demand.

So why is the situation graver in MEP than other areas?

One explanation, with the greatest respect to my colleagues in other disciplines, is that MEP engineering is arguably the most difficult of all the design team roles

30

to successfully deliver. The extensive range of core skills required are now also overlaid with a plethora of energy, carbon reduction and environmental benchmarking standards. These targets have to be fulfilled as a condition of planning, and of course fundamentally influence the design strategy. As a result, the MEP engineer’s role has become more complex, however as a career, it is not as well-known as structural engineering for example. We certainly see more candidates for structural vacancies than MEP ones.

The supply and demand mismatch that follows from all this means MEP engineers can, and do, expect to be remunerated at half or even a full grade higher than their experience would indicate in another discipline. That puts pressure on employers’ margins and leads to staff churn as employees may be lured away with a higher offer.

What is the solution?

Early engagement is important. We welcome the increased emphasis on STEM subjects in schools, but at least as imperative is that teachers and careers advisers understand the opportunities in engineering.

The industry can do more to help itself.

At Meinhardt UK, we are in the fourth year of our internship programme with the University of Toulouse, and we have been running a similar programme with University College Dublin for three years. At West Hertfordshire College, we have sponsored a new engineering classroom within the college’s new innovation lab and also participate in careers talks there We also need to change people’s

perception of the industry, especially as Generation Z grows up with its post-Internet take on work and society.

Construction is not the dirty and unsafe proposition it sometimes was when I began my career. If more of us could spend more time explaining the opportunities and dispelling myths among students, teachers and parents, it could go a long way to filling the pipeline of a new generation of engineers.

I believe our industry bodies could also do more to promote the industry among young people and those who influence them.

In the short term, there are two imperatives for the Government.

In relation to the possible consequences of Brexit, we need a balanced solution.

In common with most practices, we have a European mix of talent that we can ill afford to lose, and an exodus of skills would be damaging to the sector.

Finally, we must avoid another recession at all costs. The housing shortage and government measures to address it can help to keep the industry active. Any significant contraction would mean the loss of more skilled people.

Unaddressed, the skills shortage will ultimately constrain the capacity of the industry to play its huge part in the health of the UK economy and in creating places for people to live.

We are not doomed but the situation is becoming desperate. Everyone – government, industry bodies and businesses – must play their part to ensure we have the people and skills this sector needs now and for the future.

By Martin Taylor, Building Services Director at Meinhardt UK

Interim Payment and Successive Adjudications: Update AS previously discussed, the sum due as an interim payment to a contractor is normally the sum that results from the employer’s payment notice and pay less notice, if any. But if the employer fails to issue either a valid payment notice or a valid pay less notice, the contractor is entitled to be paid the sum for which it applies.

In ISG Construction Ltd v Seevic College (2014) and Galliford Try Building Ltd v Estura Ltd (2015), Edwards-Stuart J, in the Technology and Construction Court (TCC), decided that, where an adjudicator decides that the amount of interim payment is fixed by the contractor’s application, the employer having failed to issue a payment notice or pay less notice, it is not permissible to have a second adjudication, on the correct valuation in accordance with the contractual rules for valuation, in respect of the interim payment decided in the first adjudication.

This issue has now been considered by another, recently appointed, TCC judge, O’Farrell J, in Kersfield Developments (Bridge Road) Ltd v Bray and Slaughter

Ltd (2017). She too found that it is not permissible to have a second adjudication on the correct valuation, because if the employer has not served a valid payment notice or pay less notice, there is no dispute about the sum due; it is the sum the contractor applied for. That sum must be paid and there is no contractual provision for it to be repaid.

The judge accepted that s.108 of the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996 entitles the parties to refer any dispute to adjudication at any time and that this would include a dispute regarding the proper valuation of the works. However, the judge found that where a particular interim payment has been fixed by the default notice mechanism under the contract (here the JCT Design and Build Contract (2011 edition)), there is no contractual basis on which to revise the payment by reference to a proper valuation of the works and therefore there is no relevant dispute that can be referred to adjudication.

following situation arises. The contractor contends that the correct valuation is £x and applies for payment of that sum.

The employer contends that the correct valuation is £y, but fails to serve a valid payment notice or pay less notice. The contractor is entitled to interim payment of £x. At the same time, though, there is a dispute as to the proper valuation.

I find the explanation offered as to why this dispute may not go to adjudication unconvincing. Even if one accepts there is no contractual basis on which to revise the payment, it is a non-sequitur that there is no dispute; there is still a dispute because one party contends for £x and the other for £y; and the parties have a right to refer any dispute to adjudication. Further, might there not be a contractual basis for revision, in the form of an implied term that once the correct amount is known, the payment is to be adjusted to that amount, or a repayment is to be made to adjust the payment to that amount?

By Peter Sheridan, Partner, Sheridan Gold LLP

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Solving the housing crisis by increasing productivity through off-site build FOLLOWING the publication of the Government’s Housing White Paper, “Fixing our broken housing market”, published in February 2017 and the Farmer Review of the UK Construction Labour Model in October 2016, it would appear that the need to industrialize construction methods is recognized.

However, turning recognition into action is the problem.

As identified by the Farmer report, this is exacerbated by the decline in the industry’s workforce. We need to grasp the nettle and build a large proportion of high quality units at customised facilities to be assembled on-site.

This does not mean industrial looking buildings. There are wonderful examples of this type of construction with very varied facades and with layouts customised to the owners’ requirements.

We at Pulse believe that one of the major drivers of change will be local authorities and housing associations who want to get more for their money, avoid the considerable disruption of traditional building sites and speed up the whole process. We are working with councils and housing associations across the country and they really are beginning to get it.

However, the situation today is there are not many large off-site manufacturers with an interest in providing homes.

There are many small off-site manufacturers who are busy on the traditional sectors of schools and offices.

Capacity in the industry is not there to deliver significant volume, especially

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in the one to five-storey homes and apartment buildings in the garden towns and villages, and housing zones outside of the main conurbations where 28 floor Private Rented Sector (PRS) schemes are being erected. We are focused on the housing sector and have created a team not just of building experts but also production and logistics specialists who can ensure a smooth production line with everything to hand to deliver this new type of construction project.

Off-site build is also demanding in that architect, engineers, interior designers, QS, production design, manufacturing, groundworks and installers have to work together much more closely so that everything is worked out to the smallest detail.

A good example of this need for a closely integrated team is one of our schemes - a multi-million pound modular housing scheme in Scunthorpe, which is being carried out in partnership with North Lincolnshire Council. Built above a central carpark this scheme is being refined to ensure that we deliver a building that is in line with the buildings close to it and has the right mix of apartments. All the parties are deeply involved to ensure that everything is agreed. This will deliver the project quickly and at the right cost.

What a client needs from off-site housing assembly is homes delivered at a cost which allows the scheme to be viable, at a quality which delivers reduced whole life costs in the rental sector and quickly. They also need a manufacturer with financial standing to

deliver the project.

Just a few key points on off-site or modular build: • Off-site construction is indistinguishable from traditional build - the facade can be modern or Elizabethan.

• The construction of the modules are unaffected by weather and can be fitted out down to the door knobs, with appliances installed and the electrical and water connections fully tested before leaving the factory.

• Quality control supervision is much easier to implement.

• Huge reduction in waste - up to 20%.

• Off-site construction can increase productivity by 50% to 60%.

• Each worker need only learn their own small role in the production line.

Less training means faster delivery and money saved.

• Site works can be carried out whilst the units are being built.

• Huge cut in disruption to those near the site and in traffic to the site particularly important in built up areas where lorry movements have been shown to be reduced by 90%.

• Modular buildings can be more easily expanded, reconfigured and relocated.

• Much less weight so that they can be more easily added to existing structures.

• The construction time can be reduced by 50% - very important in reducing financing costs.

By Mike Stockdale, Joint Managing Director at Pulse Modular Homes

Integration and Communication: The evolving role of the construction security director SECURITY is one of the oldest professions in the world, followed close behind by construction. For as long as these two occupations have co-existed, the security director has been tasked with defending the perimeter, keeping unwanted visitors off the site and ensuring the safety of curious children, for example, or ill-wishing opponents.

From ancient Egypt to 20th-century Manhattan, construction companies have always had a role for someone focused on the border fence, ensuring that intruders were dissuaded and, if necessary, apprehended. That role is still as essential as ever in the 21st century but with the rise of connected security systems, the remit of the security director has suddenly expanded to include the whole cybersphere.

Now the concept of the perimeter is almost limitless - a cyber-breach, in which attackers take control of security gates, cameras or identity checkers, could be every bit as damaging to the business as a more traditional blunt instrument, if not more. Many physical processes, such as surveillance and access management, are now increasingly being managed from a central control facility with responsibility for multiple sites - which may not even be on the same continent. As a result, there’s a great deal of communication and information relay now surrounding construction sites, which is highly vulnerable to attack.

New boundaries in construction In this new world, the role of the traditional security director and his or her team remains crucial, no matter where security headquarters are located. There is not now, and likely never will be, any substitute for physically interceding between a violent perpetrator and his intended target in a timely manner. Whether

the perpetrator is holding a hammer, a suspicious package or a grudge; muscle on the ground is always vital.

However, with new definitions of security, that role is now joined by a host of others. In many construction companies, professionals from backroom functions like IT, HR, legal and logistics are all now implicated in security, because all of these functions are digitally interlinked. A breach in the logistics department could lead a hacker through to the security frontline - for example, accessing entry passcodes.

So where does that leave the traditional security director? In many cases it is still true that there is no one in a better position to lead overall security efforts than the experienced security director.

However, it is equally true that, in order to do so, he or she must now be the leader of a multi-disciplinary team, with a group of professionals delivering what might be to them unfamiliar types of expertise. Moreover, that team will likely be located across several different sites, so effective collaboration and information sharing are essential.

WIDENING HORIZONS This era of convergence is creating an enormous, albeit temporary, window of opportunity for the security director to grow the responsibility and importance of his or her role in the construction industry. However, in order to lead the newly expanded team, many security directors may need to expand their knowledge base first. This does not necessarily mean having to become an IT expert, or a shipping expert, or a legal expert, but for many security professionals it will mean gaining a better understanding of the technologies utilized by those disciplines, as well as the language they employ.

This can be done readily through training, and many large organisations in the construction industry may offer courses that can help close the gaps in a security professional's knowledge.

These organisations often also have books and manuals that relate to these issues, and these are often especially geared towards the needs of experienced, on-the-job professionals.

LEADING FROM THE FRONT The security director's imperative now is to open, and, hopefully, lead, the dialogue with IT, logistics and other security-intersecting enterprise operations on how to integrate security applications with the rest of the business, and improving how risk is managed overall.

Security professionals need to take the lead and initiate the discussion.

They can offer their security roadmap and business plan to peer leaders in the other departments and see where plans intersect, and how they can work together to provide the best overall security services to the enterprise.

Changing the dynamics of a role and incorporating new skills can seem a challenging prospect, but especially in the essential work of the security team, it is often the price that must be paid for effective service in a changing business.

At the end of the day, if security becomes a closeted world with no insight into the company it is designed to protect, then the defence it provides risks being mismatched, outdated and ineffectual. As collaboration and digital activity increasingly become the norm, the most successful security directors will be those who take the initiative and gain the skills necessary to integrate with other divisions.

The construction industry is benefitting from digitalisation in many areas. But security directors must be alert to the dangers that come with it.

They must consider how to integrate cyber-security considerations into their perimeter protection. If they don’t defend the company’s cyber presence as well as its fences, then they might as well hand over the keys to the first intruder who tries their luck.

By Simon Gawne, Director Integrated Solutions & Innovation, Tyco

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Laying Leadership Foundatio technical and commercial skills to m THE UK’s built environment industry is undergoing a revolution. A number of large scale projects such as One Nine Elms, Meridian Water and UWE Bristol are driving demand and creating an attractive proposition for international investors. Yet, the unique nature of these larger developments paired with impending impacts of Brexit and the notorious red tape surrounding planning presents significant leadership challenges. The ability to break down barriers to international trade, drive R&D and innovation, navigate increasingly complex landscapes and comply with UK regulation is essential.

To match the pace of this change, success lies in having the right people.

In the midst of a widening skills gap at the top, it’s time to think outside the box for a solution that provides a mix of technical and commercial skills needed to deliver results, returns and resilience.

INTERNATIONAL FIRMS NEED KNOWLEDGE OF THE PATCH WHILE THE UK NEEDS MORE INNOVATORS

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The increasing demand for built environment delivery combined with the sector’s historically low margins are leading to increased interest from overseas contractors that are able to offer innovative and cost-effective solutions. Chinese heavyweight the China National Building Material Company, which is behind six prefabricated home factories in the UK, is fiercely taking on the UK market. However, to achieve optimum commercial returns and deliver on time and budget, overseas firms need on the ground individuals with knowledge and practical understanding of the UK’s indigenous supply chain networks, cultural differences and market challenges including gaining planning approvals. This proved successful for Beijing Construction Engineering Group International when managed by Gavin Taylor, an Operations Director with years of experience navigating UK infrastructure and securing high profile work including Airport City in Manchester. Hiring talent from UK

contractors may help to forge stronger links with overseas industry, break down barriers created by market differences and generate the best outcome for end user and contractor alike. At the same time, UK contractors looking to compete with international firms and produce innovative methods of delivery must look to their leadership. Securing individuals with a track record for driving innovation and R&D will be increasingly important if companies are to remain competitive.

CATALYSE R&D AND INNOVATION THROUGH LEADERSHIP AND COLLABORATION It’s no secret that UK contractors must continue to evolve in order to forge a competitive advantage, however an area that is lacking for the UK’s built environment industry is R&D and innovation. Construction accounts for less than 1% of the claims for R&D tax credits, compared to 30% in manufacturing, held back by a

ons for the Future: Balancing maximise the UK built environment sector-wide lack of familiarity. More firms are realising the commercial opportunities on offer and the need to compete with international firms.

As an example, UK financial services giant Legal & General recently began the hunt for development partners to support its move into modular homes, set to deliver 3,000 units per year. To think differently about its approach and fully embrace R&D and innovation, the sector must examine how it can source or collaborate with leaders and experts that have a track record for facilitating this transformation successfully in their respective fields. Exploring leadership in areas that embrace change such as manufacturing, automotive and logistics, where there has been a clear rise in the use of robotics and digital technology may help the built environment take that crucial leap forward.

TRANSFERRABLE TALENT The uncertainty generated by Brexit and it impacts on trade tariffs, access

to labour and future funding and regulation is creating a number of challenges and opportunities for firms to seize the initiative. Importantly, organisations face leadership challenges around succession in the near future with a lack of quality in the mid-senior tier. Consequently, competition is high and native firms are designing creative methods to hold on to their own their high performers. However, organisations can look to plug the emerging skills gap in leadership and management by looking further afield and redesigning role profiles. For transferable commercial skills including bidding, project management, negotiation and strategy, talent can be found in professional services such as legal and finance where individuals are highly competent and will quickly pick up the vocational knowledge. Natural people and business leaders are rife across the business service sectors and the armed forces where there is an exciting population of high level

operators. Finally, wider experience in implementing innovation and organising complex processes lie within the likes of manufacturing and logistics. Contractors pursuing a pragmatic and proactive approach should audit these sectors and benchmark them against existing networks in order to supplement and upgrade their leadership talent.

Large-scale projects are driving the evolution of the UK’s built environment industry and providing huge commercial opportunities for contractors. In the face of increased international competition, Brexit and the ever-challenging hurdles, focusing on finding the best balance of technical and commercial leadership will maximise business’ success, generate the best returns and write the next chapter in the sector’s story.

George Dobbins is a specialist in built environment at executive search firm Berwick Partners.

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Budget 2017: Chancellor delivers first Budget as Brexit looms CHANCELLOR Philip Hammond has delivered his first budget to “prepare Britain for a brighter future” as he promised a platform of stability for the UK’s Brexit negotiations.

For the construction industry, there were few headline grabbing moments, though the Chancellor did announce funding for new schools, measures to tackle the skills shortage, further investment to combat congestion on England’s road network, and support for the transition to a digital economy.

In what was billed as the final Budget to take place in spring, Mr Hammond delivered an upbeat assessment of Great Britain’s economic position as the nation prepared for Article 50 to be triggered once and for all. He said that the UK’s growth outstripped both the United States and Japan, and was second only to Germany with employment at a record high.

The robust performance of the economy since last June’s European Referendum has led to revised forecasts from the Office for Budget Responsibility for higher growth and reduced borrowing but the Chancellor said productivity was still “stubbornly low”.

Previously, the Chancellor had spoken about ensuring that the economy had “reserves in the tank” as the UK prepares for Brexit, and so it came as no surprise that he ruled out “unfunded

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spending”.

In order to increase productivity and remedy the skills gap, which may be exacerbated further by the loss of migrant labour following Brexit, the Chancellor unveiled an extra £500M a year investment in training young people.

New ‘T-Levels’ will replace 13,000 qualifications with just 15 paths, each linked to the needs of employers. The number of hours training for 16-19 year old technical students will increase by more than 50%, with the new qualifications seeing students engage in high quality three month work placements. The new courses are due to start from the 2019/20 academic year.

Mr Hammond announced £320M for 140 new free schools plus a further £216M on infrastructure for existing schools – an increase in schools spending by more than £500M. Ahead of the Budget, Mr Hammond had come under pressure from business leaders to ease the financial burden stemming from higher business rates.

As the tax brings in around £25Bn a year for the Treasury, the Chancellor ruled out the possibility of abolishing the rates. He announced measures to help those companies hardest hit

including assurances that no firm losing small business rate relief will see its bill rise by more than £50 a month next year.

Mr Hammond announced £690M for local authorities to tackle “urban congestion” with £90M to be spent in the North and £23M for the Midlands to address pinch points on roads.

The self-employed initially faced being hit with a tax increase of 2% in National Insurance Contributions (NIC). The Chancellor had said that the rise was necessary to address a difference in NIC between the self-employed and those in employment. According to the Chancellor, an increase of NIC for the self-employed from 10% to 12% would help to “support our public services in this Budget and to improve the fairness of the tax system”, though he later reneged on the idea altogether.

The move to a digital economy will be underpinned by funding of £270M in technologies such as robotics, biotech and driverless vehicle systems.

An investment of £16M will see the creation of a 5G hub to trial the future mobile data technology. £200M will also go towards supporting local “fullfibre” broadband network projects that are intended to attract further private sector investment.

Budget 2017: The construction industry response CHANCELLOR Philip Hammond has delivered his first spring Budget as the Government prepares to trigger Article 50 and ready the UK for life outside the European Union.

benefit from this until at least 2020, and with a potential exodus of skilled workers as a result of Brexit, we need to make sure we have enough home grown workers to fill the void.

The Budget was certainly slimline but there were a number of key measures announced that will undoubtedly affect those within the construction industry. UK Construction Excellence has gauged the industry’s reaction to see if they believe these measures to be beneficial.

“The investment to tackle road congestion in the North is welcome but isn’t the kind of large-scale infrastructure spending some may have wished for.

Peter Vinden, Managing Director of The Vinden Partnership - a leading multidisciplinary consultant company to the built environment - said: “This was very much a ‘diet’ Budget without too many surprises from the Chancellor.

“The skills gap is clearly something that needs addressing and the reforms to technical education are a positive step.

However, whether the measures will be enough in the short term to deal the shortage remains to be seen.

“The industry is unlikely to see any

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“The investment in new schools and regenerating existing infrastructure is another example of this.

lack of any real opposition with a plan, and an economy performing better than expected (although that depends on your expectations).”

Mr Anderson questioned just how far the investment in the road network and schools would stretch however, saying: “Sadly £90M doesn’t buy much tarmac these days nor does £216M when it comes to the repair and maintenance of existing school stock.”

“The economy has performed better than many were predicting following the Brexit vote but the real work for the government will begin when it comes to successfully negotiating Britain’s future beyond the European Union.”

Justin Arnesen, Director at R&D Tax & Grants was disappointed that the Chancellor failed to build on his pledge to get Britain building: “We are still experiencing a housing shortage and with Government borrowing costs falling, now would have been the perfect time to invest in, and prioritise, infrastructure.

Gordon Anderson, Construction Partner at Irwin Mitchell LLP felt the Budget was very low key with no unexpected announcements: “A bit of a damp squid of a Budget for the construction sector should not have come as a surprise to many - given the

“Disappointingly, the Chancellor has also failed to address how he will go about funding the construction industry post-Brexit. Investment alone is not enough and it needs to create bespoke infrastructure grants and incentives and, most importantly,

remove the hurdles that companies currently face when pursuing the R&D tax incentive. The Government has committed to a policy of ‘get Britain building’ and yet HMRC is dragging its heels when it comes to approving a large percentage of R&D tax claims from the construction sector.

“As it stands, the Government is not encouraging the industry to innovate, to take on new and exciting projects, or to grow. It can no longer promote construction loudly while quietly delaying or obstructing vital funding.”

Ramboll UK’s Managing Director, Mathew Riley, was critical of the Chancellor for failing to address the housing shortage: “No mention of housing, despite a lacklustre housing whitepaper, and given the desperate need for skilled workers there was no mention of any significant investment beyond T-skills – which ultimately fails to deliver any imminent relief to the skills shortage, with any impact unlikely to be felt until at 2020. Given the pressures of Brexit it’s even more crucial that skills development in the industry is prioritised.”

Brian Berry, Chief Executive of the Federation of Master Builders, was enthusiastic about Mr Hammond’s announcements, welcoming his attempts to address the UK’s productivity shortcomings: “The Chancellor clearly understands that the UK won’t address the productivity challenge unless we rethink our approach to technical and vocational education. T-Levels could be the answer if they genuinely rival A-Levels in the eyes of parents, teachers and young people. UK society as a whole has been guilty of putting too much emphasis on the academic route – this has made it more difficult for vital sectors like construction and house building to attract the talented people we need.

“In construction, we are suffering from a severe skills shortage and this is likely to worsen once we leave the EU and no longer have easy access to European labour. This £500M funding announced for T-Levels is therefore a

welcome and much-needed boost.

“The Budget was an all-round strong performance from the chancellor and he had good news to report right across the piece. However, increasing tax on the self-employed is not helpful. If we want to establish a resilient, Brexit-proof economy, we must encourage and support our current and future entrepreneurs in the construction industry and beyond.

“A jump in National Insurance Contributions from 1% to 10% next year could send the wrong message to those individuals who are considering going it alone. The self-employed are the backbone of our economy and the government should tread carefully here.”

Stephen Stone, CEO of developer Crest Nicholson, was supportive of the introduction of T-Levels. He said: “The inclusion of construction as one of the fifteen occupation areas identified under the new T-Level is a welcome development and it’s heartening to see acknowledgement of the need for greater investment in skills training in the construction sector.

“The new T-Level will give 16-19 year olds routes into the construction industry, more time in the classroom, and good quality work placements - welcome news ahead of the Apprenticeship Levy in April.

“Together with the Government’s support of graduates and apprentices, this will ensure a steady supply of talent and help safeguard the future of our industry. Ultimately this means we are in a stronger position to meet the growing housing needs of the country.”

Richard Laudy, Global Head of Infrastructure at Pinsent Masons, raised concerns over how the Government will cope in the short-term with the skills shortage: “The Government’s announcement regarding technical education reforms is to be welcomed, but it is a drop in the ocean and will not meet the skills crisis facing the UK infrastructure sector. The sector is still yet to recover fully from the

400,000 construction jobs lost in the recession and has an ageing workforce, 30% being over the age 50 and around 700,000 set to retire in the next ten years. And yet demand is only increasing. The UK needs to bring in an additional 36,000 workers every year to meet the demands created by our infrastructure programme.

“Government and industry should collaborate, map the skills required to deliver our infrastructure and prioritise them within any post-Brexit immigration system. So whilst the Chancellor’s announcement is to be welcomed, the Government needs to go further. ” And Jason Ruddle, COO at Elecosoft plc, urged the Government to give enough consideration to integrating digital construction skills within the school environment. He commented: “We welcome the commitment to support increased technical training to help meet the construction skills gap which may be looming in the post-Brexit period. As the Government develops its detailed educational plans, we urge it to integrate digital construction and engineering skills and tools into schools, in addition to promoting other practical technical and building skills. It should be considering how to engage new entrants as digital change drivers, for a sector which is falling far behind others in terms of digital competitiveness and efficiency.

One aspect of this must be familiarity with modern digital tools, as well as modern methods of construction.

“For T-levels to be meaningful in this key industry, they must help to create a new generation of digitallyaware construction and engineering professionals with a mandate and desire to play a role in transformation, and create a more efficient and productive sector. That means that vocational software, such as sectorspecialist planning and project management software, optimised for BIM and digital projects, must be brought into schools, rather than such exposure starting only at college degree level or in the workplace, as currently.”

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Vans of the Year 2017 EVERY year the editorial team at VansA2Z put their collective heads above the parapet and name the best light commercial vehicles available in the UK across a variety of categories; and 2017 is no exception. As always it’s not an easy task, and the simple truth is that the LCV market has really matured over the last ten years. State-of-the-art powertrains lie under the bonnet, a whole raft of active and passive safety systems are now fitted, and driver comfort is on a par with passenger cars.

At the heart of all LCVs, however, is the ability to perform a task, or in many cases multitask; at the end of the day they are a tool. The market has segmented over the years, hence the need for the different categories, but there has to be an overall winner - the VansA2Z Van of the Year. For 2017 it comes from the Large Panel Van category.

BEST SMALL VAN FORD FIESTA VAN If the current rumours are correct the popular Fiesta Van may be reaching the end of its life, which would be a shame. With a 1.0cu m cargo box and a payload capacity ranging from 486kg to 503kg, it is obvious that the little Ford

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cannot carry all that much. But if all you need to transport is a box of tools or a few small packages from one end of a city to another, then it may be all that’s needed.

Great chassis, pin-sharp steering and the choice of ecoBoost petrol or diesel power, combined with a great driving position, mean that the little Ford retains its crown for the seventh consecutive year.

BEST LIGHT VAN FIAT DOBLÒ CARGO A hotly contested category, this one, with no shortage of potential winners

but - for the third successive year - the trophy has gone to the Fiat Doblò Cargo.

Sporting a stylish exterior design and excellent ride and handling, and boasting some key technical enhancements to its drivetrains and a choice of four load cubes, it has come a long way since its original launch in 2000.

One reason Doblò rides so well is its bi-link independent rear suspension.

Not something that is usually found on a light commercial, it is compact and light yet at the same time durable; tough enough to handle the rigours of supporting a dropside body and all that entails once it's put to work.

VAN OF THE YEAR 2017 & BEST LARGE PANEL VAN VOLKSWAGEN CRAFTER It went on sale officially at the beginning of the year, will be making its UK debut at the Commercial Vehicle Show, and is a game-changer for Volkswagen.

The first generation Crafter was a joint development with - and built by - Mercedes-Benz, and had a great deal in common with the Sprinter. The all-new Crafter is Volkswagen from the ground-up, built at a brand new production facility in Poland. It raises the bar in just about every department for its sector of the market. Drivetrains, refinement and handling are all superb and it feels solid as a rock. Add to this extensive use of the latest active safety, driver aid and connected infotainment technologies, and the end result is a real winner.

BEST SMALL PANEL VAN CITROËN DISPATCH, PEUGEOT EXPERT & TOYOTA PROACE There is now sufficient size differentiation in the light van sector models that the larger variants can be considered to be small panel vans; both in terms of load volume and payload. Citroën, Peugeot and Toyota are the first to exploit this growing new sector of the market with the all-new Dispatch, Expert and Proace respectively and are joint winners.

Their secret to success is that they are based on a modular platform which means that they can be scaled up in size without spoiling the appearance. They also benefit from the latest generation of diesel power units, have very car-like driving characteristics, and an enviable

payload potential of up to 1.4 tonne.

BEST MEDIUM PANEL VAN FORD TRANSIT CUSTOM It may have lost out to the new generation Volkswagen Transporter in 2016 but, thanks to a round of revisions in 2016, the Ford Transit Custom regains the title in 2017. Its cab remains the best in the business for day-to-day driving and its road manners are impeccable.

When Ford took the Custom up to Euro 6 emission standards at the end of 2016 it didn’t just simply update the engines; it took the opportunity to make it more refined at the same time with some detailed changes, and it worked well.

It’s a joy to drive and the lack of in-cab noise is commendable.

Customer deliveries of front-wheel drive models beginning in May. Rear-wheel drive, 4MOTION and automatic transmission variants will follow later in the year, along with a range of chassis cabs and factory-fitted conversions.

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DIESEL ECO VAN OF THE YEAR FIAT FIORINO CARGO Super-efficient modern diesels of all sizes are returning better fuel consumption than ever before since the shift to Euro 6 emission levels.

There is no better way to see just how good they are in the real world than the annual MPG Marathon. Run over two days and covering around 300 miles, it’s the ultimate fuel consumption test.

Time limits are in place so that drivers have to cover the ground at roughly the speed limit of the roads.

Following its win on the 2016 MPG Marathon where it managed 72.1mpg overall, the 2017 Diesel ecoVan of the Year Award goes to the Fiat Fiorino.

BEST PICK-UP NISSAN NAVARA The pick-up market has undergone a complete transformation in the last couple of years as most of the main players introduced new generation models, not to mention some newcomers. It is the Nissan Navara, however, that wins this category for the second consecutive year.

It covers all the bases as a full-on working pick-up, including offering a longer load bed version and not just a double cab, and takes it one step farther. It provides a much more carlike on-road ride, even when unladen, thanks to the double cab’s independent rear suspension. And in no way does it diminish Navara’s off-roading prowess and load-carrying ability.

BEST LIGHT TRUCK FUSO CANTER Light 3.5 tonne trucks are used by businesses that require a sturdy, uncomplaining, no-nonsense workhorse.

They may not cover high mileages, but they are frequently abused. There’s not a great deal of choice and many operators prefer to go the dropside chassis cab route, but there really is no substitute for really heavy-duty work and once again it’s the Fuso Canter that gets the VansA2Z seal of approval.

Marketed through Mercedes-Benz's Van & Truck dealer network, Canter was updated at the beginning of 2014 and the icing on the cake is that it’s available with a semi-automatic Duonic twin-clutch gearbox and stop/start system - a first in this sector. That’s a real boon as these trucks tend to live and work in the urban environment.

4X4 CAR-DERIVED VAN DACIA DUSTER COMMERCIAL Some operators require a car-derived light commercial that’s willing to get

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EDITOR’S CHOICE IVECO DAILY 4X4

down and dirty, and venture off-road when the need arises. Not a great deal of choice in this niche sector, but the Dacia Duster Commercial stands out in terms of price and ability.

VansA2Z’s editor gets to drive a whole array of different LCVs during a year and there’s always one that stands out. Over the last twelve months there was one that was literally head and shoulders above the rest; the Iveco Daily 4x4.

It may not have the ultimate ground clearance of a heavy-duty off-roader, but the Duster is much more capable than it appears on paper. A centre diff lock is fitted and if you are venturing into the mud then all you need to do is twist a dial at the bottom of the fascia.

There are three settings to choose from; 2WD, 4WD and Auto.

To say it’s a bit specialist is an understatement and it doesn’t come cheap, but if a go-anywhere ability is top of the list, look no further. Huge amounts of ground clearance and the military grade four-wheel drive system can be tailored to requirement, including a tri-range, 24-speed transmission. He put it through its paces on the off-road course at the Millbrook Proving Ground and spent far too much time behind the wheel.

BEST 4X4 PANEL VAN MERCEDES-BENZ SPRINTER 4X4

ECOVAN OF THE YEAR NISSAN E-NV200

The vast majority of businesses do not need a 4x4 panel van that can cross deeply-rutted fields or clamber up steep, muddy, boulder-strewn inclines. What some of them could do with, however, is a vehicle that can shift bulky and sometimes heavy items, and will not be deterred by icy country lanes or snowy drives and car parks. This is where Mercedes-Benz's four-wheel drive Sprinter comes into its own.

Clean, cheap to run and quiet, the battery-powered van looks like it’s coming of age. Launched in 2014 and recently updated, the Nissan e-NV200 takes the trophy again, making it three in a row.

Also available as a chassis cab and chassis crew cab, it is what is bestdescribed as a low-rise rather than a high-rise 4x4. Although it sits higher than the standard Sprinter its ground clearance is nonetheless limited, but that need not be too much of an issue if all you are trying to do is get up a wintry B road.

It offers a 4.2cu m load bay, a payload capacity of some 700kg and a range of around 100 miles on a full charge, but one of the most appealing aspects of e-NV200 is that it doesn’t feel like a van that has been converted to run on electricity. The systems have been integrated beautifully and it has a completely bespoke dashboard; nice job Nissan.

For full details of all the winners and the rest of the light commercial vehicles available in the UK go to www.vansa2z.com

By Neil McIntee, Editor at VansA2Z

16-17 MAY 2017

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Don’t get locked into your commercial vehicles We’re seeing many construction businesses have put their long-term investment on hold due to the uncertainty over Brexit. It can be tricky to forecast demand when the economic picture is still unclear and organisations may not want to spend money on vehicles.

So even companies with rising revenues need to be careful about what may lie around the corner. Being tied into big loans for fixed assets can hurt: in fact, the flexibility to change your van and truck fleet has never been more important.

Some are concerned that the commercial impact of Brexit will be like the crash of 2008-09. But financially and economically, the two are significantly different. There’s no credit crunch here.

With many construction businesses unwilling to commit to long-term contracts due to their concerns over Brexit, both they and specialist vehicle operators could benefit from being wary of large capital commitments. Thinking flexibly has become the key.

In fact, funding is still widely available and seems cheaper than ever. But will it still be in two years’ time? This might be one of the greatest risks right now: that cash is temptingly affordable.

Currently, for some the picture is actually rosy. SMEs working in the construction sector are prospering as bigger companies sub-contract the surplus to them. The latter are reluctant to grow their own fleets and workforce through long-term contracts at a time when their customers may be unwilling to commit to contracts.

While simultaneously, vehicle providers are enticing sales by promoting good deals. It can all make purchasing vans and trucks look rather appealing.

However, US interest rates have already risen and it is widely believed that rates will follow suit in the UK economy.

It’s vital to maintain a fleet that supports demand – and in this case, that tends to be for more short-term contracts. That could mean taking vehicles on shorterterm deals – perhaps for one or two years (or even less) instead of the fiveor seven-year contract hire arrangements that most construction and infrastructure companies previously adopted.

That has challenges: how many vehicle providers are willing to take the risk on shorter agreements? Many don’t want to offer flexibility because they may end up lumbered with a fleet they can’t shift in a year’s time. This may lead to either paying a premium or compromising on vehicle specifications.

It makes it more important than ever to deal with providers that can withstand

To find out more about the difference we can make to your business, call 0800 328 9001 or visit flexerent.co.uk

the uncertainty and offer flexibility without limitations.

Financial solidity should be among the first considerations, so that construction businesses know their partner can hold up under the strain and always have the right vehicles to hand.

We may not yet know the longer-term implications of Brexit, but the immediate impact is more about what’s not happening than what is: many organisations are simply unwilling to commit to long-term contracts, whether as vendor or buyer.

So, although it may still be easy to acquire new vehicles outright or take on longterm funding deals, businesses should look at being more open in their approach.

If they haven’t seriously looked at flexible rental before, now is the time.

Danny Glynn, Managing Director of Enterprise Flex-E-Rent

® © 2015 TomTom Telematics B.V. TomTom ® and the logo are among the trademarks or registered trademarks owned by TomTom N.V. and its affiliates. Our limited warranty applies to this product. You can review it at www.business.tomtom.com/legal

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CASE launches Tier 4 Final T Series backhoe loaders CASE Construction Equipment has upgraded its T Series backhoe loaders, taking the opportunity of Tier 4 Final compliance to introduce improvements and more choice for customers, as well as the new CASE livery.

The new models achieve the demanding emissions standards with CASE’s unique SCR-only solution, which ensures a powerful performance with outstanding fuel efficiency – and no need for Diesel Particulate Filter or regeneration. The efficiency of the Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) after-treatment system has been optimised so that Tier 4 Final standards are achieved without a Diesel Oxidation Catalyst.

This reduction in the number of components has enabled CASE to rationalise the engine layout. The after-treatment system has been repositioned externally providing better access to the engine, the electronic module and fuses. The new layout facilitates servicing, resulting in lower

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Total Cost of Ownership (TCO).

In addition to the new engine layout, the exhaust pipe has been moved to the right-hand pillar, improving visibility.

CASE has extended to the two bigger models - 590ST and 695ST - the availability of the new backhoe design with in-line cylinder geometry and inner extendahoe, first introduced on the 580ST in 2016. Now customers can choose from the well-known CASE boom with overlapping cylinders and outer extendahoe and the new in-line design on all three models of the T Series range.

The new in-line geometry is the ideal choice for operators looking for exceptional breakout force and great reach. In addition, the narrower frame of the boom provides better visibility of the working area at the back of the machine. The CASE DNA boom geometry, on the other hand, is the perfect solution for tough working conditions, as the sliding part never touches the soil and the components

that do are protected against impact and material accumulation.

New Smart-fit teeth are now available for the front and backhoe heavyduty buckets. These teeth contribute to the backhoe loader’s improved performance: they penetrate deeper and stay sharp longer, resulting in more productivity that lasts over time and lower service costs. They are also remarkably quick to change - it is just a matter of minutes and the machine is back at work. The result: more productivity, longer life, lower costs.

A new universal backhoe coupler has also been introduced for both CASE DNA and In-line backhoe designs. With the new coupler most of non-original CASE buckets can be fitted on the CASE backhoe with minimal impact on back end length and digging performance. This results in higher flexibility on the jobsite and a lower cost impact for the machine’s owner as they can fit different buckets that they already have on-site.

Satov£e41

up * e l c i per veh

Get 2 months’ FREE breakdown cover + FREE Onward Travel* Having a vehicle off the road could cost your business more than £500† a day. That’s why it’s important to be with a provider who is properly equipped to get you moving again.

With RAC Business Breakdown, you’ll get Roadside, Recovery and At Home cover for 12 months, including 2 months’ FREE. And, if your vehicle can’t be fixed at the roadside, our FREE Onward Travel cover will provide you with a van-for van replacement vehicle – keeping your business on the move.

Call 0330 159 0794 to join today Every mile matters †Research conducted by 3Gem on behalf of RAC Business, among 500 UK business decision makers, April 2016. *2 months free RAC Business Breakdown cover and free Onward Travel terms and conditions. £41 saving is based on the purchase of RAC Business Breakdown + Onward Travel cover for a fleet size of 1-2 vehicles. The offer is for 2 months free business breakdown cover and free Onward Travel for the first 12 months of cover purchased on an annual subscription basis. The 2 months complimentary cover are included in the contract term. Valid for a fleet size of 1-99 vehicles from 25/01/2017 until 30/04/2017 and available on quotes given before 30/04/2017 and purchased within 30 days of the quote received date. Free Onward Travel is only available when purchased with RAC Business Breakdown cover within the promotional period. The offer price is based on the advertised web price of RAC Business Breakdown Cover as at 31/10/2016. The 2 months free and free Onward Travel offer cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer and may be withdrawn at any time. Onward Travel is valid for cars and vans (less than 3.5 tonnes) only. The offer is available to new RAC Business Breakdown customers only. No cash or other alternatives available. Taxis and minibuses excluded.

03 numbers are charged at national call rates and included in inclusive minute plans from landlines and mobiles. Calls may be monitored and/or recorded. Business breakdown provided by RAC Motoring Services, Registered No 01424399 and/or RAC Insurance Ltd, Registered No 2355834. Registered in England; Registered Offices: RAC House, Brockhurst Crescent, Walsall WS5 4AW. Arranged, sold and administered by RAC Motoring Services who is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority in respect of insurance mediation activities only. RAC Insurance Ltd is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority. 1216152014-2

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Why the construction industry needs to automate logistics

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Despite some pre-Brexit uncertainty, the construction industry looks set to have a busy 2017 with areas such as housebuilding and infrastructure construction in some of the UK’s largest cities likely to continue growing.

So, good news for the industry but how well prepared are building companies, contractors and suppliers to deal with the logistical issues that inevitably arise during major construction projects?

MEETING THE CHALLENGES Logistics remains a key support function of the construction industry, driven by an investment in commercial, industrial and residential growth.

However, getting construction products to the point of build has never been more challenging, while site delivery transport has its own set of logistical and health and safety challenges.

Working around the experts: Specialist teams are often required for fitting products but will only be on site at certain dates and times, so on-time delivery is often a key requirement.

The right vehicle for the job: Specialist equipment for offloading palletised products is often required. These can include fork lift truck mounted lorries such as Moffetts to enable the safe offloading of products on the site, as well as Hiab lorries with their built-in cranes.

The safety, service and cost effective management of logistics is key to the smooth running of a project - as well as ensuring productivity and profit. In my experience, the best way of achieving this is through the automation of many logistics functions - from managing carrier communication, to delivery tracking and checking transport invoices.

Last minute ordering: It’s an unpredictable industry and even with good project management and planning, supplies are often required with very little notice. Many builders order materials for the next day’s activity the day before, causing a hockey stick effect on demand and supply towards the end of the day, which inevitably places pressure on the suppliers’ fulfilment process.

Health and safety: Drivers should be equipped with personal protective equipment and procedures, including hard hats, safety shoes, goggles and hi-vis clothing. In addition, there is a requirement for urban deliveries and hauliers to be industry health and safety accredited e.g. by FORS (Fleet Operator Recognition Scheme) or CLOCs (Construction Logistics and Cycle Safety).

Construction logistics is becoming increasingly complex, with a greater focus on health and safety as well as carrier compliance

All of these requirements can be dealt with either directly through the automation of key transport management processes, or indirectly by giving the shipper more time to focus on developing a safe, secure and robust transport solution for their business.

The Benefits of a Transport Management System (TMS) Introducing a TMS can provide an efficient platform for dealing with basic day to day transport administration and load optimisation by integrating the TMS into the ERP system, ensuring that transport requirement is seamlessly transferred into the TMS. This can include standard address information (including GPS coordinates for new addresses), as well as accurate product weights and dimensions to ensure that the appropriate volume and weight is allocated to the vehicle. A TMS can also capture special instructions recorded at the point of order that need to be passed on to the transport manager and haulier.

ENSURING CARRIER COMPLIANCE Having to deal with multiple transport providers does mean that safety compliance can be more of a challenge, but this can be supported through online compliance management tools which provide various support functions including: • Carrier documentation: Captures scanned images of up-to-date carrier documentation including operator licence, insurance, vehicle maintenance records, safe contractor accreditation etc.

• Carrier training and communication: Training presentations that include safe loading, unloading, product specifics or specific site instructions.

• Online inductions: A mechanism for inducting drivers and printing induction certification.

• Desk audit: Enabling transport managers to audit the above, ensuring that carriers are compliant from an administrative point of view.

TACKLING THE PAPER TRAIL

MULTI-CARRIER ALLOCATION A multi-carrier solution can ensure that all specialist requirements are dealt with by specialist hauliers to ensure that the correct vehicle type (truck mounted fork lift, Hiab, tail-lift, rigid vehicle etc) is assigned based on the individual delivery requirements. This also ensures cost efficient haulier use by reducing empty vehicle running.

Engaging with multi-carriers can also help the shipper deal with seasonal peaks and troughs in volumes by spreading the peaks across a number of different providers, thereby reducing the service risk impact on any individual company.

With complexities created by variables such as use of specialist equipment and vehicle types and/or weights, the automation of invoice checking can save much complex and laborious administration. A TMS can calculate the costs of transport requests according to different vehicle criteria to enable a shipper to self-bill the haulier once commercial rates are agreed.

whether the product has been delivered, who has signed for it and the actual location of the goods.

Capturing real time information is essential in enabling a customer service department to manage an irate customer who is chasing a delivery that has been made to another part of the same site. Capturing the POD electronically through a sign-on glass process, accompanied by photographs of the delivered product, provides valuable information instantly.

Construction logistics is becoming increasingly complex, with a greater focus on health and safety as well as carrier compliance to ensure that the delivery is safe and environmentally sound. Automation is an essential solution to reducing rising overheads in what is already an extremely competitive industry. Furthermore, giving the transport manager more time to focus on the important value-added elements of transport management doesn’t just save money and improve efficiency - as part of a company’s corporate responsibility it can actually save lives too.

By Tim Fawkes, Managing Director of 3T Logistics

TRACKING AND PROOF OF DELIVERY One of the most significant and timeconsuming activities of delivering to a sprawling building site is knowing

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Construction workers should harness technology to boost profitability WITH strong practical know-how, the ability to problem-solve and the communication skills necessary to liaise effectively with customers, construction workers have little reason to fear replacement by robots in the near future. However, within a competitive industry where businesses have never had more choice when it comes to picking a firm to construct buildings and infrastructures, it is essential that construction companies harness available technologies to increase profit margins and gain a much-needed edge over their competitors.

SMARTPHONE APPS Ensuring that construction workers always have a range of handy features at their fingertips, industry-tailored smartphone apps are an essential addition to their toolbox. With apps now performing concrete and rebar calculations, as well as material cost and waste, smartphones have become an invaluable source of assistance within the industry. Yet, as every successful building contractor knows, good customer service is just as important as quality of work when it comes to securing positive word-of-mouth and encouraging customer retention. By providing a handy platform to build and manage all of their customer quotes in one place, construction companies are able to become more efficient when dealing with clients, encouraging increased satisfaction levels and bringing in more business.

VEHICLE TRACKING SYSTEMS Many construction firms will rely heavily on their fleets to respond promptly to emergency call outs, such as mechanical or electrical failures. Safety should be taken very seriously, and it is essential that workers respond to issues at the earliest possible opportunity to

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protect customers as well as ensuring provision of a quality service. Telematics systems can play an essential role in rapidly responding to call-outs, allowing managers to quickly and easily locate those vehicles closest to a job. By arriving to site as quickly as possible, construction managers can also be confident that they are boosting the overall customer experience.

word-of-mouth has become much more significant. Platforms such as Twitter and Facebook allow clients to provide positive or negative feedback on work undertaken at the touch of a button, but rather than being fearful of the digital revolution, firms should actively encourage dialogue with customers online to build trust and nurture relationships.

In addition to this, with traffic jams in the UK’s most congested towns and cities costing businesses approximately £768M each year, firms which use real-time data to increase proficiency and reduce fuel costs stand to gain a significant advantage. Providing managers with information about the most effective routes to take, tracking software offers construction businesses a new level of control over their mobile assets. With the ability to receive notifications when vehicles are idling due to traffic, vehicle telematics makes it possible to increase productivity by finding alternative routes, while informing customers of delays in advance, helping to build trust and improve customer satisfaction. With customers increasingly demanding accurate arrival times, real-time data is becoming more important than ever, making the ETA planner a valuable element of tracking software. By monitoring the speed of each vehicle, tracking software also provides the information needed for drivers to adopt more fuel-efficient habits – such as reducing speed, avoiding harsh breaking and decreasing idle time - allowing companies to cut costs on the road and maximise profit margins.

By choosing a channel that is relevant for their audience, sharing useful and engaging content and responding efficiently to comments and queries, businesses can enhance their service offering and foster long-term, truly profitable relationships. As well as allowing contractors to maintain two-way conversations with existing customers, social media also serves as a highly cost-efficient marketing tool, providing a quick and easy way of attracting new customers by increasing brand awareness and promoting work.

When deciding on which social channels to use, firms should first consider their objectives, for example, visual platforms such as Instagram and Flickr can be an effective way of displaying the high quality of workmanship while networks such as Facebook provide a great way of interacting with new and existing customers.

SOCIAL MEDIA Within the construction industry, reviews and personal recommendations have always been integral to a company’s success. However, with the rise of social media in recent years,

While the fundamental practical skills involved in construction may have changed very little for many years, the latest advancements in digital technology can help contractors to boost productivity and improve their service offering across several areas of their business. In today’s competitive market, it is likely that those who can embrace and take advantage of these developments will stay ahead of their competitors and keep business coming in.

By Scott Chesworth, Operations Director at RAM Tracking

Now that Article 50 has been triggered and we embark on our journey away from the EU, there will be a huge amount of negotiating and deal making going on between European leaders and our own. The impact that these deals will have on the nation’s economy will be widespread; businesses and industries across the country will be holding their breath in the hope that their futures will be bright.

For the construction industry, moves are already being made.

Even before the official process of leaving the Union began, the housing minister, Gavin Barwell, was in Cannes at the world’s largest property conference in an effort to attract investment in UK construction. Clearly, the need is there; a committee of Lords has recommended that 300,000 new houses are needed each year to keep up with demand. Prices are now an average of 7.6 times the average annual salary, far worse in London and the South East. At the conference in Cannes, leaflets

were distributed announcing that the UK was ‘open for business’ and is committed to creating the most business friendly environment possible.

It is this point that may raise an eyebrow or two; being the most business friendly environment. This would seem to go against one of the more well covered aspects of Brexit; immigration and foreign labour. While nothing, as of yet, is concrete in these discussions, it is likely that the government will pursue the so called hard Brexit and sever all ties with the Union. This could have a significant impact on the flow of labour between countries, not to mention the current levels of foreign born EU workers in the country. It’s estimated that more than one in four construction workers in London are from the EU, and throughout the UK, the industry could lose more than 8% of the entire workforce (175,000 workers) if we do not retain access to the single market.

For an industry worth approximately £500 billion, this kind of disruption would be potentially devastating; especially if sprung upon us without leaving sufficient time in which to counter the upcoming shortage of workers. The situation seems somewhat counter-intuitive; the government is desperately trying to attract investment into the UK construction industry, meanwhile appearing rather indifferent to the well-founded worries felt in the industry going forwards.

In order for the industry to meet the huge demands for housing as well as vast infrastructure projects like HS2 and a new runway at Heathrow, there must be the workers available.

Industry experts have estimated that 13,000 new workers will be needed each year until 2021 to meet this demand. Certainly, there is time for the outlook to change, but at the moment, the Government has offered little in the way of assurances that the flow of labour, on which the industry currently relies, will be protected.

Portsmouth Naval Base set to turn from Navy Blue to Green in its latest environmental drive PORTSMOUTH Naval Base has welcomed a new fleet of electric vans alongside the introduction of a Loan Bike Scheme, as part of transport and health initiatives being implemented at the base. The drive will help cut down on congestion, pollution and running costs, while the cycle initiative will encourage healthy lifestyles.

The NAVYfit Loan Bike Scheme mirrors the ‘Boris Bike’ initiative from London, enabling you to hire a bike at one location in the City, returning it at your destination.

The initiative is being funded through a partnership between BAE, the Royal Navy, Royal Marines Charity (RNRMC) as well as the RN Sports Lottery, and has provided 15 bikes so far, with plans to expand the scheme to 30 bikes in the summer.

The base is also welcoming a different type of fleet than usual in the form of 48 Nissan e-NV200 Combis. The vehicles will be used by BAE Systems’ personnel to transfer stores, engineering and load-lifting equipment from warehouses within the Naval Base.

With 26 charging points and 28 designated parking bays across the site, the vehicles can cover 106 miles on a full charge, and take just three hours to completely re-charge the batteries.

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It is anticipated that the use of the electric fleet will save the MOD around £360,000 in fuel and other costs over its two year duration. The all-electric Nissan vans will reduce carbon dioxide emissions from the naval base’s vehicle fleet by around 40%.

The electric vehicles have been ordered by BAE Systems on behalf of the Naval Base Commander as part of his commitment to investing in green energy on the naval base. Other initiatives already applied through this commitment include: the installation of solar panels, LED lighting in offices, LED street lighting, air-source heat pumps and intelligent control systems.

Portsmouth Naval Base Commander,

Commodore Jeremy Rigby, said: “I am very pleased to welcome the addition of these 48 electrical cars to our fleet in the naval base. It’s great for the Royal Navy, great for Portsmouth and great for the environment.”

Ian Anderton, Integrated Delivery Director at BAE Systems, added: “We have worked closely with Lex Autolease and Nissan to introduce this new fleet that makes a significant reduction to carbon dioxide emissions and respects ours customer’s need for value for money. Replacing nearly half of the transport fleet at the naval base reiterates the company’s commitment to creating more energy efficient ways of working and adopting the latest technologies.”

Are we getting UK Construction Excellence’s Matt Brown speaks with Mark Enzer, Chief Technical Officer at Mott MacDonald, about the advantages of off-site manufacturing and its perception within the construction industry.

IS OFF-SITE CONSTRUCTION FULLY INTEGRATED INTO MOST OF MOTT MACDONALD’S PROJECTS OR IS IT JUST SPECIFIC ONES? It is just specific projects at the moment because it’s not always appropriate and not all clients are ready for it yet. We see varying levels of maturity in the market, both in the UK and globally, however we do expect to see off-site manufacturing in more projects in the future.

DO YOU FEEL THAT THE MOVE TOWARDS DIGITAL AND BIM PROCESSES MEANS USING OFFSITE CONSTRUCTION MAKES MORE SENSE? Yes, completely. BIM is a massive enabler of both off-site construction and design for manufacture and assembly (DfMA). You can just about do off-site construction without BIM, however DfMA would be impossible without it. As we become better and better at BIM, we find ourselves in a stronger position to drive off-site manufacturing.

Doing BIM by default is where we are aiming to be. We aren’t quite there yet but we are making strong progress.

THE PUBLIC SECTOR IS A BIG DRIVER OF BIM WITH THE MANDATE. DO YOU FIND THE PUBLIC SECTOR IS GETTING ON BOARD WITH OFF-SITE MANUFACTURING TO THE SAME DEGREE? It is still early days. The Government mandate has really helped get BIM off the ground and in many ways the UK

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g the best out of off-site manufacturing? leads the world in BIM now, which has to be a very good thing.

When people get their heads around BIM they naturally begin to understand off-site manufacturing and productbased delivery. One follows the other.

Therefore, it won’t come as a surprise that as BIM gets more commonly adopted, the demand for off-site will increase. We already see this in parts of the private sector.

IS BIM THE BIG GAME CHANGER FOR OFF-SITE MANUFACTURING? It might not be the big game changer but it is definitely a key enabler. If we understand BIM, then that enables us to do off-site and DfMA. WHAT IS THE GENERAL PERCEPTION OF OFF-SITE MANUFACTURING FROM WITHIN THE INDUSTRY IN THE UK? When it comes to the industry’s attitude, you do see quite different levels of maturity. In some parts, there’s still quite a lot of wariness about it. It’s as if they are dipping their toe in the water, while wanting someone else to take the plunge so that they can follow.

There are a number of far-sighted clients who are driving change, however it is very difficult to transform the industry because there’s inertia.

The industry tends to want to do what it has always done.

IN TERMS OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND SUSTAINABILITY, WHAT ADVANTAGES CAN OFF-SITE MANUFACTURING OFFER? It would be entirely possible to do offsite manufacturing in a non-sustainable way. However, there is definitely the potential to come up with lower carbon, more sustainable solutions using this approach.

This has been proven in Anglian

Water’s @one Alliance. The off-site manufactured products developed there were both lower carbon and lower cost. They also dramatically reduced time spent on-site, therefore reducing disruption to customers.

Altogether, that’s a good sustainable outcome.

possible to have more robotics in a factory, which allows skilled workers to be more productive, meaning more output per worker.

WOULD YOU SAY IT’S EASIER TO MEET CERTAIN STANDARDS WITH A CONTROLLED MANUFACTURING ENVIRONMENT?

Yes, very much so. What it means is that a lot of the potentially hazardous on-site activities would no longer exist. You would also have fewer people on-site and more in the factory environment.

Yes, absolutely. However, the design has to be right in the first place. The D in DfMA has to be correct, then the M and A can be higher quality and better value.

HOW EASY IT TO TRAIN SOMEBODY IN THE OFF-SITE MANUFACTURING PROCESS? That’s an interesting question because the change of mind-set actually needs to be much wider than just in the individual workers. What you really need to do is change the end-to-end delivery process and then the training of individuals can feed into that.

What tends to happen is that DfMA gets squeezed into a traditional-style procurement approach, which then doesn’t work as well as it could. We’ve got to change the whole end-to-end delivery process to get the real benefits.

Having changed that, the question about training then becomes key.

Really, the training needs to be at all levels as construction gets to look more like a mix of manufacturing and logistics.

CAN OFF-SITE MANUFACTURING MAKE A POSITIVE IMPACT TACKLING THE SKILLS SHORTAGE? There is certainly that potential. On one hand, in a controlled factory environment you can make better use of people with lower skills. It is also

IS OFF-SITE CONSTRUCTION SAFER THAN MORE TRADITIONAL METHODS OF CONSTRUCTION?

It is therefore essential that the standards of safety in the factory are at the highest level. We obviously don’t want to make sites safer, but then have unsafe factories.

YOU ARE ALSO NOT AT THE MERCY OF THE ELEMENTS. That’s right, it should be a much more pleasant working environment.

People have a regular place of work and don’t have to use temporary accommodation away from home.

Whereas particular tradespeople, such as electricians, really benefit from not working in the cold on a building site.

WHAT ABOUT THE ADVANTAGES OF SPENDING LESS TIME ON-SITE? This is one of the major benefits of manufacturing off-site. Spending less time on-site leads to cost savings, but very often there are other requirements that means it makes sense to reduce the time on-site. Usually, this is to do with minimising disruption to the public.

For example, if you’re working almost anywhere that is in the way of the public, you will want to get the construction done as quickly as possible. So, if the components can be manufactured off-site and just need plugging in on-site, that’s going to lead to far less disruption.

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For decades, ProDesign has been the UK’s most trusted electrical design software and, recently, it’s undergone some exciting and significant changes.

Among the major developments is the work the team behind the product have made to the user interface. Over the last few years, the team has ensured its functionality and appearance have continually evolved, ensuring the product can keep abreast of new software tools. This means ProDesign customers can rely upon always getting the maximum benefit of a state-of-theart software tool, keeping them up with changes in industry requirements and regulations.

As Grant Webster, Senior Engineer and ProDesign Product Manager for Trimble MEP, explains, the team’s commitment to ongoing development work has now also made it possible for ProDesign users to produce electrical designs directly in a 3D Revit MEP application.

“This latest improvement to ProDesign really is a breakthrough for electrical design in the UK,” He enthuses.

“Integrating ProDesign engineering calculation with a Revit model help to significantly reduce the amount of rework and re-entering of data into two products which, of course, makes the electrical design process more streamlined and efficient.”

Happily, for those already working in Prodesign, their familiarity with the existing features will not be compromised and while the new interface is more dynamic, it still boasts all of the tools and features inherent in the existing Pro|Design.

In today’s industry, BIM and virtual construction are increasingly required on UK projects but, even in the absence of a mandatory directive, there are multiple benefits to undertaking electrical design in 3D.

Webster says: “The reason that companies are creating these models, even when it’s not mandatory, is that it’s easier to estimate costs accurately and you’re far better able to understand any issues you may encounter in the project going forward.

“To me, electrical design should be done in a 3D environment. As well as the reasons given already, when you go into detail design and construction phases, using the 3D model will help to ensure the space for your electrical equipment is reserved in the model.

“This should help to reduce changes to the design during the construction phase as the model should identify Clashes, poor design and access issues to equipment early on in the design. Which may have been missed using traditional coordination method which involved try to overlay drawing and a lot of communication between different teams and subcontractors,” He adds.

“Furthermore, engineers can ensure that the data that in the model is all stored in one location. While they’ll also be able to adapt their design more quickly as things change.

“Yet another benefit is that during conceptual design you can make assessment of long lead item like transformers, main switchboards and submain cables much earlier than previously through using the assigned spaces functionality which is only available in Prodesign 3D. “This functionality makes it far more fast and accurate than traditional methods for making initial estimate’” Webster says.

As with everything in business, the bottom line matters and the quicker and more accurate electrical designs are the more reliable cost estimates are. Working in a 3D environment

also reduces the amount of change orders required during the construction process, again saving time and money.

In addition, working directly in the 3D Revit model results in less duplication of information and the need to continually import and export files. The latter process can lead to files easily becoming corrupted which, again, can lead to rework.

Offering his vision of electrical design going forward, Webster is keen to stress that he sees it very much within the realms of a 3D environment. He also states the importance of people embracing the transition from 2D design if they want their businesses to remain competitive.

“The benefit of using 3D tools and storing all this data into one tool will benefit all those involved,” He says.

“More time can be spent in the design office resolving issues that, on site, can lead to massive change orders and delays in schedules. It’s essential that businesses get onboard if they’re not going to fall behind. “ We will continue to develop ProDesign until it’s fully integrated with both the engineering tools and design tools contained within one application. This would include things like intelligent Schematics, cable routing management tools, all within the Prodesign 3D product.

“We’re also making strides towards integrating automatic assignment of the cable route, installation method and grouping factors, while still allow the user to to change this information if required.

“It a big vision and will take time to get there but the benefit will improve the industry massively, helping to dramatically improve efficiency and reduce cost and mistakes.”

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Constructing Smarter Cities: Construction industry needs to catch up with smart city boom

CITIES are starting to get smarter with data sources and multiple sensors connecting people, services and things so they can engage with each other.

Bringing together infrastructure, social capital and technology fuels sustainable economic and social development with the aim of providing better lives and urban environments for all.

However, while cities themselves are on an upward technology path the construction industry is not taking the same dynamic trajectory.

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Cities must innovate fast and smart to deal with the major urban challenges of population growth (or decline in some cities), housing, healthcare, energy, education, transport, finances, security, economic development, and leisure.

History has shown that balancing these needs and wants of cities and their citizens is complex and fraught with political and financial minefields.

PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC) predicts that by the end of this decade,

construction will account for more than 13% of the global economy.

Construction is one of the largest industry sectors of the UK contributing almost ÂŁ90Bn to the UK economy (or 6.7%) in value added. It comprises over 280,000 businesses covering some 2.93 million jobs, which is around 10% of total UK employment.

But building itself is often an outdated, dangerous and low productivity industry. Steering cities and those that

build them in the right direction has challenged planners for decades. This is especially true in the UK which lags behind many countries and much of Asia for modern building practice.

Process models for construction have remained largely the same for hundreds of years, often with highly skilled labour carrying out tasks for which they are often over qualified. Simply outsourcing work, i.e. making components in a factory, enables manufacture by lower skilled operators. This cuts cost, improves quality, reduces on-site re-work and allows total operational control. In this system, on-site work consists of assembly of quality-assured parts, each guaranteed to be fit for purpose.

3D technology has made significant inroads into architectural design and fabrication to excellent effect, but process modelling at the construction phase is virtually non-existent.

THE IT CITIES Advancing British cities into an age of smartness and more efficient building practices requires a paradigm that delivers new vision. This can be enabled by the creation of virtual twins of cities in the digital world.

These highly visual, interactive and dynamic 3D models evolve with the city and grow as more information, knowledge and data is added.

They can then be used as a central reference point for local government, urban planners, architects and citizens to view their city accurately, based on current information which is unified into a single source of the truth.

With this approach, progressive cities can commit their work, including 3D digital models of existing and proposed buildings and services, to

a unified platform building up an increasingly detailed model of the city when new projects and live data are added. As more users contribute information a 'time machine' historic model emerges. This allows historic situations to become viewable helping to avoid past mistakes while the progress of current work can be very accurately monitored, recorded and tracked. In short, this 3D platform approach allows city authorities to manage the past, sustain the present and plan the future, enabling legacy to exist sensitively alongside the new.

Interactive, data rich 3D models can also help define the future of cities based on 'what if' scenarios that the technology simulates. These can cover any of the millions of actions and interactions of things and people that comprise the city.

Data can be marshalled to create vision for policies and provision of health services, mobility, security planning, and energy delivery when the mass of data from sensors and city activities is combined into a single unified platform. Simulating the life of cities and their services using this technology means they can become de-compartmentalized and considered as whole inter-related entities.

historical information.

This new perspective integrates formerly disparate departments making them better informed, more efficient and able to visualize and simulate with great accuracy to deliver better lives for urban populations.

Recent decades have seen technology propagate across many UK industries to improve efficiency, productivity and profits. By comparison the construction industry is far behind.

The Department for Business Innovation and Skills makes this official in their economic analysis of UK construction which states ‘the proportion of firms innovating still ranks low relative to other sectors’.

Without this accurate vision and unified workflows that record actions and decisions, good planning can be compromised because of 'invisible data' - i.e. data that is locked away in departmental silos. Adding all data to the model enables universal and democratic access to current and

EXPERIENCE THE DETAIL Using shared 3D experiences to simulate cities reveals potential problems that may not be seen by any other means. Overlaying data reveals new views and it is possible, with this technology, to actually predict events in transport systems, and hubs, public services, utility provision and security.

Seamlessly linking the system to financial software allows cost planning and budgetary predictability. By this means potential problems and their outcomes can be observed, costed and fixed before they occur.

Building up information and knowledge this way helps make complexity visible and more understandable. That saves time and allows projects to proceed more easily with all stakeholders being aware of the consequence of their decisions.

Being able to simultaneously see the big and the small picture with detailed financial implications can also help reduce corruption by making it easier to spot.

RISKY BUSINESS

Studies of the construction industry have also documented 25% to 50% waste in coordinating labour and in

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managing, moving, and installing materials. In many cases talent and skill are underused, avoidable accidents happen and productivity remains low.

The introduction of Public Private Partnerships (PPP) and Private Finance Initiatives (PFI), have changed the way developments around the world are built and managed. The involvement of more parties in larger scale projects within tighter regulatory and legal frameworks requires transparency, openness and a spirit of collaboration.

Sometimes these have proven rare commodities in the construction business.

This points to a significant business opportunity because when the same extended supply chain collaboration practices that have powered other industries into innovation, are applied to building, they produce stunning results. A construction supply chain, sharing closed data, can have a major, positive impact on the delivery of a project to time and cost, adding value to the overall process.

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Many building projects overrun, outspend their budgets by more than 20% and end in expensive and wasteful litigation. Between concept and delivery of a finished building lie the stages of design and engineering, contracts, bids and awards, fabrication and construction. Each stage is fraught with risk.

Stakeholders risk in a building project of any kind can be more than financial.

Buildings define their locations and neighbourhoods; people have emotional attachments to them.

Much of this risk can be reduced when clients, architects, contractors, communities and stakeholders work interdependently on the same current unified knowledge platform where guesswork and misinterpretation are removed, and open yet secure collaborative integration is a given.

WORKERS UNITE The building industry is fragmented with the world's biggest construction

companies occupying only a small percentage of the total market. Small firms, often without the benefits of technology, make up the majority of the industry. Attempts to integrate disparate groups and processes have often been the role of the project manager.

However, current project management systems have their limitations and are usually used only at the construction stage and without reference to the bigger picture. A system that spans and manages projects from idea, through design, fabrication and build to operation and maintenance, underpinned with a seamless collaborative platform that incorporates rigorous industrial construction practices, and defines and orders workflows, can deliver better results.

The UK building industry would benefit from a business platform that addresses the diverse needs of owners, occupants and other stakeholders including professions such as architects, engineers, fabricators and constructors. This would help British construction focused companies

Introducing advanced technology also attracts fresh talent to the construction enterprise, Small firms, often without the benefits of technology, make up the majority of the industry giving it a welcome and valuable intellectual boost. Some elements of the construction industry are being changed by a small number of bright, enterprising people who are taking new approaches unshackled by tradition. Equipped with powerful digital technologies they are achieving changes through disruption.

LAW AND ORDER Commonly litigation at, during, or after a construction project is the result of poor communications between systems and people. Errors with building components and services are expected, and usually occur, but are absolutely avoidable. Simply unifying the change order system on a building project allows people to work collaboratively. They have access to the current status of the building and its information. This enables better-informed strategic and tactical decision-making at all stages and virtually eliminates errors caused by wrong or superseded instructions being acted upon.

Powerful interest groups, complex structures erected between active city infrastructure and mass transit systems, and a baffling array of often conflicting regulatory and environmental compliance issues are forcing some changes in the UK building industry. better understand the short and long term business, technical and commercial implications of their projects, support waste elimination, get projects leaner and create safer construction project environments.

This approach would take the BIM process beyond the current, limited, design-based BIM Level 2 to the ideal Level 3 and 4 spectrum of full building lifecycle management, with all the efficiency, cost and waste reduction, and positive return on equity that would realise.

Regulatory compliance so often seen as an obstacle to progress can become a valuable asset if handled properly.

A well-developed delivery system able to integrate and accommodate regulations ensures that they are tracked over time and complied with long term.

Environmental questions can be answered using unified building data to accurately determine the status of buildings before they are built. Their environmental impact can be fully

determined and optimized to meet stakeholder needs. Incorporating weather and climate data as well as energy consumption or output has led to some innovative and ingenious designs that would not have been possible without easy access to and sharing of information.

BETTER MOVES The movement toward integration and collaborative construction coupled with industrialized off-site modular building methods is gaining momentum and changing both the nature and the management structures of the construction industry.

The results are better quality buildings brought in on time and budget within more efficient enterprises.

The next logical step for cities that seek to achieve smartness is for the enterprises that construct them to deploy technology that reduces fragmentation, unifies documentation and safely speeds up design and construction. Making digital the foundation of building planning and construction would lead to contracts based on value rather than price and to openness and transparency replacing inflexible and inefficient supply chains.

This change can be achieved by introducing concurrent, flexible and collaborative working methods that turn city data into accessible knowledge. That delivers better operational efficiency and financial returns for investors and stakeholders while enabling enhanced economic and social benefits for everyone.

Construction industry players who don’t step up to the challenge of modernizing their processes are holding the entire industry back. Smart cities are getting smarter but unless they include the construction industry they will never be all that smart.

By John Stokoe, Head of Strategic Business Transformation, Dassault Systèmes EuroNorth Images courtesy of Dassault Systèmes

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“It’s all about the data”

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DENNIS O’Keeffe, Infrastructure Programme Director at the Velindre NHS Trust in Wales, is looking to build a £200M+ specialist cancer treatment centre. He explains why he’ll be writing the transfer of BIM data into the contract, using Velindre’s ‘Enterprise BIM’ initiative that is being developed with Mott MacDonald.

Acres of words have been written about the efficiencies and advantages building information modelling (BIM) brings to design and construction.

But, as a public service client, we feel there’s a certain amount of asymmetry in the industry. We haven’t seen the full benefit of BIM, especially in the operational phases of a project.

During that stretch, the client – usually the NHS in the UK – doesn’t have the full apparatus of data to really monitor the performance of the building.

Public private partnership (PPP) has become a normal way of procuring new health facilities. A substantial part of a PPP service contract is taken up by the 25-year concessional period.

ENTERPRISE BIM

The construction industry’s at the point where it can create and capture data during design and construction. The capability exists to monitor operational performance, analyse data, and make decisions based on that. I want access to it all. To get it, we need to lay out the PPP contract with operation and ultimate handover back to the public sector in mind. Access to data will enable us, as client, to truly participate and collaborate in the operational phase, from a position of knowledge.

At the moment it feels like data is owned exclusively by the PPP contractors working for us. As an

analogy, we’re like the kid with their nose pressed against the sweet shop window. We, the public sector clients, are looking in, but we can’t touch the sweeties. We want in on it. We need to write it into the contract, because experience shows that if it’s not in the contract it may not get done!

Why does this matter so much? In today’s increasingly digital age, I’m told supermarkets can now tell from shopping habits when couples are going to get divorced. And there’s almost no part of our lives that isn’t touched by the internet. That’s the power of data! The challenge to designers, builders and asset managers is to become digital natives and data scientists – far beyond ‘bricks, mortar and concrete’. We want, in our own modest way, with our new cancer centre project in Cardiff, to make BIM and data work for us.

It’s only when a building goes live that you know if you’re actually achieving the aims you had at the outset and put into the design and construction specifications. As clients we not only want to be able to use data to drive operational efficiencies; we want to learn from our experience as procurers, so that we can make each subsequent project better than the one before. Without performance data, we’re blind.

Let’s be blunt: without ‘Enterprise BIM’, we will continue to operate at a relative disadvantage in the operational phase of the PPP concession, compared to suppliers who do use BIM effectively. It’s to our advantage – or at least less to theirs – if we know what the energy performance is, when repair and maintenance are required and what the response time to callouts is. Enterprise BIM also has the potential to make the evaluation of the bidder’s designs and the procurement process more efficient and effective.

Live data would also help us influence better behaviours. One of the big problems in hospitals is energy wastage. From a facilities management perspective, getting people to change their culture and habits is the golden goose. Real-time data would help build

Above all other interests, data transparency and transfer is in the interests of those for whom health facilities exist: clinics and hospitals that are designed, built and operated better ultimately benefit people suffering from illness consciousness of what’s going on.

Above all other interests, data transparency and transfer is in the interests of those for whom health facilities exist: clinics and hospitals that are designed, built and operated better ultimately benefit people suffering from illness, by enabling better care and the redirection of precious capital from heating bills to treatment.

OPERATIONAL GAINS Hospitals are complicated buildings. I want the best design, and information and control during operation. There’s

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no point having a sports car if you’re going to drive it like a delivery van.

That’s why I’m putting data sharing into the contract for the PPP that will deliver my new facility. If the industry responds as I hope, by 2022 we will have a fabulous new building, bringing world-class cancer treatment, an exemplar not just for healthcare, but the whole public sector. We’ll have a sports car and the ability to drive it.

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We have extensive experience in the design of highway schemes, including feasibility studies, preliminary and detailed design, contract preparation and construction supervision.

We can create 3d models for you which comply with the BIM principles.

These models will show all 3d elements, such as pavement layers and street furniture, allowing quantities to be extracted directly from the model and 4d schedule simulation to be carried out. The models created will capture the design intent and will facilitate clash detection.

The models will also feature elements which are capable of being attributed with information for asset management purposes, which is a key requirement of BIM level 3.

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however I don’t have much experience of them so I can’t comment on them.

So you have accepted that it’s a good idea to work in line with the BIM protocols, however are you prepared to change your working practices?

3D MODELLING

As you are probably aware now, BIM is about a number of things, including 3d modelling, 4d schedule simulation, 5d cost estimation and 6d asset management.

If you are already producing 3d models you probably think you are doing okay, however you also need to think about the further BIM processes such as 4d, 5d and 6d.

SINGLE SOURCE OF TRUTH

Does your software allow you to attach intelligent data to elements in your model or can you create IFCs from your model, allowing you to transfer your model to another software package which will allow you to attribute the elements?

To explain, everybody within the project team, including the client and any sub-consultants need to be using exactly the same data.

If it doesn’t then your software package isn’t really suitable for the whole BIM process and you need to think about changing your software package.

You may think you already do this, but you may be innocently working in a silo.

4D SCHEDULE SIMULATION

However, a very important part of BIM is collaboration and the “single source of truth”.

Do you produce your models and drawings on your own servers and then upload them to a collaboration site?

If you do you are already missing the single source of truth – you will definitely have different versions on your server compared to the ones on the collaboration site.

4d schedule simulation is invaluable as tool for seeing what is being built at any particular time on your programme. It also shows if you have missed any work activities from your programme and it will highlight any clashes between built work and elements still to be built.

So – your 3d model needs to be capable of being used by good 4d software such as Synchro.

Also, if you have another consultant working on your project doing something like drainage design, traffic signals design, structural design etc I’ll bet they are working from their own servers and then uploading their work to the collaboration site.

With any 4d scheduling software you need to be able to associate an element in your model with a work activity on your programme.

If you don’t have suitable elements in your 3d model and you only have 3d lines then you can’t do 4d schedule simulation from your model.

So what version is on the collaboration site and what version is on their servers?

5D COST ESTIMATION

Do you work on your computer’s hard drive or C drive?

If you do you have same problem as the consultants.

The answer is for everybody to work on a sophisticated file collaboration site such as Bentley Projectwise, which can handle all files including documents and model files. Projectwise checks out files to the user and locks the checked-out files so that nobody else can access them until they are checked in – so a real single source of truth.

Other file collaboration systems are available,

5d cost estimation is about being able to extract usable information from the elements in your 3d model which you can export to a spreadsheet, allowing you to instantly calculate the costs of the elements in your project.

Again, if you don’t have elements in your model and you only have 3d lines then you won’t be able to do this.

Also, if your software isn’t capable of exporting the data from your 3d model then it isn’t BIM compliant.

To summarise, think about all of the BIM processes before you start working

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Risky Business:

An Exclusive Interview with Dr David Hancock ALMOST a year on from the Government’s hugely ambitious BIM Level 2 mandate, UK Construction Excellence’s own Matt Brown speaks exclusively to Dr David Hancock about the UK BIM journey, skills shortage concerns, and the outlook ahead for construction in 2017.

Dr Hancock leads the Government Construction Team and chairs the Government Construction Board for the Cabinet Office and Infrastructure and Projects Authority (IPA). Prior to that he was Head of Risk for Transport for London and London Underground.

Renowned internationally as a leading thinker and practitioner in the field of behavioural risk, David is the author of the bestselling book “Tame, Messy and Wicked Risk Leadership” in which he developed the concept of risk leadership. He has worked with the public, private and voluntary sectors and was Head of Risk for the Terminal 5 Project at Heathrow.

AS WE MOVE CLOSER TOWARDS THE ANNIVERSARY OF THE BIM LEVEL 2 MANDATE IN APRIL, WHAT’S YOUR VIEW ON WHERE THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY IS POSITIONED ON ITS BIM JOURNEY? The construction industry has responded well to the change to a digital construction approach to date.

Industry have generally embraced the opportunity to digitalise their approach to construction on projects

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and recognise the productivity and efficiency benefits this can have, but also the challenges this has created.

One year on from the mandate I would suggest we have now passed the midpoint in the journey and now our focus needs to be on embedding BIM (Building Information Modelling) Level 2 into business as usual, and laying the foundations for the next digital standard for construction.

One of the key areas of development is to be inclusive of the product manufacturing and SME’s. Industry needs to support them to make sure they embrace the journey that the sector is going through. The Construction Products Association response through Lexicon is a great way to bring the supply chains and manufacturers on the journey.

IS THE GOVERNMENT’S COMMITMENT TO SIGNIFICANT INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT AN ENDORSEMENT OF THE HUGE ADVANTAGES OF WORKING WITHIN THE BIM PROCESS? As you may know, the Government published its first combined National Infrastructure and Construction pipeline towards the end of last year.

This identifies over £500Bn of planned spend and circa £300Bn by the end of 2020/21. BIM is one of a number of factors that supports Government’s commitment to infrastructure investment and attracting investment.

WOULD YOU SAY EMBRACING COLLABORATIVE WORKING

PRACTICES IS FUNDAMENTAL TO THE FUTURE OF THE INDUSTRY? Collaborative working practices and early contractor involvement remains fundamental within many of the approaches outlined in the Government Construction strategy including BIM. DO YOU THINK THAT OFF-SITE MANUFACTURING AND PREFABRICATED BUILDINGS ARE A WAY TO HELP SOLVE SOME OF THE ISSUES FACING THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY? It is definitely part of a mix of approaches to help solve some of the issues facing the industry but these approaches must be viewed as part of the solution and not in isolation and taken into account alongside other aspects of delivery.

THERE SEEMS TO BE SOME NEGATIVITY SURROUNDING THESE METHODS OF CONSTRUCTION. WHAT CAN BE DONE TO CHANGE THIS? Individually, modern methods of construction are positive but sometimes difficult to embrace at scale. However, if these are treated and delivered as a suite of approaches that form a best practice approach then you drive an even higher level of performance. I think if we can focus on Digital, Manufacturing processes and Whole Life Performance together,

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not separately, then any negativity should change as there is something for everyone in those methodologies.

As announced in last year’s Autumn Statement, the IPA is leading a new review, looking at ways we can improve the cost, quality and performance of UK infrastructure. It will address many of these issues and is due to report in summer this year.

We at the IPA are always looking for new ways we can help to improve the delivery of projects.

THE SKILLS SHORTAGE IS STILL ONE OF THE BIGGEST PROBLEMS CURRENTLY FACING THE INDUSTRY. DO WE NEED TO CHANGE PEOPLE’S PERCEPTIONS OF WORKING IN THE INDUSTRY? Absolutely. A career in construction no longer necessarily means hours on-site in a hard hat and a yellow jacket – though there are still plenty of those roles! We need expertise in new technologies, digital skillsets, project management, manufacturing, and many other areas to deliver the infrastructure the UK needs.

Bringing in new people into the sector is also important, and the sector needs to demonstrate the breadth of opportunities available to attract

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graduates and skilled workers, as well as those with less experience.

Apprenticeships are another excellent way to do this but we also need to keep them and so we need to look at our present working practices and embrace role sharing, flexible and part time working and gap years where appropriate.

HAS THE RESILIENCE OF THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY IN THE FACE OF RECENT UNCERTAINTY SURPRISED YOU? The construction industry has proven its resilience many times.

It’s often criticised as a fragmented industry, however this is also part of its resilience – a range of different subsectors, companies and organisations that are able to flex to meet demand. In part this resilience may be ‘double-edged’ and also contribute to its resistance to change.

GIVEN THE MULTITUDE OF CHANGES SURROUNDING THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY, WOULD YOU SAY THAT THESE ARE EXCITING TIMES FOR THE SECTOR? The increasing use of new technologies and building techniques, such as offsite manufacturing, and

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new research opportunities such as the Industrial Challenge Strategy Fund, mean that this is very much an exciting time. The Government announced its £500Bn infrastructure and construction pipeline at the end of last year – this demonstrates the exciting reach and range of government-planned projects.

Ongoing projects such as Crossrail and HS2 are right at the forefront of innovative construction and offer exciting opportunities for the companies and individuals delivering them.

WHAT ARE YOUR PREDICTIONS FOR THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY IN 2017?

I would be wary making any predictions – those who attempted to predict events in 2016 were not particularly successful! But I expect we’ll see increased interest in offsite manufacturing (not just offsite construction there is a difference), the application of digital and data and an increased focus on how we can improve the performance of assets. I also hope to see a continued increase in the numbers of women entering the sector and filling senior positions.

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Why you should start using digital construction reports SMARTPHONES and other mobile devices has become an important part of our daily lives, with statistics revealing that one in every three people own one. Smartphones were built so we can improve our lives, be more connected and more productive.

However, not everybody (especially in construction) is using their smartphones to be more productive in their daily work. Research has shown that over 60% of construction workers are still using traditional methods of data collection while on site. This could be down to the fact that they don’t know that these apps exist or they are not sure which features the app should have. Although these traditional methods have been working for a long time, using a mobile app on your smartphone will increase your productivity and efficiency.

RECORD DAILY CONSTRUCTION EVENTS AND GENERATE REPORTS. Everyday things happen on construction sites that need to be written down for future reference.

Today, most companies will use a construction journal or diary to record these events. The process of using paper diaries is longwinded because the field worker writes an event then takes time to reach the appropriate person to be approved and in some situations it gets lost. By using an app to record an event, the data is synced among all team members and can easily be approved by the team leader. Therefore, using an app is the primary source for saving time on construction reports. Contractors and

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sub-contractors can resolve claims easily because all events recorded are time stamped.

There are several features that all construction report apps must have.

Here is a list of these key features: REPORT FORM / TEMPLATE The report form is the most important feature of an app because this is what you use to record events. A very detailed report will provide you with the arsenal you need to protect yourself against claims. The form needs to be quick and easy to use with all the necessary information to fill out. Generally, the form should contain all of the following information but there can me more.

1 Date and time 2 Automatic weather reporting (based on site location) 3 Contractor name 4 Equipment used 5 Labours 6 Description 7 Take / attach photos ALLOCATION How much time did he take to complete that task? This question is asked at the end of every week when it’s pay day. At this point, you have no choice but to take the workers word for it and pay them. With an allocation feature, each worker records the amount of time they take each day on a particular task. This will then be approved by the site manager so there

is an accurate time log.

REAL-TIME CLOUD SYNCHRONIZATION One of the key benefits of using an app is the ability to see instantaneously the reports created by the other team members. This way, field workers don’t need to go to the office to submit a report. Also, site managers have a clear overview of all the work that been is done and what issues need to be addressed.

SUMMARY REPORTS (EXPORT) There are many times when you will need to share information with the construction site owner or people outside the company. Having nice PDF summary of all the events recorded to send to your clients is vital. The PDF reports should be nicely presented and easy to read.

We now live in a digitalized technology driven age with the use of digital devices are so common. Construction apps are built so that you can improve your productivity. Don’t let the fear of change be the reason why you don’t try a new or better solution. You use your digital devices every day to make calls, send emails, surf the web etc. Now it’s time to use those same devices to improve your work efficiency and productivity.

Article by Khaldon Evans, International Marketing Manager at Script&Go

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More affordable homes in pipeline for Scotland QUARTERLY housing statistics in Scotland have revealed that more affordable homes were approved last year, meaning positive news for low income families and first time buyers.

The figures show that in 2016 there were 8,840 affordable homes approved - a 20% rise on the previous year, including houses for both the social rental and home ownership markets.

This comprises 624 social rent approvals (up 12%), 257 affordable rent approvals (up 26%), and 567 affordable home ownership approvals (up 41%).

Approvals for new build social properties were also up 17% to 5,101 properties.

Housing Minister, Kevin Stewart confirmed a £70M sum for 2017/18 as part of the Scottish Government’s Open Market Shared Equity (OMSE) scheme, which helps first time buyers and priority groups to buy a property.

The funding will allow a further 1,700 people to buy a home.

Speaking at the Chartered Institute of Housing Scotland’s annual conference in Glasgow, Mr Stewart said: “Ensuring access to good quality and affordable housing is a key priority for the Scottish Government, therefore it is encouraging that 20% more properties were approved and started last year.

“As part of our efforts to increase affordable housing supply, we are determined to give targeted help to those seeking to move into home ownership. Over the past decade our OMSE scheme has helped more than 8,700 people on low to moderate incomes to buy a home. I am delighted that the 2017/18 scheme will welcome new applications from April.

“Alongside our commitment to deliver 50,000 more affordable homes over the next five years – with 35,000 available for social rent – this will all contribute to increasing the availability of affordable homes across Scotland.”

£36M Digital Growth Fund to support Scottish business A new digital growth fund has been announced by Scottish First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon.

To be supported by £36M over the next three years, the fund will provide loans to companies wishing to develop the digital skills of their staff in such areas as cyber security, data analytics and software engineering.

The First Minister highlighted recent figures showing Scotland’s productivity has grown by almost 10% since 2007, while the rest of the UK has only grown by one-tenth of a percent. There is more to be done however.

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A lack of digital skills is holding back productivity and company profitability, with an estimated 12,800 digital skills roles needed each year. The Digital Growth Fund will enable an estimated 6,000 people to be trained in each of the next three years.

The First Minister said: “Recent studies estimate that the economy needs 12,800 new workers with digital skills each year. Despite this, our last digital economy survey found that only around a quarter of businesses were doing anything to develop current employees’ digital technology skills.

“We need to change that. Scotland cannot afford to ignore this prize.

That’s why we will now boost our support for digital skills.

“We will develop a new £36M, three year support fund to meet the upfront business costs of digital skills training.

This will see up to 6,000 people per year able to access the training they need in key areas like software development, web design and digital marketing. It will also allow firms to use government funding to pay for the training their staff need, repaying the funding in later years.”

SPRUCE fund to deliver more regeneration schemes THE success of the Scottish Government’s SPRUCE (Scottish Partnership for Regeneration in Urban Centres) fund has resulted in more backing being made available to regeneration schemes.

Initially, £50M was invested by way of a loan towards regeneration and energy efficiency projects across Scotland.

Dailly Primary School welcomes students A brand new primary school has opened to pupils in the South Ayrshire village of Dailly, following a successful construction and infrastructure focused partnership.

The newly built Dailly Primary School is a two-storey structure, which replaces three separate buildings and has space for up to 100 pupils. It has also been designed to accommodate 30 children in an integrated Early Years Centre, allowing three and four year olds to attend in a single session.

The project was delivered on time and to budget, in collaboration between hub South West and South Ayrshire Council. Described by locals as a perfect example of targeted investment, the partnership has allowed for the cost-efficient design and construction of new infrastructural facilities in the region.

This new method of partnership working and procurement has provided value for money and helped generate growth in the local economy.

Construction work on the project was carried out by Morrison Construction.

Councillor Margaret Toner, Portfolio Holder for Lifelong Learning said the new building was a great example of targeted investment making a real difference: “This fantastic new building will act as a resource for the whole community, with generations of children standing to benefit

from a bright, new school that will transform the standard of education.

“We are committed to helping our rural communities to thrive and this new school forms part of a much wider programme of investment across South Ayrshire that is helping to deliver a lasting legacy through a modernised schools portfolio.

“A fortnight ago we celebrated the opening of Tarbolton Community Campus and in a few weeks we look forward to the doors opening at the new leisure facility in Girvan.”

Michael McBrearty, Chief Executive of development partner hub South West, added: “Dailly Primary School is a wonderful state-of-the-art facility that I’m sure all pupils and teachers will enjoy.

“Dailly is the third of four projects we will have delivered on behalf of South Ayrshire Council in four months: Marr College Phase I was handed over in December 2016 and the Tarbolton Community Campus in February this year.

These loans are now being repaid, with some being made ahead of schedule, meaning the money can be reinvested and used to deliver further regeneration projects.

Housing Minister, Kevin Stewart, recently announced £8.9M to support refurbished office space in central Edinburgh.

Visiting the scheme at Greenside, Mr Stewart said: “I’m really pleased to be here today to see the work to transform Greenside, perhaps better known in Edinburgh as the former headquarters of Scottish Equitable.

When it’s completed it’ll provide modern, innovative and energy efficient offices on a UNESCO heritage site.”

The Housing Minister said that the project would support 39 apprenticeships and training opportunities, and provide employment for up to 425 people once the building is complete.

Mr Stewart added: “What makes this investment so exciting is that the SPRUCE fund has already provided £50M to regenerate urban areas and it’s been so successful, we have added a further £15M to the pot. SPRUCE loans are now being recycled with the repayments being used to deliver yet more new infrastructure, supporting the economy and jobs and transforming our communities for the better.”

“The fourth consecutive project is the much anticipated Carrick Leisure Centre (the Quay Zone) which is due to handover at the end of this month.

“It has been just under a year since contracts were signed and work began, so it is great tribute to partnership working that we can now celebrate the finished result.

The new campus will be a great asset.”

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Green light for ‘world’s largest’ floating wind farm PLANNING approval for an eight turbine 6MW wind farm - thought to be the largest development of its kind in the world today - has been granted by the Scottish Minister for Business, Innovation and Energy, Paul Wheelhouse.

The development, which comes courtesy of Kincardine Offshore Windfarm Limited, will be sited approximately 15km south east of Aberdeen.

In total, 110 jobs are to be created during assembly and installation, and into the later operational and maintenance phases. What’s more, it will curb CO2 emissions in Scotland by 94,500 tonnes or more.

“Once operational, this pioneering, 50MW Kincardine Offshore Windfarm will produce enough electricity to power almost 56,000 homes and will create jobs and investment across Scotland through the use of our supply chain,” said Mr Wheelhouse. “It will also cement our place as one of the world’s leading nations in the innovation and deployment of floating offshore wind.

If the technology can be demonstrated at scale, it has huge potential to help Scotland meet its energy needs and to

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develop a supply chain that can service opportunities elsewhere in Europe and in markets such as South East Asia and North America.

“Our commitment to supporting low carbon energy is outlined in our new draft Energy Strategy which sets out next steps and how we will continue to transition to a low carbon economy, with the offshore wind sector to take an increasingly influential role.

“With 25% of Europe’s offshore wind potential, and through development with due regard to our natural environment, Scotland is uniquely and strongly positioned to maximise the economic and environmental benefits that the technology can deliver, which will help us progress towards our carbon emission reduction targets.”

With the North Sea oil and gas industry in decline, the Scottish Government is hoping to capitalise on its most common or garden resources open water and skilled workers - via investment in offshore wind, wave and tidal energy.

Floating turbines are a relatively new concept however. While offshore fixed-bottom wind turbines are often

limited by water depths and confined to the shallows, floating turbines have a distinct advantage - they can be installed seemingly anywhere. They’re a much more cost-effective alternative also, as floating turbines require far less material than their fixed-bottom brethren.

Lang Banks, Director of WWF Scotland, was among the first to welcome the news: "The continued development of floating turbines in Scotland is encouraging as it could enable us and other nations to secure even more clean power from offshore wind. One thing is clear, if we are to meet our future climate and energy targets we will certainly need both more onshore and offshore wind in the future.

"With the right political support for offshore wind and other technologies, Scotland can remain on course to secure half of all its energy needs from renewable sources by 2030.

“Research shows that generating half of our energy from renewables by 2030 is both necessary and achievable. We look forward to working with the Scottish Government and others to make sure that the policies needed are put in place to deliver on this ambition.”

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Cardiff University developing tool to forecast Welsh greenhouse gas emissions ACADEMICS from Cardiff University are developing a tool to forecast greenhouse gas emissions in Wales over the next three decades.

In collaboration with BRE, University scientists are developing the tool on behalf of the Welsh Government who will use it to inform the setting of appropriate targets and carbon budgets, and quantify policies and proposals to be contained in the Low Carbon Delivery Plan.

The tool will inform policies that help to reduce carbon emissions in line with The Environment (Wales) Act 2016, which sets a long-term statutory emission reduction target of 80% by 2050 in comparison to the 1990 baseline.

These targets form part of a wider global ambition, agreed by 195 national governments at the UNCCC Conference of Parties (COP21) in December 2015, to hold the increase in global average temperature below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and pursuing efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

The project team will engage with all sectors across Wales, including energy, transport, industry and business, agriculture, housing and waste.

The Cabinet Secretary for

Environment and Rural Affairs, Lesley Griffiths, commented: “The legislative framework and long term ambition introduced by the Environment Act offers a tremendous opportunity to shape a low carbon future for Wales. The challenge for the Welsh Government is to develop policies and programmes of work which will drive deep decarbonisation across our society while delivering jobs and economic growth, vibrant places to live and work and wider benefits to the people of Wales. The development of a 2050 pathway tool for Wales will ensure our decisions are informed by a robust, current and relevant evidence base.”

Leading the project will be Dr Monjur Mourshed, from Cardiff University’s School of Engineering, who has recently developed a similar 2050 energy, emissions and food pathways model for Bangladesh, available at http://www.bd2050.org/.

Dr Mourshed said: “We are pleased to be selected to lead this important work, a milestone for the development of evidence-based, locally-relevant climate impact mitigation policies and actions in the UK and internationally.

The industry-academia collaboration will result in several innovations in bottom-up modelling of energy demand considering socio-economic diversity and its evolution.”

An end to the Right to Buy and associated rights in Wales?

PROPOSED legislation to abolish the Right to Buy and associated rights is to be introduced in the National Assembly for Wales.

The Bill will provide for the Right to Buy, the Preserved Right to Buy, and the Right to Acquire for tenants of local authorities and registered social landlords to be abolished after a period of at least one year following Royal Assent.

In introducing the Bill, the Welsh Government hopes to protect the Welsh stock of social housing from further reduction, ensuring it is available to provide safe, secure and affordable homes for people who are unable to take advantage of the housing market to buy or rent a home.

Ahead of the Bill’s introduction, Communities Secretary Carl Sargeant said: "Our social housing is a valuable resource, but it is under considerable pressure. The size of the stock has declined significantly since 1980 when the Right to Buy was introduced. The number of sales is equivalent to 45% of the social housing stock in 1981. This has resulted in people in housing need, many of whom are vulnerable, waiting longer to access a home they can afford.”

Mr Sargeant added: "We have set an ambitious target of creating 20,000 affordable homes in this term of government. Alongside social housing this will include schemes such as Help to Buy and Rent to Own to enable people on modest incomes to own their own homes. We are supporting low cost home ownership and we are expanding the social housing stock. Abolishing the Right to Buy will complement these other actions we are taking in order to support people in housing need.”

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Welsh Government to clampdown on immoral employment practices UNITE, the largest union in Wales, has welcomed an announcement from the Welsh Government which will eliminate illegal and unethical employment practices on all public sector contracts including in the supply chain.

Mark Drakeford, Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government, launched the new ‘Code of Practice for Ethical Employment in Supply Chains’ last month.

The Code, developed by the Workforce Partnership Council with the involvement of Unite, will revolutionise employment conditions for workers.

Companies bidding on public sector work in Wales will be expected to conform to fair work practices and not employ workers on zero hours contracts, via umbrella companies or on false self-employment contracts.

The Code includes a commitment

that all suppliers should pay workers the ‘Living Wage’, and strengthens the Welsh Government’s stance on blacklisting. There are additional commitments to ensure suppliers are not using blacklists and to establish procedures which avoid using companies who have failed to take the issue seriously.

The Code also offers advice on how staff can spot and deal with concerns of modern slavery, which affects 50 million people worldwide including in the UK and Wales.

Mr Drakeford has said that he expects all public sector bodies in Wales, Welsh businesses and suppliers to the Welsh public sector to sign up the Code. In signing up organisations will agree to all 12 of its commitments. The Welsh Government spends around £6Bn each year on goods, services and through

the supply chain.

Andy Richards, Welsh Secretary for Unite, said: “The new Code of Practice is groundbreaking and shows that the Welsh Government is entirely committed to stamping out illegal, unfair and exploitative working conditions through Welsh public sector contracts. It strengthens the work the Welsh Government has already done in stamping out blacklisting and cracking down on umbrella companies.

“The Code of Practice sends a clear and unmissable message to bad bosses, who boost their profits by mistreating workers; you are not welcome in Wales.

“Unite will be monitoring and checking that the Code of Practice is fully applied and will notify the Welsh Government when we identify companies that are breaching the Code.”

£32M for flood alleviation in Wales CABINET Secretary for Environment and Rural Affairs Lesley Griffiths has announced £32M in capital funding to reduce the risk from flooding to over 2,100 homes and businesses across Wales. The funding, which is allocated for 2017/18, is the largest capital budget for flood risk management in recent years.

The Cabinet Secretary later addressed the ‘National Learning to Live with Flooding in Wales’ conference to outline the ways in which the Welsh Government is working to support those living at flood risk.

During her speech, the Cabinet Secretary confirmed over £144M of capital funding for flood risk management, in addition to a £150M coastal programme, over the five year government term. Of this, £5M will support design and development work

for coastal risk management projects.

The Cabinet Secretary also used her platform to announce that £1M of the flood budget would be ring-fenced each year for the next four years to support smaller scale works and maintenance to be carried out by local authorities.

This follows the successful trial of a grant scheme to support smaller works, which provided funding for 73 projects to reduce risk to 700 properties across Wales. It is not just big expensive flood schemes which make a difference to communities.

The Cabinet Secretary commented: “Flooding can have a devastating impact on the lives of those affected.

We know that climate and weather patterns are continuing to change and

as a result flooding is likely to become more frequent. We therefore need to do all we can to reduce the risk to our communities while helping them to adapt to the risks they face which are beyond control.

“I am pleased to confirm we will be providing £32M in 2017/18, our largest capital budget in recent years, to help reduce the risk of flooding to thousands of homes and businesses.

This highlights the priority we place on protecting and strengthening communities against flooding.”

Changes will also be made to ensure focus and funding is going to the regions most at risk. Future flood programmes will be prioritised through the Communities at Risk Register, alongside local knowledge and data of historical flood events.

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Prime Minister signs £1.3Bn Swansea Bay City Region deal

THE Prime Minister, Theresa May, has signed a deal for the Swansea Bay City Region that will see a record £1.3Bn invested and place Wales “at the forefront of science and innovation”.

Mrs May met with the Welsh First Minister, Carwyn Jones, to put the finishing touches to the agreement before signing off on the deal at a ceremony in Swansea’s Liberty Stadium, where she later met with representatives from a broad range of sectors and businesses.

The programme represents the single biggest investment in the region and is expected to create 10,000 new jobs over the next 15 years. This funding is made up of £115M from the UK Government, £125.4M from the Welsh Government and £396M from businesses, with the rest coming from regional and university contributions. The district will see major investment across 11 projects in the energy, smart manufacturing, innovation and life science sectors.

A £200M wellness village at Delta Lakes, Llanelli will include the Institute of Life Sciences, complete with a laboratory

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and an incubation facility for business start-up, research and development.

In addition, a ‘wellness hub’ will house a state-of-the-art sports and leisure centre, a wellbeing centre, a wellness hotel and an assisted living village set within a green eco-park. It is believed that this project alone will create 1,800 high quality jobs and boost the economy by £467M over 15 years.

In Swansea, it is envisioned that the creation of an £169M city and waterfront digital district will generate more than 1,300 jobs. In total, 100,000sq ft of new city centre office space will provide an ideal home for tech businesses and support local enterprise and entrepreneurial talent.

At a cost of £76M, the Pembroke Dock Marine will see an energy centre established around the Port of Milford Haven, providing a focal point for marine energy development, fabrication, testing and deployment.

Elsewhere, a partnership with TATA steel - based in Neath Port Talbot - will establish an innovation and knowledge centre for steel that will research the manufacturing of zero carbon steel.

Speaking ahead of signing the deal, Mrs May commented: “Wales’ universities already have an excellent international reputation. They attract overseas students and pioneer in research projects here and abroad.

“I also want Wales to be at the forefront of science and innovation, as demonstrated by today’s landmark city deal for Swansea.

“The deal is a great example of what can be achieved when the UK Government, the Welsh Government and local authorities work together to secure a deal that benefits the city and the whole of Wales.”

First Minister Carwyn Jones added: “This is a package which will deliver jobs and economic growth for all of south west Wales, with clear benefits for all the areas involved.

“Today’s announcement is a transformative deal that will drive the regional economy in a new direction, supported by high quality jobs and a digital infrastructure.”

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Ireland’s first National Clean Air Strategy launched

Signature Living to invest £25M in Belfast SIGNATURE Living has bought the iconic Crumlin Road Courthouse in Belfast and will invest £25M to restore the building back to its former glory.

The historic structure will house the first of five possible hotels that the luxury hotel developer hopes to bring to City over the next three years.

The announcement was made at MIPIM in Cannes where a 70-strong delegation of Belfast business leaders presented a portfolio of major real estate and development opportunities to an audience of over 28,000 international property investors, developers and occupiers.

Speaking at the Belfast stand at MIPIM, Signature Living’s Founder and Chairman Lawrence Kenwright said that his key focus would be preserving the architectural heritage of the Charles Lanyon-designed Courthouse, which dates back to 1850.

“The Crumlin Road Courthouse is the latest in a series of landmark heritage buildings to be lovingly restored by Signature Living, including 30 James Street – the former headquarters of the White Star Line in Liverpool – and Cardiff’s historical Coal Exchange building.

“The Courthouse is currently in a state of disrepair and our focus will be on sympathetically restoring the building to its former glory in a way that is both true to its architectural heritage, and aligns with the exciting style for which Signature Living is reputed.

“We see ourselves simply as custodians of these important buildings and the Courthouse will very much still belong to the people of Belfast. For us, this is an investment in the local Belfast community and, as well committing around £25M to

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the restoration project, we will be investing in a series of community initiatives – including the launch of a special apprenticeship academy – in the coming months.”

In February, Signature Living announced that it would also bring a George Best-themed hotel to Belfast later this year and plans develop as many as four additional hotels in the City, creating at least 500 jobs.

Mr Kenwright said that Belfast presented Signature Living with a compelling proposition for investment: “I first encountered Belfast last year at MIPIM 2016 and immediately saw a future in the City for Signature Living. We are entering the Belfast market at a really exciting stage in its development and I am confident that this new hotel in the Crumlin Road Courthouse will bring something new to the City’s burgeoning tourism sector.”

Belfast City Council Chief Executive Suzanne Wylie welcomed the announcement, saying: “MIPIM provides us with an important opportunity to showcase the momentum that is driving Belfast’s growth and success, and announcements like this from Signature Living are testament to the City’s attractiveness as a place in which to invest for inward investors, developers and occupiers.

“A surge in tourism in Belfast in recent years has brought about a need for over 2,000 additional beds, so this hotel is good news for the City and complements steps being taken to continuing driving a growth in visitor numbers to the City through initiatives such as the IRFU Rugby World Cup 2023 bid and the European Capital of Culture 2023 bid.”

MINISTER for Communications, Climate Action and Environment, Denis Naughten has launched a public consultation on Ireland’s first National Clean Air Strategy, ‘Cleaning Our Air’.

The Strategy will provide the framework for whole-of-Government policies and drive actions to reduce harmful emissions from a range of sources.

Minister Naughten commented: “While there have been successes in the past - the ‘smoky coal ban’ which applies in 26 urban areas nationwide has proved very effective in reducing particulate matter and sulphur dioxide levels - we have to go further. Building on those past successes to secure the future of our environment for the generations to come I am delighted to announce a public consultation on Ireland’s first National Clean Air Strategy.

“Home heating remains a key source of air pollution, in particular from solid fuel and smoky coal outside the ban areas, and I am committed to extending a ban nationwide for the 2018 home heating season.

“The strategy will go beyond this however, and will also address a wide range of other national policies that are relevant to air quality including transport, energy and agriculture. I look forward to receiving a broad range of views in response to the consultation, from stakeholders, from the general public, and from young people for whom we hold the environment in trust.”

‘Cleaning Our Air’ is available on the Departments website. The consultation period will run until Friday 28th April 2017.

Growth of construction activity on the rise in Ireland RATES of growth in total activity and new orders accelerated in the Irish construction sector during February, while job creation remained at a nearrecord pace.

Companies remained optimistic regarding the prospects for growth of activity over the coming year, with optimism supported by improving economic conditions and predictions of further rises in new business.

The Ulster Bank Construction Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) - a seasonally adjusted index designed to track changes in total construction

activity - rose to 57.9 in February from 55.7 in January, thereby signalling a sharp and accelerated expansion of activity.

Growth has now been recorded on a monthly basis throughout the past three-and-a-half years, with higher new business and improvements in market conditions linked to the latest increase.

Commenting on the survey, Simon Barry, Chief Economist Republic of Ireland at Ulster Bank, noted that: “Survey respondents mentioned that improving economic conditions

continue to underpin strong client demand with the New Orders Index edging higher in February from already-elevated levels. In turn, this solid growth in new business continues to underpin increased demand for construction workers.

“Indeed, the Employment Index remains close to record levels, with this month’s reading representing the third-fastest rate of job creation in the survey’s 16 year history. The National Accounts figures showed that construction was not only the fastest growing broad sector of the economy in 2016, but recorded its fastest year

€405M boost for Irish social housing THE European Investment Bank (EIB) is to provide €200M of financing as part of a record investment in social housing totalling €405M. This sum will go towards the construction and improvement of thousands of properties across Ireland.

In total, 1,400 homes will be built and more than 700 properties upgraded in Dublin and across Ireland under the new initiative, jointly financed by the Housing Finance Agency.

The Housing Finance Agency will match the Bank’s investment, providing €405M to support approved housing bodies, upgrade social housing and

enhance energy efficiency.

The €200M EIB sum represents the largest ever support for social housing in Ireland, and was announced by Housing Minister Simon Coveney during a visit to the recently completed Túath development at Thornwood, Beaumont in Dublin.

A previous HFA and EIB social housing funding initiative, agreed two years ago, saw housing association Túath build 68 new energy efficient homes consisting of both apartments and houses at the Thornwood site.

will have a new home as a result of this investment. A further 700 householders will see their properties upgraded.

The financial package will provide additional employment and support local construction suppliers. We are seeing a vital economic and social investment of €405M.” The record investment follows a €300M social housing lending programme agreed between the EIB and the HFA in December 2014, which allowed for the construction of 1,302 new homes and retrofitting at 550 properties by eight approved housing bodies.

Mr Coveney said: “Over 1,400 families

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One Bankmore Square: Office accommodation for the 21st century TODAY, city centre office accommodation is at a premium. The evidence of this is all around us - we need only cast an upward glance at our ever-changing skylines. Brand new office space appears as if from nowhere, and yet demand continues to outpace supply. In Dublin, preletting has reached near record pace as businesses bind themselves to buildings that have yet to be built. And, north of the border, the story is much the same.

Last month saw the submission of a landmark planning application landmark being the operative word.

Subject to planning approval, One Bankmore Square will be the largest single office building in Northern Ireland today. To be built on the former Movie House cinema site in Belfast’s city centre, the scheme will offer 250,000sq ft of Grade A office accommodation, complete with 8,000sq ft of ancillary café, retail and leisure space - courtesy of the Londonbased property developer Richland Group.

It’s a hugely ambitious undertaking then. More so considering One Bankmore Square will be the first new speculative office development in Northern Ireland since The Soloist building in 2008 – an achievement in-and-of-itself. Richland Group are confident consent will be given however, and rightfully so. According to planning consultant Clyde Shanks, the proposed design forms a direct response to feedback received during public consultation and via preapplication discussions with Belfast City Council’s in-house team.

There are wider implications as well.

Appended to the application are plans for the transformation of Bankmore Square to create a “focal public open space”, which will play host to outdoor cinema events and public art exhibitions.

A development of this size and scope carries with it a considerable price tag however. The entire scheme Bankmore Square included - will require an approximate £65M investment and necessitate the creation of over 570 construction jobs.

Gary McCausland, CEO of Richland Group commented: “One Bankmore Square is a quantum leap for Belfast’s office market. It brings world class Grade A office accommodation to the heart of the city centre in a single phase development. We have assembled a brilliant home-grown professional team to deliver this exciting project and we look forward to seeing it through to completion in 2020” Once complete, One Bankmore Square will have capacity enough to accommodate some 3,000 office workers across 12 separate storeys.

Each floor plate will span 25,000sq ft of net useable space - a layout that has proven popular with long-term occupiers.

There are obvious economic considerations also. It is thought that the development will deliver £128M per annum in operational economic benefit - a much-needed boost amid Brexit uncertainties, I’m sure.

Simon McEvoy, Head of Office Agency at joint agent Savills, said: “The opportunity to place-make has been a driving factor behind the design of One Bankmore Square and the adjoining public plaza. The Richland Group envisages the reinvigoration of the existing natural amenity, Bankmore Square, as central to the development and it is evident from the feedback we are receiving that the proposed scheme has already caught the imagination of the business community and the general public. The level of interest in the development is only going to increase as we move through planning and commence construction."

Dougie Wheeler from joint agent Lambert Smith Hampton added: “It is evident from the record take-up in 2016 and strong start to 2017 that there continues to be a high level of demand in the occupier market for good quality office accommodation in Belfast. However, there continues to be a shortage of Grade A offices in the city centre, especially for the larger occupiers with requirements for 25,000sq ft and above.

“The development team behind One Bankmore Square are extremely confident that this will be the best building in Belfast to meet that demand. In order not to delay delivery, we are preparing to go on-site and speculatively develop the building, subject to the granting of planning permission.”

Images courtesy of Savills

A Clyde Shanks spokesperson said: “This major planning application is the culmination of a highly collaborative and engaging pre-application discussion process with Belfast City Council planners, its consultees and members of the public. The proposed design has responded to the helpful feedback received and been amended to specifically address the design concerns raised. We are confident this will enable the planning application to be determined promptly.”

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