Uk construction journal v18 no10

V18 NO10

ADVANCED ROOF WATERPROOFING SOLUTIONS FROM ACRYPOL

SYSTEM 15

All weather application system Full site survey and specification provided Reinforced seamless membrane Custom developed acrylic resin Excellent flexibility

Unaffected by temperature change Outstanding adhesion

Damp weather application

Maximum solar reflectivity

Instant waterproofing for total roof areas and and emergency repairs Ready to use out of tin All weather application Single coat treatment Fibre reinforcement Instant protection Choice of colours Excellent adhesion Acrypol Products Ltd 4 Asher Court • Lyncastle Way • Barleycastle Lane • Appleton • Warrington WA4 4ST

Tel: 01925 213655 • Fax: 01925 213656 Email: info@acrypolproducts.co.uk • www.acrypolproducts.co.uk

COMMENTS 22 Powered Now, Benjamin Dyer 24 NHBC, Diane Marshall

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26 HSE 32 BSIA, Matthew Grimley 34 Sheridan Gold, Peter Sheridan 35 Thomas Eggar, Mark Clinton 36 Lubron UK Water Technology, Greg Da Santos 37 Women in the Construction Industry

Publications Editor Victoria Lee Designer James Ormerod Publications Officer Robert Atherton Approvals Beka Patterson Sales Administrator Alecia Rowe Credit Control Carol Ryan

38 Energy Saving Trust, Bob Saynor 41 Evolve, Jake Mason

CIVIL 40 Intelligent transport system set to transform England’s motorways

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42 Redeveloping brownfield sites 46 Exclusive Interview: BIM4 Water 52 Rail: Britain’s railways now safest in Europe 53 Rail: Revamp of Paddington Station will mean better facilities for passengers

HOUSING 44 Exclusive Interview: BIM4 Housing

Display Advertising Sales T: 01257 231900 E: admin@ukconstructionmedia.co.uk www.ukconstructionmedia.co.uk

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FINANCE 48 The Annual Investment Allowance and what it means for your business

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50 Construction output growth accelerates to a seven month high

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ISSN 1461-1279 UK Construction Media Stirling House Ackhurst Business Park Chorley PR7 1NY T: 01257 231900 E: admin@ukconstructionmedia.co.uk www.ukconstructionmedia.co.uk

© Copyright UK Construction Media. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be copied, reproduced or transmitted in any form without the prior permission of UK Construction Media. Views expressed in this magazine are not necessarily those of the publisher.

Who is the Principal Contractor after Handover?

It is relatively common that a facility is handed over to the client operations before all snagging on a construction project, or even the main construction scope, has been completed, resulting in the client’s management systems taking precedence over the principal contractor’s.

As the client is now ‘in control’ of the facility, can the principal contractor, appointed under the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 (CDM2015) remain as the principal contractor? Historically the construction project has been deemed to be completed at handover, even though is wasn’t, and the client’s management systems were operated as for any work undertaken within the facility.

CDM2015 defines the principal contractor as follows: “principal contractor” means the contractor appointed under regulation 5(1)(b) to perform specified duties in regulations 12 to 14; The duties referred to that a principal contractor must perform are: Reg.5(1) Where there more than one contractor will be working on a project at any time, the client must appoint in writing a contractor as principal contractor.

Reg.12 Before setting up a construction site, the principal contractor must draw up a construction phase plan.

The construction phase plan must set out the health and safety arrangements and site rules taking account activities taking place on the construction site and, where applicable, must include specific measures concerning work which falls within one or more of the categories set out in Schedule 3.

Throughout the project the principal contractor must ensure that the construction phase plan is appropriately reviewed, updated and revised from time to time so that it

Reg.13

continues to be sufficient to ensure that construction work is carried out, so far as is reasonably practicable, without risks to health or safety.

During the project, the principal contractor must provide the principal designer with any information in the principal contractor’s possession relevant to the health and safety file, for inclusion in the health and safety file.

The principal contractor must plan, manage and monitor the construction phase and coordinate matters relating to health and safety during the construction phase to ensure that, so far as is reasonably practicable, construction work is carried out without risks to health or safety.

The principal contractor must take into account the general principles of prevention.

The principal contractor must organise cooperation between contractors (including successive contractors on the same construction site) and coordinate implementation by the contractors of applicable legal requirements for health and safety.

The principal contractor must ensure that employers and self-employed persons apply the general principles of prevention in a consistent manner, and comply with the provisions of Part 4 and the construction phase plan.

The principal contractor must also ensure that a suitable site induction is provided, steps are taken to prevent access by unauthorised persons to the construction site; and that facilities that comply with the requirements of Schedule 2 are provided throughout the construction phase.

CDM2015 requires a Construction Phase Plan for all construction work and a principal contractor appointed to manage the health and safety of the project if more than one contractor is involved in the project.

As snagging will almost inevitably involve more than one contractor

and the snagging is still part of the original project, the full requirements of CDM2015 still apply.

It is difficult to envisage the original principal contractor being able to manage the health and safety of the snagging work when the client’s management systems take precedence and the likely event of the original principal contractor not being present at the facility when all of the snagging work takes place.

It should also be appreciated that at the latter stages of most, if not all, construction projects is when the greatest risks for accidents occur. This is due to a number of factors, as follows: • The client’s pressure to get the project finished • The construction personnel’s desire to get onto the next project • The fact that snagging is re-work that is costing the contractor money • The relatively small nature of snagging tasks and the resultant lack of planning • The potential interfaces with other contractors’ and client’s personnel

The most relevant issue to be considered for who should be the principal contractor during snagging after handover is who is in control?

The client will certainly have to some extent control of the work areas, which even as far back as the Health and Safety at Work, etc. Act 1974 places legal obligations on the client, particularly as require by the following Sections: 2. General duties of employers to their employees.

3. General duties of employers and self-employed to persons other than their-employees.

4. General duties of persons concerned with premises to persons other than their employees.

Section 4 of the Health and Safety at Work, etc. Act 1974, states: (1) This section has effect for imposing on persons duties in relation to those who(a) are not their employees ; but (b) use non-domestic premises made available to them as a place of work or as a place where they may use plant or substances provided for their use there, and applies to premises so made available and other non-domestic premises used in connection with them.

(2) It shall be the duty of each person who has, to any extent, control of premises to which this section applies or of the means of access thereto or egress therefrom or of any plant or substance in such premises to take such measures as it is reasonable for a person in his position to take to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that the premises, all means of access thereto or egress therefrom available for use by persons using the premises, and any plant or substance in the premises or, as the case may be, provided for use there, is or are safe and without risks to health.

The management of health and safety post-handover, with construction snagging still taking place, is complex, with not sufficient consideration given to this phase of a project.

It is likely that the most effective, and possibly legal, option is for the client to appoint themselves as principal contractor for any work undertaken after handover, but there are other options, dependent on the facility layout, timescales and the extent and complexity of the snagging work.

This subject is further discussed in the Callsafe Services Limited October 2015 ebook.

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UKC NEWS

Ballymore & Oxley’s development to include 20,000sq ft leisure facility Plans for the 20,000sq ft leisure facility at Royal Wharf, the residential centrepiece of the Royal Docks, have been released. Alongside the David Morley designed state-ofthe-art gym and pool facilities, the development will boast 45% outdoor space, including a 2.4 acre park and 500m of riverfront walkways, encouraging a sense of wellbeing and healthy living in its residents.

The delivery of the sizable new leisure complex is central to Ballymore and Oxley’s vision of creating a vibrant community at Royal Wharf. This new facility is expected to become a social hub for the neighbourhood with two studios which will be used for group exercise, a 25m swimming pool plus a communal cafe and rest area. It has been designed by David Morley Architects, who are renowned for their projects for sport and wellbeing, including the outdoor pool at the Hurlingham Club, world-class training facilities at the Lee Valley Athletics Centre, and the Water Polo Arena built for the London 2012 Olympics.

The design philosophy combines technical excellence with creative settings which promote an active lifestyle. The double height pool hall will provide an inspiring place to swim but also allows views between the

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surrounding leisure facilities giving a sense of ‘open plan sport’. Contact with nature is also an important theme, achieved through the use of natural materials, daylight and making the most of connections between inside and outside.

In addition to the leisure facility, Royal Wharf will also include ample outdoor space offering residents further opportunities for wellbeing and healthy living. Quick workouts in the gym and aqua aerobics in the pool will run alongside al fresco yoga and pilates in the development’s green spaces that surround the leisure hub.

The development includes garden squares, pocket parks, and two new parks, one of which will be 2.4 acres, plus residents will also benefit from the proximity of two sizable existing parks - Thames Barrier Park to the east and Lyle Park to the west.

Oxley Chief Executive, Ching Chiat Kwong, said: “The planned leisure facility will bring a space for community and wellbeing to Royal Wharf, encouraging an active lifestyle among its residents. We are excited that David Morley, one of the UK’s leading architects for sporting facilities, is working with us to bring this vision to life.”

David Morley commented: “Royal Wharf combines many of London’s traditional qualities with exceptional opportunities for a healthy and active lifestyle. The leisure facility provides a distinctive focal point for sport, relaxation and contact with the surrounding parks and river.”

Royal Wharf by Ballymore and Oxley launched in March 2014. Phase II following in October of the same year, with the third phase due to launch in autumn 2015. The development will offer a new neighbourhood of 3,385 riverside properties, complete with a high street of shops, bars and restaurants, garden squares, parks, community infrastructure and 500m of river frontage.

NEWS UKC

First family homes come to market at Ninewells UK housebuilder Hill and Bushmead Homes, a regional residential developer, have launched a new development on the southern fringe of the vibrant city of Cambridge – Ninewells.

Ninewells will provide a total of 270 beautiful new homes, including 162 for private sale, in a range of layouts and sizes. Characterised by its natural landscaping and rural setting, with views across open fields and the hills of the Gog Magog Hills beyond, Ninewells is a haven for wellbeing and is ideal for those looking to be closer to nature.

The first properties at Ninewells include stunning five-bedroom homes with breathtaking panoramic views of the surrounding countryside, and four-

bedroom mews properties, several of which feature their own separate studios across a private courtyard.

Cambridge is increasingly popular as a place to both live and work. The city has proved attractive to a number of cutting-edge science and technology firms, with Microsoft and Astra Zeneca recently opening new state-of-the-art buildings. Commuters to London can also reach Kings Cross Station in just 48 minutes from Cambridge station.

Rob Hall, Deputy Managing Director at Hill, said: “Ninewells offers the perfect retreat for busy professionals and families. It’s close to the historic city centre and has very good transport links to London, but offers residents

a rural and relaxed atmosphere.

Cambridge itself is a real cultural hub, with a lively arts scene and plenty of independent theatres, galleries, restaurants and boutique shops. It is no surprise that a growing number of commuters, as well as big technology companies are relocating here.”

Sarah Ireland, Director at Bushmead Homes and BPHA, added: “We’re really pleased with what has been achieved at Ninewells. The new homes are both incredibly stylish and practical for families, there will also eventually be significant provision of new homes for rent or sale to the over-55s, as well as a number of shared ownership opportunities and provision of affordable homes for rent.”

Edmond Shipway celebrates BCI Award success Multi-disciplinary construction consultancy, Edmond Shipway, is delighted to announce that it has been crowned the winner in the Project Management category at the 2015 British Construction Industry (BCI) Awards, for its’ role on the £250M Center Parcs Woburn Forest scheme.

Now in its’ 28th year, the BCI Awards are considered the ultimate celebration of the construction industry’s achievements. On the night, judges praised Edmond Shipway’s ‘well considered plan for delivery’ and its ‘use of prototyping of structures and BIM which helped to make sure everything on site was built right first time’. They surmised that ‘a clearly delighted customer is perhaps the best evidence of the exemplary project

management. In this case the client saw its project delivered on time and on budget with a spectacular end product’.

Acting as lead project manager as well as cost consultant and FF&E (furniture, fixes and equipment) procurement consultant for the Woburn Forest resort, Edmond Shipway played a key role in the successful delivery of this flagship scheme that has become the UK’s largest commercial leisure development outside of London.

Located on a 365 acre site just off the M1 in Bedfordshire, the finished project comprises a total of 625 woodland lodges and a £35M water park as well as a 75 bedroom hotel, spa facilities and an 800 delegate conferencing centre.

The programme also involved the

construction of numerous restaurants and retail outlets, plus the provision of a sports hall, four acre lake and extensive infrastructure works to make the woodland site accessible.

Commenting on the award, David Stevenson, Managing Director of Edmond Shipway said: “I am absolutely delighted that the hard work of my team has been recognised with such a prestigious accolade.

In Edmond Shipway’s capacity as project manager for Woburn Forest we delivered a truly fantastic facility and the comments we received from the judges were exceptional. I am very proud to dedicate this award to all those who made such an outstanding contribution to a remarkable project.”

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UKC NEWS

Canary Wharf station reaches completion Canary Wharf Group plc has completed construction of the Crossrail Canary Wharf station and handed over the ticket hall and platform levels to Crossrail Limited.

Crossrail will now start the complicated process of fitting out the station with all the systems needed to operate passenger services including communications equipment, signalling, tunnel ventilation, platform screen doors and overhead line equipment.

When TfL-run Crossrail opens in 2018, journey times to many destinations across London will be reduced.

From Canary Wharf, it will take just six minutes to travel to Liverpool Street, eight minutes to Farringdon and 39 minutes to Heathrow.

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, said: “This spectacular new station is being delivered ahead of schedule and is a pivotal moment in our Crossrail journey, as we can now prepare for the next major stage of work ahead of the launch of services in 2018. This vital new railway is

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already proving a huge success for the UK economy and when complete it will boost London’s rail capacity by 10%, providing an enormous benefit to passengers travelling across the capital and beyond.”

Rail Minister Claire Perry said: “The completion of construction at Canary Wharf station is a significant moment for Crossrail, as we move to the next phase of work on this transformational project. The station is an impressive, world class building that will serve millions of customers in this important business district, as well as bringing better and faster journeys across London and beyond from 2018, boosting jobs and economic growth.”

Sir George Iacobescu CBE, Chairman and CEO of Canary Wharf Group, said: “The Canary Wharf Crossrail station is a key element in the Canary Wharf Group’s vision to almost double the working population at Canary Wharf over the next ten years, while contributing to a robust public transport network. The station, which we’ve handed over four months ahead

of programme, combines a vibrant mixed use public space for people to shop, eat and relax and it will serve hundreds of thousands of workers and visitors in the years to come.”

Simon Wright, Crossrail Programme Director, said: “This is an exciting milestone for the Crossrail project as construction of the first Crossrail station completes and is handed over for railway systems fit-out. Crossrail will dramatically increase the capacity and resilience of transport services to and from Canary Wharf and the surrounding area, helping underpin further development and investment in this key business district.”

Construction of Canary Wharf station box was undertaken by Canary Wharf Contractors Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Canary Wharf Group plc. The Group contributed £150M towards the costs of the new Crossrail station and delivered the station box for a fixed price of £500M. Situated in the North Dock of West India Quay, Canary Wharf is one of the largest Crossrail stations. The station,

NEWS UKC

retail and park areas are six-storeys high and at 256m long the development is slightly longer than the height of One Canada Square. The station development will provide a new link between Canary Wharf and Poplar, currently separated by the North Dock, and includes links to the Canary Wharf Estate, via Adams Place and the Jubilee line and DLR stations.

Canary Wharf is the most progressed of Crossrail’s ten new stations. Eight 30m long escalators, nine 11m long escalators, six lifts, flooring, wall cladding and space for station services are all in place in the ticket hall level.

May 2009 by creating a 250m x 30m watertight dam in the waters of North Dock using an innovative ‘silent’ piling method. The station box was then built ‘top down,’ 28m below the water surface to create the ticket hall and platform levels.

Over six and a half years the construction team has driven almost 1,000 piles and pumped nearly 100 million litres of dock water. Approximately 300,000

tonnes of material was excavated from beneath the dock bed and almost 375,000 tonnes of concrete poured.

Crossrail will increase London’s railbased transport network capacity by 10% and cut journey times across the city, bringing an extra 1.5 million people within 45 minutes of central London.

Canary Wharf Group has also delivered Crossrail Place, a four-storey retail development above the ticket hall and platform levels, which was opened on 1 May and includes more than 100,000sq ft of retail space. The whole development is topped by a roof garden which incorporates a community performance space and restaurant which is semi-covered by a striking Foster + Partners designed timber lattice roof.

Work began on the new station in

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Preparing construction businesses for workplace pensions and auto-enrolment As business HR issues go, workplace pensions and auto-enrolment are currently right at the top of the list.

With new laws coming in, it’s an unavoidable issue for any company with employees. Yet with so much involved both with setting up a pension scheme and ensuring that it runs smoothly, it’s not an issue to be addressed lightly.

This is why, at HR4UK, we’ve developed a complete package of pension and auto-enrolment services to support construction businesses, whatever the size of their team.

HR4UK is delighted to be working with UKCG to make these services available to its members.

Addressing the pensions issue Our support ranges from writing an auto-enrolment plan for businesses to setting up a shell National Savings Employment Trust (NEST) Pension Scheme from scratch. We can also administer the NEST Pension Scheme for companies once they reach their Staging Date to help ensure that they comply with their duties and obligations under the new workplace pension and auto-enrolment legislation. This includes automatically enrolling employees who are eligible jobholders and managing opt-ins and opt-outs. Our system keeps a record of all communications as required by law, to comply with employers’ new duties and obligations under the Workplace Pensions Regulations.

Complete support for construction businesses We help take the complexity out of pensions and auto-enrolment by: • Acting as a second contact with the Pensions Regulation body. This means that you won’t miss any deadlines as we’ll be there to prompt you and support you through the whole process.

• Issuing all the statutory notices to all your employees.

• Keeping a record of all the statutory notices as required by law and updating your contracts of employment and employee handbooks as required by these changes.

• Administering your NEST pension scheme once you have reached your staging date, if we manage your payroll.

• Issuing the declaration to the Pensions Regulator for you.

The above services and more are now available to UKCG members.

To find out more, please visit www.hr4uk.com or contact us on 01455 444222 or email: info@hr4uk.com.

HR4UK:

All your pensions and auto-enrolment questions answered in one “How do I set up my company pension scheme to cover different types of employees and contracts?”

“Where do I start with auto-enrolment?”

“How will I know if my new pension scheme meets all the latest employment law requirements?”

Not sure where to start with pensions and auto-enrolment?

At HR4UK, we’re working with UKCG to make straightforward, high quality pensions and auto-enrolment set-up and management available to employers in the construction sector.

Call 01455 630700 or Email info@hr4uk.com to find out more

UKC NEWS

ISG completes John Lewis Birmingham store ISG has given the 140,000 passengers that daily pass through the revamped Birmingham New Street Station the perfect excuse for some retail therapy after completing a fit-out of the eagerly anticipated 250,000sq ft John Lewis shop that sits above this key transport hub.

Setting a new quality and innovation benchmark, the new department store is the anchor tenant for the recently opened Grand Central shopping centre, which sits between the Bullring and the Mailbox. Offering shoppers a four floor retail experience, the new shop has a striking stainless steel and glass facade and ISG was tasked with bringing the impact and excitement of the external edifice into the interior fit out.

Overcoming the challenges of working directly above a live mainline railway

station, ISG has successfully handed over the fast-track retail fit out scheme.

The project included modifications to the existing atrium to form an enclosure around the escalators and stairs, the installation of new customer lifts and a full mechanical and electrical fit out.

The new store concept combines the classic, calming environment synonymous with the John Lewis brand, with a variety of design features, interactive areas and humorous touches, all of which required rigorous attention to detail to ensure the exacting standards demanded by the world-renowned brand. Signature design features at the store include a collection of suspended neon circles in the women’s fashion department, a flock of seagulls flying over the fabrics and haberdashery department and child-friendly orange microphones that transmit to speakers

throughout the toy department.

Kevin Dengate, Divisional Managing Director of ISG’s Retail business, commented: “The John Lewis shop in Birmingham is a first for the city and an iconic retail development of national standing. It’s the largest John Lewis to open for four years and continues a long-standing relationship between the retailer and ISG, which has recently seen us deliver over £20M of projects at stores in Kingston, Bristol, Sheffield, Southampton and Reading.

“The quality of John Lewis’ shop interiors is a major factor in the brand’s enduring appeal and this project demonstrates how the Company is continuing to leverage that market advantage in the age of multi-channel retailing.”

Home grown timber showcased in innovative Norfolk barn project BSW Timber has joined forces with pioneering architectural practice Studio Bark to create a unique building project in the heart of the Norfolk countryside.

The Company has provided easiedge timber for Warren Lodge - a timber frame barn located on a former rabbit warren near Swaffham - as part of a major drive to promote the use of home grown UK timber.

The project forms part of Bark Live Build 2015 which aimed to complete the building in eight weeks using architectural students to assist in its construction. Central to the building ethos was the use of local materials to create a low impact building that fitted perfectly with its idyllic environment.

“Bark Live Build is all about celebrating small scale timber framed

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buildings using local materials, allowing architectural students to get closer to the design and building process,” explains Wilf Meynell, Studio Bark’s project lead.

“We are especially pleased with the finished building, Warren Lodge, which replicates traditional the barns of the Norfolk countryside combining a super insulated airtight timber frame with reclaimed bricks for the skin. It’s a low impact building which has been constructed entirely of local materials, and we hope it will provide a blueprint for environmentallysensitive and innovative design.

“BSW were an absolute pleasure to work with. Their passion for high quality British timber made them the perfect supplier for Bark Live-Build 2015.”

For BSW Timber, the project provided the ideal opportunity to promote the Company’s formal commitment to the Grown in Britain campaign which promotes forests and forestry products manufactured in the UK. Eve Johnson, Head of Marketing at BSW, says: “Since gaining the Grown in Britain licence in April this year, we have worked hard to showcase best-practice projects which use home-grown UK timber.

“Warren Lodge is a great example of this, and show what can be done by combining locally sourced materials to create a low impact yet aesthetically brilliant designed building surrounded by wonderful British countryside. It really is a building for the future, and I am delighted BSW has contributed to it.”

NEWS UKC

McLaughlin & Harvey’s Peel Ports project is ship-shape McLaughlin & Harvey, one of the UK’s leading construction companies, has completed a massive brand new bulk warehouse at the Port of Liverpool.

Situated quayside on Alexandra Dock, McLaughlin & Harvey was appointed as main contractor by Peel Ports Group in March 2015 to deliver the multi-million-pound storage facility within a 26 week programme.

The new 282,000sq ft bulk warehouse is 375m long, the length of three and a half football pitches, and will be used for the handling and storage of bulk cargo at the port. The huge build consisted of over 5,500 piles, 11,000cu m of concrete and 1.35km of precast concrete walls.

Each unit within the warehouse has 3m high concrete retaining walls, which will allow Peel Ports to make the most of the space, stacking tonnes of bulk storage the height of the building. With a peak height of 15m, there is little restriction to the size of material, which can be placed inside or to the machinery which can be driven around the warehouse.

The warehouse was finished with 40,000sq m of single skin wall and roof cladding, retaining walls and is complemented with all associated services.

Andy Ferguson, Operations Manager at McLaughlin & Harvey said: “As a company we’re used to building warehouses, but this has been the biggest project, to this scale, we’ve built so far. It’s been a bit of a challenge with the tight 26 week programme, but as a leading port group, Peel Ports needed a high quality storage facility which we delivered.

“It has been a rewarding project for myself and the team, while adding to McLaughlin & Harvey’s credentials as a leader in this sector.”

As part of the Port of Liverpool’s continual development to provide modern new facilities, the warehouse is very flexible in its design and has the potential to be extended in the future. The new bulk storage facility has been positioned to provide more space between the building and the quayside for discharging vessels.

David Huck, Port Director, Peel Ports said: “McLaughlin & Harvey have delivered on the brief to construct a high quality storage facility, capable of handling the tonnes of bulk materials that arrive at the Port of Liverpool on a daily basis.”

Historic Bath mill transformed into modern student housing complex The redevelopment of the historic Twerton Mill on Lower Bristol Road in Bath has been completed, delivering a new state-of-the-art student housing complex for the city’s burgeoning student population.

important gateway site for students from both Bath Spa University and the University of Bath, and the high standard of the development and build offers an enviably modern accommodation option for students.

The £16.6M project has created accommodation offering 330 bedrooms in a mixture of studios, en-suite clusters and townhouses for students, which will free up more privately rented accommodation in Bath for local families.

“The contemporary design employed in the build also manages to pay homage to the rich industrial heritage of the site, with many traditional materials used in the construction of the new buildings.”

Midas has won a number of student accommodation contracts recently with the firm currently developing sites in Bristol, two builds in Exeter, and a new development in Cardiff.

Work began on site in May 2014, with Bristol-based Midas Construction working closely with developers McLaren Property, architects Stride Treglown and Bath and North East Somerset Council to ensure the development fully reflected the historic importance of the site.

Twerton Mill was originally home to a cloth manufacturing company called Wilkin’s, which dominated the area in the 19th century and made military uniforms during World War One.

Alan Hope, Chief Executive of The Midas Group, said: “Securing these contracts highlights the hard work, dedication and skill of our workforce in delivering modern student accommodation across the region.

Midas continues to secure prime new contracts as we develop and grow stronger as a business year on year, and I am looking forward to the future and our continued success.”

The old mill wall and the famous gates to the mill buildings have been retained during the renovations, and the new build elements of the project were carefully created to a contemporary design which employed traditional materials to retain the heritage of the location.

Jamie Harwood, Operational Director for Midas Construction, said: “This new student housing complex is on a main commuter route and an

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Keep

Trenchless Technology

GUARANTEEING EFFICIENT AND SUCCESSFUL REPAIR OR INSTALLATION ABOUT THE COMPANY Since its formation, Keep Trenchless Technology has been providing a range of trenchless technology services to water and waste industries as well as corporate customers.

Working throughout the UK, the Company specialises in UV cured pipe installation, CCTV surveys, lateral cutting, and mechanical cutting for concrete/grout/roots and other difficult obstruction removal including intruding connections.

UV cured liners have been installed nationally for the sewerage industry, and the success of this is clear by looking at the list of clients that encompasses Northumbrian Water, Yorkshire Water, Thames Water, Severn Trent, Guernsey Water, Scottish Water and many more.

Northumbrian Water has been a valued customer during this time, and in the last five years, has seen more than 10km of liner installed each year.

BENEFITS OF UV CURED LINERS Trenchless technology offers important benefits for companies and utilities providers and with more than 20 years of experience, the team at Keep Trenchless Technology is ideally placed to help organisations reap the rewards of such advantages.

The conventional way of repairing pipes can be disruptive and time consuming, all of which holds up production.

The Company’s experience is crucial because its trenchless technology can be used to counter these issues by repairing pipes at the same time as guaranteeing the minimum amount of disruption. The technology also helps to eliminate any halts in production.

There is also a real commitment to provide customers with the best possible service and the team of specialists have years of experience. In addition, the fleet of vans have the capacity to monitor and record pipe repair at every step of the way.

Aligned to this are the UV cured liners that are manufactured to the most stringent standards by Berolina that can cure the lining at speeds of up to one metre each minute.

Because these are manufactured by Berolina, materials made by a fibreglass that is corrosion-resistant is used; this unique wall structure is decisive for the outstanding quality and versatile application of the Berolina liner.

With five layers of resin-saturated fibreglass complexes and/or polyester webs, the liners are stretchable, and can be optimally adjusted to circular or oval profiles in diameters of 150mm to 1500mm, which can also be used with cross-section or profile passages without any problems.

The energy flux is optimised because of the continuous fibre orientation in the perimeter direction.

The best mechanical values are produced in this Keep Trenchless Technology product because of the fibreglass reinforcement, meaning no more than slight wall thicknesses are necessary and therefore, cross-section leakage is reduced to a minimum after pipe sanitation.

The advantage of the UV cured lining provided is it allows liner replacement to be expected before curing.

The curing process is recorded at every stage and reports are instantly generated. Just as important is the fact that only one site visit is necessary, which again minimises disruption.

KOMATSU PIPELINE REHABILITATION As well as the work carried out for the many water organisations, the Company also has a number of commercial clients who have benefited from trenchless projects.

One such development was undertaken in County Durham where work was carried out on pipeline rehabilitation for Komatsu.

Keep Trenchless Technology was called upon for the project in Birtley because the sewer system there for Komatsu’s

Keep Trenchless Technology Ltd Unit 9a Stratford Road, Pattinson South Industrial Estate, Washington, Tyne & Wear NE38 8QP

European manufacturing plant for the production of crawler hydraulic excavators showed the pitch fibre pipe network needed to be replaced.

undergone and passed stringent tests to ensure the pipe is at its tightest level so it won’t leak, while making sure infiltration is prevented.

The Company undertook a CCTV survey on behalf of Komatsu and the results showed that the pitch fibre pipes, first installed in the 1960s, were deformed, had holes in the pipe wall and in one place, was closed with hardly any room to manoeuvre through it.

Work on the pipeline rehabilitation took just seven days, with 18 individual lining set ups having to be achieved in that time while also working around other contractors.

Finding a solution to this damage was made more difficult because of the limited access in terms of timescale and space in order to place equipment, owing to Komatsu’s production schedules.

Options considered included cutting the pipeline open to carry out the repair work, but this was rejected because it would have slowed down the production schedule due to the failed pipe being located in the centre of the main production area.

Excavation would have been required, which would have made the project duration longer, and with three major surrounding walls around the designated work area, any traditional method of work was fraught with danger.

Therefore, it was decided the best way to rehabilitate the pipe was to undertake re-rounding work followed by insertion of a structural lining.

Traditional work would have taken 18 weeks to complete, whereas trenchless technology could ensure the project was completed within a week.

Accordingly, the UV cured options were investigated and the Berolina liner system was chosen.

This is where the fibre fabrics overlapping are effective. They are staggered, which means the Berolina liner can be installed in one piece even where there is a crossover, and with no hindrance on elasticity, it easily adjusts to local conditions.

The UV cure resin is injected into the liners at the factory so that when they arrive on site, they are ready for installation.

As a proven product of Keep Trenchless Technology, the Berolina liner has undergone a significant amount of testing to ensure it is fit for purpose. This WRc-approved system has also

Telephone 0191 415 3372 Email info@keep-ltd.com

During one of these set ups, the extent of the problem Komatsu had been facing became clear because a huge section of pipe was almost completely closed up.

The tight timescale on the project meant the Company’s only option was to attempt installation even though this made a successful outcome uncertain.

But the expertise meant that the deformed section of pipe was reached, though a hole was then found in the host pipe.

In response, Keep Trenchless Technology managed to pass a line through the defect and a pre-liner was pulled into place over the hole before it was lined with the intended reinforced liner.

Lining was successful on this set-up, as well as the other 17 that had to be undertaken.

Paul Collins is the Building Maintenance Manager at Komatsu and he praised the ‘groundbreaking technology’ and the advantages is has brought.

He said: “We selected Keep Trenchless Technology Ltd to carry out this repair due to the location of the drain and the amazing groundbreaking technology offered. The professional approach was second to none and a full survey and repair method was fully communicated.

“What could have been very disruptive to our production turned out to be a quick and simple repair with zero effect to our busy production schedule.

“Since the repair, we have used the liner method many times to maintain and repair our waste framework. The advantages of using such a repair are numerous; the fact there is very little disruption to the repair vicinity and no environmental impacts compared to other repair methods are just a few.”

www.keep-ltd.com

UKC NEWS

New whitepaper examines how financing drives innovation and digitalisation A new paper from Siemens Financial Services (SFS) examines how innovative financing techniques are helping to drive growth in industry, healthcare and infrastructure by enabling investment in the digitalisation of processes and technologies. Digitalisation enables the output of real-time performance data from processes and systems. The analysis of such smart data can then be used to improve productivity and efficiency, leading to higher cost savings and an increased competitive advantage.

The paper notes that an increasing range of tailored financing methods is available on the market to support equipment, technology and software acquisitions and technology upgrades. These include Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) financing, performance-based financing, energy efficient technology financing, multiple jurisdiction financing and solutions to enable ongoing investment with built-in points of refreshment. Such financing solutions are increasingly obtained from specialist financiers who command technological expertise and profound knowledge of specific industries.

Solutions can therefore be customised to support very specific technology

16

applications and customer requirements.

Financing is becoming an increasingly important investment-enabler as organisations seek to harness technological innovations to enhance effectiveness. In the manufacturing industry, technological innovations in drives, automation, additive manufacturing, and software solutions are speeding up product and plant development, resulting in greater productivity, flexibility, resource efficiency and shorter time to market.

For instance, manufacturing simulation systems are capable of linking real and virtual environments to swiftly and accurately test the impact of possible production line changes. Additive manufacturing, a production process in which components are created layer by layer on the basis of digital 3D design data, helps rapid production of precision components on-site. Digital manufacturing is also rapidly becoming an integral part of product lifecycle management (PLM), playing critical roles in optimising entire product lifecycles for market fit, reliability and profitability.

Against a background of accelerating technological advances, the availability of

flexible and appropriate funding is a vital component in helping manufacturers fully embrace digitalisation.

Brian Foster, Head of Industry Finance at SFS in the UK commented: “We are seeing a rising demand for intelligent financing techniques from manufacturing companies. Increasing technology sophistication has driven a need for tailored financing methods that can address specific requirements such as financing non-productive setup periods or across multiple countries.�

NEWS UKC

Research partnerships for ‘low carbon cities’ in the UK and China Researchers from UK and Chinese universities are collaborating on four new projects to work towards achieving low carbon cities in the UK and China. The projects were announced as Chinese President, Xi Jinping visited the UK. The projects will receive over £3M in funding from the UK’s Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), with matched equivalent resources from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC).

Funded under the Low Carbon Cities programme, the projects will encourage collaboration between leading UK and Chinese academics, combining research to reduce the carbon emissions of existing technologies.

The projects will also deliver fundamental research into alternative energy sources and a reduction of energy demand, all with a focus on future urban environments.

By using comparative research to examine social, political and technical challenges, this will help the UK and China to successfully transition towards future low carbon cities. This programme and joint funding process has been facilitated by the RCUK China office.

Professor Philip Nelson FREng, EPSRC’s Chief Executive, said: “The aim of this UK-China research collaboration will be to reduce worldwide CO2 production and ensure energy security and affordability. This is the first of three low carbon innovation projects between EPSRC and NSFC. The projects build on the strength of our internationally renowned research and will benefit both the UK and Chinese economies.”

Professor Che Chengwei, Deputy Director General, Department of Engineering and Material Sciences, NSFC commented: “NSFC has been working closely with EPSRC for several

years to address challenges related to achieving a low carbon economy.

This latest programme, with a focus on future urban environments, will build substantially stronger links between Chinese and UK research communities in relevant areas. It will also brighten the future bilateral collaboration between both countries.”

Low Carbon Cities forms part of the Low Carbon Innovation programme, a £20M three year investment announced in March 2014. Facilitated by Research Councils UK (RCUK) China, this programme builds on five years of successful collaborative research funded jointly by EPSRC and NSFC in energy research. Low Carbon Innovation will also support research to develop new low carbon manufacturing processes and technologies, as well as offshore renewables.

Green light for Nottingham’s new Technology Entrepreneurship Centre Bond Bryan’s latest project at the University of Nottingham has now received planning permission, which means work on site is expected to start in the next month.

After completion, which is envisaged for summer 2016, the Technology Entrepreneurship Centre will house key local businesses as well as national enterprises, such as Big Data & Digital, Advanced Manufacturing, Aerospace and Energy. Companies based in the new centre will be able to take advantage of the University’s leading centres of excellence in these areas and the ready supply of high quality postgraduate students.

Matt Hutton, Lead Designer and Associate Director at Bond Bryan Architects said: “Our brief was to create a building that encourages and supports innovative forms of collaborative working and learning.

We envisaged that this would increasingly require more adaptive and flexible spaces that offer a range of potential working, meeting and learning environments ranging from

structured group discussions and facilitated presentation areas, through to more informal self-study areas. A key element of the building proposal has therefore been to develop a concept that offers the ability to create a diverse mix of spaces, from large open plan areas to more cellular offices and specialist practical zones.”

Bond Bryan’s solution has been to create a simple, relatively deep plan building form that makes maximum use of the limited available area on the site in order to control the overall height of the building and create efficient floor plates. An atrium heart space is cut into this simple form, not only enabling daylight to penetrate the floor plates, but crucially allowing views across the building, visually linking the activities on the different floors and creating a range of spaces; from contained single storey spaces for smaller scale and cellular activities, through to double and even triple height open plan spaces where necessary.

Externally the design seeks to create a distinctive and exciting building typology

delivered within an economic solution.

It reflects the historical significance of the site whilst simultaneously replicating the modern contemporary surrounding buildings, providing a high quality statement building for the University.

On working with Bond Bryan, Robert Scott, Operations Director at the University of Nottingham Innovation Park commented: “We were immediately impressed with the imagination and innovation of the Bond Bryan design proposal, as it has a real wow factor. It is great to find a very professional design team, who were able to interpret our requirements and changes as the design evolved.

The University’s Vice-Chancellor, Professor Sir David Greenaway, said: “This is outstanding news for the University. The new Technology Entrepreneurship Centre will provide space for start-ups and early stage businesses. Entrepreneurs will be able to access expertise from across the University, which will help them develop innovative new products and services and give them a crucial competitive edge.”

17

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UKC NEWS

Burntwood School wins RIBA Stirling Prize 2015 Burntwood School, a large comprehensive school in Wandsworth, London, has won the prestigious RIBA Stirling Prize 2015.

Architects Allford Hall Monaghan Morris (AHHM), who worked closely with Lend Lease, Wandsworth Borough Council and Burntwood School, developed the £40.9M project and collected the award.

The School was one of the final projects to be developed under the Building Schools for the Future scheme that was axed by the then Coalition government in 2010.

The construction was completed in three phases, with 85% of the original 1958 school buildings being rebuilt and the main hall and gym block also being refurbished.

Burntwood School beat off competition from the other five building shortlisted for the award, Darbishire Place, Maggie’s Lanarkshire, NEO Bankside, University

20

of Greenwich’s Stockwell Street Building andThe Whitworth in Manchester.

The judges said of the School: “Burntwood School is the clear winner of the 2015 RIBA Stirling Prize.

It is the most accomplished of the six shortlisted buildings because it demonstrates the full range of the skills that architects can offer to society.

“It encompasses great contemporary design and clever reuse of existing buildings as well as superb integration of artwork, landscaping and engineering. It is a genuine collaborative project. There was a wonderful working relationship between the head teacher and the architect: a true partnership of equals.”

RIBA President Jane Duncan commented: “Burntwood School shows us how superb school design can be at the heart of raising our children’s educational enjoyment and achievement.

“Allford Hall Monaghan Morris, experienced school architects, have created a stunning campus.

They have produced delightful, resourceful and energy efficient buildings that will benefit the whole community in the long term.

With the UK facing a huge shortage of school places, it is vital we learn lessons from Burntwood.”

NEWS UKC

New London Freight Enforcement Partnership to tackle unsafe HGVs London’s streets are set to be safer for all road users, following the formation of a new London Freight Enforcement Partnership.

The partnership will build on the work of Transport for London (TfL) and partner agencies in recent years, including the Industrial HGV Task Force and Commercial Vehicle Units.

It will further tackle unsafe HGVs, and take any non-compliant and unsafe commercial vehicles, drivers and operators off London’s streets.

The initiative was launched by London’s Transport Commissioner, Mike Brown MVO and Chairman of Network Rail and Chair of the London Freight Enforcement Partnership, Sir Peter Hendy CBE, alongside representatives from London’s police forces, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) and the freight industry.

The partnership – between TfL, the DVSA, the Metropolitan Police Service and the City of London Police – will enhance the agencies’ enforcement work through better co-ordination of intelligence at both a strategic and tactical level.

The London Freight Enforcement Partnership will include more than 90 DVSA and police officers and a team of analysts, sharing intelligence and carrying out joint enforcement operations. Together they will have a range of expertise and powers to comprehensively address infringements, particularly by those who persistently do not comply with the law. This will also help the agencies work with the commercial vehicle industry to put serially non-compliant companies in London out of business.

Leon Daniels, TfL’s Managing Director of Surface Transport, said: “We’re determined to clear London’s streets of unsafe HGVs, so I’m delighted that we have launched the London Freight Enforcement Partnership. The lessons learned from our successful Industrial HGV Task Force have been adopted by the new partnership, which will make our streets even safer for all road users and help build a fairer industry for all freight operators.”

Transport Minister, Lord Ahmad, said: “The London Freight Enforcement Partnership builds on the success of the Industrial HGV Task Force. By working together, officers from different agencies will use their experience and knowledge to deter and detect illegal activity by freight operators and drivers.

“The Government is committed to improving road safety and innovative initiatives such as this help to keep the Capital’s roads safe.”

Sir Peter Hendy, CBE, Chairman of Network Rail and Chair of the London Freight Enforcement Partnership, said: “Working in a partnership, with shared expertise and intelligence, will help deliver even greater enforcement against rogue and unsafe freight operators who continue to not comply with the law and with the regulations. I am pleased to be chairing the London Freight Enforcement Partnership, which will act tirelessly to make London’s streets safer for all, particularly cyclists and pedestrians.”

October 2015 also marks the second anniversary of the Industrial HGV Task Force (IHTF), which has had great success in targeting the most dangerous commercial vehicles. The Task Force, jointly funded by TfL and the Department for Transport, acts as a deterrent against non-compliant companies that attempt to undercut those operating legitimately.

The London and South East Traffic Commissioner, Nick Denton, said: “As the industry regulator for HGV operators, I have seen the value of the Industrial HGV Task Force first hand in the many licence holders who have been brought to my attention due to their failure to meet basic vehicle and driver safety standards.

“I therefore welcome the formation of this new enforcement partnership, which aims to build on the work of the Task Force, and shares two of the key objectives of the traffic commissioners – to reduce the burden on compliant operators and deal with those who pose the greatest risk to road safety.”

Since October 2013, more than 6,030 vehicles have been targeted and stopped, 87 vehicles seized, 4,500 prosecutions progressed through the Criminal Justice System and 2,134 fixed penalty notices issued for offences including: • Lack of insurance • Driving without the correct licence • Unsafe tyres • Vehicle not equipped with cycle safeguards • Not accurately recording driver hours The London Freight Enforcement Partnership will also make the most of powers at their disposal. This will include better use of automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) technology for targeting vehicles and feeding reports about identified operator and driver noncompliance to the Traffic Commissioner.

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UKC COMMENT

Managing cash flow in a small construction business Benjamin Dyer of Powered Now muses on how to avoid the tank trap of running out of cash.

People want to be paid on time so as soon as a construction business runs out of cash, it is likely to descend rapidly into chaos and bankruptcy. For that reason, keeping a keen eye on the money is critical for anyone running a business and is worth thinking about how prevention is better than cure. ´ •

Cash flow basics Up-front deposits for significant jobs, or even getting customers to directly buy materials under your direction (which may keep you under the VAT limit if you’re small) is a must. It shows that the customer is serious and they have some skin in the game too.

• Don’t have too much stock on

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hand as it ties up money. Excess stock can end up being stolen, damaged or lost and may deteriorate, so it’s not just about cash flow.

•

If you can get a business credit card it can help to smooth things out. However, don’t let the balance keep rising as that’s a big red flag for pending problems.

•

Don’t miss out on retention payments, they are pure profit.

The same applies to recording CIS. If you don’t have a system that tracks retentions, put a note in your phone diary to reminder you when to collect.

•

Look up invoice factoring on Google if you don’t know what it is. It could be the saviour of a fast growing business with good margins.

• Paying suppliers on time is good practice because you may need a

´

critical favour one day. However, that’s no reason to pay early which is nearly always bad. A trade account can provide credit as well as discounts, so make sure you have one where you can.

Timely collection

The key to timely collection of cash is raising invoices correctly. The following are some ideas related to this: • Make all invoices for residential work “Due on receipt”.

• Agree payment terms in advance when working for another business.

•

Invoice regularly on larger projects.

It seems like more work, but it hugely helps cash flow and also flushes out any possible payment problems as early as possible. Guy Hands, Screwfix regional tradesman

COMMENT UKC

About the author Benjamin Dyer is CEO and co-founder of Powered Now. Powered Now’s mobile app aims to take the pain out of paperwork for individual builders and small construction companies, as well as other trade businesses. www.powerednow.com

of the year explains: “On longer jobs, I ask clients to pay in instalments with payments at the end of each week.”

•

Softly chase invoices as soon as they become overdue. Don’t train your customer that it doesn’t matter by letting things slide.

•

Collect money in cash, with cards (PayPal Here is a useful new service) or bank transfers. Unlike cheques, none of these bounce.

´ Hidden perils There are two perils that lurk for successful builders. The first is where rapid and profitable growth reduces your bank balance rapidly as many jobs with work in progress eat into your working capital. The result is that you suddenly can’t pay either staff or suppliers.

It’s the worst way to go bankrupt

because it comes from success.

The second peril is over-dependency on one customer. If you fall out or they get problems, it can kill your business.

Again, this is heart breaking as often it comes following rapid growth and a tremendous feeling of achievement. ´

Plan the future

As you grow, it gets harder and harder to keep track of the cash. As soon as you start to feel that you might be losing control, is the time to start cash flow forecasting. You almost certainly want to get your accountant to help. Matthew Stevenson of The Landscape Company sums up the pertinent point well: “It’s worth having a good accountant.” ´

Sourcing capital

By keeping some cash aside, you hugely

reduce the probability of problems.

The simplest and least painful way to achieve this is to have a policy of always drawing slightly less than your profit, so a balance builds up over time.

Leasing is probably the best source capital for major purchases, although a bank loan could be appropriate here to.

Remember that when you are small most loans will need a personal guarantee.

This means that the bank makes the profit but you take the risk. It’s something I have always managed to avoid. ´

Crisis, what crisis?

Cash flow issues are about the worst problems to hit in your construction business as they generally come with little time to find a solution. That’s why preparation is key. It’s much better to prepare properly than to have to endure years of remorse if things go wrong.

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UKC COMMENT

Spotlight on NHBC Building Control – celebrating 30 years and looking ahead to the new building regulations NHBC has grown to become the largest single Building Control Body in the UK and this year celebrates its 30th anniversary. Diane Marshall, the organisation’s Head of Technical Services, looks back over the last 30 years and ahead to how the changes implemented by the Housing Standard Review, which came into effect on October 1st, will impact the house building industry.

In 1985, NHBC launched its Building Control service as the UK was on its way to producing record housing levels by the end of the decade. From the very beginning, the service has helped to raise standards of new homes via comprehensive design checks and site inspections and now carries out upwards of 400,000 inspections each year for building control. It has also helped NHBC’s builder customers to build quality homes that comply with the Building Regulations across England and Wales for the hundreds of thousands of new home owners over the last three decades.

Rewind to the mid-80s when NHBC launched its building control in England and Wales, the service was limited to three story houses. However, there have

24

been several significant changes during this time, as the service has developed to cater for a wider range of properties – from single plots, to large scale mixeduse developments, London skyscrapers, landmark commercial projects and even the conversion of the Grade II listed Roald Dahl Museum. 1985 also saw the introduction of NHBC’s innovative Type Approval system. As the name suggests, Type Approvals are a useful tool if builders propose to build standard house types and details. Type Approvals of a repeat design, can helpfully speed up subsequent sites as it will always be accepted by NHBC throughout England and Wales. Recent changes to the Type Approval system now also allow specific Type Approvals for house types used exclusively in England or Wales.

´ New century, new developments In 2000, NHBC became the first Building Control body to invest heavily in a state of the art IT system, which made the business paperless and transformed the way the organisation interacted with customers.

New initiatives have continued over the years, with the launch of NHBC’s customer portal to make submission of information even faster, while this year has seen the introduction of a new TechZone, an online technical resource which includes Building Control Plus; a fully interactive platform which includes all Building Regulations and supplementary resources in one place.

Looking ahead, the industry is now in the process of embracing the challenges set by the Housing Standards Review.

Earlier this year in March, shortly before the dissolution of Parliament, the then coalition government issued the final results of its wide ranging review of the many statutory and non-statutory standards that house builders were being asked to design and build to.

Running to just over 4,000 pages of legislation, regulation and guidance, the comprehensive package completely changes the basis for building regulations that have been in place as far back as the 1667 London Building Act, i.e. to set the minimum standards for all new buildings.

The review, which was commenced in 2013, was launched as a ‘tidying up’ exercise to deal with ‘complex,

overlapping or contradictory housing standards’, replacing over 100 different policies and standards into a single set of national standards, most of which are published in the Building Regulations.

The final results of the review sees the introduction of Optional regulations in Part M – Access and also Part G – Water as well as a new mandatory regulation for all new housing Part Q – Security as well as a National Space Standard which has not been placed in the building regulations. ´ How will it work?

The system has been implemented since October 1st. From that date, Local Planning Authorities’ (LPA) can impose optional higher standards on space, water and access to residential developments in their area provided that they have set policies in their local plan. The ability to impose these standards is dependent on the LPA demonstrating a local need and also the viability of developments if the new higher standard was required.

The developer must then inform their selected building control body (BCB) if an “Optional” requirement has been imposed on their development and it is then the job of the BCB to enforce these as if they were the minimum standard for that development in the usual way.

Guidance for local authorities on how to apply the optional higher standards has been issued to all LPA’s.

So, what are the key areas covered by the new regulations?

• Water Minimum water efficiency standards were introduced into Building Regulations in 2010 and currently require that new homes are designed so that calculated water use is not more than 125 litres/person/day. This minimum standard is to be retained with an optional more conservative standard available locally ‘where there is a clear local need’. The new optional local standard of 110 litres/person/ day was introduced on October 1st.

• Access The new 2015 regulations substantially change Approved Document M to allow for new optional access requirements to be available locally. Existing standards

are to be consolidated with Lifetime Home Standard being replaced by ‘Category 2 – Accessible and Adaptable Housing’ and Wheelchair Housing Standards to be replaced by ‘Category 3 – Wheelchair User Dwellings in Part M (Access to and use of buildings)’.

COMMENT UKC

Additionally, Building Regulations have evolved over the years from prescriptive requirements to a more open system of functional requirements which give the designer greater choices. Early involvement of NHBC Building Control in a project therefore allows designers to consult building control professionals on their innovative solutions and ensure that they meet the requirements early on. Another major change was the increase in popularity of timber frame construction in the late 1980s, which has further evolved to a rise in the use of prefabrications and MMCs. As a result, keeping our technical staff up-to-date with regulations if of key importance; the last 30 years has seen an ever increasing rate of change as well as some of the approved documents becoming specialist in nature, such as Approved Document B – fire Safety and L – Conservation of Fuel and Power.

• Security A new mandatory security requirement (Part Q) has been introduced for all new dwellings. The new standard intends to introduce a level of consistency across different areas and consolidate around cost effective measures to reduce the incidence of burglary.

• Space** As well as the introduction of a minimum gross internal floor area and built-in storage area dependent on number of bedrooms, the standard will insist that at least one bedroom in a two-bedroom home is a double (or twin) room. Minimum room sizes also apply as well as a minimum floor to ceiling height of 2.3m for at least 75% of the gross internal area.

The new nationally described space standard has not been incorporated into Building Regulations. Instead the standard may be imposed by local planning authorities as a planning condition. ´ The future Having spent the last six months digesting the new regulations and understanding the complexities of what lies ahead, we hope that the industry will adopt the changes relatively seamlessly, but we are here to help builders adapt.

Looking ahead, this landmark year provides an opportunity to think about ways in which NHBC Building Control can further support its builder customers. Needless to say NHBC Building Control will continue to innovate and support builders, and homeowners, by providing a rigorous, independent third party check on the design and construction of the UK’s new homes.

For further information please visit www.nhbc.co.uk/Builders/ Productsandservices/Buildingcontrol ** The Nationally Described Space Standard remains outside of the Building Regulations and where applicable will be enforced by LPA’s.

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UKC COMMENT

Introducing the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 (CDM) On April 2, HSE published the new CDM 2015 Regulations and the accompanying L series guide. The guide explains what the law is seeking to achieve and what the regulations mean in practice for the various dutyholders, across all construction projects. This guide is supported by a series of industry guidance booklets, one for each dutyholder and one for workers. Written by industry groups representing the breadth of construction professionals, and hosted by CITB (Construction Industry Training Board), their focus is to provide practical advice on implementing the new legal requirements on smaller construction projects.

Both the L Series and industry guides can be freely downloaded from HSE and CITB websites. ´ Simplified The regulations provide a much more linear structure that represents the process of delivering a construction project from concept, through design and build to handover and future use of a structure. This approach provides greater clarity on the importance and influence that each dutyholder has on the way that construction hazard and risks are identified, reduced, controlled and managed, throughout a project.

A single set of requirements, applicable to all projects irrespective of size and duration. Unlike with CDM 2007 there is only one trigger

26

point for additional action in the new regulations concerning only the client. ´ Commercial Clients Recognising the importance and influence a client has over the way a project is procured and delivered and the standards to which these are done, the regulations strengthen and broaden their responsibilities. The regulations encourage clients to actively lead construction projects, whilst recognising that their experience and abilities will be diverse.

The client is now responsible for making the arrangements by which the project will be managed and ensuring that those arrangements are maintained and reviewed throughout the life of the project.

Where there is or is likely to be more than one contractor working on a project, the client must appoint both a Principal Designer (PD) and a Principal Contractor (PC) at the earliest opportunity and before construction starts. The client is also responsible for taking ‘reasonable steps’ to ensure both the PD and PC comply with their duties, for providing pre construction information (PCI), ensuring the construction phase plan and health and safety file are produced and for ensuring the health and safety file is handed over to any new owner of the structure. ´ Domestic Clients Although the exemption for domestic

clients has been removed, the only responsibility placed upon them is to appoint the PC and PD, where there is more than one contractor. However, if this (as will be common practice) does not happen, the regulations automatically transfer the client duties to the contractor or principal contractor of a project.

In recognising that some domestic clients may have already established a relationship with their designer before they go ahead with construction, the regulations allow the designer to take on the client duties where there is a written agreement between the client and designer to do so. ´ Principal Designer This new role brings the function of planning, managing, monitoring and co-ordinating the design stage of the project, directly into the project team and under the control of a designer.

The PD will support the client in bringing together and providing the Pre Construction Information (PCI) and act as the conduit for disseminating that information to the various dutyholders who will need it at the right time.

This will be an ongoing responsibility throughout the life of the project.

The PD is responsible for ensuring the designers working on the project discharge the duties placed upon them as designers throughout their appointment. The role of the PD mirrors that of PC in the construction phase.

COMMENT UKC

WHAT’S NEW This role is not limited to the design stage before construction starts.

The PD will work together with the PC throughout the life of their appointment to ensure the health and safety implications of design aspects and later changes are properly considered, support the PC in drawing up the construction phase plan as well as developing the health and safety file and providing it to the client at the end of the project.

The regulations do recognise that in some projects the PD may not be contracted throughout the whole life of the project – especially when the design stage is complete and the construction phase is well advanced.

If, in this situation the PD is released from the project, then the responsibility for completing the health safety file and handing it to the client at the end of the project passes to the PC.

´ Notification

• Simplified structure to the regulations

The notification threshold for projects has changed. A project becomes notifiable where it lasts longer than 30 days AND has more than 20 workers, working simultaneously at any one point OR exceeds 500 person days.

• Clients responsibilities strengthened and broadened

Increasing the notification threshold will reduce the number of projects required to be notified significantly, and thus reduce the burden on business.

Notification is a stand-alone requirement and does not give rise to any additional duties.

• Removal of exemption for domestic clients • A new role of Principal Designer to co-ordinate the design stage • Removal of the role of CDM-C • Removal of notification as a trigger point for additional duties • Notification threshold includes worker numbers • Appointments threshold being where more than one contractor on a project • Removal of ‘competence’ requirement and replaced with ‘skills, knowledge, experience and training’ and ‘organisational capability’ • All construction projects require a construction phase plan (CPP)

27

UKC COMMENT

´ Removal of ‘competence’ ‘Competence’, is a term that has no minimum standard of compliance, is widely misunderstood, and unhelpfully applied to both individuals and organisations - giving rise to unintended bureaucracy, without necessarily improving the development of a competent workforce in all sectors of construction.

To address some of these issues and to make the delivery of a competent workforce clearer for dutyholders, the new regulations have disentangled ‘competence’ into its component parts of ‘skills, knowledge, training and experience (SKTE)’, and where it refers to an organisation, ‘organisational capability’.

The new regulations focus attention on the work that individuals and organisations are appointed to undertake and require that those appointed have the necessary

28

skills, knowledge and experience to deliver that work effectively and safely – each and every day.

It’s therefore incumbent upon anybody appointing a contractor or designer (including PD and PC) to ensure they have the necessary skills, knowledge and experience, before they are appointed.

The regulations also provide flexibility for those employing and appointing site workers, by requiring that those employed or appointed either have or are obtaining the necessary SKTE for the task in hand. By requiring contractors to provide adequate supervision for all workers under their control, the regulations allow workers to develop site skills without being put at risk or putting themselves and others at risk. ´ The Construction Phase Plan All construction projects will now require a construction phase plan

(CPP) – irrespective of size and duration. The purpose of this provision is to focus those undertaking even the smallest of projects (including domestic work) on the planning of the project and ensure associated risk is considered and controlled.

The plan should be proportionate to the scale of the job and the health and safety risks involved. Plans involving smaller, less risky jobs should be short and simple and should require no further consideration than is already required for well-managed activities.

To help small construction businesses complete these plans without additional burden, HSE has produced a simple template. The template CPP is available from the HSE website and includes the necessary information to allow businesses to plan their work and consider risks quickly and efficiently.

Additionally HSE and CITB have

COMMENT UKC

developed a smartphone app, freely available to download form the CITB website, which allows the construction phase plan to be completed within a few minutes without any paper form filling. This app is designed for small businesses undertaking routine construction projects. Once the relevant construction activities are input – the app identifies the common health and safety risks automatically, and the control measures that should be followed.

The plan is automatically generated and can be saved or emailed to others such as clients and other contractors. ´ HSE encourages all small building firms to adopt this approach.

Does maintenance work need a Construction Phase Plan The definition of construction work has not changed and dutyholders still need to make a sensible judgement as to whether CDM 2015 applies to activities such as maintenance. For example, where the activities involve general maintenance of fixed plant involving mechanical adjustments, replacing parts or lubrication it continues to be unlikely to be construction work and CDM 2015 will not apply.

However, where the task in hand looks like building work, requires construction skills and uses construction materials, CDM 2015 is likely to apply. In this case, the job will need planning. A practical and proportionate construction phase plan, which highlights the real risks of the work, should be prepared and kept up-to-date. ´

What should designers and contractors be saying to clients (domestic, inexperienced or otherwise)

A designer can take many guises from an architect, technician or technologist through to the specific designer disciplines of structural, civil, electrical and the like.

Moreover, any other discipline (including contractors) preparing or modifying a design, or arranging or instructing another under their control to do so, is a designer.

Irrespective of the role, the duties on the designer remain the same. Primarily, their

first obligation will be to ensure before they start any design work that the client is aware of their obligations under CDM. Designers’ responsibilities differ little in this respect from that conferred on them by CDM 2007. A designer should have sufficient knowledge of the client’s obligations in order to be able to assess their knowledge and advise them of their role. Advising the client of their obligations is a routine matter that will be part of any early discussions about the project.

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The regulations do not specify any one method by which designers will discharge this responsibility and indeed it will be on a case by case basis.

Many designers have in the past, used a standard letter format to the client and this may well continue to be a sensible approach. In the smallest of commercial projects, this may prove a useful method, but it may be that verbal advice and assurance is enough. It is often helpful for a designer to have some mechanism to record that they have discussed and advised the client on this issue – but any such mechanism should minimise bureaucracy for bureaucracy’s sake. ´ Messages for contractors and domestic clients Most importantly, the regulations do not seek to make the lives of contractors more difficult. By passing the client responsibilities to the Principal Contractor or contractor in control of the project or the designer if the domestic client so wishes, the current position for domestic projects changes little.

The new regulations intend to support small business in improving health and safety standards on sites where incident rates are high. It is not the intention to increase bureaucracy or cost – quite the opposite. By providing clear guidance through the industry guides for principal contractors and contractors and supporting that guidance with the template CPP and smartphone app, HSE believes that small construction projects can be delivered to a higher standard of health and safety and thus cost effectiveness with minimal extra work on the part of business.

1 Read the industry guides – they are a great help 2 Download the CITB smartphone CPP app and use it.

3 Make sure work is planned in a sensible and proportionate way 4 Concentrate on the real risks involved with construction work 5 Be aware of your possible role as a client in domestic projects 6 Use the HSE CDM 2015 website – it has all the information you need for free 7

Remember – HSE does not expect contractors to be health and safety officers – they want you to work safely.

8 Contractors and designers need to communicate and help each other in deliverin a successful project

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ALADINS – An answer to spiralling Legal Costs in Adjudication Ask any party that has been involved in adjudication over the last few years and they are likely to tell you that the process of referring disputes to adjudication is becoming increasingly expensive. It would be easy to blame this on the legal profession hijacking a process that was supposed to be quick and cost-effective, but I suspect the answer is somewhat more complicated.

The reality is that very few adjudicated cases go on to arbitration or litigation after the decision is handed down. This is probably due to parties concluding that the Adjudicator’s decision is more or less where the parties would have ended up had the dispute been finally determined in court or an arbitration tribunal.

Alternatively, parties may decide that the costs of re-running the dispute in court or arbitration are simply prohibitive.

costs, insurers have been very reluctant to insure a party’s exposure to its own legal costs and those of the Adjudicator if the decision goes against you - that is, until now.

The answer to the conundrum of the spiralling cost of adjudication may finally have been addressed with the introduction of ALADINS. Adjudication Legal And Dispute INSurance is a full scope legal expenses insurance policy available to Contractors, Sub-Contractors and Consultants in the UK exclusively through The Vinden Partnership and Watson Laurie Insurance Brokers. In exchange for a modest annual premium the policy insures a Client’s liability to pay legal expenses arising from a whole range of disputes arising under commercial contracts through to employment disputes.

So with parties realising that adjudication is likely to be the one and only referral of a dispute to a third party for a determination, parties are increasingly prepared to invest more and more resources in order to try to get that allimportant win. The result is more and more submissions, often a one or two day hearing, an extended timetable and much bigger legal bills all round.

Most importantly, however, is that legal costs arising from adjudication proceedings under construction contracts are covered

by ALADINS with legal expenses cover of £1,000,000 available in any one year of insurance, limited to £100,000 per claim. Premiums are calculated on a declared turnover basis so, by way of an example, a company with an annual turnover of £10 million would be charged an annual premium of £6,000 plus IPT.

So what can be done to protect yourself from the costs of adjudication? One obvious answer is to insure the risk. But, as Adjudicators invariably lack the power to deal with inter-party

At the risk of stating the obvious and in the event of a dispute proceeding to adjudication, an insured party’s own costs and exposure to the adjudicator’s fees are insured. ALADINS will not

respond where claims are adjudged to have little or no chance of success but in reality such claims have never been pursued in any event. ALADINS will respond, however, where a claim or the defence of a claim is adjudged to have reasonable prospects for success.

ALADINS has been two years in planning and is available to purchase from 1 October 2015. For further information on ALADINS and/or a no-obligation quotation please contact either Steve Padley (spadley@vinden.co.uk) or Gary Brooks (GBrooks@watsonlaurie. co.uk) Peter Vinden is a practising Arbitrator, Adjudicator, Mediator and Expert. He is Managing Director of The Vinden Partnership and can be contacted by email at pvinden@vinden.co.uk.

For similar articles please visit www.vinden.co.uk.

Regent House, Folds Point, Folds Road, Bolton BL1 2RZ t. 01204 632888 f. 01204362808 tvp@vinden.co.uk www.vinden.co.uk

UKC COMMENT

Reducing risk by securing vacant property As the construction industry continues to flourish post-recession, demand for construction site security looks set to rise. Matthew Grimley of the British Security Industry Association – the trade body representing the UK’s private security industry - discusses the importance of securing buildings throughout the first and second fix stages.

Traditionally, as the name suggests, vacant property protection companies protect buildings which are at a heightened risk of criminal attack due to a change in its occupancy.

The security solutions that vacant property protection companies can provide lend themselves perfectly to the protection of construction sites that are nearing completion.

Construction sites by their very nature are vulnerable to security breaches which can lead to the loss of valuable equipment and materials, damage to existing work and costly delays. Furthermore, security breaches can also expose personnel working on-site to increased safety risks which could lead to injury.

There are a number of solutions available to protect vacant property including physical security measures such as steel security screens, doors and fencing; employing security guards to patrol the property whilst it is vacant; and electronic security measures such as intruder alarm systems and CCTV. Taking a holistic approach to security by utilising a combination of security measures will provide the most effective protection for vacant property.

The rising value of metals such as copper has led to an epidemic of thefts in recent years as thieves seize the opportunity to steal copper fittings, fixtures and wiring to turn a quick profit. Therefore, construction sites become particularly vulnerable between the first and second fixes if they are left unsecured. In addition, there is an increased risk to safety if electrical wiring is tampered with for their copper content.

Another increasing risk - especially in the capital where housing stock remains low – is that of squatters moving in. Squatters, who can cause lengthy delays to the building process also often cause large amounts of damage and vandalism to the building.

In addition, owners and managers of vacant property have a ‘duty of care’ to anyone entering the building, whether authorised to do so or not. The law remains fairly open to interpretation when it comes to squatting, in that squatting in a residential building is illegal, but isn’t in itself a crime to squat in non-residential buildings or land. It’s usually a crime not to leave property when instructed to do so by the owner, the police, the council or by a repossession order, however the process of removing squatters can become time consuming and a legal nightmare.

This is where the services of a vacant property protection company should be considered to ensure that projects are completed on time and within budget.

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Indeed, thanks to technological advancement, the use of technology in the vacant property protection market has developed significantly. The advances in wireless communications and alternative sources of power have allowed the implementation of monitored intruder alarms, video verification and CCTV in most environments. Many security companies operating in the vacant property protection sector now offer rapidly-deployable visually verified alarm systems. As soon as movement is detected, the alarm is triggered and the system automatically records footage which can be immediately monitored by trained operators in an Alarm Receiving Centre. Usually, operators will have agreed protocols with the site manager as to how alarm activations are dealt with such as alerting the police or contacting a designated key holder. The reliability of these systems is now better than ever thanks to the development of new technology, methodology and standards within the private security industry. The introduction of Unique Reference Numbers (URNs) has also revolutionised the way that police respond to alarm activations. In the past two decades, the number of false alarm activations generated by security alarm systems has reduced dramatically, from an average of 1.36 per system per year in 1995 to 0.10 per system per year in 2013. Police are now more likely than

ever to respond to a genuine alarm, and more likely to catch criminals in the act when they do. As well as helping the police to catch criminals, a wellpositioned alarm will also act as an effective deterrent to would-be criminals.

Another security solution that is becoming increasingly common in the protection of vacant property is CCTV surveillance cameras which can be rapidly deployed in most environments on a permanent or temporary basis.

CCTV cameras are well renowned for their effectiveness in helping the police to catch criminals; evidence gathered using CCTV cameras is one of the most successful ways of securing convictions in court. Criminals are much more likely to plead guilty when faced with the undeniable evidence of being caught on camera. CCTV cameras also have the added benefit of being a proven deterrent to criminals, the placement of cameras alongside visible signage can prevent criminal activity for fear of evidence being recorded on camera.

Protecting vacant property, or property that is in the process of being constructed, can help to reduce the risk of vandalism, theft and squatting and should be taken into consideration to ensure that projects are completed on time and within budget.

As with all security products and services, quality should be the most important factor when it comes to procurement. The BSIA’s Vacant Property Protection Section comprises of a number of industry leading companies who can advise on the best methods of securing vacant property and can provide a wide range of solutions that fit the needs of each individual site.

The section has also published a number of guides for property owners and managers to help them understand the key considerations which should be accounted for when property is left vacant for any period of time.

For more information about protecting vacant property, or to find a reliable security company near you, please visit: www.bsia.co.uk

WILL YOU HAVE THE SKILLS TO BE A PRINCIPAL DESIGNER? Industry recognised advice, guidance & training FIND OUT MORE AT

www.aps.org.uk

UKC COMMENT

Fitness for Purpose and Contractual Interpretation Frequently contract documents have both provisions requiring reasonable skill and care (a lesser obligation than a warranty of a result and often set out in the contract conditions) and other more detailed performance requirements, often set out in more technical specification documents.

There can be a tension between these different contract documents; the recent Court of Appeal decision MT Højgaard A/S v E.On (2015) is an illustration. The issue was whether the contractor had warranted that foundation structures for an offshore wind farm would have a service life of 20 years, or whether the contractor was subject to a somewhat less stringent obligation.

The design was done with reasonable skill and care but the service life of 20 years was not achieved. The contractor had complied with specifications and standards, but one of these (J101, an international standard for the design of offshore wind turbines) contained a significant error. The foundation structures (monopoles driven into the sea bed) which the contractor designed and installed failed shortly after completion.

The Court of Appeal accepted that there are contracts that require a contractor (a) to comply with particular specifications and standards and (b) to achieve a particular result. The design and build agreement in IBA v EMI (1980) was a contract of that character. There a contractor undertaking design and build was found to be subject to a fitness for purpose obligation. What the Court of Appeal had to address in MT Højgaard was whether the contract there was one of that character. That involved applying the rules of construction to the “diffuse contract documents” in the case (which included conflicting provisions). The case is therefore a recent illustration of the courts’ approach to the interpretation of contracts. The context was a dispute as to whether the contractor was

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subject to a strict obligation to achieve a result (a fitness for purpose obligation) or a less onerous obligation to design with reasonable skill and care. The contract documents were “of multiple authorship” and contained “much loose wording”. There was accordingly scope for the court to apply the rules of contractual interpretation (considered in the writer’s previous article) to arrive at the correct meaning. Interpretation in this context is an iterative process, which involves checking each of the rival meanings against the other contractual provisions and investigating its commercial consequences.

There undoubtedly was a term of the contract, in the Technical Requirements (TR) which, taken alone, was a warranty of a service life of 20 years, i.e. a strict obligation. All the other terms of the TR, however, suggested that what was required was a design life of 20 years. A design life is not absolute: the structure will not inevitably function for 20 years (although it probably will).

The contract conditions took precedence over other documents and the requirement there was reasonable skill and care. The TR were a detailed were a detailed document which came fourth in the order of precedence. If there were an absolute warranty of quality, one would expect to see it in the contract conditions and not tucked away in the TR. The factual background was relevant in the following way. A reasonable person in the position of the parties in this case would know that the normal standard required in the construction of offshore wind farms was compliance with J101 and that such compliance was expected, but not absolutely guaranteed, to produce a life of 20 years.

Adopting an iterative approach to the construction of the strict obligation provisions found in the TR, it did

not make sense to regard them as overriding all other provisions of the contract and converting it to one with a guarantee of 20 years life. Put another way, there was inconsistency between those TR provisions on the one hand and all the other contractual provisions on the other hand. Jackson LJ stated that the court must not be led astray by that inconsistency.

The conclusion of the Court of Appeal in this case was that the sub-paragraphs in the TR which indicated the strict obligation were inconsistent with the remainder of the TR and J101 and were too slender a thread on which to hang the warranty of 20 years life for the foundations. The trial judge had reached the opposite conclusion, which illustrates the uncertainties of contractual interpretation of inconsistent documentation.

For more information, contact Peter Sheridan Partner at Sheridan Gold LLP T: 01737 735088 E: psheridan@sheridangold.co.uk W: www.sheridangold.co.uk Peter Sheridan

COMMENT UKC

Enforcing payment The Construction Act has given rise to many and varied issues for the courts to consider. One area that rears its head from time to time is the relationship between the Act and insolvency law.

If a contractor has the benefit of a payment notice in respect of which no pay less notice has been served, his employer is likely to have no defence to a claim for payment of the sum stated in the notice. The Act gives the contractor a relatively quick means of enforcing payment by means of adjudication. For some however, even that process is too slow and expensive and they prefer to try to force payment by threatening or taking winding-up or bankruptcy proceedings.

Several issues thrown up by the use of insolvency proceedings to force payment under a payment notice came under the spotlight this month in Wilson and Sharp Investments Ltd v Harbour View Developments Limited.

The Act was amended in 2011 to provide that where a sum is due under a payment notice and the payee becomes insolvent after the deadline for giving a pay less notice, the payer will not be required to pay. Standard form contracts, including the JCT forms have been revised to reflect this arrangement. Wilson and Sharp raised a novel question. Does the clause in the JCT contract saying that payment need no longer be made after insolvency, apply if the contract has already been terminated before the insolvency occurs?

Harbour View managed to persuade the judge at first instance that it did not. However, the Court of Appeal took a different view and held that the termination did not affect the position.

Wilson and Sharp still had the benefit

of the provision that said they need not pay if (as was the case) Harbour View became insolvent after the deadline for the service of a pay less notice.

challenge that particular notice but it was open to them to challenge the valuation later or to claim repayment. The Court of Appeal accepted that argument.

This case and other recent decisions have reminded us that there are potentially other difficulties faced by solvent contractors who try to use insolvency proceedings to force payment. Winding-up or bankruptcy proceedings can be pursued where an undisputed debt has not been paid.

If the employer wants to argue that the debt is disputed, he will have to persuade the court that it is genuinely disputed on substantial grounds. Where there is a payment notice and no pay less notice, the employer is unlikely to be able to satisfy that test. However, all is not lost for the employer.

A contractor who has the benefit of a payment notice is in a strong position.

How he presses home his advantage requires careful thought. The insolvency may look like a straight sprint to a result but in reality there are hurdles to jump. What might have looked like a quick process in this case ended up with a lengthy and no doubt expensive detour via the Court of Appeal.

Mark Clinton Partner Thomas Eggar LLP Mark Clinton

If the contract contains an arbitration clause, the courts have indicated that the employer may have another avenue for avoiding winding-up or bankruptcy.

The test for whether there is a dispute for the purposes of arbitration is much easier to satisfy than the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;genuinely disputed on substantial groundsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; test normally used in insolvency. The insolvency courts have indicated that where there is an arbitration clause they are likely to apply the lower arbitration test. This may be another factor to weigh up when deciding whether to provide for arbitration in your contract.

The other way for the employer to show that the debt is disputed is to demonstrate that he has a serious and genuine cross-claim. Wilson and Sharp argued that they had such a cross-claim.

They said the payment notice was for an interim payment. As they had not issued a pay less notice, they could not

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UKC COMMENT

Is Mains Water Filtration really necessary?

In an ideal world mains water would reach the end user pure and free from particulates. It is in the best interest of UK water suppliers to do everything they can to facilitate this expectation but a number of factors, including the quality, age and condition of pipework, corrosion and external influences makes it virtually impossible to deliver particle free water 100% of the time. So what can we do to ensure the water that is used within a building is completely clean, even if it did not arrive in that condition?

In this instance, the tank has become a useful ‘settling zone’ for the particulate, since the water is stored here temporarily before continuing to the rest of the building. If these particulates are not trapped on entry and allowed to continue into a building, the consequences can often be severe:

There is a broad spectrum of need for filtration in buildings. Indeed, practically any water system can benefit from some form of filtration, be it to remove substances that are brought in externally, or substances that have found their way into the water system from within the building.

When considering the water treatment system design, building designers often detail the requirements of softening, ultraviolet treatment and specific mineral removal, and overlook basic filtration.

• Throughout the pipework of an internal water system particles can cause erosion/corrosion particularly in vulnerable areas like bends.

The most basic level of water treatment in any building is particulate filtration; a particulate filter protects the building from stray sediment or debris that is present in natural water supplies. Unlike other parts of Europe, it is not currently mandatory in the UK to install filtration systems in new constructions, but there are significant long term benefits for the building and the end user by doing so.

The following photograph was taken in a cold water storage tank at a nursing home, after just six months in operation.

The tank itself is a near-white colour, and brown particulate has settled at the base. The area where the base of the tank is visible is due to the turbulence of water flow in and out of the tank.

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• The impact of particles on equipment can be expensive and cause issues from more frequent maintenance and replacement.

• Depending on where the particulate settles it can easily become a perfect environment for bacteria which can have severe detrimental effects on the health and wellbeing of building inhabitants.

Less serious, but costly in fiscal and operational terms is the subsequent requirement for more frequent and intense cleaning procedures.

• Adverse effects on water metering equipment, causing inaccurate measurements.

• Particulate larger than 50µm can cause an effect known as ‘shadowing’ inside UV treatment equipment, allowing bacteria to pass through untreated because the particles have blocked the UV rays.

• A build-up of particles can reduce the flow of water in the system and eventually cause complete blockages, necessitating significant maintenance.

If the water and water storage issues in this nursing home are not

rectified, the effect on the residents’ health could prove to be dire, as they are likely to be particularly vulnerable to any contaminants.

In many industry sectors, including clinical and healthcare, catering and hospitality, and manufacture, clean and purified water is crucial for statutory compliance. Basic filtration is unlikely to meet those compliance requirements and procedures like reverse osmosis will ensure the water is free of all impurities.

For generic builds and designs, filtering mains water may not be a necessity but it is certainly going to improve the sustainability of a building and demonstrate the ecological responsibility of the building services providers.

Greg Da Santos is the Building Services Engineer at Lubron UK Water Technology.

About Lubron: Lubron UK was established in 1996, and is part of the Lubron Group, the European market leader in water treatment for clean water applications. A fusion of scientists and engineers who recognised the need for better quality water treatment and management, the company started in Holland over 30 years ago, and has branches in the UK, Netherlands, Germany and Belgium.With clients in sectors including building services, clinical and healthcare, food and beverage production, and catering and hospitality it uses a range of processes and systems for water treatment plant to remove impurities and contaminants in water including: Reverse Osmosis (RO), all forms of water filtration including traditional media, microfiltration, nanofiltration and ultrafiltration, electro de-ionisation, ion exchange, de-alkalisation, water softening, sanitisation and disinfection.

For more information visit: www.lubron.co.uk or call 01206 866444.

COMMENT UKC

Women in the Construction Industry It is the 21st century and women’s right are bigger and more prominent than ever, meaning you would expect an even gender distribution in all industries. Unfortunately, this is not necessarily true- particularly in the case of manual trades.

Within the construction industry, women only represent a meagre 12% of workers, with the number of women working as roofers, bricklayers and glaziers so low that it is unmeasurable. As well as the percentage of females in the industry being at a low, their pay is also less, at 12% fewer than their male counterparts, even those who do the exact same role.

As of December 2012, the Union of Construction, Allied Trades and Technicians (UCATT) has represented over 84,377 workers in the construction and allied trades, and as part of this, conducted a Union Modernisation Fund project “Building a Stronger Union.”

Within this, they surveyed women construction workers to find out more about the challenges they face and to

raise awareness of the issues amongst its male membership. The survey found that over half of the women were treated worse at work simply because of their gender, with the top three issues being a lack of promotion prospect, lower pay and feeling generally isolated from their male colleagues. Forty percent of those questioned identified bullying and harassment by managers as a problem, with 30% too afraid to complain about poor treatment.

As well as the above issues, a quarter complained of having to share toilet facilities with men and 15% of being unable to find properly fitting protective equipment.

However, there is beginning to be a shift in direction for women within the sector, with a number of programmes and organisations in place to try and increase the awareness of available positions. Companies such as this are “Class of Your Own” which is a programme to raise awareness of how young people can learn about and

become involved in construction careers.

The Construction Youth Trust is another initiative set up to help young people and particularly women in the construction industry. The charities vision is “of a construction industry which inspires and enables young people to overcome barriers and build better futures.”

A recent campaign set forth by the department for work and pensions was all about reiterating the importance of breaking down the gender barrier in male-dominated careers. The hashtag #notjustforboys went viral on social media sites with many companies professing their support.

Nickie Brooks, MD for Alternative Route said “What with being in what can be perceived as a male-dominated industry myself, it is refreshing to see such a positive rise in the number of females adopting careers in these areas.”

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UKC COMMENT

Ecodriving The yawning gap between test cycle and real world emissions is front page news these days thanks to some very poor judgement from someone – no doubt just a junior technician! - at VW. At the Energy Saving Trust it’s nearly ten years since we spotted that driver training was the piece of the jigsaw that we were missing. Up until then our work promoting cleaner transport had focussed on cleaner vehicles and mileage management.

But it’s abundantly clear that regardless of what a vehicle achieves on paper, its real world emissions depend a great deal on the driver.

In terms of ‘air quality’ emissions (i.e. emissions that directly affect human health) , the big emerging story over the last couple of years has been that in real-world driving even new diesels still frequently emit far more particulate matter (PM) and oxides of nitrogen (NOx) than they’re supposed to. Five or six times the official figure is common across the board, not just with VW who have acknowledged fitting the now notorious ‘defeat devices’ to some of their diesel engines. For fuel consumption and CO2 (the two go hand-in-hand) the story is similar: in the mid-2000s we at the Energy Saving Trust had robust data from a fuel card supplier showing that fleet

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vehicles’ fuel consumption and CO2 was approximately 15% higher than the manufacturers’ official claims.

The International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) reports that if you look back a bit further to 2001 the gap between test cycle and real world emissions was a more modest 8%. But according to the ICCT, whose findings are based on reported actual fuel consumption from more than half a million vehicles, by 2013 the average gap between official and real-world fuel consumption and CO2 had grown to a massive 38%.

So what’s to be done? Clearly there’s a need for a more representative test cycle and the good news is that this is on its way, with the coming of the Worldwide Harmonized Light Vehicles Test Procedures (WLTP). This is being developed by the EU, Japan, India and the UNECE and is expected to be in use from around 2017. It also seems clear that however good this test cycle may be, it needs to be backed up by some form of significant real-world emission testing programme. But in the short term, encouraging more efficient driving techniques is the best way to narrow or close that gap between vehicles’ stated and actual fuel consumption.

The Energy Saving Trust’s early involvement with ecodriving focussed

on information and advice but after evaluating various approaches we concluded that if you want to influence a driver’s behaviour, there’s no substitute for on-the-road training. The other conclusion we reached early on is that if training just focusses on efficiency, a driver can make good progress in a short time. So between 2009 and 2014 we trained nearly 40,000 fleet drivers, each with just over an hour’s ecodriving training. Drivers saw an average of approximately 14% reduction in fuel consumption on the day of training and long term studies show between 3 and 6.2% savings in the 12 months following training.

The key to effective short-duration ecodriving training is focussing on the few main points that make a big difference to most drivers. In practical terms this means better anticipation to avoid unnecessary acceleration and braking; early gear changes when accelerating; stepping off the accelerator as early as possible but remaining in gear when decelerating; and slowing down at higher speeds. It’s certainly not rocket science but our experience is that you can talk about these techniques in a room full of drivers all apparently understanding and agreeing, but then get those same drivers out on the road with a good fleet trainer and you’ll still find

COMMENT UKC

there’s plenty of room for improvement!

Crucially, that improvement comes very quickly with a bit of coaching.

Ecodriving also brings safety benefits: There’s good evidence from the UK and from Germany of around 30% reduction in ‘at fault’ accidents and 18% reduction in total accidents in the year following fleet ecodriving training even though in both cases the training was entirely focussed on efficiency, not safety. The explanation for this is simple, since better anticipation is the key to both safety and efficiency. In fact there’s a lot of crossover between ecodriving and advanced driver training and if you want to try to maximise the long term savings following training I’d suggest trying to convey the idea that ecodriving is about being a better driver, rather than about doing the right or the worthy thing.

At the Energy Saving Trust we now run a subsidised fleet ecodriving scheme in England funded by the Department for Transport (www.est.org.uk/ businesses/ecodriving). We no longer train drivers ourselves, but most of the country’s main fleet training companies are involved in the scheme and they claim a subsidy from us for each driver trained. The scheme has been going for 18 months and is working well. Its key strength is the diversity of training

available, from stand-alone short-duration ecodriving training, to longer training usually focussing on safety but also including our requirements on efficiency.

Returning to the figures mentioned earlier, there’s quite a gap between the 14% reduction in fuel consumption on the day of training and the 3 to 6.2% savings in the following year. Good fleet management can go a long way to ensuring a fleet is near the top of that range or perhaps exceeds it. At its core this means the fleet manager being on top of his or her vehicle data so that efficient drivers can be rewarded, perhaps financially, and poor drivers can be spotted and offered extra support or training. There are also some great technological solutions including telematics systems that give feedback to the driver, the fleet manager or both. Most telematics systems access the vehicle CANbus for data such as engine speed, throttle position, fuel consumption etc and combine this with location data provided

by GPS. Some even add mapping data as an input, for example to advise the driver to lift off the accelerator if he’s approaching a junction at speed.

the other’s weakness: Technology doesn’t yet help a driver to read and anticipate other road users’ actions, nor can it understand, challenge and influence a driver’s assumptions and beliefs as effectively as a good trainer.

But training suffers from fade, so if the technology is there consistently reminding the driver about efficient driving techniques that he’s been introduced to on a good training course, then this can be a powerful combination.

And with the potential benefits of fewer accidents, reduced emissions and lower fuel bills there’s surely a strong case for investing in the two.

Training and technology are entirely complementary approaches to efficiency, since each addresses www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/businesses/ecodriving e ecodriving@est.org.uk t 020 722 0101

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UKC CIVIL

Intelligent transport system set to transform England’s motorways A new high-tech intelligent transport system will transform traffic management on England’s motorways and major A roads.

areas like highways and cities – road users will ultimately experience more safety, more efficiency, and more convenience along their whole route.”

Austria-based firm Kapsch TrafficCom AG have been awarded a £30M contract by Highways England and will install the system at its regional control centre in Wakefield, West Yorkshire. The system will then be rolled out to the rest of the country.

CGI, an independent information technology and business process services firm, has been selected as the main partner in this project. CGI will be responsible for the design, build, testing and implementation of the interface software that will allow Highways England to reuse existing interfaces and devices in combination with the DYNAC software.

The high-tech transport system will help improve safety and provide faster responses to real time events. It will also integrate a wide range of functions and manage the existing large quantity of different roadside devices.

The system is designed to be future proof and built with the capability to incorporate future technology.

Kapsch will be responsible for the delivery, installation and testing at the control centre, with the existing technical infrastructure used to control and manage traffic being integrated.

Mag. Georg Kapsch, CEO at Kapsch TrafficCom commented: “Future traffic management is all about integration.

“Whether aligning traffic management across borders, different technological solutions or different transportation

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Neil Widdop, Services Procurement Team Leader at Highways England, said: “The new system will allow us to improve our operational efficiencies through use of a modern, national, integrated system.

“As we improve our operational efficiency, we can expect road users to benefit from quicker responses to incidents leading to improved safety and greater convenience for drivers.” ´ Electric Highways Such investment is indicative of Highways England’s broader aspirations for road infrastructure nationwide.

Innovative new technologies are being scrutinised with a view to increasing efficiencies, advancing health and safety,

and improving the driver experience.

Previously, Highways England announced a series of off-road trials to examine the technological requirements of electric and hybrid vehicles.

The trials – the first of their kind – will test how this technology could work safely and effectively on the England’s motorways and major A roads, allowing drivers of ultra-low emission vehicles (ULEVs) to travel long distances without needing to stop and charge the car’s battery.

Transport Minister Andrew Jones said: “The potential to recharge low emission vehicles on the move offers exciting possibilities. The government is already committing £500M over the next five years to keep Britain at the forefront of this technology, which will help boost jobs and growth in the sector. As this study shows, we continue to explore options on how to improve journeys and make low-emission vehicles accessible to families and businesses.”

Expected to last an approximate 18 months, the trials will involve fitting vehicles with wireless technology and testing the equipment – installed underneath the road – to replicate motorway conditions.

COMMENT UKC

What type of new riverside development do we need in London?

By Jake Mason, CEO Evolve Wharves around London could be opened up for development, creating space for 25,000 homes on prime riverside sites. Currently a number of wharves are protected under planning laws which prevent them from being converted for other uses.

But this could soon change if the mayor of London is given power over the land, which amounts to more than 200 hectares, under Chancellor George Osborne’s productivity plan, which was launched in July. The full proposals will be set out in his Autumn Statement.

Will this help turn the tide on London’s housing crisis? Freeing up these prime sites represents a great opportunity for the city to build more housing.

But depressingly we know what we are likely to get: overpriced and homogenised temples to privilege for wealthy investors which contribute nothing to our sense of place or history.

We would urge any developers who may become involved with these projects in the future, to have a long hard think about what London needs and wants.

What London certainly does not need is another collection of gleaming metal and glass buildings.

These identikit edifices are popping up all over the city, as it competes in a race to look more like Dubai and less like London. It also does not need more expensive flats for wealthy investors.

Our broken city needs homes for key workers, middle income workers and for social housing, as well as for

the emerging build to rent market.

What developers should also be mindful of is the history associated with these wharves. The wharves were once the centre of London’s trade before the arrival of the Docks. Each wharf served a different trade, for example the New Fresh Wharf handled fish in medieval times and Nicholson’s Wharf handled produce from the Mediterranean during the 19th century.

We should try to reference the area’s history in any future development, both in the architecture and branding of new areas. When they are considering how to design and brand their new developments, they would do well to take inspiration from wharves, which are teeming with history.

Wharves around London will have a similarly exciting story to tell. It is therefore important that developers take this into account and draw on the story of London for their inspiration. These developments should aim to attract independent stores so they do not look like the same homogenised High Street which is repeated across London.

In my view they should make an effort to blend in with what is good about London and respect an area’s quirks, not transform it in a never ending race to reach the luxury end of the market.

JAKE MASON

Convoys Wharf in Deptford has just been granted outline planning permission for more than 3,500 homes. It will also include shops, restaurants and a community hub, plus a primary school.

The 40-acre site was once home to a royal dockyard founded in 1514 by Henry VIII. It is also the site of the historic Sayes Court Garden, created by 17th century diarist John Evelyn and the boatyard where the 17th century Lenox warship was built.

Just think of what you could do with the branding and design of buildings on a site with such a well of inspiration to draw from. Perhaps you could even recreate some of the precious heritage assets which had been lost over the years?

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UKC CIVIL

Redeveloping brownfield sites With house prices yet again on the rise and the UK suffering from an acute housing shortage, the redevelopment of brownfield sites will play an important role as the government aims to build 200,000 starter homes by 2020.

A brownfield site is defined in the UK as “previously developed land” that has the potential for being redeveloped.

The lack of available green spaces for housing developments means that redeveloping these brownfield sites is now a key priority.

In the government’s Housing Bill, a new register of brownfield land was announced to help fast track the construction of new homes on previously used sites near existing communities.

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As outlined in the ‘Fixing the foundations’ plan, the government will also seek to implement legislation that will ‘grant automatic permission in principle on brownfield sites identified on those registers.’ On brownfield sites in England this will create a zonal system that will reduce unnecessary delays and uncertainty when developing on these sites.

without a planning application, on 90% of suitable brownfield sites.

It is hoped these measures will help to deliver the government’s aim to put local development orders, which will allow housing developments

Barriers preventing building on brownfield sites can come in terms of the financial undertaking required to carry out environmental assessments and site remediation, with developers more much likely to choose land that is cheaper and more efficient to build on. In an effort to alleviate this issue, the government have made funds

Additional plans are also proposed that will modernise the compulsory purchase system that will ‘allow local authorities and others to drive forward and shape brownfield development, and will not alter the principle of Secretary of State sign-off on compulsory purchase orders’.

COMMUNITY UKC

available to local authorities to accelerate the preparation of brownfield sites for the development of starter homes.

Some 20 new housing zones in London have been awarded £400M of funding from the Government and the Greater London Authority to help supply new housing on brownfield land. There has also been an award of £200M of additional government funding for 10 housing zones outside the capital.

Housing Minister Brandon Lewis said: “This government has been very clear that when planning for new buildings, protecting our precious green belt is paramount. Local people don’t want to lose their countryside to urban sprawl, or see towns and cities lost to unnecessary development.

“We have put local plans at the heart of the reformed planning system, so councils and local people can now decide where development should and shouldn’t go.

“Support for new housing is growing, because communities welcome development if it is built in the right place and does not ignore their needs.

That’s why planning permission for 230,000 homes was granted by councils in the last year alone, while official statistics show that green belt development is at its lowest rate since modern records began in 1989.”

400,000 hectares of contaminated land currently in the UK. The diversity of contamination problems that can be faced has led to a number of specialist companies providing a multitude of integrated services to help develop and regenerate brownfield sites ready for development.

Before any redevelopment can take place, all brownfield developments must undergo site assessment by an environmental consultant to check soil, groundwater and surface water for hazardous materials and to ensure these risks are being managed correctly.

Given a site’s history, it is possible for the area to be contaminated with industrial pollutants such as asbestos, sulphuric acid, oil, lead, and hydrocarbons from fuel storage.

Usually, an extensive desktop study would be performed to review a site’s history and its geographical/ geological content, with checks also made against the contaminated land register held by local authorities and for any landfill sites located nearby.

Site investigations with borehole drilling to obtain samples form around the site will then be made. These will be sent away for laboratory analysis to determine the levels of contamination.

Most commonly, a brownfield site will require remediation including asbestos removal, demolition and infrastructure works before any construction can take place.

Brownfield site redevelopment is essential not only in terms of cleaning up potential environmental health hazards and also unsightly disused land but also in unlocking regeneration of areas. The sites, in addition to making space for more affordable housing, can create opportunities for employment, investment, leisure and play areas, and a sense of community. It also means that more greenbelt areas can remain protected and not come under increasing pressure to make way for more housing developments.

The UK is at the forefront of the regeneration and management of brownfield sites, with companies offering a wide range of technologies and processes to clients domestically and internationally.

Much of this expertise is due to the nation’s industrial heritage, with over

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UKC HOUSING

Exclusive Interview: BIM4 Housing Since its inception in 2014, BIM4 Housing has been tasked with educating the housing sector on the benefits of building information modelling (BIM).

In an exclusive interview, Andrew Carpenter – Chief Executive of the Structural Timber Association and Chairman of BIM4 Housing – discusses the fundamentals of the Organisation and the difficulties surrounding BIM adoption in the housing sector.

´ What would you identify as being the core aims and objectives of BIM4 Housing?

BIM is widely seen as a tool or vehicle that will deliver efficiencies throughout the industry. But while most parts of Government have to be BIM Level 2 compliant before next spring, the same does not apply to housing as the Homes and Communities Agency has decided not to mandate BIM for social use.

The housing sector is significantly – perhaps three to four years – behind the curve in terms of its BIM adoption. BIM4 Housing was set up nearly two years ago to identify the gaps in knowledge and fill those gaps, to communicate the business benefit of BIM more

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widely and encourage its uptake, to establish best practice, and to act as a focus for BIM within the housing sector – to give those interested a platform to learn and share knowledge.

´ Why is the housing sector so far

behind in terms of BIM adoption?

If you look at the carrot and the stick, I think the construction industry generally works better with the stick than it does the carrot. We’re not great innovators and we’re not great at spending money on R&D unless we have to.

I think the reason why BIM is being picked up in other areas of the construction industry is because it’s been mandated by the Government. Having said that, I was involved in the Egan and Latham agendas in the late nineties – I still am – and I vividly remember there being a House of Commons review ten years on, during which Sir John Egan gave the construction industry six out of ten for what it had achieved but the housing sector zero. We haven’t adopted the collaborative working or the integrated supply chain.

You only have to look at what’s happened with the sustainability agenda. Zero

carbon was dropped in the recent budget statement because the housebuilders influenced the Chancellor to drop it.

We’ve been moving towards a more sustainable construction industry and all of a sudden we’re cut off at the knees.

´ Unfortunately, the housing sector

doesn’t have a very good reputation when it comes to adopting things like this.

How did you come to be involved in BIM4 Housing?

I asked the question too many times! I’m Chief Executive of the Structural Timber Association (STA) and my belief is that BIM is a vehicle that will enable off-site construction to be more readily accepted.

BIM requires a collaborative culture and an integrated supply chain involved at the earliest possible stage, both of which are key elements in off-site construction. I’ve been driving BIM because it will, I believe, help my members and the entire off-site sector.

I attended a meeting with the Cabinet Office three years ago and while there were all these ‘BIM4’ groups there was nothing for housing. I asked the question and was told that there was one on the

HOUSING UKC

horizon. I then held my own BIM event for the Structural Timber Association and invited David Philp along to speak. I again asked “When is BIM4 Housing going to be set up?” The answer was almost “Whenever you want to set it up.”

I asked the question too many times and ended up with the responsibility! I’m no technical expert in BIM however. To be very honest, I’m not really interested in the data side of BIM. What I’m interested in is what it can do for us as a sector, for customers, suppliers and end users.

Can it makes us a more effective as an industry? I think the answer is yes, it can.

´ How is BIM adoption in the

house building sector progressing?

What is BIM4 Housing doing to encourage implementation?

We’ve got a number of organisations – well over a hundred – now interested in what we’re doing. These range from private house builders and housing associations to architects, engineers and contractors. It also includes organisations like the Homes and Communities Agency, the National Housing Federation and the National House Building Council (NHBC). We’ve got a very interesting mix of people.

The House Building Federation has decided for the moment to go it alone which I feel personally is a bit of a shame. They don’t feel ready yet to open up and involve the rest of the supply chain but I’m hopefully that they will come on board in due course.

We decided that the first thing that we needed to do was to get out there and tell people in the housing sector about BIM. We ran 12 conferences across the UK from October last year to June 2015. Between 500 and 600 delegates came to listen to what we were talking about. In that respect, it was a good start. I was also invited to speak briefly at the NHBC Building for Tomorrow conference – eight events with another 600 to 700 delegates.

What we are doing at the moment is preparing a ‘How To’ guide to allow people who have never used BIM to consider it for the first time. As an example, I recently held a STA conference in Bristol and the last speaker was one of my BIM4 Housing colleagues. He asked a room full of 60 people “How many are using BIM?” Only two people put their hands up.

That gives you a reflection of the scale of what we’re dealing with.

´ You mentioned BIM4 Housing’s

series of introductory BIM workshops. In retrospect, how do you feel the conferences went?

I think it went really well indeed. We have evaluation forms for each event and the feedback we received was phenomenal.

What we haven’t done yet is measure whether that interest has actually resulted in people introducing BIM. Our problem is one of resource if I’m honest. When I was told to chair this group, I was told that there was no money in the same breath. I’m also Chief Executive of Constructing Excellence South West however and so I actually use their resources to run BIM4 Housing, while the membership fee keeps that resource available.

´ What challenges is the house

building sector having to contend with in terms of BIM adoption?

For me the biggest challenge is the change in culture needed to adopt BIM. You cannot do it business as usual. You must have a mind-set whereby you are prepared to procure your supply chain early so that they can be involved in the design. This is where the value of BIM is really derived. What you can’t do is take an ordinary project and then turn it to BIM. It’s got to be right up front.

One of the biggest business benefits of BIM is what it does for facilities management (FM). You can imagine a housing association being really keen because they run projects over the course of however many decades. The irony is that the housing associations are telling me that they’re FM people are not interested in what BIM offers.

They’re quite happy to go round with a clipboard and a pen. That’s the change in culture that I’m talking about. Until we can overcome that culture change we’re not going to see BIM undertaken because people won’t understand the benefit of it. They need to do things differently and if they’re not prepared to do that nothing can change.

I’ve been involved in the construction improvement agenda since the Egan Report in 1998. We’ve been trying to introduce culture change since then and it is difficult. People don’t like change and that’s particularly true of the construction industry. To say “You have to do something differently” is a real problem for most people to get their heads round. But there is hope and I think the digital age that we’re entering is going to help. There’s a whole group of young people coming through that are part of what I call ‘Digital Britain’. There are kids that are on Minecraft now. Well, BIM is Minecraft but actually doing it for a living – building buildings and getting paid for it. Ultimately, I think there will be a time when people think “Why wouldn’t you do it this way?”

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UKC CIVIL

Exclusive Interview: BIM4 Water Open to all organisations involved in the management and delivery of water and wastewater assets, BIM4 Water aims to assist the UK water sector in its adoption of Building Information Modelling (BIM).

Jon de Souza, Business Improvement Manager at Galliford Try and immediate past Chairman of BIM4 Water, spoke with UK Construction Excellence about the creation and remit of the Organisation and the integral role that education and standardisation has to play in the successful adoption of BIM.

´ Could you first of all provide

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our readers with an introduction to BIM4 Water? What would you describe as being the aims and objectives of the Organisation?

BIM4 Water is the water sector’s response to the growing push for BIM across the wider built environment sector which has been given greater impetus by the Government’s BIM mandate.

The Government's BIM strategy has been a mixture of push and pull. On the push side, the BIM Task Group has launched a number of BIM4 groups looking at various different sectors across the UK Construction market. BIM4 Water is one such group. Each of these organisations exists to assist its own part of the market in its BIM adoption and, essentially, this is our mission – to support those organisations in the water sector with an interest in BIM. In terms of how we achieve this, five key priorities were decided upon

by our membership and we have activity relating to each of these.

The first is a need to gather evidence from the water sector and elsewhere on the value of BIM. We’re doing this through two main strands of work. Firstly, by using retrospective case studies to highlight warts and all stories from a number of sectors. We’re not just interested in good news stories as we recognise that there is a huge amount of learning to be had from projects that perhaps don’t go quite as well as intended.

We have also launched a programme of live demonstration projects. We’ve had a number of projects using aspects of BIM brought to us by our members.

Those members are quite open to other

CIVIL UKC

organisations observing their progress through the design and construction process and into asset operation, to give an understanding of the impact that BIM has had on the success of the capital delivery and asset management.

The second area that we are looking at, which is interrelated as we need the evidence from real projects, is developing a business case for BIM in the water sector. We’re hoping that we can produce a proper cost benefit for BIM, taking into account all of the relevant investment requirements and benefits.

Out third key work area is around the production of guidance. Our first output was our recently completed FAQ which is now available on the BIM4 Water website.

One of the areas that has seen the most activity is standard libraries. Most manufacturing organisations in the water sector want a consistent approach to the data demands that are placed on them through project lifecycles. One of the worst things we could do as an industry is have as many different approaches to data as there are clients or contractors, and so the Standard Libraries Task Group is trying to produce a standard for what data is asked for from product manufacturers at different points of the capital delivery process.

It’s also looking at intelligent P&IDs and other areas around standard data.

The fifth area, which we’re starting to work on now, is around Common Data Environments for the water sector and how they relate to the BIM standards such as PAS1192.

´ What is your own professional

experience? How did you become involved with BIM4 Water?

I’ve been with Galliford Try for about three years. Prior to this I worked for Constructing Excellence – an industry improvement organisation which was involved in the development of the initial Government BIM strategy. Having moved to Galliford Try’s water division, I was surprised to see that there was very

little talk about BIM in the water sector.

With support from David Philp on behalf of the BIM Task Group, a small number of us were able to put together a BIM4 Water group and I was delighted to be asked to chair the group on inception.

The water sector has generally been quite forward thinking in adopting collaborative and integrated working practices and, with BIM being an enabler of better collaborative working, it seemed likely that water clients would understand the value of BIM.

´ What advantages can BIM

offer the water sector, specifically in its delivery of AMP6?

The key benefit of BIM will come through the whole life value that it can help deliver. The expectation is that the use of a BIM process will enable optimum decisions to be taken at all stages in the delivery and management of a built asset with the greatest gains, including financial savings, coming in asset management thank to clients having access to the right asset data.

There will also be huge benefits from BIM in capital delivery, including using BIM as a way of engaging with the water company staff responsible for the operation and maintenance of an asset. The facilitation of a collaborative approach is central to the benefit of BIM. The use of BIM will not only improve the predictability of outcomes – in terms of cost, time and quality of the asset – but also support better health and safety and environmental performance.

Within our sector though there seems to be a view from some quarters that needs to be addressed that BIM is more related to capital delivery than asset management. And there are some technical challenges. For instance, I know that a lot of water companies have invested quite heavily in recent years in their asset management systems and in some cases there is a lack of understanding regarding how the data from a BIM process can be fed into those asset management systems as seamlessly as possible.

´ You’ve mention some of the

difficulties facing the water sector with regard to BIM adoption.

Are there any other significant challenges that BIM4 Water is working to overcome?

The lack of Employer’s Information Requirements from clients has been a challenge. Quite a few clients have looked at early BIM pilot projects but certainly been rare that the client has come forward at the outset of the project with a set of defined Employers’ Information Requirements stating what data they want at each stage of the project. It’s been left to the supply side to second guess what will be required.

This isn’t necessarily a criticism of clients because BIM is new to our sector and I think the best way that we can solve an issue such as this is to work together as an industry. I would like to think that this is certainly something that BIM4 Water can play a role in because again, coming back to my point about standardisation, it would be nice if the requirements from different clients were broadly aligned.

There is also still a huge amount of education to do all the way through the supply chain. I think we’re still coming up against a lack of understanding of BIM in the market and real evidence of BIMwash. For example, at BIM conferences I often hear people say that they’re doing Level 3 BIM, but that can’t be the case as that hasn’t been properly defined as yet. All misinformation such as that does is undermine the confidence that both supply and demand side organisations have in what BIM can do. This BIMwash can also be a real issue in procurement.

Within BIM4 Water we have representation from almost all of the water and wastewater companies. We’re trying to get the message out, through our own networks and by working with organisations such as British Water and the Water industry Forum, regarding not only the benefits of BIM but also the reality of where we are as a sector and the journey that we need to go on collectively to deliver those benefits.

For more information about BIM4 Water please visit: www.bimtaskgroup.org/bim4water

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UKC FINANCE

The Annual Investment Allowance and what it means for your business

In 2008, the Annual Investment Allowance (AIA) was introduced to help small businesses increase productivity and scale with large investments by allowing them a 100% tax allowance on qualifying capital expenditure such as equipment and machinery in the year of purchase.

The limit was due to revert to £25,000 with effect from 1 January 2016 but the recent emergency budget saw Chancellor George Osborne increase the permanent level of AIA from £25,000 to £200,000 for all qualifying investment in plant or machinery made on or after 1 January 2016.

uncertainty, be able to proceed and invest with a significantly reduced level of financial exposure.

Initially, AIA provided 100% allowance on the first £50,000 investment of qualifying purchases. The maximum allowance was then increased to £100,000 from 1 April 2010 and then reduced down to £25,000 with effect from 1 April 2012. The Chancellor announced in his Autumn Statement on 5 December 2012 a temporarily increase to £250,000 for a two-year period from 1 January 2013 to 31 December 2014.

Whilst a reduction from the temporary figure of £500,000, the increased new permanent AIA is designed to encourage investment by providing a permanent generous incentive to invest in plant and machinery and give certainty to businesses planning to invest. The initiative is also expected to help suppliers and manufacturers by increasing their order books.

Most assets purchased by a business qualify for the AIA and include office furniture and equipment; vans, lorries and equipment, building fixtures, e.g. shop fittings, kitchen or bathroom fittings; business machines, e.g. printing press, lathes, tooling machines; tractors, combine harvesters and other agricultural machinery, gaming machines, amusement rides; computer hardware and qualifying software; computerised/ computer aided machinery including robotic machines; wind turbines and fibre optic cabling; and driving school cars (adapted with dual control mechanisms).

In the budget statement in March 2014, the AIA limit was temporarily increased further from £250,000 to £500,000 per annum, with effect from April 2014.

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The level of reassurance provided by this measure should see those business owners who have been holding off making purchases of plant and machinery because of economic

AIA is available to any business paying corporation tax or income tax, with the only exceptions being a mixed partnership and trusts.

FINANCE UKC

Items of that donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t qualify are land, buildings or cars; expenditure incurred in the accounting period when trade ceased permanently; existing plant and machinery; plant and machinery that was gifted.

Further exemptions are plant and machinery used by a person for leasing under a long funding lease and subsequently brought into use by that person for the purpose of a qualifying activity; and a change in the nature/conduct of the trade carried out by a person other than the person incurring the capital expenditure and the AA is the main or one of the main benefits of making the change.

The Annual Investment Allowance is also relevant to those companies leasing equipment. The AIA can be claimed where a hire purchase (HP) agreement is in place with intent of ownership.

The full amount does not have to be

paid in full for the plant or machinery to qualify for the allowance. The AIA is given as though an outright cash payment was made and ownership is deemed form the beginning, even though the rental payments are made over the HP term agreement.

allowances (ECA). There is no maximum limit for ECA and it is a 100% first year allowance (FYA) available for the cost of the purchase in the chargeable period in which it incurred. The FYA is not subject to time apportionment if the chargeable period is less than a year.

Tax relief is also available on interest charged to the profit and loss account.

In terms of claiming AIA, the allowance can only be claimed in the period the item was purchased. This is defined as when a contract is signed, if the payment is due within less than four months and when payment is due, if itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s due more than four months later. Also, if you sell an item after previously claiming AIA on it, you may need to pay tax.

Assets that are purchased under lease agreements where the lessor has the right to claim capital allowances are not eligible for the Annual Investment Allowance. If a lease is treated as a long funding lease, the lessee will usually be entitled to claim capital allowances and it is advisable that any person in this situation seek advice from their tax advisor to check their AIA entitlement.

Another thing to consider is that investment in certain green technologies is eligible for enhanced capital

Before the AIA limit falls to ÂŁ250,000 on 1 January 2016, it may be prudent of those businesses looking to invest in the near future to investigate the possibility of investing before this date while the higher temporary limit is in place.

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UKC FINANCE

Construction output growth accelerates to a seven month high in September September data pointed to a further rebound in output growth across the UK construction sector, supported by faster rates of expansion in all three categories of activity monitored by the survey. Greater workloads and positive sentiment regarding the business outlook contributed to a sharp increase in staffing levels during September. However, new business growth continued to ease from June’s recent peak, with the latest upturn in new work the weakest for five months.

Meanwhile, construction companies indicated the least marked lengthening of suppliers’ delivery times since November 2010, which provided further evidence that supply chain pressures have subsided in recent months.

At 59.9 in September, up from 57.3 in August, the headline seasonally adjusted Markit/CIPS UK Construction Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) signalled a sharp and accelerated expansion of overall business activity.

Moreover, the latest reading was well above the long run survey average (54.7) and pointed to the fastest increase in output levels since February.

House building remained the best performing broad category of construction activity in September.

The latest expansion of residential building was the strongest for 12 months, which some survey respondents attributed to the launch of development projects that had been

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delayed earlier in 2015. Commercial construction activity also rose sharply in September, with the pace of growth accelerating to a seven month high.

Meanwhile, civil engineering activity increased for the fifth consecutive month and the rate of expansion picked up to its fastest since February.

Volumes of new work rose at a robust pace in September. However, the latest increase was the slowest for five months and much weaker than the post-crisis peaks recorded in 2013 and 2014. Construction companies nonetheless remain highly upbeat about their prospects for output growth over the next 12 months. Reflecting this, more than half of the survey panel (52%) forecast an upturn in business activity, while only 6% anticipate a reduction.

Employment growth was sustained across the construction sector for the twenty eighth month running in September. Moreover, the pace of staff hiring remained strong, and accelerated to its fastest since June.

At the same time, construction firms signalled another increase in subcontractor usage during September.

Sub-contractor charges continued to rise sharply, although the rate of inflation has eased slightly from the survey record highs recorded earlier in 2015.

Meanwhile, the latest survey highlighted the

least marked deterioration in supplier performance for almost five years, which some firms linked to greater stocks at vendors.September data also pointed to softer cost pressures, with the rate of input price inflation easing to a five month low.

Tim Moore, Senior Economist at Markit and author of the Markit/CIPS Construction PMI, said: “Construction firms enjoyed a strong finish to the third

FINANCE UKC

quarter of 2015, as a sustained rebound in new development projects continued to have an impact on the ground.

Moreover, September data suggests that the UK construction sector is still experiencing its most intense cycle of job hiring for at least 15 years, and consequently skill shortages remain a dominant concern across the industry.

“Residential building saw the most decisive momentum shift in September, hitting a one year high in the process, while commercial development also picked up speed as rising business investment and improving UK economic conditions acted to bolster demand. A growth spurt for civil engineering activity completed the hat-trick of positive news for the main construction sub-sectors in September, helped by robust pipelines of infrastructure work.

Commenting on the report, David Noble, Group Chief Executive Officer at the Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply, said: “The building blocks were firmly in place this month as the sector reported

more work, rising staff levels, and strong optimism for the future.

“Though the overall growth rate of new business was showing signs of slowing down, all three sectors offered positive news with residential housing the strongest performer.

“Issues around skills shortages continued to be a drag on the sector with the resultant demand for higher salaries from the smaller pool of skilled staff. Companies reported higher staffing levels but it was a continuing challenge to find specialist skills as they struggled to rely less on sub-contractors to fill the gaps.

“Lower fuel and raw material costs helped margins even in a landscape of strong competition. Levels of output were robust and increased at the fastest pace for over six months.”

“While the latest survey provides positive news on construction output, jobs and supply chains, there was a warning light flashing in terms of total new orders. Construction companies have recorded a steady slowdown in new business growth from June’s postelection peak and the latest upturn was the second slowest since mid-2013.”

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UKC CIVIL

Britain’s railways now safest in Europe, but regulator highlights priorities for improvement The Office of Rail and Road’s (ORR) annual safety report welcomes the rail industry’s strong track record on improving safety and highlights the need for it to meet the challenges of growth and change. ORR is supporting the rail industry to take a more proactive approach to managing safety, predicting and preventing problems before they pose a safety risk.

Ian Prosser, said: “Great Britain’s railways have a strong track record on improving safety, and after a decade of investment and growth, are now statistically the safest in Europe. While this improvement is to be commended, statistics only tell part of the story, the industry cannot become complacent.

ORR’s inspectors have identified that there is still room for improvement.

ORR’s latest health and safety report combines the findings of its inspectors, who spend the majority of their time out on the rail network a detailed analysis of statistical trends and industry capability. The report highlights that the trend in harm to passengers is down by a third in the past ten years and Britain’s railways are now regarded as the safest in Europe.

“ORR’s evidence highlights the challenges facing the rail industry, in particular, the need to manage growth safely. Our safety inspectors report a mixed picture, with improvements at level crossings, on platform safety and asset management. However, inspectors are also seeing scope for improvement in safety risk assessments and worker health and safety.

Following a decade of sustained focus on safety management and improvement, 2014 was the eighth consecutive year without any train accident-related passenger fatalities. It was also the second consecutive year with no passenger train derailments. The rail industry, informed and supported by ORR, has successfully collaborated to reduce the risk of passengers coming to harm when getting on or off a train.

However, despite these successes, the latest safety data and evidence from ORR’s inspections show that there is still room for improvement in terms of working more proactively.

The industry needs to predict and prevent problems, focus on worker health and integrate safety by design.

“The regulator is working with the rail industry to help it take a more proactive approach, recognising and managing safety issues before passengers or rail workers come to harm.”

ORR’s Director of Railway Safety,

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In order to improve its health and safety management, the regulator wants to see the rail industry: •

Be more proactive, predicting and preventing problems. ORR’s independent safety assessments have highlighted inconsistencies in safety management across the rail industry. ORR has found evidence of excellence and best practice in places, with improvements in safety at level crossings, and the industry collaborating to reduce harm to passengers when getting on-or-off

the train. However, ORR inspectors have also had to step in where serious issues have been found, such as insufficient safety risk assessment, lack of planning for maintenance activities, poor management of electrical working, lifting operations and working at height. Network Rail’s slow start undertaking maintenance and renewals work against its plans, if not prioritised and managed carefully, has the potential to increase infrastructure safety risks. ORR has challenged Network Rail to identify and take steps to address this and will monitor and take enforcement as necessary.

•

Integrate safety by design. The industry must take advantage of opportunities provided by its current multi-billion pound investment programme, to ‘design out’ or reduce safety risks when renewing or building new infastructure rolling stock and equipment.

•

Ensure worker health is considered as important as worker safety. ORR’s report and analysis shows that there has been a significant improvement in the rail industry’s management of worker health, however there is still more to do. ORR is pushing the rail industry to improve its management of worker health risks, to make better use of data to drive change and take action on key health risks, such as hand arm vibration, musculoskeletal disorders, mental health and exposure to asbestos, silica and diesel fumes.

CIVIL UKC

Revamp of Paddington Station will mean better facilities for passengers Over the next 18 months Network Rail will be making significant changes to Paddington station to provide passengers with new and improved facilities and ultimately a better travelling experience.

The Grade 1 listed structure is currently benefitting from a renovation of its roof and an upgrade to its lighting system above the platforms, but now Network Rail is starting a major programme of work to significantly improve the appearance of the station as a whole and provide growing numbers of passengers – 61 million forecast for this year - with a wider range of places to eat, drink and shop.

Details of this work are as follows: •

The area known as ‘The Lawn’ which houses the retail outlets at the back of the main station building is to be renovated to provide passengers with better retail choices and more food and drink outlets.

• Better waiting facilities, including more seating areas, will be installed.

In addition, First Great Western will be carrying out work to their ticket office to provide 12 ticket counters, install new state-of the-art ticket machines and transform its appearance using a Brunel inspired design.

Natalie Holden, Network Rail’s Senior Commercial Scheme Sponsor for the project, said: “Paddington is one of Britain’s busiest stations and getting busier each year, so it’s only right that passengers have the facilities to make their travelling experience better.

“We’re working closely with English Heritage to preserve the heritage of this iconic building, making sure the changes we make are sensitive to the original structure and take account of its Grade 1 listed status.”

During the 18-month duration of the project, train services will not be affected by the work but passengers will notice changes to the layout of the station and to some of the retail outlets.

• The glazing on the roof of the station will be replaced with new, clear windows to let in more natural daylight.

Natalie continued: “Paddington will remain open for business while we work, trains services will continue to run and there will still be places where you can buy food and drink.

• The roof will be cleaned and the pillars, roof and steelwork repainted to improve the station’s appearance.

“We’d like to thank passengers in advance for bearing with us while we make their station a more

pleasant place and provide them with a greater range of facilities.”

While these improvements are carried out, Network Rail will also be continuing its work on the Crossrail programme, to better connect the South East with London and reduce journey times across the capital. In addition, work will be continuing as part of the Company’s £7.5Bn modernisation programme to electrify the Great Western Main Line in preparation for the arrival of a new fleet of longer, faster, quieter and greener electric trains and to re-signal the route to provide greater reliability and punctuality for passengers.

First Great Western’s Flagship Station Manager at Paddington, Ian Monks, said: “Paddington is an icon of engineering and we welcome this work, which is being conducted as part of the most significant programme of investment on the Great Western network in a generation.

“As well as improvements to many station facilities to better passengers’ experience, the electrification of the Great Western Main Line will also see us provide our passengers with reduced journey times, more frequent trains and more seats - all the things we know that they want to see.”

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UKC CIVIL

Electrification of Great Western main line documented with stunning time-lapse photography Lobster Pictures, the world leader in high quality remote time-lapse camera systems, has this summer documented one of the largest track renewals project ever undertaken by Network Rail – the ongoing electrification of the Great Western main line.

Using Lobster Pictures’ market leading long-term time-lapse and filming services, Network Rail was able to document, monitor and publicise the electrification of Bath’s railways.

As well as producing stunning stills and video footage of the project, the monitored time-lapse cameras allow a super high definition, real-time view of the project helping the day to day management of the project.

Using 3G/4G cellular connections the specially designed, high end DSLR cameras were simple to install and easy to view and monitor from pc, tablet or mobile, anywhere in the world.

Overnight Bath Electrification Works

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´ Electrification The UK Government has committed itself to a programme of electrification, which will transform the railway network across the country, providing a sustainable, world-class transport system.

With such a national interest in this project, Lobster Pictures provided fully monitored, long-term time-lapse and filming services as part of Network Rail’s communication strategy to the public and key stakeholders.

Electrifying key routes on the railway will mean faster, greener, quieter and more reliable journeys for thousands of passengers, while economic growth will be supported across the country.

The busiest routes will benefit from improved reliability and seating capacity on longer electric trains. Journey times will be shortened due to the superior

performance of electric traction, while the journeys themselves will be smoother and more comfortable.

Electric trains also boast 20-35% lower carbon emissions than diesels with no emissions at the point of use, improving air quality in pollution hot spots such as city centres and stations. The trains are more reliable and require less maintenance, and being lighter they cause less wear to the track, helping make the railway more reliable.

Electrification of lines is currently underway on the Great Western route and across the North of England between Liverpool, Manchester, Preston, Blackpool and Leeds, completing the electrified route between Manchester and Scotland.

CIVIL UKC

Aerial Image of the Dundas Aqueduct Works

´ Great Western Network Rail is currently electrifying one of the oldest and busiest railways, bringing better connections across southern England and South Wales.

This is the biggest investment in the Great Western railway since Brunel built it more than 150 years ago.

Work has recently completed on the electrification works around Bath, with 10km of track lowered and replaced in the surrounding area in preparation for the new fleet. As part of the £50M project, the team also installed 11 new switches and crossings. The next stage of the electrification programme involves installing the overhead line equipment.

Spread over five separate sites, the preparation work in Bath was the largest project Network Rail has carried out to date and the biggest on the Western route for 40 years, culminating in the line re-opening to passengers, on time, on 1st September.

With much of the work being carried out on listed structures that are part of Bath’s heritage, there was a great deal of public interest in the works.

Using a combination of long-term time-lapse, on location filming and aerial work, Lobster Pictures was able to capture the works and present it in and innovative and engaging way.

Some of this footage is available at the Network Rail Media Centre.

Andy Haynes, Network Rail’s Project Director for the west of England, said: “We always knew this was going to be a complex project given the historic architecture and infrastructure we were working around, but I’m pleased to say all work was completed on time.

faster journeys, while significantly reducing noise and pollution for those who live close to the railway line.” ´ Time-lapse Stunning time-lapse and video footage of the works is now available, showcasing the scale of the project and the level of work involved across the various Bath heritage sites, including the iconic Box Tunnel, the imposing Dundas Aqueduct and the picturesque Sydney Gardens.

The footage was captured by Lobster Pictures using innovative longterm time-lapse and monitoring technology as well as various on site and aerial filming techniques.

Lobster Pictures is able to extend time-lapse photography beyond its conventional means, giving clients the ability to view, measure and share their projects from anywhere in the world. With the world’s first long term 8K time-lapse service, companies can view their projects in stunning detail.

This service - Lobster Vision - is a unique web interface that enables key stakeholders to access ultra-high definition photographs remotely, via their desktop, tablet or mobile.

While Lobster Vision allows for the precise documentation of work undertaken, it also has wider project management applications and provides a singular perspective of any site. The ability to view the site

remotely and in such detail helps project cut down on cost, save time and manage projects in the most efficient and safest way possible.

Time-lapse also played a role in Network Rail’s public engagement programme, informing the community of any disruptions and keeping interested parties abreast of projects status, both during and after the works.

Kelvin Eaton, Lobster Pictures Sales and Marketing Director comments: “Understanding the detail of a project and its importance to our client and its customers is key to the successful planning of our long-term time-lapse and creative on site filming service.

This approach allowed us to work together with Network Rail and the other contractors, identifying key stages that need to be captured and effectively document the work being carried out. With our training and experience of working on live construction sites all around the world, we were able to work seamlessly with the on-site teams and capture some unique and stunning footage. Being involved in this iconic project from start to finish has be a great privilege.”

For more information on the Lobster Pictures service please visit their website or call them on 01173255671.

Track lowering at Sydney Gardens, Bath

“Now this preparation work has been carried out, we will be able to install the overhead line equipment that will be used to power the new electric trains. These trains will provide passengers with more seats and

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Lobster Pictures offer the highest resolution monitored long term time-lapse camera in the world.

Whatever the project, whatever the site, see it come to life in the sharpest possible detail.

Discover what high definition time-lapse means for succesful projects lobsterpictures.tv Image: Reading Station Viaducts

ESTIMATING & VALUATION SOFTWARE Beard is a multi-award-winning construction company which designs, builds, restores and refurbishes buildings throughout the South of England. With offices in Swindon, Oxford and Guildford, it works for all types of organisations on projects up to £10 million.

What makes the company really stand out is its commitment to making every project a prompt and faultless delivery.

Nigel Rowe is the managing estimator of Beard in Oxford. He started his career there 30 years ago as a trainee estimator. Today he manages an eight-strong team, pricing projects from listed refurbishments to new builds.

Beard had been using specialised estimating software for 10 years, and in 2014, after hearing about ConQuest from various sources in the industry, it decided it was time to have a look at the ConQuest Q Series. Within a short period of time, they decided that the system that had suited them for the past number of years had been left behind by ConQuest. Beard wanted to work with a company and a product which provided a high level of stability, exceptional support, more features and a strong development plan for the future.

ConQuest was installed across all Beard offices.

A few months later, ConQuest had the chance to speak to Beard and Nigel about their experience of changing a major piece of software, the thinking behind it, the process and the results.

Nigel tells us how he felt and the reason for the move: “It is a massive step for any business to even think about changing a major piece of software, let alone to actually implement it. It is not done lightly. The more we dealt with ConQuest, the more our confidence grew. We believe that ConQuest shares Beard’s ethos and that the two companies are a very good match, the type of people we both employ, the fact that we can have sensible discussions and that ConQuest is willing to listen to our issues.”

The support and development team at ConQuest is three times the size of the ‘sales’ team. This says a lot about the way they do business. The ethos is about keeping the product at the top of its game and looking after the estimators that use it. There are a number of key functions within the suite of ConQuest modules that really separate it from other systems. If you are pricing traditionally and building up your own rates, the ConQuest Library Pack is one of them. Containing around 10 million item descriptions, rates, constants and outputs it is truly unique and offers unparalleled time saving and consistency. Another significant part

of the system is the Cloud based enquiry system. Imagine cutting the time it takes you to get your enquiries out by up to 70% and your sub-contractors being happier with what they receive!

The team at Beard recognised how clever the system was: “One of the biggest reasons for moving to ConQuest was that the On Line Enquiry system was more advanced than any other in the market.”

In 2010 ConQuest released a complete re-write of their product; Version 7 was the market leader and hugely popular but it was a text-based product. ConQuest knew that as technology grew and more sophisticated methods of measuring and estimating arose, it would be no good to try and make an old system handle them. This is why you can now view CAD and PDF drawings within ConQuest, you can browse the internet, open pictures and even send emails without leaving ConQuest. The Company consistently hear how reliable the software is and this is in part down to the modernisation of it. This is something that Nigel and the team realised very quickly.

Part of the process of implementing ConQuest into any company is product training. ConQuest have their own training centre in Lancashire; every attendee is given a computer for practical exercises while the rest of the day is presented on a 3m by 3m screen. The Company find that by taking people out of their daily work cycle and having their undivided attention, lots of ground can be covered and get customers competently using ConQuest quickly.

Everyone at Beard came to ConQuest for training and the feedback was brilliant: “The training was really good and the implementation went smoothly. ConQuest was on our computers ahead of the training which was important as this gave everyone the chance to preview the online tutorials which gave them a good idea of what to expect on the course.

“The course was bespoke to Beard’s needs in the fact that a lot of our guys were used to using an estimating system, so, we cut down on the training time, it was very well thought out. It was intensive and very relevant. It was clear that our trainer, Steve, had extensive experience as an estimator and knew what he was talking about.

“There haven’t been many issues with people not picking it up. In our bi-monthly estimating meetings, we actively review ConQuest and share learning.

Whilst migrating over to ConQuest, we retained the old system for six months but only as a reference point for current projects. The general consensus was that it was immediately better.”

It is clear that Beard is impressed with the switch-over, the roll-out and the training, ConQuest is in turn pleased to have another happy customer.

Moving on from the actual changeover, Nigel was asked about the day-to-day estimating features and processes compared to what they were previously doing: “The library is very comprehensive with extensive search functions and there is a general sensibility about it. ”Previously we were collating information, zipping it up and sending emails. Because of the tracking ability within the On Line system, which enables you to see what is going on at any time, it is such a massive improvement and has significantly reduced administration time.”

Can Nigel sum up ConQuest in a sentence?

“ConQuest is the complete estimating package, managing every aspect of the preconstruction process.”

Beard have won a number of projects in the short time they have had ConQuest. A notable and interesting one is The New Library at Queen’s College in Oxford.

A challenging £6.6 million project creating a new basement adjacent to the existing Grade I listed building.

01204 669689 sales@conquest.ltd.uk

THE ESTIMATING SOFTWARE PEOPLE

Callsafe Services Ltd

Call: 01889 577701

CALLSAFE SERVICES LIMITED Q.

Are you sure that you understand the duties and requirements of Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 and other health and safety requirements?

Q.

Do your policies and procedures reflect the current legislation and practices?

Q.

Are your employees competent to perform their duties?

Q.

Do you select competent organisations to work with you?

Q.

Do you manage your organisation and projects without copious amounts of paper?

If the answer to any of the above questions is no, you need to consider training and advice to achieve legal compliance and develop best practices.

Contact the experts David Carr PgD, FIIRSM, DipSM, RFaPS, Managing Director Callsafe Services Limited. Yardley House, 11 Horsefair, Rugeley, Staffordshire. WS15 2EJ Email: enquiries@callsafe-services.co.uk Web: www.callsafe-services.co.uk