UK Construction Excellence - Issue 1 2015

ISSUE 1 2015

THE BEST IN BRITISH BUILDING

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Not needing foundations, it can be fully operational in 8 days due to pre wired electronics and modular design. Talk to us about your requirements. e: batchingplantsales@schwing-stetter.co.uk t: +44 (0) 20 8997 1515 w: www.schwing-stetter.co.uk Unit 11 Perivale Park, Horsenden Lane South, Perivale, Greenford, Middlesex, UB6 7RL

6 News 16 BIM – Exclusive Interview: David Philp, Bim Task Group

David Philp is Head of BIM at the BIM Task Group and has spent time as Head of BIM Implementation at the Cabinet Office. He spoke with UK Construction Excellence about his own journey and how BIM’s importance is continuing to grow.

20 BIM – Collaborative ‘live modelling’ between design teams

Niven find themselves working as lead architects or part of a design team with companies that are located in different parts of the country or even abroad. When working in BIM, this inevitably presents two major problems.

24 BIM – US and UK building owners expect to increase BIM involvement 33 BIM – Institution of Structural Engineers announces BIM Conference 35 BIM – Tekla Global BIM awards winners

The winners of the Tekla Global BIM Awards have been chosen among the local BIM champions from around the world.

38 Enabling Zero Waste

Following the launch by Constructing Excellence in Wales (CEW) of the ‘Enabling Zero Waste’ project, UK Construction Excellence spoke with Paul Jennings, Director of Construction Waste Programme at CEW about the scheme.

42 Speed Management Systems

Speedar Limited is a leading provider of cost effective solutions for the measurement of speed.

UK Construction Excellence spoke with Ron Edwards, Commercial Director of Speedar, about the Company and its success in the UK marketplace and beyond.

46 The Environment Agency

50 Setting new standards in education

The Priority School Building Programme (PSBP) is a centrally managed programme set up to address the needs of the schools most in need of urgent repair.

56 2015 set to be another year of growth for the Fleet Industry 60 Property Care Association Managing Editor Gareth Trevor-Jones

Administration Alecia Rowe

Editor Victoria Lee

Approvals Sarah Smith

Editorial Robert Atherton

Credit Control Carol Ryan

General Manager - Sales Ian Parker E: ian.parker@ukconstructionmedia.co.uk Display Advertising Sales T: 01257 2319800 E: sales@ukconstructionmedia.co.uk

Designer Richard Gill Proof Reader Matthew Brown ISSN 1461-1279

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CDM15/2 Industry guidance for Principal Designers www.citb.co.uk/documents/cd m%20regs/industry-guidanceprincipal-designer.pdf

Shaping and sharing best practice in construction health and safety risk management

CDM2015 CONSTRUCTION (DESIGN AND MANAGEMENT) REGULATIONS 2015 ARE WE READY? As the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) have issued the draft Guidances for CDM2015 and state that, subject to Parliamentary approval, the regulations will come into force on 6th April 2015; the question must be asked of all construction industry organisations, and the industry itself, are we ready?

On Friday, 9th January 2015, the HSE issued the draft text of L153 (draft), Guidance on the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015, including the draft regulations, which can be downloaded from: www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/pric ed/draft-l153.pdf On the same date, the guidances produced for the five duty holders under CDM, plus the workers, were published in draft. The guidances set out, in practical terms, what actions are required of them to deliver a safe and healthy construction project. These documents have been written by the Construction Industry Advisory Committee (CONIAC). These six ‘Industry Guidances’ are available for free download, as follows: CDM15/1 Industry guidance for Clients www.citb.co.uk/documents/ cdm%20regs/industry-guida nce-clients.pdf

CDM15/3 Industry guidance for Contractors www.citb.co.uk/documents/cd m%20regs/industry-guidancecontractors.pdf CDM15/4 Industry guidance for Designers www.citb.co.uk/documents/cd m%20regs/industry-guidancedesigners.pdf CDM15/5 Industry guidance for Principal Contractors www.citb.co.uk/documents/cd m%20regs/industry-guidanceprincipal-contractors.pdf CDM15/6 Industry guidance for Workers www.citb.co.uk/documents/cd m%20regs/industry-guidanceworkers.pdf

Policies and Procedures CDM2015 will require all CDM duty holders to amend their policies and procedures to some extent.

• Clients will need to develop their arrangements for the enhanced client duties on significantly more projects.

• Those who would act as the Principal Designer (PD) will need to develop their procedures to perform these duties for all elements of design and planning, not just their design or their subconsultants’/sub-contractors’ design, but for all design, including temporary works design performed during construction.

• Principal Contractors and Contractors will need to address the requirement for having a Construction Phase Plan on all works, and the Domestic Client duties if they work in the domestic client sector.

• Designers have the least amendments to make, as their duties have minimal changes, unless they take on the Principal Designer’s duties.

Training

Additional training will be required to update all of the duty holders with the amended regulations and guidances.

Callsafe Services are currently developing the following courses, based on the draft documents: • CDM2015 Senior Management Briefing • CDM2015 Update • CDM2015 Overview • CDM2015 Client • CDM2015 Design Phase Risk Management Co-ordination • CDM2015 Design Risk Management • CDM2015 Reducing Risk by Design • CDM2015 Principal Contractor and Contractors

If you need assistance with amending your arrangements and/or training your staff in CDM2015 , please contact the experts at Callsafe Services.

Callsafe Services Limited Yardley House, 11 Horsefair, Rugeley, Staffordshire. WS15 2EJ Telephone: 01889 577701 Email: enquiries@callsafe-services.co.uk Website: www.callsafe-services.co.uk

Course Content:

Institution of Occupational Safety and Health MANAGING SAFELY IN CONSTRUCTION 5 DAY COURSE This is the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) Managing Safely course, amended to make the subjects and content more specific to the construction industry, and separately accredited by IOSH. It is highly interactive and is presented by qualified and experienced construction health and safety professionals, who also are appointed to projects as CDM coordinator.

Intended for:

Anyone who supervises or manages designers or contractors in the construction and allied industries. Also relevant for client representatives and CDM coordinators.

Course Aims:

To ensure that managers/ supervisors: • Understand their responsibilities for health and safety as an integral part of their construction and other management/ supervision roles; • Are able to recognise a sound health and safety management system, including effective construction risk management; • Are able to recognise the key risks in the construction industry and understand the precautions to be taken.

Day 1 • Introduction and Setting Course Objectives • Principles of Good Safety Management • Legal Foundation for Health and Safety • Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide • Safety Management on Construction Projects Day 2 • Understanding the Legal Framework for Safety and Health at Work • Accident Causation and Accident Prevention • Applying Management Principles to Health and Safety Day 3 Key Legislation, Commonly Occurring Hazards and Their Controls: • The Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 • Working time • First aid • Reporting of accidents • Fire • Safety signs and signals • Electricity • Display screen equipment • Manual handling • Chemicals/Hazardous substances • Personal protective equipment • Work equipment and Machinery • Traffic management Day 4 Construction Related Legislation, Commonly Occurring Hazards and Their Controls: • Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007, Part 4 • Lifting operations and equipment • Noise • Vibration • Lead • Asbestos • Confined spaces • Pressure systems • Radiation • Elevated working places • Safety in earthworks • Flammable liquids and gases • The construction working environment Day 5 • Human Behaviour in Accident and Ill-Health Prevention • Effective Communication • Control of Contractors • Training

• Course Assessment (A 30 minute test paper, similar in format to mock assessments performed during the course) • Course Discussion and Completion (Including the introduction to the Course Project, which is an inspection and risk assessment performed by the delegates of their workplace. This is performed subsequent to the course and submitted to the course tutor for marking)

Maximum number of course delegates: 16

Public Courses

This course is offered as a public course, for individuals to book and attend.

Course Cost: £820.00 per delegate, plus VAT (Discounts for multiple bookings) Currently programmed public courses are: • 28, 29 & 30 April and 6 & 7 May 2015 (Staffordshire) (Ref: IMSC150428)

In-house Courses

This course is also offered as an in-house course, where an organisation can book the tutor for the 5 days and the course is presented within the organisation’s own premises.

This option can reduce the course cost and the travel/accommodation costs where the organisation has a number of their staff requiring this training.

A lump sum price can be provided for in-house courses.

Further details of this, and other, courses can be found at: www.callsafe-services.co.uk, or by contacting Gemma Esprey at: gemma.esprey@callsafeservices.co.uk or by phone on: 01889 577701

www.gatwickairport.com

New designs show how Gatwick will be the world’s most efficient two runway airport An expanded Gatwick would be the world’s most efficient two runway airport – flexible and responsive to meet the changing needs of passengers and airlines – as new images and an animation produced by Sir Terry Farrell show.

The airport will operate to reflect changing trends in passenger travel and the plans demonstrate how queues will be eliminated, passenger transit through the airport will be sped up, and aircraft turn around will match the quickest in the world.

The design has been revealed as momentum continues to build behind Gatwick’s case for a second runway.

New advertisements highlight that Gatwick’s plan is comparatively simple and low risk and can be delivered in just ten years, by 2025. In comparison, the obstacles facing Heathrow cast doubt on whether a third runway there could realistically ever be built.

The Gatwick Connect service is already in operation and allows passengers to travel on a combination of independently operated flights and transfer through Gatwick without having to transport their bags through the airport or check-in twice.

The service is a response to the increasing number of passengers who are bypassing traditional ways of flying by booking connecting flights themselves – often to save money. This is in contrast to the airline booking the connecting flight for them, either with the same airline or with one of their airline partners.

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Increasingly passengers are exploiting the range of new flight options available and are ‘self connecting’ between a mix of low cost short and medium haul, charter and long haul flights depending on their budget and needs. Unlike Heathrow, Gatwick Airport caters for all these types of flight and not just full service legacy carriers.

Gatwick Airport CEO Stewart Wingate said: “An expanded Gatwick can be delivered quickly and at no additional cost to the taxpayer so the UK can reap the economic benefits of expansion sooner. The way we travel is changing fast and we have to change with it – only Gatwick can cater for all passengers, travelling to any destination, with any airline type, now and into the future.”

Discussing his design for the Gatwick of the future, Sir Terry Farrell said: “Farrell’s has designed what Skytrax has twice voted the best airport in world, and has been involved in many more, but we’ve raised the bar yet higher with our elegant masterplan to make Gatwick the world’s most efficient two runway airport.

“Queues have literally been designed out and the new terminal will be simple and convenient to use with few changes of level.

“The airfield itself would also offer the shortest taxiing distances possible with the new apron sitting between, and in close proximity to, both the existing and new runways.”

Kier chosen for £1Bn Thames Water infrastructure alliance contract

The contract includes the option to extend the arrangements to the AMP7 and AMP8 business plans, while KCD may also be required to deliver elements of the current AMP5 programme. The second joint venture team chosen was Agility (J. Murphy & Sons and Morrison Utility Services).

The scope of the alliance includes the full range of services, including clean water network repair, rehabilitation and maintenance and leak detection, along with constructing new water mains. It will also consist of managing the logistics and scheduling of programmes, as well as developing customer and stakeholder services.

The KCD bid focused on leveraging the two teams’ combined expertise, having already worked together on substantial Anglian Water contracts, including the new planned programme for AMP6. The bid also demonstrated the ability to offer a breadth of services and best practice, alignment to strategic aims and having multi-disciplinary design and delivery capability, which were all key requirements for Thames Water.

John Wilkinson, Kier Services Executive Director, commented: “We are delighted to have been chosen by Thames Water for their new alliance. It’s an excellent opportunity for Kier to leverage a wide range of skills and the strong track record that we have built up in the sector.

“The alliance should provide an innovative and forward thinking way to deliver comprehensive asset management services; enabling Thames Water to maximise the performance of their network, so we are very much looking forward to starting work with them.”

Thames Water Managing Director of Wholesale Water, Bob Collington OBE, said: “KCD and Agility will join the Thames Water family, working alongside us and our other partners in this, and our eight2O alliance, to deliver our AMP6 programme and beyond.

“We strongly believe these two alliances will create aligned goals and objectives throughout the supply chain, standing us in the best possible position to deliver our customer and stakeholder promises.”

Collington said the alliance and eight2O will jointly agree processes for work allocation based on “best customer outcome and cost”. He added: “I am determined to ensure that investment and delivery are customer focused at all times. By bringing greater innovation to process and techniques, I hope we can build on the past to improve performance further in the future.”

Covering more than 30 hectares of land, the New Bolton Woods scheme not only comprises high quality new residential properties but also a new local centre comprising local shopping facilities anchored by a food store together with a new primary school and medical centre.

The submission of part full/part outline planning applications for the New Bolton Woods development is the culmination of two years of extensive urban design work and public consultation carried out by Canal Road Urban Village Ltd (CRUVL), a joint venture partnership created by regeneration specialists Urbo and Bradford Metropolitan District Council. Urbo has worked closely with leading designers Urbed to produce an innovative masterplan for New Bolton Woods.

Manchester based HOW Planning advised throughout and submitted both the outline planning application for the masterplan and a full application for the food store on

behalf of the partnership. Harris Partnership designed the retail scheme.

Peter Swallow, a Director of Urbo and Canal Road Urban Village Ltd said: “New Bolton Woods is a comprehensive new mixed-use neighbourhood. Our aim will be to work with a number of housebuilder partners to bring forward our project over the coming years.”

Phase I of the New Bolton Woods development began last year when lead developer Urbo Regeneration and partner Skipton Properties created 50 new homes. These are already nearly all sold and the second phase to include the local shopping facilities is eagerly anticipated.

www.urboregen.com www.newboltonwoods.com

Plans submitted for Urbo’s £150M Bradford Urban Village Scheme Urbo’s ambitious £150M scheme to create up to 1,000 new homes in Bradford is one step closer to becoming a reality following submission of two planning applications.

www.kier.co.uk

Kier, in a joint venture with Clancy Docwra, has been named preferred bidder for Thames Water’s major new £1Bn alliance. The alliance, which has chosen two joint venture teams, will begin in April 2015 and will run for up to 15 years with an estimated value to the joint venture, KCD (Kier Clancy Docwra), of £500M over the next five years.

If planning permission is granted for Phase II then work to create the exciting new sustainable ‘urban village’ will begin in spring 2015.

Plans for the development went to a final public consultation in June 2014 and were met with overwhelming support to provide the investment in new houses, shops and other facilities expected in a thriving place.

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www.balfourbeatty.com

Balfour Beatty awarded £32M Liverpool ‘Baltic Triangle’ residential and commercial scheme Balfour Beatty’s UK construction business has been awarded the £32M contract to build Baltic Triangle – a three tower residential development in Liverpool city centre for developer Neptune Investments.

The two-year project will see Balfour Beatty delivering 324 new apartments across three separate towers, which will be thirteen-, ten- and eight-storeys in height respectively. The project will also involve the creation of commercial space, a gym and concierge, and underground car parking for 358 cars.

Balfour Beatty will continue construction on a building previously begun by another developer, strengthening the existing basement and helping to reduce delivery time and costs by using pre-cast wall panels.

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Balfour Beatty will recruit apprentices to the project and utilise its established links with Liverpool John Moores University to provide opportunities for students.

Jon Adams, Balfour Beatty Managing Director for Northern Major Projects, said: “Balfour Beatty has extensive experience in delivering high end residential schemes and of working in Liverpool, where we have recently delivered the Liverpool One and Aloft Hotel developments.

“We have a 15-year relationship with Neptune Investments and we look forward to working with them to deliver this exciting new £32M development in the heart of the Liverpool docklands.”

Sea Containers House unveils £160M project refurbishment

Turner & Townsend ensured successful project delivery and maximum return. By adopting a cost focused design process and implementing a robust commercial approach, the building was successfully fully let prior to practical completion and the final account was achieved nine months prior to completion.

The new state-of-the-art office block development, rated BREEAM ‘Very Good,’ includes a cathedral reception space, ground floor cafe area and roof terraces at the upper levels of the building. Within the former car park of the building, a new nine-storey 90,000sq ft office has been constructed, providing a total space of 440,000sq ft Grade A office accommodation, including the refurbished space.

In addition to the office space, a 359-bed five-star hotel has been opened by the Morgan Hotel Group, who will run the hotel as part of their Mondrian brand – the first outside of the United States. The hotel comprises of a spa and rooftop bar with terrace space on the river elevation of the building. The new development, designed with the aim of revitalising and opening up public areas around the building, will see a new route created between the River Walkway and Upper Ground on the west side of Sea Containers House.

Jon White, UK Managing Director commented: “We are delighted to see the completion of this iconic landmark building, reinforcing our major refurbishment capability in central London.

“The project is a result of our desire to properly understand our client’s needs and implement robust cost management procedures to ensure that the client’s delivery requirements were met.”

Skanska’s project development team, under the Workplaces

by Skanska banner, has pre-let 52,000sq ft of office space at 66 Queen Square, Bristol, to KPMG on a 15-year lease.

“Our new office in Queen Square will provide our colleagues and clients with top quality office space equipped with the latest technology and located in the heart of the city.”

Alex Jordan, Skanska’s Leasing Director, said: “We are delighted that KPMG will be the main tenant for our first UK commercial development project in Bristol. As developers working with our own construction team, we have been able to adapt the design of the building to fit with the needs of our tenant, while securing the longest lease in the city in recent years.”

The building incorporates sustainable features for longterm energy efficiency, including photovoltaic panels, a high-performance building fabric, LED lighting and water-saving fittings to meet BREEAM ‘Excellent’ and an EPC ‘A’ rating.

www.skanska.co.uk

Skanska secures major pre-let deal in Bristol

The professional services firm has taken the first, second and third floors and part of the ground floor at Skanska’s 61,000sq ft Grade A office building.

www.turnerandtownsend.com

Turner & Townsend is proud to see the successful completion of the £160M refurbishment of Sea Containers House, one of the most prominent landmarks on the South Bank of the River Thames, on which the consultancy delivered full cost management services.

There is just 9,000sq ft now available to let, comprising 3,000sq ft on both the ground and fourth floors, in addition to a self-contained 3,000sq ft unit fronting Queen Square.

Situated in one of Bristol’s prime business locations, 66 Queen Square will complete in the summer. The Grade A office space integrates a Grade II listed Georgian terrace within the new building, combining historic elegance with modern, efficient office accommodation and fantastic views over the square.

Phil Cotton, Bristol Office Senior Partner and South Regional Chairman at KPMG, says: “This significant investment underscores our commitment to Bristol and the importance of the city to our business. We have achieved continued success and growth in our marketplace, adding £17M to our income over the last two years, and I am pleased to be able to plough these profits back into the business and invest in new flagship premises in Bristol.

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www.tutorcare.co.uk

www.rics.org/uk/footer/rics-bim-conference-2015/

www.isgplc.com

ISG is preferred contractor on £41M York stadium scheme ISG has been confirmed as the preferred construction partner as part of the successful consortium bid led by GLL for the circa £41M York Community Stadium and Leisure Complex scheme. The project comprises a new home stadium for York’s professional football and rugby teams, as well as including leisure, retail, office and community facilities.

The new mixed-use stadium development is set to become a leading leisure destination for the North of England.

In addition to creating a new 8,000 all-seater stadium with high quality hospitality and conferencing facilities, ISG will also deliver a new 25m six lane swimming pool, state-of-the-art fitness and active play facilities, as well as a community hub, providing health and wellbeing services for local residents and visitors.

The stadium’s East Stand is home to a three-storey community hub – the first of its kind in the city, providing accommodation for key partners, including York Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, York Against Cancer, York St John University and Be Independent (CIC). The Trust will use space to provide training and development services, while Be Independent will offer face-to-face advice from its new stadium offices.

A new high specification linked leisure facility will replace the outdated Waterworld and Courtney’s Gym buildings,

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providing a main pool, with separate teaching and fun pools with fun water features for children. A multi-use sports hall for netball, basketball and badminton will have viewing for up to 250 spectators. The scheme also includes a 100 station gym with dance and spinning studios and an extreme adventure sports zone. ISG will also deliver three external floodlit 3G sports pitches, provide significant car parking provision and extend the Monks Cross Park & Ride facility.

To the rear and separate from the South Stand, ISG will build a series of new retail units and a first floor cinema complex. The project is expected to commence on site in summer 2015, with completion scheduled for autumn 2016.

Danny Murray, ISG’s Northern Regional Managing Director, commented: “Our involvement in the York Community Stadium project extends back to 2012 and we have worked closely with GLL and our consortium partners to bring the vision for this keynote regional leisure scheme to reality. ISG has exceptionally strong leisure sector credentials, delivering iconic sporting venues like the Olympic Velodrome and the National Football Development Centre in Newport, and we are looking forward to working with our consortium partners to create superb new facilities for York.”

Liverpool Street to Shenfield rail services to be integrated with TfL in major year for Crossrail complicated and substantial task of fitting out the stations and tunnels with the necessary systems and equipment to enable Crossrail services to operate.”

Eight 1,000 tonne tunnelling machines have bored over 39km of new 6.2m diameter rail tunnels under London with tunnelling due to complete in spring 2015. Construction is also advancing on the ten new Crossrail stations and on works above ground west of Paddington and east of Stratford. Over 10,000 people are currently working on Crossrail, including nearly 400 apprentices, with the project at peak rate of construction.

London’s population is set to grow from 8.4 million today to around 10 million by 2030. The Government, the Mayor of London and TfL are investing in Crossrail and other transport infrastructure to support access to jobs, education, housing and to boost economic growth.

Crossrail is part of TfL’s investment programme.

On 31st May 2015 the rail services between Liverpool Street and Shenfield will join the TfL transport network. This will be the first phase of the introduction of Crossrail, which will be fully integrated with TfL services. Customers will benefit from stations staffed at all times and trains are operating as well as better accessibility provision with turn up and go services being offered for those who need ramps to board trains.

Andrew Wolstenholme, Crossrail Chief Executive said: “Crossrail is being delivered on time and within budget.

While we are over 60% complete there is still a huge amount of work to be undertaken as the challenge shifts to the

www.beeswift.com

www.beeswift.com

www.crossrail.co.uk

During 2015, Crossrail’s major tunnelling works will conclude and the focus will shift towards fit-out and implementing railway systems within the tunnels and stations.

Over the course of the project, it is estimated that Crossrail and its supply chain will support the equivalent of 55,000 full time jobs across the country. More than 8,000 people have completed training at Crossrail’s Tunnelling and Underground Construction Academy in Ilford, which opened in 2011.

A total of 84,300 jobs were supported last year across the UK through TfL’s investment programme and Crossrail.

TfL and its suppliers have also created over 5,000 apprenticeship roles since April 2009.

Crossrail will add 10% capacity to London’s rail network. It will serve 40 stations, connecting Reading and Heathrow in the west with Shenfield and Abbey Wood in the east.

superior@beeswift.com

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www.4projects.com

www.4projects.com

www.4projects.com

“The UK Government is aiming to achieve Level 2 BIM maturity on all centrally procured projects by 2016.”

Exclusive interview with David Philp, BIM Task Group David Philp, MSC, BSC, FCIOB, FRICS, FICES, FGBC, is Head of BIM at the BIM Task Group and has spent time as Head of BIM Implementation at the Cabinet Office.

The Cabinet Offices’ BIM requirements are delivered through the Task Group and David is responsible for this.

This Group is the driving force in supporting and delivering the objectives of the Government Construction Strategy and the requirements to strengthen the public sector’s capability in BIM implementation.

David Philp spoke with UK Construction Excellence about his own journey and how BIM’s importance is continuing to grow.

Please could you give us some background as to your own career and what attracted you towards BIM? I graduated in the early 90s (engineering and project management) and then joined a leading infrastructure organisation (Balfour Beatty) as a graduate engineer. I advanced through the company, becoming Director of Technical Services and BIM Programme Director before leaving to join Mace as Head of BIM then AECOM as Director BIM - EMEA. I am also a Professor at Glasgow Caledonian University and visiting Professor at Middlesex University.

In 2011, I was seconded into the Cabinet Office’s construction team as Head of BIM Implementation for the Government’s Construction Strategy. I have continued this secondment with the BIM Task Group core BIM team (Head of BIM).

I have always enjoyed highlighting the potential of new technologies and how we interact with them to bring added value to the client and unlock new ways of working throughout the entire life-cycle. I am passionate about our industry and perceived BIM as being a catalyst for reform and rebranding as a technologically advanced sector. I was however initially attracted to BIM as an enabler of more integrated and concurrent working practices.

At what point in your career did you see BIM becoming as influential in the industry as it is and what steps did you take to make sure the companies you worked for got involved within this?

It was in the noughties that BIM caught my interest though perhaps in a different guise than we recognise it today. I was lucky to be steered by some great folks such as Andrew Wolstenholme (CEO, Crossrail) and John Tocci (Tocci CEO) who showed me a vision of a more integrated industry powered by digital data.

Whilst BIM has been about for many years it was 2011 and the publication of the Government Construction Strategy that we really saw a tipping point in motion with clients looking to leverage the benefits of computer readable data. I think at this point we started to herald the beginnings of the

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digitised construction sector.

Tell us a little bit more about BIM and how it would typically be better for projects than more traditional methods?

BIM has many definitions but essentially it is about the creation and management of digital data in our built environment; it allows the virtual production, analysis, evaluation and optimal development of an asset in a digital environment that mimics the understanding and behaviour of the solution to the realisation of that solution in reality.

Level 2 BIM maturity in the Government pilot projects has a more for less agenda and is achieving a whole range of additional benefits: • Improved stakeholder engagement and better decision making • Encourage collaborative working including early engagement of FM and Operation • Visualisation, prototyping and lifecycle solution testing • Accurate and complete data improving quality of bids, reducing risk allowances in target prices and lump sum bids • 3D model input into the assessment of the impact changes at all stages in a project lifecycle • Input of a populated asset data set into CAFM systems – saving time and avoiding duplication • Better outcomes for the end user How were projects undertaken before BIM became so prominent and what changes have been made?

Firstly we must recognise that the UK has a built environment sector to be proud of, one that is rich in heritage and has delivered many world class projects.

As our sector becomes more globalised we are having to compete on a new basis and need to ensure that we stay in the vanguard of efficiency and digitisation of our sector is a key enabler.

Smarter BIM-enabled procurement and operation is fundamental to this process ensuring clients are buying their information only once in a validated and co-ordinated form which they can reuse for many purposes.

You were Head of BIM Implementation at the Cabinet Office and now Head of BIM at the BIM Task Group. How did this come about and how do you drive projects within the industry?

I was interviewed for the position which was identified in the Government Construction Strategy.

I am proud to be part of a team working with industry and Government to leave a strong digital legacy. We help clients understand the purpose of the data (use) and how they best define this in a computational form, procure it and use it.

The Government has previously said that it wants BIM in public sector contracts by 2015/16. Are you still on target for this?

As set out in the Government Construction Strategy launched in 2011 the UK Government is aiming to achieve

With the heavy lifting on the enabling processes and tools being almost complete I would say that Government is exactly where it should be at this stage of the programme.

How has the industry’s involvement of BIM increased over time? What are the numbers now to say, five years ago?

The UK’s ambitious BIM objectives and their centralised approach has been envied by many other nations – a client offering clear leadership in a switch to digital.

The Task Group programme has always been about working with industry and we are seeing significant increase in adoption; indeed a recent survey by High Speed 2 noted that 56% of organisations that responded now had leading projects that could be considered as Level 2 maturity.

Furthermore a 2014 Hill McGraw report said that the mandate had inspired 76% of organisations to initiate a specific BIM project with 66% encouraged to add BIM resources to their organisation.

What steps are being taken to ensure this target is met?

The departmental adoption pipeline is reviewed regularly along with a maturity index to ensure the Level 2 BIM is truly imbued within the Government organisation.

It is essential that the adoption is tested against the objectives set out in the original strategy such as: Valuable, Understandable, Non-proprietary, Competitive, Open and Verifiable. There is also a BIM Stewardship group with Departmental BIM Champions that are helping drive adoption within their portfolios.

Is it just public sector contracts or are there targets for other sectors?

The Government Construction Strategy and its associated mandates are limited to the central government departments. However, we are seeing a great uptake from local authority and private sector clients such as Great Portland Estates who are equally reporting a positive return in investment from BIM.

and from the Task Group.

We have also recently formed a BIM4 Clients group that is growing rapidly, allowing us the chance to share knowledge around consistently procuring Level 2 BIM services and data.

We also have our website www.bimtaskgroup.org and we like to tweet @BIMgcs. We also have a regular online newsletter to ensure we share latest developments in the programme and highlight what’s going on around the various BIM4 parishes.

www.bimtaskgroup.org

Level 2 BIM maturity on all centrally procured projects by 2016. Significant progress has been made with this and there are already just around £9.5Bn of public sector Level 2 BIM projects in the pipeline.

Beyond the 2016 targets, how do you see BIM’s involvement in the industry? Are there further targets set out?

The Industrial Strategy 2025 sets out a vision of an industry that is innovative and technologically advanced including the concept of a Digital Built Britain (essentially the shift to Level 3 BIM).

What does the future hold for BIM? Where do you see it going in terms of different sectors and companies?

As we move upwards from the solid foundation set by Level 2 we will start to address the functionality for delivery of operational data sets and integration of telemetry. Level 3 will address these in sector delivery and operational stages, with a focus on enabling total cost and carbon outputs.

This move towards real time and often open data rich assets will see us partnering and learning more from other sectors, especially those that employ data science skills. I also see there being much more concurrent cycles in the design and construct process.

Are any new technologies being developed that can improve the process further?

We are already starting to see a convergence with lots of other technologies such as laser scanning and augmented reality. As we shift towards Level 3 maturity we will see more consideration of telemetry and other technologies to provide real time feedback from our assets.

David Philp

How is the reputation of BIM spreading and what do you do to make this happen? What are the best methods to spread the message within the industry?

Good communication and knowledge share is really important to us.

We have established with industry a series of BIM4 groups with CIOB acting as secretariat. These are communities of practice such as BIM4SME, BIM Regional Hubs that allow us a two-way communication conduit to

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Quality Assurance and COBie – The Solibri View David Jellings, MD Solibri UK The work of the initial Government BIM Task Group (whose responsibility it has been to introduce Level 2 BIM) is almost complete. The legacy it leaves behind consists of a number of standards and guidelines, driven by the core standard BSI B/555, i.e. the BS/PAS 1192 series, the BIM protocol contract guidance and ‘Soft Landings’ (all of which can be accessed via www.bimtaskgroup.org) This unique and intuitive software solution performs a number of tasks in delivering quality assurance and data mining and these can be summarised as follows:

COBIe Production – Clear visual indication of included and excluded assets – This image shows included solid and excluded wireframe.

Central to delivery of the legacy is the need to produce a series of discipline specific models with the provision of a single environment to store shared data and information (COBie).

The benefits of this legacy could be immense. Intelligent production of construction data will increase predictability across the design and build cycle resulting in better quality, lower cost, reduced delivery time and more sustainable buildings.

However, one thing is very clear – the BIM process creates more data than the industry has ever experienced before.

What good is data if you don’t know its accuracy, completeness, or compliance with the project requirement? Bad data may actually cause more harm than good, as the decisions made WILL result in inaccuracies elsewhere as the project progresses.

It is not sufficient just to manage the data; we have to ensure it is correct. Solibri Model Checker (SMC) does just that and then provides an intelligent, configurable environment to take accurate data from the model.

Federation SMC can bring together data from authoring tools irrespective of source. This is achieved by combining their IFC outputs into a single, federated model.

Version Control Different model versions can be overlaid to rapidly identify changes and simplify the process of validating that errors have been corrected.

Information Take Off Interrogation templates can be configured to extract model data to reflect individual requirements such as quantity take-off and COBie.

SMC and COBie The requirement to produce COBie data is increasing rapidly and all government projects will require this format by 2016.

Solibri has produced a COBie application which is now widely used by industry.

This enables models to be checked at every stage to ensure that data (i.e., floors, spaces, types, components, etc.) is complete. It then transfers the data to the correct location in the COBie structure. This COBie data is linked directly to the model for bi-directional visualisation and the required XLS sheets can be produced automatically.

Unlike other applications, SMC therefore produces a COBie output that goes beyond simple validation – it is accurate!

Viewing SMC provides extensive viewing capabilities into individual or federated models, including data interrogation, dimensioning and mark up.

Many of these capabilities are also available in the free-to-use Solibri Model Viewer (SMV).

Quality Assurance – either COBie Compliance Rule Checks – Rule identifies where for a single discipline or elements do not have a unique identifier. federated model SMC ‘rules’ allow models to be In summary, SMC does the one thing that analysed for almost every conceivable every model needs…it allows you to quality requirement. SMC contains over Measure the Quality of what has been 60 configurable rule templates that can modelled, and to Measure the Quality be combined to form rule sets for specific of the data that accompanies each functions such as validating model object. BIM cannot deliver on its constructability, clash detection (physical promise if the data is of poor quality. It and proximity), compliance with project really is that simple. specific or regulatory requirements and COBie. Communication and Audit Having identified data errors, SMC produces reports in traditional methods (PDF and XLS), or a more detailed Solibri file (to be reviewed with SMV), or through the emerging BIM Collaboration Format (BCF). SMC also products a full audit report of issues identified and the followup actions required.

“Of greatest significance was that working in this way appeared to improve levels of communication between the design team.“

Collaborative ‘live modelling’ between design teams

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Increasingly, Niven find themselves working as lead architects or part of a design team with companies that are located in different parts of the country or even abroad.

When working in BIM, this inevitably presents two major problems. Firstly, any system required to exchange data has to utilise the internet and cloud based file sharing in order to allow data exchange. Secondly, such a system needs to be able to facilitate any changes made by the design team in ways which are cost effective as well as easy to implement.

In order to test the effectiveness of our system’s approach, Niven Architects used a case study project: a £1.3M special care residential development.

This particular project was identified as suitable for two reasons: • Deadlines were sufficient for Design Team Members (DTMs) to have time to learn new processes.

• The size of the project meant that it would not put any of the companies at financial risk.

Initially, a widget was developed that facilitated ‘live’ cloud based file sharing in addition to a constant synchronised connection. Firstly, protocols and systems were established and tested between two computers, in the same office, that allowed the sharing of central data via the cloud thereby simulating a simple design team ‘live’ environment. Process and protocol documents were produced specifically for ‘live’ modelling, which could then be passed to the design team members once they were appointed to the project.

The cloud network facilitated the sharing of data between all stakeholders and Niven Architects, with processes and protocols subsequently governing the management of this information. At the start, DTMs were assessed with regards to BIM maturity in order to make sure they would be able to fully engage with the project and were willing to implement the new process on the case study.

During the next stage of the project, the ‘BIM Kick-off’ meeting, a BIM Execution Plan was agreed. A project process map was also established that set down key deadlines within the project based on the RIBA Plan of Works, with each key date. Its purpose was to set out the following: • BIM activities to be carried out.

• Technology to be used.

• Uses of BIM at various stages.

• Platform for data exchange.

• Information to be exchanged.

Having the above in place provided all the standards and processes for completing a task on the project so that, at any given point all DTMs could refer to documentation for clarification of process. Also, if DTM’s deviated from the processes agreed within the documents (and formalised in meetings) any liability lay with them to fix problems they may have caused.

One of the issues that became apparent during this exercise is the liability of content within the project. Whilst this

However, this requires all DTMs to be very thorough with project protocols and the production of BIM data. Any lapse of concentration would result in the system not working and information being editable by all team members, and therefore liability paths being potentially lost.

What did become apparent is that the process of ‘live’ modelling bypasses all of the consultants (including our own) internal QA processes (ISO 9001). This was an issue that had to be resolved. All the traditional methods of drawing production were lost: instead, as information inputted to the central data set was both ‘live’ and accessible to all, it was agreed to use only specific drawing dates of the live model where drawings issued form contractual conditions. Despite this solution, a significant degree of nervousness remained for DTMs and this is an ongoing issue within BIM which requires careful consideration.

IT infrastructure related issues regarding power and performance, were encountered as some companies’ computers were unable to handle the complex environments quickly enough. This tends to be more of a generic BIM issue than a ‘live’ modelling one, but it was still one that affected the project on a day to day basis. Also, on occasions, broadband speed became problematic, due to the latency of the upload and download process. Also, sometimes worksets were claimed by two users at the same moment without data being synchronised.

Whilst this was the main technical issue on the ‘live’ environment, it was purely a process problem.

Value engineering issues caused minor problems with regards to model quality. In the early stages of the project, all DTMs were working on the project at the same time resulting in all work items progressing at the same speed. During the value engineering process, there was a two-week lag between the architectural elements being complete and the rest of the design team’s work. As a result of worksets being locked to other consultants the model quality was impaired.

formal contractual information issue dates were agreed, at any point any drawing could be extracted in its current state.

Of greatest significance was that working in this way appeared to improve levels of communication between the design team. This increased exponentially as the opportunities to talk via Skype, phone and email become greater due to the fact that everyone had access to the model at the same time.

The software widget that was used to share data also made it possible to tell who was actually producing work at any given point. This has distinct benefits for project managers who would be able to monitor work process and outputs more effectively.

www.nivenarchitects.co.uk

is already a key issue within the BIM process, it’s even more significant within a ‘live’ environment due to the fact that the whole team is working within one model.

However, we were able to overcome this problem through the use of a system that locks information to other users.

So, for example, the architectural team can only touch the architectural elements whilst the structural engineer only has access to structural elements.

Finally, a value engineering process was required on the project, post tender. Originally, it was estimated this would take ten working days to amend the work in traditional 2 CAD methods. Using BIM and the ‘live’ environment, it took just two days to produce the same information. Whilst some of this was due to the fact that key technical sections were unaffected by model changes, it still represents a significant reduction in time and, thus, cost.

Looking back at our experiences, we feel strongly that this case study provided a successful test of a ‘live modelling’ environment. Whilst the IT infrastructure used was not perfect, this is something that can be developed in the coming months. We believe that the idea behind the ‘live modelling’ environment is both sound and provides positive results. Design teams working together in one environment will result in increased project efficiencies and better ROI’s on BIM. However, this test involved DTMs and basic stakeholders but not a complete project supply chain. The next step is to test this method of working on a wider selection of project stakeholders. However, this will require them to have reached the right level of maturity and confidence, if it is to be successful.

Despite the issues mentioned above, the benefits of working in a ‘live’ environment were found to be both numerous and of considerable consequence.

For example, we were able to monitor all the design team’s information as it was produced. This ensured that problems were identified at a very early stage and could be rectified within a few minutes, without significant amounts of aborted works. All stakeholders had up to date current information at any given point on the project. Even though

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DELIVERING A NEW DATA RICH ENVIRONMENT The concept of BIM is remarkably straight forward; build a 3D model of what you plan to construct, review and check the model to make sure it works in a virtual environment and then construct it. In addition, we can extend the functionality to facilitate the downstream operation and management of the asset by providing access to essential information at the point of use.

Our opportunity through BIM remains; to reduce the waste in what we do by rationalising the process of achieving the outcome, as well as finding new opportunity from a better understanding and alignment of the end product with the initial requirements. This ideal remains at the heart of the BIM journey.

Extract from Bew-Richard 2008

Many saw the opportunity, but it commendably took Government to lead the charge and deliver the well-known route map and ingredients to reach the first milestone, level 2 BIM by 2016, nevertheless level 2 BIM is only the start of the end game.

The opportunity is significant; • Involve technology – to fundamentally enable the opportunity.

• Cause us to change our processes – to realise the opportunity and, most importantly of all • Involve the engagement of people – to embrace and deliver a new outcome.

Needless to say these changes should not be restricted to visual representation alone.

Leveraging the intelligence of the objects that we use to create the 3D virtual model allows us to count, measure, attach information and link to associated information.

With all this information connected through a virtual model of our assets in which information and knowledge can be displayed in many different forms to support our decision making, we start to replicate the simplicity and access we now see in many aspects of everyday life.

Whilst the use of technology and the internet have become part of our everyday lives, it has also become an influencing factor in the way that we work. BIM and the Cloud are starting to do the same, but there is a way to go until we repeat the same physical and behavioural impact that has happened in our daily lives.

So what needs to change to this people, process and technology infusion to reach the sweet spot of real success and make this happen?

We know real success will need to come from open easy sharing of transferrable information. At Clearbox we believe the initial stepping stone comes from how easily we can access and manage the information to allow our teams to work together, this is

require a simpler, faster, more robust and scalable viewer that connects to the data environment contained in our core product BIMXtra.

the true simplicity of the common data environment (CDE) referred to in PAS 1192 Pt2.

What are Clearbox doing to support this transformation?

At Clearbox we see this issue wrapped up in the difference between a model centric approach to BIM and a data centric approach. Ultimately our issue is to ensure that our ease of sharing and access to common data is delivered through a visual interface that allows us to see the outcomes we need at the required level of definition to suit the type of device we are using.

For us, the architecture of the product is key.

When we search on Google Earth we don’t load the detailed the model of the world as a multitude of small models. The world is loaded at a level of detail and information pertinent to the view we need and the view is then refined and the data we have access to updated as we proceed. When we access a retail website, on our smartphone the view is tailored to suit the device and the information we need, and while that view is rarely fully customisable, it is inevitably likely to be pre-customised to suit the view we require while providing access to other information should we need more.

We see that the management of the data is the mechanism to control the visual interface. While we at Clearbox have made best use of existing industry tools, our opportunity to step up our offering for users has been rate limited by the products currently on the market and we have long recognised that we

We have also recognised that such a viewer needs to be supported by the data as opposed to being completely standalone in order to manage very large projects and we have now built an exciting new viewer, based around the type of technology that powers gaming, while providing the simplicity of the interfaces and access arrangements we see in everyday life.

Our approach is to make best use of and connect to, best in class tools, wherever they exist, and where they don’t, develop our own to allow the sharing of intelligent data and information based around industry standards. This is a fast evolving environment but we know from the world around us that data is the new oil, and that a data centric approach to managing BIM is critical to the simplicity, scalability and future-proofing of our BIM solutions, just look at the road map‌ level 3 is next.

Graeme Forbes is the Managing Director of Clearbox, a specialist digital information solution provider that is focussed on bringing game changing solutions to the construction industry and other asset intensive industries based around BIM based processes.

Access to Clearbox website can be found at www.clearboxbim.com

www.clearboxbim.com

+44(0)800 085 9872

“According to the report, one aspect of having a central government mandate is the demands it places on all players on the project team to be working with BIM.”

US and UK building owners expect to increase their involvement with BIM in the next two years While building owners may not always directly use BIM, they are increasingly recognising its value on their projects. McGraw Hill Construction recently released its new SmartMarket Report, The Business Value of BIM for Owners, which demonstrates that owners expect to grow their involvement with BIM rapidly: • 40% of US owners and 38% of UK owners expect that more than 75% of their projects will involve BIM in just two years, with a particularly high level of growth in the US. • Growth in the UK is being driven by the approaching implementation of a central government mandate requiring use of BIM on all national public projects by 2016, with over two thirds (67%) of UK owners reporting that the mandate has a high impact on their use of BIM.

The influence of the mandate in the UK is driving a much higher general level of involvement with BIM by owners than in the US. The study suggests the impact of the mandate in several key areas: • UK owners are more aware of BIM use by the core project team members (architects and general contractors) than their US counterparts.

• Most UK owners (88%) are formally measuring the impact of BIM, but only 18% of US owners are.

• More UK owners agree that they have experienced key BIM benefits like enhanced visualization, fewer problems due to design errors, coordination issues or construction errors, and beneficial impacts on project schedule and the control of construction costs.

Phillip G. Bernstein, Vice President of Strategic Industry Relations at Autodesk, said: “The McGraw Hill Construction report clearly shows the most important driver of BIM use in Singapore and the UK has been their national BIM mandates.

Mike Putnam, President and CEO of Skanska UK, notes: “The Government’s mandate is helping to drive change across the UK construction industry. Its 2016 deadline is accelerating the adoption of new tools and processes, which will ultimately deliver the collaboration and data needed to help achieve the industry’s long term objectives.

“With these two governments continuing to make infrastructure development a high priority, the adoption of BIM has become a critically important step towards minimizing lifecycle building costs and improving the design quality of their built assets. The report makes evident that the desire to become an industry leader is an aspect of the BIM policies of Singapore and the UK. To this end, a significant impact of these BIM mandates has been to ensure that construction sectors are becoming more globally competitive.”

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“When Skanska is an owner, we mandate BIM and have done so since 2008, as we believe it brings significant benefits. However, the report clearly shows that there is still much to be done before BIM is routinely used to develop more sustainable buildings and infrastructure.”

Because the findings demonstrate the powerful influence that governments can have on the implementation of BIM,

the report also contains research on BIM policies in over 20 major construction markets globally, as well as qualitative research with owners on the use of BIM in Singapore and Scandinavia – two regions with strong, effective support of BIM by their national governments.

According to the report, one aspect of having a central government mandate is the demands it places on all players on the project team to be working with BIM. The use of BIM by the full core project team rather than by select players can have a significantly positive impact on BIM’s influence on project outcomes.

The findings also reveal that UK owners are using BIM for facility management, capitalising on the benefits of BIM not just to reduce the cost of building design and construction but also throughout the building lifecycle: • 54% of UK owners already report that they have high capabilities to leverage BIM for building operations and facility management, compared with only 14% in the US. • By 2019, almost all (92%) of UK owners expect to have high capability to use BIM for building operations, a sharp contrast to the US with just 49% expecting to be at that level.

management and operations environments. Recent advances in standards and technology are now putting this within reach of owners everywhere. We are at the beginning of an exciting new era for BIM.” Despite the vigorous involvement with BIM by owners in the US and especially in the UK, the study also reveals that they would expand their engagement with BIM if there were more industry professionals with BIM skills at design and construction firms, if their operations and maintenance staff had a better ability to utilise the model and if there were standards of model development and exchange to better enable use of the model across the entire project team.

The Business Value of BIM for Owners SmartMarket Report was produced by McGraw Hill Construction in partnership with Autodesk and Skanska. Contributing partners who made this report possible were Balfour Beatty Construction and Mortenson Construction.

Steve Jones, Senior Director of McGraw Hill Construction and principal author of this report, said: “For as long as BIM has been used, practitioners have foreseen the potential value to owners of bringing the data-rich models developed by design and construction teams into owners’ facility

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Thousands of free BIM objects from almost 300 manufacturers across Europe. Over 60,000 architects and designers are using these intelligent and configurable objects, with automatic alerts when objects change.

www.bimobject.com

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With clever BIMobject APPs, the objects are available directly from within market leading BIM solutions including Revit, ArchiCAD, Autocad and SketchUp Pro. Other formats are also supported.

Make sure you’re not missing out by going to www.bimobject.com or, to find out more, enter BIMobject into search on YouTube.

BIMobject UK Ltd Tom Newman – +44 (0)7427 162 204 – tom.newman@bimobject.com

A D V E RT I S I N G P R O M O T I O N

BIM Objects The fundamental building blocks of Building Information Modelling (BIM) The Government mandate to achieve BIM Level 2, on publicly procured projects, by April 2016 is edging ever closer.

Organisations involved in the design, construction and operation of a public building are being impacted by the information requirements inherent in meeting BIM Level 2. For designers, contractors, and the contracting supply chain, this means a more disciplined and comprehensive approach to the collection and recording of data about building assets. The Government goal is to provide asset data in a structured and recognisable format which can be transferred into a CAFM (Computer-Aided Facilities Management) system. COBie (Construction Operations Building information exchange) is the specified data format.

Whilst designers and contractors have been preparing for COBie for some time, there is one community within construction which has only recently become aware of what Level 2 means for them – the manufacturers of building products. These manufacturers are the originators of the product data required in COBie and have the greatest incentive to ensure that this data – descriptive, performance, sustainability, etc., – is recorded accurately in BIM models. If it’s accurate in the BIM model it will also be accurate in COBie. The Level 2 data required for different types of building products is now being identified through the provision of Product Data Templates (PDT) – www.bimtalk.co.uk/pdts – which manufacturers can fill out to provide data on their products (a Product Data Sheet – PDS). How this PDS data is incorporated into a BIM model can be achieved via a number of methods but most have the disadvantage of being manual, and therefore error prone, and time consuming. The most succinct method is to include this data with the geometric representation of the product – a BIM object. All manufacturers are able to produce a PDS but only a few have the skills to create geometric representations which will work well in the popular BIM modelling softwares. For this reason, most

manufacturers look to an outside supplier to create their geometric objects, which also include the PDS data.

Having to use an outside supplier to create geometric objects clearly has cost implications for manufacturers. Today, creating objects is largely a ‘craft industry’ with a limited number of experts able to develop objects. This craft industry isn't scalable so the large number of objects that will be required, both for 2016 and

from mechanical design CAD software. To support the former, BIMobject Mosquito™ was introduced in late 2014. A new technology which enables manufacturers to self-build and maintain place-holder BIM objects containing 3D visualisations and data properties. During this year further releases of this software will extend the range of manufactured products to which this technology can be applied. An introduction to Mosquito can be viewed on the YouTube channel – key ‘bimobject mosquito’ into the search criteria. For those manufacturers which already have digital representations from their mechanical CAD system then it really is a case of ‘watch this space’ for upcoming announcements from BIMobject. The aim here is really simple: convert easily and accurately what already exists into formats which can be used by different BIM modelling softwares. To keep up to date check out https://bimobject.com regularly.

Through its cloud based portal BIMobject® provides the development, maintenance and syndication of BIM objects of manufactured building and interior products. These objects are provided from the BIMobject portal, at no charge, to architects, designers, specifiers and contractors, and are available in native format for a number of the model authoring tools including ArchiCAD, Revit, SketchUp and also AutoCAD. Other formats are also available.

BIMobject was founded 3 years ago and since January 2014 has been a public company list on NASDAQ OMX. A winner in 2013 of a Global Red Herring Award, which recognises world-wide the most promising start-up companies for their innovation and technology, BIMobject is now the largest provider in Europe of BIM objects with nearly 300 manufacturers as customers, over 65,000 registered users, and with over 1,000,000 downloads from its portal. BIMobject is headquartered in Sweden with subsidiaries in France, Hungary (for Eastern Europe), Germany, Italy, UK, and with business partners elsewhere in Europe.

Kitchen layout in a BIM model including a cooker hob object created with BIMobject Mosquito.

beyond, will be impossible to produce.

And with this hand-crafted approach, consistency is difficult to achieve and creation costs will remain at the higher end. In this situation with a requirement for many more objects, but only a limited pool of experts, how can the needs of the construction industry and product manufacturers be met?

BIMobject® has been reviewing this conundrum for some time and concluded that the development of BIM objects has to be ‘industrialised’. This process has to include all the constituent parts of a BIM object - the geometric representation, the structured data (e.g., PDS) and any other unstructured information (e.g., PDF of installation instructions). This is a strategic focus for BIMobject in 2015. Put simply, there are two communities of manufacturers which need to be supported: those with no 3D representations of their products, and those with 3D representations produced

Article written by; Alan Baikie, Managing Director, BIMobject UK

www.bimobject.com

For more details visit www.frese.co.uk

Frese BIM models make designing super-efficient HVAC systems quick and simple BIM is transforming how buildings are designed but in some cases they are still not as energy efficient as they could be.

Valve manufacturer Frese is tackling the issue head-on by making all of its super-efficient dynamic balancing and pressure independent control valves available in digital form for architects, designers and facilities managers.

BIM allows building designers to create 3D models of buildings featuring digital versions of all the systems contained within the structure. This means that buildings can be created on-screen and the efficiency, energy consumption and other variables can be measured and tested before physical installation.

In the recent Adoption of BIM manufacturers survey 40% of respondents already offer BIM and around half of respondents plan to before 2016.

Now contractors can visit www.frese.eu/en-GB/2Ddrawings-and-3D-models and download Frese valves to drop into their digital models to create super-efficient heating and ventilation systems. Facilities managers can place Frese valves into existing BIM to retro-fit systems with the firm’s range of dynamic balancing valves and PICVs. BIM is driving down the cost of building design and by making their products available in the format Frese is helping ensure that architects and designers are able to build systems which continue to keep costs down once the build is complete.

Frese UK Managing Director Stephen Hart said: “Making all our valves available in BIM format was a significant task.

“But with BIM becoming ever more prevalent as a cost effective way to design and manage buildings, we felt it was important to ensure our products can be downloaded and used in new designs.

“Costs do not end with the design and build of a system, there is a running cost associated with a building during its lifetime. The ability to design systems featuring superefficient valves like the Frese OPTIMA Compact – which can improve efficiency by up to 50% – in BIM and know they can be installed on-site without the need for the heating system to be manually balanced means there are immediate cost savings at the design stage.

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“Facilities managers also benefit as they will control a building which is highly energy efficient and a system which avoids excessive temperature variations by achieving and maintaining the required system delta T under all operating conditions.

“This supports initiatives such as seasonal and continuous commissioning which emphasises the need for hydronic heating and cooling systems to be balanced at all load conditions, not just peak.

“This is also true of systems where Frese valves are retrofitted. Facilities managers who use BIM to identify where maintenance work is required can see on-screen where Frese valves can be fitted and how they will make the system more efficient.”

Stephen Hart

BIMobject partnership helps Skanska to support its supply chain

BIMobject creates and publishes digital replicas – BIM objects - of manufactured products, which include all the associated data required for the construction process. These can then be placed into a virtual version of a project that is developed using BIM processes and software.

With its range of market leading innovative technologies, including an online object generator designed for use by the supply chain, BIMobject is strongly placed to support both Skanska and its supply chain partners. This market

leading initiative further advances the use of technology in transforming construction.

Malcolm Stagg, Head of BIM at Skanska UK, said: “This agreement helps us to further strengthen our position as a leader in BIM in the industry. It also demonstrates the importance we place on working collaboratively with our supply chain and other partners. BIMobject is a key component of our overall strategy to achieve this.”

www.skanska.co.uk

Skanska UK has announced a strategic partnership with BIMobject, which is a significant step forward in its BIM strategy. Skanska’s award winning approach to BIM has been recognised throughout the construction industry. The partnership will enable more collaborative working between Skanska and its supply chain.

“This initiative is another important step in moving towards fully collaborative processes with BIM. We are delighted to be able to contribute to making these processes work smoothly for Skanska and its supply chain”, commented Alan Baikie, Managing Director of BIMobject UK.

HS2 reveals if supply chain is ready for Level 2 BIM An online self-assessment questionnaire, together with a number of workshops and interviews were held with a selection of the supply chain to capture information on the industry’s current awareness of BIM and more specifically Level 2 BIM maturity.

The evidence captured, both quantitative and anecdotal, indicates that overall there is an ever increasing awareness and implementation of BIM within the UK supply chain.

Key data from the study shows: • 94% of the supply chain already use BIM. • 60% have a BIM strategy with defined goals.

• 71% make financial provision for BIM. • 60% work to a BIM standard as part of their QA process.

Positively the study found that over 50% of the supply chain has some degree of experience within Level 2 BIM maturity, although further research found this applies to major projects as opposed to an overall organisational position.

Tier 1 organisations were the most evolved whereas Tiers 2 and 3, with the exception of a few early adopters, were constrained within Levels 0-1.

projected capacity, especially with regards to Tier 2 and 3 organisations who may not reach Level 2 without the support of HS2 Ltd and the Tier 1 community.

HS2 Ltd Head of Management Systems Jon Kerbey said: “In order to maximise efficiency and ensure that HS2 is delivered on time and on budget, HS2 Ltd has made a serious commitment to use BIM to an unprecedented scale.

The results and recommendations from this study will help to ensure that the supply chain’s capabilities match the requirements for the project.

“BIM offers a unique opportunity for our whole supply chain to work collaboratively to find the best solutions for HS2 as a whole and to share crucial information on design data, stakeholder interactions and asset information before, during and after construction.

“In order to unlock these and other benefits it is essential that HS2 Ltd creates the right environment to put Level 2 BIM into practice and help the supply chain upskill where required. We will also meet the need to upskill our own staff.

“This process will help the UK industry as a whole in its continued journey towards digital leadership in the built environment.”

www.gov.uk/government/organisations/high-speed-two-limited

HS2 Ltd recently published the results of a comprehensive study to test whether the supply chain is ready to work to Level 2 BIM, examine the industry’s ability to match HS2’s aspirations and recommend ways of closing any existing skills gap.

An overall assessment of the current status as compared to the target status shows that despite a strong awareness there are key areas where the knowledge and skills gap need to be closed. This gap is however not essentially a capability issue but more associated with lack of standards for date formats.

To summarise, the study confirmed the belief that Level 2 BIM maturity as a minimum standard is a realistic and achievable goal for HS2 and its future supply chain.

However, in order to achieve this it is essential that HS2 drives upskilling to meet its programme and

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Quality without compromise FA R O

Indeed, wealth is the word. The market is forecast to expand from an approximate $2.06Bn in 2013 to $4.08Bn by 2018. This unprecedented growth can be attributed to competitive hardware and software pricing, increased product efficiency and greater ease in converting point clouds to CAD models.

At the forefront of this new wave is FARO – the world’s most trusted source for 3D measurement technology.

Originally established in 1981 by Greg Fraser and Simon Raab, Fraser and Raab Orthopaedic (FARO) develops and markets computer-aided measurement and imaging devices and software.

The applications for such devices are innumerable. Whether inspecting components and assemblies, documenting large volume spaces or structures in 3D, or investigating and reconstructing accident sites or crime scenes, laser scanning has proven an immensely useful modern tool with a potential that FARO was quick to recognise.

FARO Technologies’ Laser Scanner Account Manager, David Southam explains: “In 2005 FARO acquired a German-based company – iQvolution. The company had previously worked with a number of large automotive manufacturers, mapping their factories and creating 3D representations to be used as layout schemes. When installing a production line, iQvolution would first do everything virtually to ensure it all fit. This was cuttingedge stuff.

“Once FARO acquired the company, we invested heavily in the product to get to where we are now – a small, sleek laser scanner that can scan entire areas within a matter of minutes.”

FARO’s acquisition of iQvolution and their phase shift laser technology has allowed the company to make inroads into a variety of different sectors, particularly in the construction industry. With BIM high on the agenda, laser scanning has enabled clients to take three dimensional replicas of spaces and their inner-workings for future reference. Elsewhere, heritage buildings can be mapped and monitored to provide a reference point for any imperceptible changes in the fabric of the building.

FARO’s considerable financial backing, worldwide presence and R&D focus has also allowed the company to become a market leader. The Focus3D X-Series for instance is an industry benchmark, offering a degree of image quality, portability and price unavailable elsewhere.

But while FARO’s iterative design approach has brought about a number of hardware refinements, David identifies recent improvements in the software component as being responsible for the major growth seen recently. David states: “The inclusion of point cloud engines has allowed users to bring their raw data directly into their architectural package.

It is the market need for data and the software capability to handle that data that has made laser scanning so popular.”

For more information about FARO please visit: www.faro.com/home

In a relatively short space of time, the global 3D laser scanning market has become something of a new frontier a burgeoning industry with a wealth of possibilities.

Such software improvements are indicative of things to come, and as the software component becomes more sophisticated so too will FARO’s far-reaching capability.

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Lumion Visualisation solution for AEC professionals Lumion is an essential tool for everyone who wants to visualise their building designs. It produces impressive, high quality videos very quickly and is extremely easy to master. Lumion has customers in over 60 countries around the world. They include architects, designers, engineers, BIM modellers and universities. Lumion is now seen as the leading software in its class because it has redefined the process of making 3D visualisations. It has also become an essential part of the BIM toolkit for many AEC professionals.

“It’s completely changed our workflow! As a result, there’s a lot of hype about Lumion around WATG” Tal Aisenberg, WATG, Senior Landscape Architect

See how Lumion will revolutionize your creative workflow For more information about Lumion please visit www.lumion3d.co.uk or to request a demonstration and free trial please contact enquiries@lumion3d.co.uk

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Institution of Structural Engineers announces BIM 2015 Conference potential indemnity insurance issues and other legal aspects associated with working in the BIM environment.

‘BIM 2015’ will take place on 30th April at the Institution’s new International Headquarters in Bastwick Street, London.

Sarah Fray, Director of Engineering and Technical Services for The Institution of Structural Engineers, said: “The construction industry is set to evolve significantly as a result of emerging BIM technologies, so we’re delighted to launch a fresh event, providing a unique insight tailored specifically for structural engineers.

The conference will provide delegates with an early opportunity to view the new, free to use digital BIM Toolkit, funded by Innovate UK, and developed by NBS - with support from the Institution and seven other professional organisations. The toolkit is being delivered to support practitioners and businesses of all sizes engage with the BIM Level 2 environment.

www.istructe.org

The Institution of Structural Engineers has announced it will host a conference exploring BIM in 2015.

“Our inaugural BIM Conference in 2013 was a great success, selling out quickly, and I look forward to a similarly stimulating and informative event in 2015.”

BIM 2015 will also feature talks from innovative contractors whose use of BIM in off-site manufacturing has transformed their approach to projects. It will also present sessions on

WYG supports competition encouraging SMEs to use BIM R e g is tr ati o n n ow o p e n fo r B I M 4 S M E s B u i l d N ewc a s tl e L i ve 2 01 5 co m p e titi o n , 1 6 -1 8 M a rc h

In addition to the participants from SMEs, a team of students from Universities and the ‘Class of your own’ will also join the competition.

Johnathan Munkley, BIM Director, WYG, who has led the organisation of the event with Asite as part of the BIM4SME task group, comments: “We are extremely proud to facilitate knowledge and practice of BIM to SME organisations and individuals who may otherwise not have the opportunity. BIM is about collaboration, so not only is this competition a means to showcase talent and best practice, it is also a channel to enable confidence and stimulate communications in ways that will be of great benefit to the industry.”

Following the competition, the award ceremony will take place in London on 19 March to recompense the winners in six different categories, including the overall Build Live Award, Best use of BIM for Innovation and BIM for Sustainability and constructability.

Johnathan Munkley

For more information about BIM4SME Build Newcastle Live 2015 and to register for the competition, visit www.buildearthlive.com

As part of its ambitious programme to modernise the sector, the UK Government has called for BIM technologies, process and collaborative behaviours to be used on all projects by 2016. Through the Build Newcastle Live initiative, WYG aims to facilitate the adoption of BIM among professionals at all levels of the construction industry.

It is expected that around 20 teams across the country will compete to build a project using the virtual Asite platform. Their task will be to create a construction package using 2,3,4,5,6D process with a 48-hour timeframe.

More information about BIM4SME can be found at www.bim4sme.com

Programme, project management and technical consultancy WYG is delighted to support the BIM4SME Build Newcastle Live 2015 competition taking place on 16-18 March. The event offers participants in small and medium enterprises all over the UK the opportunity to use BIM freely, in a safe virtual environment. WYG also sponsors the Open BIM Build Live Award handed to the overall winner: www.buildearthlive.com/newcastle

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Tekla Global BIM awards winners F i ve d e m o n s tr ati o n s of th e p owe r of B I M

The winning Total BIM project, the new headquarters of the financial services group OP-Pohjola in Helsinki, Finland, is a multi-material building with a complex, sloped precast concrete and glass facade. A collaborative group of companies led by Sweco modelled the building in several locations, while designers and contractors followed design progress with the model’s design statuses. Several project parties used models for clash checking, hole reservations and visualizations, and chose object-based quantity take off and scheduling plus coordination with BIM. The competition jury selected the partially retractable roof of the Singapore Sport Hub by Arup the winner of the Steel category. A span of 310 meters makes it the largest freespanning dome structure in the world. Collaborative design between the architectural vision, venue designers and the structural engineering team using 3D modelling techniques resulted in a highly buildable roof that is extremely efficient, lightweight and sophisticated.

The River Vantaanjoki Bridge in Finland by Siltanylund Oy and Destia Oy was chosen as the best Cast in Place Concrete project. The project included design and construction of a new road, bridge structures crossing the River Vantaanjoki, pile slabs, underpass and an associated trough. In addition to cast in place structures and reinforcement, the project parties modelled the roads and earthworks and utilised BIM in checking and approval process and on-site.

The winner of the public vote was the 2,010m cable-stayed Cao Lanh Bridge in the River Mekong delta in Vietnam.

Created by VTCO Investment’s team of new Tekla users, the bridge model will not only be used for shop drawings production but also will play an important role in the operation and maintenance after the completion of the bridge, scheduled for 2017. The bridge was the clear favourite of over 3,500 online voters.

In the student category, the winner was a team of five students studying Architectural Engineering at Chosun University, South Korea. The team utilised BIM and IPD to model an 85-story steel and concrete building and imported the individual models into Tekla BIMsight for collision detection and model coordination.

The winners of the competition were chosen by a jury of international BIM experts: • Dr. Arto Kiviniemi, Professor of Digital Architectural Design, University of Liverpool.

• Winn Gomez, BIM Manager of Oger International, Abu Dhabi.

• Dr. Burkhard Talebitari-Tewes, Specialist Journalist, Publishing House Wiley / Wilhelm Ernst & Sohn, Berlin.

• Doug Brent, Vice President, Technology Innovation at Trimble, USA.

More information about the competition, winners and other entries is available at the Tekla website - www.tekla.com/global-bim-awards-2014

The winners of the Tekla Global BIM Awards have been chosen among the local BIM champions from around the world. The best in the Total BIM category was the OPPohjola office building while the precast concrete award went to Mons Railway Station Garage and the cast-in-place concrete award to River Vantaanjoki Bridge. The best engineering project was the multifunctional Torun Concert Hall and the steel award was given to the roof of Singapore Sports Hub, the largest dome in the world.

Tekla was represented by the Executive Vice President and General Manager of Trimble Buildings Structures Division Risto Räty. The 49 entries to the Tekla Global BIM Awards competition were the winners of regional Tekla BIM competitions that Tekla area offices and software resellers had organised during 2014.

The winning project in the pre-cast category was the Mons Railway Station Garage in Belgium, an unexpectedly beautiful structure by Hurks Delphi Engineering. Architect Santiago Calatrava created complex frame and wall element shapes that Hurks cast flawlessly as they communicated the fabrication information to mould builders and rebar workers directly from Tekla software.

The best among the structural engineering projects was the multifunctional Torun Concert Hall in Poland by Fort Polska. The geometrically very complex building consists of five modules, of which two can be joined to create a larger space for all kinds of events. The hall has inclined loadbearing concrete walls below partially movable ceilings made of hundreds of polymorph faces angled together.

Without BIM, mapping this architectural thought would not have been possible.

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2015 BIM: Now or Never?

BIM is now taking hold in the industry and with the Government’s 2016 deadline looming, an increasing number of businesses are seeing 2015 as the year for action. Two driving forces are quoted by clients; the fear of falling behind and the desire to get ahead.

BIM AND THE 2016 MANDATE So, is 2015 now or never for BIM? “The view I’m hearing from clients is that BIM is clearly here to stay and the 2016 Government mandate has certainly provided a focus-point”.

More and more businesses are deciding that 2015 is the year to take action, but there are concerns: • How best to acquire BIM capability • How to demonstrate BIM capability to pre-qualify and win tenders • The costs of getting there

benefit and can accelerate ahead of their competition, supporting bigger organisations in their efforts to develop a supply chain to deliver BIM requirements. “for the vast majority of businesses, the cost of assessment and certification is less than a single Revit licence or pre-qualification submission” SUPPORT Clients are looking for reliable independent advice and guidance. One thing that is clear is that the ‘one-size fits all’ approach to BIM does not work. The nature and specific needs of each organisation must be properly considered before embarking on a BIM strategy. Requirements vary greatly, depending on the type of business, BIM role, sector and scale of projects. A carefully scoped and targeted approach to developing skills and procedures saves unnecessary costs.

Fortunately, there is help available, directly addressing these issues.

FUNDING Businesses are concerned at the costs of developing BIM capability and investment upgrading hardware and paying for software licences alone can be a barrier. But there are a number of grants available to help businesses become more efficient and grow using BIM.

CERTIFICATION The best way to demonstrate BIM capability is with independent assessment from a UKAS accredited Certification Body. Thankfully, this also provides businesses with a cost-effective solution, avoiding the wasteful time and expense of repeatedly churning out evidence of BIM compliance in pre-qualification and tender documents. Construction clients also benefit greatly from this, avoiding the time-consuming and expensive process of assessing submissions to select consultants and contractors able to deliver their project information requirements.

Expertise on grant scheme criteria from the organisation providing support allows businesses to be referred to the right fund and guided through applications without difficulty. “gaining certification need not be a lengthy process, typically 6 – 12 months”

The ‘direction of travel’ in the industry has been made clear, with BIM joining Quality (ISO 9001), Environmental (ISO 14001) and Health & Safety Management (OHSAS 18001), and compliance with the relevant standards being the benchmark against which bidders are judged and selected. With BIM now becoming a pre-requisite, the business case for certification is clear. Certified compliance with the ‘BIM Standard’ PAS 1192-2 is highlighted in the Government-commissioned ‘Pre-Qualification Standard’, PAS 91. HM Government is implementing these standards on all publicly-procured projects and many other organisations, including pre-qualification bodies such as Constructionline, are following suit.

The costs and time-scales for BIM certification are obvious concerns and these are questions that Neil is happy to answer. “Experience shows that for the vast majority of businesses, the cost of assessment and certification is less than a single Revit licence or pre-qualification submission. And gaining certification need not be a lengthy process, typically 6 – 12 months”.

The key to this is establishing a clear strategy that takes advantage of the support, including funding, that is available. SME’s (businesses with less than 250 employees) are often best placed to

RECOMMENDATIONS • Set out to demonstrate capability with BIM certification • Take advantage of the support available to develop skills and procedures to acquire relevant BIM capability • Get advice on grants and subsidies to minimise the costs 2015 will be a pivotal year for many businesses, but with the clock ticking to the 2016 BIM deadline, there is valuable help at hand and maybe ‘now or never?’ is not the right question. “Clients now understand that 2016 is not the finishing line, but a starting position and there’s a growing realisation that they need to be in the blocks and ready to compete. We are finding that they really appreciate the fact that they can get independent help on all of these issues in one place – and with grant funding, save money at the same time”.

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Enabling Zero Waste “Basically what we’re doing is not redesigning anything, as that work has been done, but lifting off information from either 3D modelling or 2D drawings and looking at buildability issues.”

B i n n i n g co n s tr u c ti o n re f u s e Following the launch by Constructing Excellence in Wales (CEW) of the ‘Enabling Zero Waste’ project, UK Construction Excellence spoke with Paul Jennings, Director of Construction Waste Programme at CEW about the scheme and how he sees waste management affecting the industry in the future.

The Enabling Zero Waste project itself is intended to put Wales at the forefront of global efforts to reduce construction waste. Can you provide a little more information about it?

In essence we recruited, through a formal process, four construction projects to become part of the overall project.

We were looking for diversity of construction in terms of building type and so on.

There are a number of CEW initiatives we are taking forward like recycled content in building product and recycled aggregate. The idea is to monitor the projects to see if we can fit those initiatives into these projects so that we can produce a report which shows whether the work we are doing is actually helping construction companies achieve Welsh Government targets.

How did the Project come about?

In essence this is a result of our overall programme.

We manage the Construction and Demolition Waste Programme. I direct this for CEW on behalf of the Welsh Government Waste Strategy Branch so we are entirely funded to push this agenda for waste prevention and landfill diversion. The overarching government target is zero waste to landfill so what we had been looking to do is to recruit a number of projects and to assist those projects in every way we can, given limited resources, to see if we can enable zero waste or to test the reality of the aspiration.

How were the construction projects chosen?

We went out to seek expressions of interested from companies who had clearly defined projects. We needed planning to be in place, we needed them to be about to or just starting on site and we needed completion within our timescale, which is effectively about a year from now, so that we can then compile our final report for the Welsh Government.

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The four projects are a care home to the east of Cardiff – which is being contracted by Castleoak – the Cardiff Bay Sports Village Ice Arena, Millbank School in Cardiff and the Glynn Vivian Art Gallery.

How is CEW involved at project level?

We will be having regular meetings with the site team.

We have a waste consultant on board, Yonna Hughes of BQMC, who has considerable experience in the whole waste agenda and particularly in construction. Yonna was involved in a major project in North Wales a couple of years back and it is acknowledged that she made massive savings on the scheme by her ability to persuade constructors and the supply chain that doing things her way was the right way and the better way.

Are there any specific methods being used by CEW to look at issues on projects?

We have used BIM by taking the information provided by project managers and uploading it onto a BIM system.

Basically what we’re doing is not redesigning anything, as that work has been done, but lifting off information from either 3D modelling or 2D drawings and looking at buildability issues. We’re hoping that by using BIM we can hypothesise or make changes, in the virtual sense without anything changing on site, and with those changes we can say ‘had they been able to do this, or done that, then there may have been a saving in waste’.

The two BIM practitioners helping us with the project are Gillard Associates in Cardiff and Arup. Alan Gillard is involved in the Castleoak care home project and the Milbank School, while Arup is involved on the ice arena and the Glynn Vivian Art Gallery.

What impact do you hope the programme will have on the waste industry?

I’m hoping it will inform strategy in terms of what we have and what we don’t have. We are working with the waste industry to a far greater extent than what we would have envisaged eight years ago. The waste industry is still a provider of the construction industry and achieving our

Why are you so passionate about waste management in the industry?

The country is very dependant on waste management in construction. Particularly in the refurbishment projects as it’s very difficult to see how you can avoid waste arising in the first place. If you are building new then it should be an aspiration – there really shouldn’t be any waste at all.

But when you look at the well-known fact that in 2050 80% of the buildings that will be around are already in existence today, more and more refurbishment work will be taking place over new build. We need to have a very efficient waste management industry ready to deal with those things and recover everything that is recoverable. Landfill is not an option - we are running out of them very quickly in Wales and we need things in place to deal with this.

How is the ‘Enabling Zero Waste’ project helping this?

Reporting from this project, and we have to accept that there are only four schemes, there is a great deal of enthusiasm for ‘Enabling Zero Waste’ in Welsh Government circles and who knows, next year our funding might let us do ten or 20. Let’s keep gathering that live evidence and keep facing the realities on-site and examine exactly why these things happen, and how we can avoid or prevent waste. From inside the waste industry, I hope, they will say ‘actually we can do that, we can resolve that, and we need to concentrate on that material, or this material is difficult so what can we do to deal with it?’

Do you have any advice for companies looking to change the way they deal with waste on their own construction sites?

I guess the single piece of advice I would offer is that

somehow this is addressed at the beginning. We have to move waste from the last item on the agenda to the second - Health & Safety, then waste. I think doing that would bring about massive change because instead of being an afterthought there would be a formal plan.

The larger organisations and the people – those who are determined to achieve the targets that the Welsh Government has laid down – plan their waste well in advance. They look at what they are going to be doing, where they are doing it, what kind of materials will be used, if there’s demolition, what would improve the efficiency of the operation. All of those things are part of the resource planning - a project plan that considers the arising of waste and how that’s going to be managed – and it’s so much better when its considered right at the beginning and not when you’re halfway through the build and suddenly in need of another ten skips.

Another element we are promoting is ‘Surplus Centre’.

At the end of every scheme - almost without exception - there will be surplus material, either through over ordering, changes of design or any number of reasons that materials get left over. Unless somebody thinks about that, those materials will ultimately end up in a skip. If you speak to waste management companies, and I do, they will tell you there are always unused materials in a skip. That comes about because there’s a handover date, and somebody is under pressure to clean the site and make it presentable, and so whatever is lying around gets chucked in the skip.

We have a pilot scheme, which is now in Swansea. At the beginning of a job an area is set aside and if surplus materials arrive they are put into that area. Make a phone call and those materials will be held in a surplus centre and redistributed in community projects.

“But when you look at the well-known fact that in 2050 80% of the buildings that will be around are already in existence today, more and more refurbishment work will be taking place over new build. “

goals will depend, to a great extent, on the infrastructure that is available to constructors to get their waste dealt with efficiently, effectively, and, of course, within regulation.

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Works ongoing at Glynn Vivian Art Gallery

Glynn Vivian Art Gallery, Artist Impression

John Weaver(Contractors) is an established family firm with over 100 years construction expertise, combining the strong traditional values of skilled craftsmanship with modern materials, building techniques, and sound business management.

New build, refurbishment, retail and conservation work, in addition to our specialist joinery and small works department now collectively form the main thrust of our expanding portfolio.

The Company has always been committed to quality and professionalism and with its growing reputation throughout South Wales, as well as further afield, these remain fundamental qualities at the heart of our business today.

John Weaver (Contractors) is a Client led organisation whose management approach to servicing commissions is to provide a first rate service based on a tradition of quality at competitive cost. Our Company is committed to the EGAN objectives and a successful team has been built up around these objectives over many years with motivation and commitment from the top down.

Aerial pictures of the Glynn Vivian project underway

As a smaller family run Construction Company, we offer a more paternalistic type of management to our team and a more “hands on� approach for the benefit of Clients with a more direct response in offering a far more personalised service.

We do not believe in labour only sub-contracting and, as such, have built up a first class team of carefully selected directly employed local craftsmen over the years. We feel that this philosophy gives far greater control and ultimately provides Clients with the performance and standards of quality that are required.

The Company is committed to long term relationships with Clients as can be borne out by the large number of contracts and Clients who repeatedly select our Company for partnering, negotiations and contract works over the years including Local Authorities, Educational Establishments, Health Trust & Private Sector Clients.

www.johnweaver.co.uk Twr y Felin 5 Star Hotel, Artist Impression

Twr y Felin, before major alterations and refurbishment

Works ongoing at Twr y Felin Hotel

CURRENT PROJECTS We are currently involved in two very high profile projects, one being the refurbishment of the Glynn Vivian Art Gallery. This is a challenging project to refurbish the Grade 2 listed building and add new extensions to fill the footprint of the site, creating a Gallery, Educational Plant and Workshop spaces. The original 1911 gallery is undergoing conservation repairs, reroofing and reservicing; the 1974 gallery is fully refurbished, adding new entrance and café areas, all overclad with modern stone rainscreen cladding, and the two buildings are linked by a glass fronted two storey atrium/display area. A new rear extension is being constructed to house educational facilities, a new gallery, and workshops for the artwork. The building is on a steep hill so has multiple split levels, and a new lift serving these.

High quality finishes throughout and structural glass complement the fusion of new and old buildings; the constraints on site of lack of space and severe differences in level make construction far from simple, demanding innovative solutions.

Another project we are currently undertaking is a £4 million refurbishment of an existing Grade 2 listed building, together with an extension to provide a Five Star Hotel comprising of 20 bedrooms, accommodation, function room and restaurant and supporting facilities. Combining with the requirements of a Five Star Hotel, occupying a Listed Building set in the historic City of St David’s and Pembrokeshire National Park and the close proximity to the sea, requires exacting detailing and on-site co-ordination.

Please see our website www.johnweaver.co.uk for more information on projects underway and completed.

For enquiries contact our Swansea office on 01792 464004 or email contracts@johnweaver.co.uk

Works ongoing at Twr y Felin Hotel

Building on a tradition of quality John Weaver (Contractors) Ltd Morfa House, 126 Neath Road, Hafod, Swansea, SA1 2JW

Tel 01792 464004 Fax 01792 648177 Email contracts@johnweaver.co.uk

Speed Measurement Systems “We use the same basic radar for all our radar guns because it is tried and tested and has been approved by the Home Office. “

S p e e d a r L i m ite d

A dedicated campaigner for road and site safety, Speedar Limited is a leading provider of cost effective solutions for the measurement of speed. UK Construction Excellence spoke with Ron Edwards, Commercial Director of Speedar, about the company and its success in the UK marketplace and beyond.

Could you provide our readers with a brief introduction to Speedar? When was Speedar established and what would you describe as being the aims and objectives of the company?

Speedar products have been designed since 1997, when the authorities changed the waveband for radar speed guns in the UK. This significant change provided an opportunity to develop an innovative new range of products. The products themselves were designed and manufactured by our Managing Director through a separate company – Ottery Electronics – until 2004, when Speedar Limited was formed. All manufacturing and marketing activities then transferred from Ottery Electronics to Speedar, leaving Ottery to concentrate on software, design and development.

Speedar’s objective is to provide cost effective speed measurement equipment and to continue to develop our range of products i.e. networked speed guns and wireless transmitted speed guns.

Being the only UK manufacturer of handheld direction sensing radar guns, Speedar is no stranger to innovation.

How did the company identify the potential for speed guns in the UK marketplace?

Speed gun technology has really been driven by the US marketplace – radar and then laser – with European

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companies following suit. Radar is not very prominent in Europe. They use roadside radar, as we do in this country, for cameras but lasers are used for handheld equipment.

In fact the radar market in Europe is, as far as we’re concerned, none existent.

Within the UK we sell to a few police forces but, on the enforcement side, our market now tends to be Community Speed Watch groups situated in various counties. The commercial side is really where we are developing our products at the moment – primarily in the construction, transport and mining sectors. Anywhere you would want to control speed on a large site for safety reasons rather than enforcement.

Does the UK marketplace have an appetite for radar?

I think radar has had its day in this country as far as the police are concerned. Unless someone is able to come up with a new form of technology that beats laser, I don’t see that changing.

Radar does have an application for Community Speed Watch groups because it is cheap. A radar gun can be bought for £700–£800, while you might spend £2,000– £2,500 on a laser gun. If, for instance, you have a county with a lot of villages and you want to control speed by placing a speed gun in each village, it is far cheaper to use a radar gun than it is a laser gun.

Besides cost, radar guns are easier to operate as you don’t need to focus on the target. Radar is also particularly suited to low traffic volume, making villages and country roads ideal.

In what countries does the Speedar currently operate? Is any expansion planned?

Our only manufacturing unit is here in the UK but we have exported to over 30 countries. Obviously, that might be one gun or it might be several hundred. We have in the past shipped 200–250 SpeedVision guns to the Indian police. Different guns have also been shipped to gold mining companies in Tanzania, Ghana and Burkina Faso. We have gone to some fairly inhospitable places with out kit.

Our work with mining companies, on large sites and in places like Australia, is why we started looking at wireless technology. A contact has also seen a potential for this technology being used in oil refineries, but of course with oil refineries you need to look at them being intrinsically safe. You need to ensure that there is not going to be a spark that sets the plant on fire. This is something that we have not looked

at yet but it is an area earmarked for investigation.

Its tidbits like this that make us think that there is a potential market there.

Our strongest overseas markets are probably the African countries, where we are starting to get a lot of interest, and India. We were very strong in India going back about eight years ago, though it eventually tailed off. We’ve since changed distributors out there and the market is beginning to increase again. While our new distributor is involved in different market sectors, our previous was purely police and just as radar has had its day with the police here, I think it has also had its day with the police there. We are now picking up other sectors like industrial.

How do you see Speedar continuing to develop in the future?

We will work in any sector that has vehicles that are likely to exceed the speed limit. We have been asked to do all sorts of things. We did have an enquiry from Crossrail in London for instance. They wanted to measure the speed of equipment moving underground but they needed to be at around four miles per hour which is below what radar can do. We have since looked at this and, while it is too late for that contract, we do have some idea as to how we can modify one of our Vascar systems to measure literally any speed you like. Speed is a function of distance over time. If you have a predetermined distance and you can measure the time then it doesn’t matter whether it is doing 100 miles per hour or one mile per hour – you can measure the speed.

For more information please call 01892 655909 or visit: www.ukconstructionmedia.co.uk/ebooks/speedar-ltd

How will the Speedar continue to develop and improve upon its existing product range?

We use the same basic radar for all our radar guns because it is tried and tested and has been approved by the Home Office. This has been coupled with what we consider to be good quality products such as Sony cameras and suitable wireless equipment for transmission. The data from the radar – date and time, speed and direction – can be overlaid on the picture and stills can be taken from the video. A still can be taken at a particular point in time, of a particular vehicle – including the date, time, speed and direction – and it is irrefutable.

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SpeedVision – the next generation of Speed Monitoring Following the success of the SpeedVision versions SV1 and SV2, Speedar Limited has now extended its SpeedVision range. These new models not only meet the requirements of traditional speed monitoring and enforcement, they also provide solutions to the demands of the construction industry.

The increasing demand for the Construction industry to improve Health and Safety on sites has created an interest in the monitoring of speed to reduce injury and death from speed related accidents. There is also an increasing requirement on main contractors to be responsible for the actions of their sub-contractors.

Traditional methods of handheld or tripod mounted speed equipment does in itself create a risk to ‘road side’

operators of the equipment, particularly in the environment of a construction site where terrain, vehicle size and driver visibility are factors. The use of ‘road side’ portable equipment also has a manpower and cost implication.

There is also a need to control speed on large commercial and industrial sites such as processing, oil and gas, power industries and transport depots.

Whilst VAS signs (Vehicle Activated Signs) are appropriate in some situations they do not in themselves present a deterrent as they have no record of offenders and are therefore often ignored by drivers.

THE LEADING EUROPEAN MANUFACTURER OF HANDHELD DIRECTION SENSING RADARGUNS ALSO KNOWN AS SPEEDGUNS

SpeedVision SV3R

SpeedVision SV3W

The SV3R is a modified version of the SV2 with the same radar technology and high quality camera, but with the flip up screen removed.

The SV3W is the same camera unit but with wireless transmission of the video up to a distance of 3Km dependant on ‘Line of Sight’ This enables several cameras to relay to a central office where all monitoring can be carried out. This has the benefit of minimizing labour requirements and cost.

Additional is the aluminium housing containing an 8” screen, and Motion JPEG recorder recording to a CF card.

The recording software is specific to the recorder thus recordings can only be replayed on a computer having this dedicated software.

On completion of a site, the equipment can be removed and moved to the next location / contract.

The SpeedVision unit can be tripod, wall or post mounted and the screen housing can be handheld or mounted ‘in vehicle’ when tripod mounted or wall or desk mounted in fixed applications.

SpeedVision SV3N

The video contains colour clips of the vehicles violating the speed limit together with the vehicle speed, speed limit, date and time. Vehicle registration plate and other vehicle markings will also be evident. Such information provides the evidence for disciplinary or exclusion measures as is deemed appropriate. Still photographs can be extracted from the video and printed.

Speedar Limited are currently developing a Speedvision version to transfer speed data and video over a network. It is envisaged that this will be beneficial where buildings prevent ‘line of sight’ for the wireless version and where a network may already exist on the site. This will centralise monitoring and recording into one location.

Speedar Limited 45 St Richards Road, Crowborough, East Sussex, TN6 3AS Telephone: 01892 655909 Fax: 01892 655909 Email: sales@speedar.co.uk www.speedar.co.uk

The Environment Agency R e d u ci n g th e th re at s of f l o o d i n g a n d co a s t a l c h a n g e As has been seen in recent years, serious flooding can happen at any time and can have a devastating effect on individuals, communities and property. In England, more than five million properties are at risk of flooding – that’s nearly one in six.

There are also more than 200 homes at risk of complete loss to coastal erosion in the next 20 years, with a potential for 2,000 more properties to be at risk over this period.

The Environment Agency was established in 1996 to protect and improve the environment with the focus to create better places for people and wildlife and support sustainable development. It is responsible within England for managing the risk of flooding from surface water, groundwater and watercourses and helping communities recovery efforts.

The Environment Agency has recently announced a sixyear £2.3Bn flood defence programme to better protect homes, businesses and farmland in England from the risk of flooding.

This first ever long-term investment programme will protect over 300,000 properties; reduce flood risk by 5% and save the economy £2.7Bn by 2021. The lifetime benefits are expected to be even higher at over £30Bn. With 1,400 projects to be undertaken within the programme, and the potential for new schemes to be added as the programme progresses, local authorities will be able to plan ahead and reassure communities that the threat of flood risk is being addressed in their area.

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Environment Agency Chairman, Sir Philip Dilley, said: “Our priority is to do as much as we can with every pound of funding from Government and local partners, we now expect

to provide better flood protection to an additional 300,000 properties in England by the end of the decade.

“With one in six homes in England at risk of flooding, and recognising the risk of flooding can never be eliminated, we would also encourage people to take their own steps to prepare for flooding, for example by signing up to the Environment Agency’s free flood warning service.”

As part of this huge investment, homes in the Thames Valley will benefit form new flood defences at a cost of close to £300M. The new flood defence scheme in Oxford is worth over £100M and will provide protection to over 3,000 homes.

Government funding has also been allocated to the Lower Thames scheme, which will offer better protection to around 15,000 homes. The Thames Estuary programme will reduce the risk to 8,219 properties. The Oxford Western Conveyance Flood Channel will offer protection to 1,200 properties and the Lower Mole Flood Alleviation scheme will reduce the risk to 3,064 properties in Surrey.

Another multi-million pound Environment Agency flood alleviation scheme recently completed is the construction of new flood defences for homes and businesses in Morpeth, Northumberland against the threat of flooding from the River Wansbeck.

Since the beginning of 2013, contractors working on behalf of the Environment Agency and Northumberland Council have been constructing new defences in the town and providing improvements to the ones already in place. This has included work at High Stanners to construct a new floodwall and embankment along the riverside area to tie in with Oldgate Bridge at one end and Skinnery Bridge at the other.

Flood protection for the whole of Morpeth will be further improved when the upstream floodwater storage is completed in early 2015.

The upstream dam on the Mitford Estate, which is in its final stages of completion, will operate by storing up 1.4 million cubic metres of water when river levels on the Wansbeck are high and creating a flooding risk.

A further £20M of investment has also been pledged to reduce flood risks across the English Severn and Wye catchment over the next six years. Members of the Environment Agency’s English Severn and Wye Regional Flood and Coastal Committee (RFCC) pledged approximately £6M over the next six years towards flood alleviation works across the catchment.

The Levy funds pledged by the RFCC members will support national Grant in Aid funds that were announced by the Government in December 2014. This local investment has helped to provisionally secure a potential £15M funding over the next six years.

Schemes along this catchment will include a £1.2M flood alleviation scheme in Much Wenlock, which will see the creation of flood storage to protect 142 properties against the risk of flooding.

A £3M investment will be made in the Badsey Brook Flood

Alleviation Scheme, which will reduce the risk of flooding to around 290 properties along the Badsey and Bunches Brook in Broadway, Childswickham and Murcot.

A further 159 properties in Whaddon, Cheltenham will see their risk of flooding from surface water reduced by the £1.6M scheme. £300,000 will also be invested to reduce the risk of flooding to 40 properties in Bedworth.

Other flood defences will be funded by this investment such as upstream storage areas, improving existing defences and constructing new ones, tackling the threat of surface water flooding and supplying individual property level protection.

Over the next six years, the benefits of this investment will include the reduction of flood risk to over 2,900 residential properties and it is hoped will prevent over £150M in damages to businesses, infrastructure and properties over the lifetime of the defences.

English Severn and Wye Regional Flood and Coastal Committee Chair Anne Wheeler said: “The local levy funds help to finance schemes which protect smaller communities that would not otherwise be eligible for full funding, as well as enabling Grant in Aid to be spent more widely across the Severn and Wye catchment We are grateful for the commitment of all our lead local flood authority partners, which helps ensure that residents at threat from flooding will now benefit from increased protection.”

www.gov.uk/government/organisations/environment-agency

Until the £27M flood alleviation scheme commenced, the residents of High Stanners had no form of protection against the devastating impact of flooding. The new floodwall and three new flood gates that make up the flood defence is complete and water tight, and reduces the risk of flooding to homes and businesses at the highest risk in the lowest lying area of the town.

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enquiries@ohes.co.uk www.ohes.co.uk

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Setting new standards in education P r i o r it y S c h o o l B u i l d i n g P ro g r a m m e The Priority School Building Programme (PSBP) is a centrally managed programme set up to address the needs of the schools most in need of urgent repair.

Through the programme, 260 schools will be rebuilt or have their condition needs met by the Education Funding Agency (EFA).

The PSBP is being overseen by the Department for Education (DfE) and represents a concerted effort on behalf of the DfE to improve England’s education infrastructure.

The first school to be rebuilt as part of the Government’s PSBP opened to its pupils in May 2014. Pupils and teachers at Whitmore Park Primary School in Coventry have had their dilapidated school building completely rebuilt as part of the £2.4Bn programme.

As of December 2014, 14 PSBP schools have now opened in new buildings, 59 schools are currently under construction

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and all 260 schools are due for completion by the end of 2017 - two years earlier than originally planned. Given the success of the PSBP, ministers have also announced a second phase of the programme, worth around £2Bn. Schools Minister David Laws said: “The opening of Whitmore Park marks a major milestone in the Priority School Building Programme, which is making great strides in ensuring that vital building work takes place at some of the schools in the worst state across the country.

“It is providing much better value for money than previous school building schemes, and forms part of the Government’s drive to deliver the best schools for young people in order to help deliver both a stronger economy and a fairer society. ”Whitmore Park Primary has become a model for PSBP schools, with procurement taking only 13 weeks and building works complete in just 11 months.”

“Our previous building was past its best so the new school will mean that less money will have to be spent on repairs and can be spent on better equipment or more staff instead.”

The £5M project comprises a new build primary school for 630 pupils with a 39-place nursery. The two wings share a central hub comprising the entrance, studio and hall, making it an efficient and effective design.

Stephen Beechey, Managing Director Education and Investment at Wates, the contractor who built the school, said: “The Priority School Building Programme is proving itself an extremely successful means of ensuring new school

facilities result in inspirational learning environments that encourage educational excellence.

“This can clearly be seen in the delivery of Whitmore Park.

Wates has maintained a close working partnership with the Education Funding Agency throughout the design and build programme to maintain cost and time efficiency, leading to completion of the first school under the programme.”

With Whitmore Park Primary School complete, a raft of new school rebuilds have begun on-site. In December 2014 Hessle High School and Sixth-Form College hosted an official turfcutting ceremony to mark the commencement of an £18.5M scheme to replace its deteriorating school building. Excited students and staff from the school were joined by council dignitaries, representatives from the EFA and the contractor, Galliford Try, to celebrate the start of work.

“It is providing much better value for money than previous school building schemes, and forms part of the Government’s drive to deliver the best schools for young people.”

Caroline Kiely, Executive Headteacher at Whitmore Park Primary School, said: “I’m sure the new school environment will make a real difference to the staff and children here at Whitmore Park.

Read more on page 55

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The Hessle High School and Sixth-Form College scheme is due for completion by summer 2016. In total, ten schools will be rebuilt or refurbished under the PSBP in the Hull and East Riding area.

Withernsea High School, also in East Yorkshire, will too benefit from the PSBP. The 1,000-place secondary school has received a £13M investment which will provide a threestorey school building alongside a partial refurbishment of the existing school. While the new build element is due for completion in summer 2015, the full programme of works will be completed in summer of the following year.

Speaking at the turf-cutting in December, Richard Williman – Headteacher of Withernsea High School – said: “Having worked so closely with the EFA, BAM and the local authority on the planning of our new school, seeing the cutting of the first turf is a really exciting day.

This development will have such a profound impact on the whole Withernsea community that today has even greater significance. We look forward to seeing the building evolve over the next 18 months.”

Paul Cleminson, Project Director for BAM Construction, added: “We understand how much these facilities mean to the community of Withernsea, as well as to the school itself. We’ll be making every effort during the build to make sure the broader community knows what’s going on, and also benefits economically and socially from the work we are doing here. From our considerable experience in this sector we know that a new school is a very significant thing for a community and we appreciate that our approach to building it has to be as professional as the technicalities of the construction. We’re looking forward to getting involved and making a rapid start.”

The Government is determined to raise the standard of schools and the education they provide as part of its longterm plan. The PSBP is building on the progress which has already been made in delivering a more efficient, faster, less bureaucratic approach to building schools.

Thanks to the decisions taken following the James review to improve efficiency and reduce waste in central school building programmes, the Government is building or improving the condition of almost 900 schools. This includes building almost 300 brand new schools, rebuilding and renovating 200 of the most dilapidated schools in the country, and approving funding for more than 400 projects from previous programmes.

“This can clearly be seen in the delivery of Whitmore Park.

Wates has maintained a close working partnership with the Education Funding Agency.”

Situated in East Yorkshire, Hessle High School and Sixth-Form College has accommodation for 1,450 pupils, including 200 sixth form students, and is currently split over two sites. The fit-for-purpose rebuild – one of five such PSPB projects being rebuilt or refurbished by Galliford Try across the region – will allow the school to operate from a single site and provide state-of-the-art science labs, ICT and teaching areas, and sports facilities for up to 1,550 pupils, including 230 sixth form students.

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2015 set to be another year of growth for the Fleet Industry The vehicle rental and leasing industry makes a major contribution to the UK economy, bringing safe, sustainable and affordable mobility to consumers and business.

Through its direct operations, the vehicles and engines it purchases, its activity in dealerships and in the used market, the vehicle and leasing industry contributes around £25Bn a year to the UK economy.

In terms of the contribution made in providing employment, around 53,000 people are employed in the UK vehicle rental and leasing sector, with around 146,000 jobs supported elsewhere in the economy.

The industry also accounts for more than one in every ten vehicles on the UK’s roads and plays a key role in meeting the transport requirements of businesses and individuals alike. The opportunity to lease and rent vehicles provides access to modern, fuel-efficient vehicles without the strain of upfront capital expenditure.

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The full-service vehicle leasing and rental sector also makes a significant impact to the UK’s economy not only through its own activity but also through its procurement of inputs of goods and services from domestic suppliers.

Figures in 2013 showed that the sector supported a near £25Bn gross value-added contribution to the UK’s GDP. This figure is made up of the individual contributions of the operations of the industry itself, the vehicles and engines manufactured in the UK, the sales in dealership, and its impact on the used-car market.

Looking forward and following a strong showing in 2014, the trade body for the vehicle rental and leasing industry, the British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association (BVRLA), is expecting to see continued growth in almost every aspect of the sector in 2015.

Established in 1967, the BVRLA is the national trade body for companies engaged in the rental and leasing of

Through its members and their customers, the BVRLA represents the interests of more than two million business car drivers and the millions of people who use a rented vehicle annually. As well as lobbying the Government on key issues affecting the industry.

BVRLA Chief Executive Gerry Keaney said: “The industry performed well in 2014, with the association seeing a further increase in membership and fleet sizes across nearly all sectors. Road transport is rising up the government agenda, and the good news is that the fleet industry has never had a more influential voice in Whitehall.”

In terms of the political landscape, the political and economic uncertainty that an upcoming General Election can bring means that businesses will face an anxious wait to see how the next Government implements its policy in terms of cuts in spending and taxation to combat the deficit. However, 2015 will see the launch of Highways England and a new roads watchdog and passenger champion brings the hope that road users may have a greater voice within the Government going forward.

The expected steady economic growth and reasonable level of consumer confidence will continue to support the used car market, particularly in terms of demand for formerly leased and ex-rental high quality vehicles.

The slight dip in average prices of ex-fleet vehicles seen towards the end of 2014 is not expected to be a pattern that will continue.

“Figures in 2013 showed that the sector supported a near £25Bn gross value-added contribution to the UK’s GDP.”

cars and commercial vehicles. Its members provide short-term rental, contract hire and fleet management services to corporate users and consumers. They operate a combined fleet of around 3.4M cars, vans and trucks, buying nearly half of all new vehicles sold in the UK.

Read more on page 58

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“Looking ahead to 2015, ISUZU and the rest of the fleet industry have every reason to be optimistic.”

The used van market is expected to continue to strengthen, with stock in short supply and demand for panel vans underpinned by growth in the parcel and courier sector.

The BVRLA expect the funding situation to remain healthy.

As predicted, a number of new funders entered the market in 2014 and a similar story is expected in 2015, with even more new funders entering the vehicle finance sector and rates remaining competitive.

Within the leasing sector, the strong business confidence seen in 2014 is expected to continue into this year. The BVRLA believe that most of its members expect conditions within the wider economy and the fleet leasing sector to improve in 2015, though they are cautious about any impact on profit margins.

In the business-to-business environment, a 5% year-on-year growth is expected in car leasing, with an ever-increasing market share from lower medium, dual-purpose and multipurpose car segments.

Growth will be even higher in the van leasing market, matching the 10% year-on-year increase in 2014.

One company at the forefront of the industry is ISUZU. The company offer a fleet service to both the private and public sector in areas including sales, fleet support, servicing, accessories and funding solutions. They also provide an excellent nationwide dealership network to service business requirements.

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ISUZU is very much aware that running a fleet is a demanding, time consuming and pressurised job, with the need to constantly reduce costs but still ensure that the choices made are capable of doing the job well and within budget.

Once the customer has decided on the vehicle that best suits their needs, decisions must be made in relation to demonstrators, whole life costs, aftersales and customer service. This is where ISUZU Fleet Services comes into their own. With dedicated fleet sales professionals who are supported by a large team located at the company’s headquarters in Birmingham, they are able to provide the very best up to date information on vehicle availability, accessories, parts, funding options, tax implications and excellent customer service.

Looking ahead to 2015, ISUZU and the rest of the fleet industry have every reason to be optimistic. BVRLA Chief Executive Gerry Keaney said: “This is a tremendously exciting time to be working in the sector, with huge technological advances having a major impact on the way we operate and manage a new generation of vehicles.

“2015 will have its challenges as election years are always hard to predict, but we believe that this will be another successful year for the vehicle rental and leasing industry.”

www.isuzu.co.uk

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Property Care Association P ro m oti n g s k i l l s a n d g o o d p r a c ti c e

But the Property Care Association (PCA) insists there’s a straightforward approach to tackling the problem and in the film, available to view at http://bit.ly/1cUWSie, it dispels some of the myths surrounding what has become a major issue.

Steve Hodgson, Chief Executive of the PCA, said: “Japanese knotweed has been in the news a lot recently as it has caused big problems within the UK property sector.

“It’s a very fast growing and very vigorous plant that has even caused problems to buyers trying to obtain mortgages and people seem to be running scared.

“But the problem can be dealt with just like so many other household problems and there is a recognised framework to tackle it.

“People affected by the plant just need to make sure they get the right people doing the right diagnostic investigation and producing the right specifications for treatment.”

The film reveals how the PCA can help consumers to reach professional treatment companies - offering assurance, standardisation and certainty in tackling the problem.

The PCA has worked with the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors - supported by the Council of Mortgage Lenders and The Building Societies Association - together with Japanese knotweed control companies to develop the Invasive Weed Control Group.

The trade body, noted for its technical expertise, has also developed a code of practice and an industry-recognised training programme for its professional members and those interested in the biology and control of the plant.

Mr Hodgson adds: “The control of Japanese knotweed has attracted a string of rogue traders claiming they’re able to eradicate problems in a short space of time and for very little money.

“But the PCA’s Invasive Weed Group has been created to uphold standards and make sure clients get the correct outcomes.

“Members have been audited and meet the necessary standards to gain admission to the Association.”

The PCA is an established organisation that has built a strong reputation over decades by promoting good practice. It represents building preservation specialists who help consumers deal with a range of building defects.

The Association is also a member of Trustmark, the Government-backed scheme which aims to help consumers find reliable and trustworthy tradesmen when making improvements or repairs to their homes.

Late 2014 saw the PCA attend Flood Expo where they highlighted how their new Flood Protection Group enables specialists operating in the sector to align themselves with a recognised trade body and reinforce their professional approach within the industry. This new initiative delivers assurance and certainty to those looking to protect themselves from the worst effects of future floods.

The new Flood Protection Group has been developed by the PCA to give consumers confidence in finding contractors, assessors and products that are right for the job.

Stephen Hodgson says the new group will remove the uncertainty in the UK in finding solutions to protect homes from flooding. He said: “Until now homeowners and professionals have had no obvious way of finding products and contractors that really understand what they are doing. The PCA is bringing the same level of operational and technical rigour for which we are renowned, to this increasingly important specialism.”

“It’s a very fast growing and very vigorous plant that has even caused problems to buyers trying to obtain mortgages - and people seem to be running scared.”

Japanese knotweed causes huge problems for the UK property market as it puts down deep roots, affecting the foundations of buildings and invading drains.

The Flood Protection Group will become a reference point for legislators, community groups, insurers and importantly, homeowners who want to understand what can be done to effectively protect their property from the effects of flooding. The initiative will link consumers to reliable, competent and trustworthy flood protection specialists. The Association will inspect and verify the skills, knowledge, operational capabilities of contractors and ensure products are dependable and reliable.

This level of rigour will not only apply to providers of work aimed at keeping the water out, known as, flood resistance, it will also be applied to those who undertake work that make buildings resilient, by taking steps that will reduce the impact of water that has entered the building. Ultimately, this new group will drive standards and create consumer confidence to meet the needs of the nation.

Read more on page 65

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The leading sustainability and eco-credentials of a leading German house manufacturer The bold design for Nick and Charlotte Garlick, in an area characterized by large period homes set in generous gardens, was bound to create some controversy: the Garlicks wanted a home that was uncompromisingly contemporary, a home which exploited the views from beautiful site to the maximum.

The existing house and adjacent garages set the rules for where the house was to be placed, but that is where the similarity to the existing was to end. As the site is in the green belt, there were strict regulations on any replacement dwelling proposed‌.

A run down chalet-style bungalow was replaced with a flat roofed contemporary Baufritz home. Using a mixture of timber cladding and white render, the home sits comfortably in the beautiful surroundings. The approach is down a private road through mature trees which form a perfect backdrop to the site – this ensures the house is private and does not compromise views of any of the surrounding neighbours in

way. What sets this site apart however are the stunning long views as the land gently falls away towards the south.

What sold the idea of a Baufritz home to the Garlicks’ was not only the leading sustainability and eco-credentials of a leading German house manufacturer, but also their uncompromising approach to detail. The Garlicks too have an incredible eye for detail and this meant they kept The House Designers as well as the building team on their toes!

The home is a marriage of modern methods of construction and traditional carpentry techniques, and by exploiting the best of both worlds, has resulted in a stunning, contemporary home that has tradition and longevity at its core.

The house is carefully planned to maximize solar gain in winter and natural daylight thoughout the year. The eastern views ensure morning light penetrates deep into the home, whilst large windows facing south and west ensure the house feels light, airy and healthy all year round.

The result is a truly magnificent, harmonious home.

Baufritz is passionate about creating a luxurious living environment that’s designed just for you. All our homes use an abundance of high quality, natural materials that are completely free of toxins, creating a harmonious atmosphere that looks beautiful, protects the environment and makes you feel good.

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www.baufritz-cs.co.uk Find out more about Baufritz and contac t our UK of fice: enquiries@baufritz-cs.co.uk | 01223 235632

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Acclaimed flood campaigner Mary Dhonau OBE is working with the PCA to build and support the Flood Protection Group. Mary has been instrumental in bringing together the PCA and members of the Flood Protection Association (FPA) to form a strong and technically capable group, that can bring real value to the consumer. Mary is a tireless campaigner on flood-related issues, receiving her OBE in 2009 for this work.

She has first-hand experience of the upheaval flooding causes following a catalogue of flood damage to her own home in Worcester. As both a victim of flooding and the former Chairman of both the National Flood Forum and the FPA she understands the challenges and importance of providing reliable, dependable flood resilience and resistant solutions.

“The Flood Protection Group within the PCA, will make it easier for those who want to protect their homes from flood water. We want to see the problems of flooding dramatically reduced throughout the UK, and the creation of this new group means we now have a national platform to promote best practice, high standards and most importantly, peace of mind to those who have or could be affected by flooding.”

When choosing a member of the PCA, people can be certain that they have undergone rigorous, ongoing checks to achieve and retain membership.

www.property-care.org

The end result will see a defined route in the UK to access a professional group of experts with specialist focused skills, able to design and deliver comprehensive, holistically designed, flood protection solutions that work.

The PCA is noted for its training and technical expertise, with an industry-recognised training programme and a renowned technical panel able to share best practice and guidance with members.”

It is also a scheme operator of Trustmark, the Governmentbacked scheme which aims to help consumers find reliable and trustworthy tradesmen when making improvements or repairs to their homes.

Mary said: “Being flooded is an appalling experience, but often the reality is that for those victims of flooding, the repair stage can be even worse than being flooded. Sadly, the issue is all too often compounded by shabby workmanship and a fear that another flood event could happen at any time in the future.

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