UK Construction Excellence - September 2016

SEPT 2016

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Fleet Focus Insights and experiences from the sector’s leading lights

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The Importance of Apprenticeships Graham Nicholson on practical solutions to the UK skills shortage

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Digital Construction Week Excitement builds as the second annual exhibition takes shape

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

September’s issue kicks off with a host of exclusive interviews. Graham Nicholson – Chairman of the Technician Apprenticeship Consortium – speaks to Abigail Burr about the overriding importance of apprenticeship schemes, while our very own Matt Brown quizzes a candid Jose Oliveira – UK BIM Director at WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff – on

the construction industries uncertain progression towards BIM compliance.

Shane Nolan – the mind behind IDA Ireland’s Technology, Consumer and Business Services – is also on-hand to discuss Ireland’s longstanding success in attracting foreign direct investment from the likes of Airbnb, Shire plc, and Google.

With the second annual Digital Construction Week on the horizon, we preview this year’s event in full, while last

54 The BIM Update Jose Oliveira weighs in on the Great British BIM journey

month’s fleet focus returns with expert opinion from industry authorities, the ACFO and BVRLA. All this and more can be found inside, along with contributions from guest commentators and breaking news from Great Britain and beyond.

Robert Atherton Publications Editor

72 AMP6 Thames Water make waves with a brand new initiative

88 Gateway to Europe Ireland’s winning economic formula bears fruit

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General Manager Ian Parker

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Head of Operations Gareth Trevor-Jones

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Support Team Beka Patterson Sarah Livesley

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RIBA to present exciting new commission this autumn THIS autumn the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) will present a new commission by multi-disciplinary artist Giles Round, entitled We Live in the Office.

Round was invited to explore the RIBA Collections, and through extensive research has created an exhibition for the Architecture Gallery that focuses on one of the most familiar and unavoidable architectural features of the city: the facade.

Inspired by the work of a wide-range of architects represented in the RIBA’s world-class architectural collections, Round explores the increasing tension between the static exterior and changing interior of the architecture around us. He highlights the aesthetic qualities of facades in their original conception, and the subsequent contemporary use and reuse of these buildings. Round also explores the ways in which we currently ‘collect’ and preserve facades, creating an archive of buildings in real space and time.

Original works of iconic facades

by Berthold Lubetkin, Venturi Scott Brown and Jane Drew feature in the exhibition alongside representation and re-appropriation of facades from

other architectural periods with unique graphic qualities - from Greek Revival and Art Nouveau, to modern and postmodern architecture.

A key component of the exhibition is the transformation of the gallery to a production studio. Here, facades from a ‘stylebook’ compiled from RIBA’s Collections are applied to architectural sculptures that mimic the structure of buildings. Over the course of the exhibition period these will form an installation recognisable to visitors as an assembly of facades - a new city scape. The sculptures will be on sale in the gallery during the exhibition period.

Giles Round said: “Central to the exhibition, an idea reflected in the title, is the re-appropriation and repurposing of buildings that no longer fulfil the functional requirements for which they were designed. Working with the RIBA Collections, I focused on particular facades that I found interesting either graphically or due to their backstory.

Throughout the exhibition the graphic quality of the selected facades are appropriated, stylistically altered, into new forms and different media.”

Marie Bak Mortensen, Head of Exhibitions added: “This is the second year running of RIBA’s artistarchitect commission in which we invite creative practitioners with an interest in architecture to create an exhibition for the Architecture Gallery.

A key aim of the commission is to introduce new ways of engaging the public with architecture and RIBA’s Collections, recognised as one of the most important architectural resources containing drawings, models, photographs and archival material from the Renaissance to the present day. By inviting an artist to work with us, we hope to show the contemporary relevance of the collections to creativity and artistic and architectural endeavours. The Giles Round commission will follow this line of enquiry and bring new unexpected, rigorous and provocative interpretation of architecture material to our audiences.”

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SES Engineering Services appoints new Managing Director SES Engineering Services has appointed Andy Wall as its new Managing Director. He joins SES from Interserve’s London construction business where he worked as Divisional Director.

“Biggest investment in railways since Victorian era” awarded BOMBARDIER has been awarded a £1Bn contract with the new franchise of East Anglia rail, which will keep the factory busy well into the next decade and secure around 1,000 jobs at Litchurch Lane in Derby.

Bombardier is the only remaining company to both design and manufacture trains in the UK. The Department for Transport (DfT) announced the contract last month, which is part of a £1.4Bn boost to rail services across East Anglia. According to the DfT, it is one of the biggest ever orders for British built trains.

Abellio East Anglia was awarded the new franchise, to run from October 2016 to 2025. They will now oversee construction of 660 state-of-the-art carriages. Bombardier put forward a version of their Aventra train - the same model it is supplying for Crossrail - with the difference being its seating configuration.

On a visit to Bombardier, Transport Secretary Chris Grayling announced the contract, saying: “We are making the biggest investment in the railways since the Victorian era.

“By awarding this franchise to Abellio East Anglia we will improve journeys for people in East Anglia. Abellio’s decision (to use Bombardier as a

supplier) will ensure our train building industry in Derby remains strong.”

Des McKeon, UK Commercial Director at Bombardier Transportation, added: “We’re delighted to be chosen, pending final contract signing, as the preferred supplier for new trains for the East Anglia franchise.

“We look forward to working with our customer the Abellio UK, to support them in transforming rail services throughout the region and delivering an enhanced customer experience through the provision of new trains. It’s a great endorsement of Bombardier’s next-generation Aventra train family, which offers maximum flexibility, to serve many different market requirements from metro to intercity.”

The franchise will include at least four 90-minute services between London and Norwich each weekend, two 60-minute services per day between London and Ipswich, free wi-fi for all passengers on trains and at stations, and new ticket initiatives starting in October 2017 - including new offers for part-time users and less frequent travellers.

Bombardier was one of two train manufacturers in the frame for the commuter train fleet, the other being German firm Siemens.

Andy will be responsible for spearheading a dynamic £300M growth strategy based on the ongoing success of its in-house design and engineering department, which recently became the UK’s first mechanical and electrical (M&E) specialist to achieve full BIM Level 2 accreditation. He will also oversee the continued development of SES’ PRISM off-site manufacturing business.

Leading and working with SES’ expert technical and project teams, Andy is tasked with continuing to grow the Company’s comprehensive portfolio of high-profile UK projects.

This includes the Queensferry Crossing near Edinburgh - Scotland’s largest infrastructure investment in a generation - and the £300M Defence and National Rehabilitation Centre - a purpose-built, state- of-the-art clinical facility for the Armed Forces at Stanford Hall near Loughborough.

The Company is currently delivering its fifth M&E project at the heart of the King’s Cross regeneration, the largest piece of central London to be developed under single ownership in the past 150 years.

SES Chief Operating Officer, Dave Smith commented: “We welcome Andy to the team and he joins us at a very exciting time for the business as it goes from strength to strength.

“Andy brings substantial knowledge, enthusiasm and commitment to the business and we are confident that, through the implementation of our growth strategy, we can continue to build on our impressive portfolio of high-profile commercial and public sector projects under Andy’s guidance.”

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First phase of Grantham relief road finalised

Former London Olympic Stadium transformed BALFOUR Beatty, the international infrastructure group, has completed the transformative engineering works to the iconic former London Olympic Stadium.

The works, which began in January 2014 on behalf of the London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC), have contributed significantly to the regeneration of the Olympic Stadium, allowing West Ham United FC to start using the multi-purpose venue in August.

Sustainable measures included the reuse of over 6,000 metres of cable, 3,800 lights and 1,000 mechanical and electrical components, as well as the use of 19,000 tonnes of recycled demolition material.

Works included the installation of the world’s heaviest anti-gravity roof, which is twice the size of the original, and the iconic lighting towers, which have been reintegrated within the stadium.

At its peak, the project employed over 1,700 people on-site, culminating in 3.4 million man hours worked.

Boosting the local economy through the use of local businesses in the local supply chain and local employment was a priority for Balfour Beatty. In line with the Company’s commitment to the 5% club, Balfour Beatty has also created 50 local apprenticeships in a range of trades as well as ten work placements and over 300 training opportunities.

Stephen Tarr, Managing Director of Balfour Beatty’s major projects business said: “From the very beginning we were focused on continuing the legacy of this historic venue, transforming it from its original use of a single-purpose venue to a multi-functional world-class venue providing numerous opportunities and uses for generations to come.

“We have utilised some of the most complex engineering techniques on this project, capitalising on our in-house capabilities and expertise to ensure the project was delivered safely to a high specification, whilst boosting the local economy through employment opportunities; it’s a project we are all immensely proud of”.

AFTER ten months, 20,000 hours of labour, 11,500 tonnes of tarmac and over 3,000 kerb stones, a 400m section of road flanked by two new roundabouts has been finished, marking the first milestone in a four year project to provide Grantham with a new relief road.

The first of the roundabouts is situated on the B1174 and is now in full use. Additionally, a section of road to the west of this roundabout has been extended and now leads to a second roundabout which will provide access to the A1. This section of road will not be used until Phase II is complete however.

Executive Member for Highways and Transportation, Councillor Richard Davies, said: "Completion of this first phase of the road signifies the start of Grantham's much-needed relief road. It has been more than ten years in the planning, so to finally have made a start is great. The next phase will provide a link to the A1 which will help divert traffic, in particular HGVs, away from Grantham town Centre, reducing traffic pressure on the town's roads."

A contractor for Phase II will be announced shortly. It is anticipated work will begin by the end of 2016.

As well as re-routing the A52 to the A1 via the south of Grantham, the complete relief road will also provide access to development land either side of the B1174, helping Grantham grow in future years.

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Housing market pauses but could take off again, says RICS A survey conducted by the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) has revealed that house price rises slowed significantly in the three months up to the end of July, with new buyer inquiries, home sales and instructions also in decline.

However, a separate survey hinted at renewed confidence in commercial property.

Just 5% more of those surveyed recorded an increase in house prices rather than a fall, down from 15% in June and the lowest since 2013.

The surveyors recorded the fasted decline in property sales since the financial crisis in 2008. Looking

forward however, 23% of those surveyed expected house prices to rise rather than fall, compared to a neutral level of zero in June.

Surveyors have forecast that prices will rise 4% per year in London and 3% across the UK over the next five years.

Simon Rubinsohn, RICS’ Chief Economist, said: “The housing market is currently balancing a raft of somewhat mixed economic news alongside the latest policy measures announced by the Bank of England, which have already begun to lower cost of mortgage finance.”

escalated due to the stamp duty hike, which was introduced in April and saw landlords rush to buy property to avoid the higher levy on purchases of investment properties. A seasonal slowdown has also accentuated the decline.

According to another survey by Halifax, it is too early to determine whether Brexit has already had an impact on the housing market.

Soaring property prices and a lack of affordable housing has seen home ownership in the UK fall to its lowest level since 1986, with many left unable to access the housing market.

In addition to the uncertainty of the Brexit vote, the drop in house prices

ONS: Brexit having little impact on construction slowdown CONSTRUCTION output fell in June but the downturn might be the result of a seasonal drop off rather than the EU referendum.

According to the Office of National Statistics (ONS), construction output fell by 0.9% in June when compared to the previous month. June’s performance was down 2.2% on 2015’s and marked the six consecutive month of falling output.

In the second quarter of 2016, output sunk 0.6% on the first quarter’s figures.

A lack of new work was said to be the main driver for the decrease, which fell by 0.8%. The repair and maintenance sector also saw a reduction of 0.5%.

When comparing Q2 of 2016 to the same period last year, construction output fell by 1.4%.

In total, new housing and infrastructure

decreased by 1.1% and 3.7% respectively in comparison to the first quarter of 2016.

When held up against Q2 of 2015, there was a fall of 0.1% for infrastructure. This was the biggest decrease since the second quarter of 2012. Housebuilding fell by 0.6% in June compared to May but was actually up 7.6% on the same period last year.

The Office of National Statistics said that there was “very little anecdotal evidence at present to suggest that the referendum has had an impact on output” but much of this release covered the run up to the European referendum on June 23rd.

It also scaled down the construction sector’s output figures for the second quarter but didn’t expect this would have much impact on UK GDP growth.

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Railway upgrades for Norfolk, Essex and East London PASSENGERS travelling from Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex to London Liverpool Street are benefiting from fewer delays and more reliable journeys, following the installation of a new railway bridge in Norwich and new track at Mile End during the August bank holiday weekend. Crossrail construction work also continued along the route between Shenfield and London Liverpool Street.

Works undertaken as part of Network Rail’s Railway Upgrade Plan - to provide a bigger and better railway for passengers - included: • The replacement of a bridge in Norwich that carries the main line to London over Long John Hill.

The new bridge was built on adjacent land so that the railway could be closed for as short a time as possible. The new structure has a flat, reinforced underside instead of an archway - to reduce both the likelihood of a vehicle hitting it and damage to the bridge in the

event of a collision - increasing the robustness and reliability of the railway.

• Crossrail construction work to extend platforms along the TfL rail route in preparation for new trains from May 2017, and to install a roof on the footbridge over the railway at Gidea Park Station.

• To improve the safety and reliability of the network, half a mile of track has been replaced between London Liverpool Street and Stratford. This will make passenger journeys smoother and more reliable.

• The high output ballast cleaner, which cleans the stones that form the track bed, covered over a mile of track in the Norwich area. This will allow effective drainage under the railway, enabling a safe, smooth and comfortable ride for passengers, with fewer delays.

Speaking ahead of the August bank holiday weekend, Richard Schofield - Network Rail’s Route Managing Director for Anglia - said: “These important upgrades and renewals will make the railway more robust and reliable, improving journeys for thousands of passengers. This bank holiday, the work will be much less disruptive as we are keeping the main lines open between Ipswich and Stratford. I thank passengers for their patience while we carry out this vital work to maintain the smooth running of the railway for years to come.”

Jamie Burles, Managing Director, Abellio Greater Anglia, said: “We are grateful to customers for their patience and understanding while these important works are carried out.

The improvements will help to deliver a better and more reliable service for passengers on the Great Eastern Main Line. We are committed to working with Network Rail to improve punctuality and performance across our network.”

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Should HS3 take priority over HS2? regions, whilst the total cost of the Crossrail link costs £4.6Bn alone.

London’s spending of £1,869 for each inhabitant was far greater than the North East’s £304, the North West’s £289 and the £247 per head in Yorkshire and Humberside.

The Director of IPPR North, Ed Cox said: “To build Theresa May’s ‘Better Britain’ we must focus on a better North.

THE Institute of Public Policy Research has said the construction of the HS3 railway line between northern cities should take priority over the HS2 high-speed link from London, with the capital receiving £1,500 per head more than other parts of England when it comes to infrastructure investment.

The Group say that the North of the country receives a total of £4.3Bn, covering all projects across three

“The North of England’s £300Bn economy is worth more than those of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland combined. Focusing on this is going to be critical in creating the prosperity our country is going to need over the coming years.

“The North must also take control of its own funding decisions. The evidence shows that this would help boost growth, ditching HM Treasury’s

outdated and ineffective model, better suited to mitigating congestion than driving new economic growth.”

HS3 will provide a high-speed link between Manchester and Leeds, with potential extensions to Liverpool and Hull joining the West and East coasts.

The Director of IPPR London believes the project should take priority over HS2, saying: “The time it takes to travel, on hugely dated infrastructure, between our great regional cities is a national disgrace - this is just not what happens in Germany, Japan or France, with their fantastic rail links, or the United States, with its highly developed regional air travel.

“A proper East-West crossing would boost Northern and UK growth, and must now take priority above all other major transport projects, including Crossrail 2 and HS2.”

Chinese Hinkley backer accused of espionage BRITAIN’S Chinese partner in the investment of major nuclear power plant - Hinkley Point C - is facing nuclear espionage charges in the United States.

China General Nuclear Power (CGN), a state-owned energy company, and Allen Ho, have been accused of plotting to steal US nuclear technology and develop nuclear materials in China without US approval and “with the intent to secure an advantage to the People’s Republic of China”.

According to the US Justice Department, the Chinese company have been charged by the US Government.

The decision to go-ahead with Hinkley

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Point C was delayed unexpectedly, after Theresa May expressed concerns over China’s involvement.

According to a Labour peer, Mrs May is likely to be concerned about the economics behind the deal, and wants to “own the detail”.

Former Business Secretary Lord Mandelson said it would be “globally suicidal” for China, which has a onethird stake in the project, to be seen to be interfering with another country’s security.

The Chinese Ambassador to the UK recently warned that a decision to not go through with the deal would ruin “mutual trust” between the two countries, and that the relationship was

at a “crucial historical juncture”.

Assistant US Attorney General John P. Carlin said: “Allen Ho, at the direction of a Chinese state-owned nuclear power company, allegedly approached and enlisted US-based nuclear experts to provide integral assistance in developing and producing special nuclear material in China.”

“Ho did so without registering with the Department of Justice as an agent of a foreign nation or authorisation from the US Department of Energy”, Carlin continued. “Prosecuting those who seek to evade US law by attaining sensitive nuclear technology for foreign nations is a top priority for the National Security Division.”

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Shortlist announced for Inclusive Environment Award 2016 THE Construction Industry Council (CIC) has announced the shortlist for the first Inclusive Environment (CICIE) Award, the winner of which will be announced at the Construction Industry Summit Dinner on 20 September 2016.

This ‘award of awards’ celebrates exemplar schemes and projects previously recognised by a CIC member professional body or a CIC member built environment stakeholder, and complements the Royal Society of Arts Inclusive Cities Student Design Award by inspiring professionals already in practice to help raise the standard of inclusivity achieved across the industry.

The CIC-IE Award recognises buildings, places and spaces which demonstrate best practice in achieving an inclusive environment - an environment which is safe, flexible and accessible for all.

The shortlisted entries are:

transformation programme. It lies at the southern end of the site and consists of 13-storeys of mixed-use accommodation and the Civic Offices of the London Borough of Camden.

A leisure centre - featuring two swimming pools, a fitness suite, studio space and associated changing facilities - is spread across the basement and lower ground floors, while an access centre and library is provided at upper ground and first floor levels.

PENARTH LEARNING CENTRE

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‘Education for all’ was the touchstone for the development of the Penarth Learning Community. The project has brought together the diverse learning environments for special education needs, alongside mainstream secondary school learning to create a high quality, contemporary educational environment that provides wonderful opportunities for inclusiveness and shared experiences.

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HADLEIGH PARK OLYMPIC MOUNTAIN BIKE LEGACY PROJECT

This project is a lasting sporting and green infrastructure legacy from the Olympic Mountain Bike Park. It offers local residents and visitors the opportunity and encouragement for greater participation in sport, recreation and community activities, and is suitable for all abilities.

Professor John Nolan, CIC Chairman, commented: “I am delighted that CIC is hosting the inaugural Inclusive Environment Award and to be on the judging panel. The built environment can be a challenging place for the elderly, people with disabilities, families with young children and even those of us who do not consider ourselves to be disabled. Inclusive design creates solutions that provide buildings, places and spaces that can be enjoyed easily, safely and with dignity by everyone.

It goes beyond meeting minimum standards or legislative requirements and acknowledges that everyone benefits from improved accessibility.”

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£9.7M construction contract awarded for Baker Barracks THE contract for the final phase of development at Baker Barracks has been signed by the Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO) and Kier Graham Defence Ltd. The contract - which will cover the building of a new training centre, armoury and office extensions at the West Sussex site - will commence in October 2016.

These works are part of a wider upgrade of Baker Barracks with enabling works, a new perimeter fence and additional office space now complete and the delivery of new Single Living Accommodation due to be completed this month, bringing the overall investment in the site to circa £27M.

The infrastructure investment is part of the Army Basing Programme (ABP) which is providing the facilities the British Army needs to live, work and train in the UK as it returns from Germany, rebases across the UK and restructures to its future Army 2020 formations.

Lieutenant Colonel Gary Jones RA, Station Commander said: “I am delighted by the amount of progress being achieved to deliver the major Army 2020 technical and domestic infrastructure projects on Thorney Island. Through the continued investment of the main works programme and award of this contract to Kier Graham Defence Ltd; DIO and Army Basing has demonstrated its commitment to supporting sustainable development in the centre of

excellence for the army’s ground base air defence capability.”

Mark Duddy, ABP Programme Director said: “This is a brilliant example of how we are investing in infrastructure across the UK. The developments at Thorney Island will provide modern, suitable facilities and accommodation for service personnel working and living on site.”

Trevor White, Operations Director for Kier Construction Southern said: “We’re extremely proud to have been appointed to deliver this project which will supplement the existing facilities at Baker Barracks. It’s an important project for DIO so they can provide improved facilities for our armed forces and we look forward to working with them to deliver this exciting opportunity.”

Keele University begin £23M joint venture SEDDON Construction is to deliver new student accommodation and 83 homes for sale as part of a £23M joint venture with Keele University.

The first phase will see Seddon build two brand new accommodation blocks in Barnes Hall at the centre of the University’s 600 acre campus. The development will see 453 en-suite bedrooms built across the two blocks, with the facility ready for the 2017/18 term.

• The new blocks will include large open-plan social spaces, kitchens, dining and lounge areas, a laundry room and a dedicated halls management centre.

• Each living area will also benefit from double width and height windows to offer panoramic views across the rural campus.

• The new halls will be built to the latest building regulations, providing high levels of thermal and energy efficiency, and also achieving a BREEAM Excellent rating.

Once complete, Seddon will redevelop the former Hawthorns Halls of Residence in Keele village, with the redundant site making way for 83 new homes for sale.

Jonathan Seddon, Seddon Construction’s Managing Director, said: “As a local, family business, it’s important that we spend as much as we can in the surrounding area, so the more materials, labour and subcontractor packages we can source locally the better. Not only is it good common sense, but it’s reinvesting the University’s money into the local community.

“In addition, we’ll be able to continue employing and training lots of people

from the region and, as a National Skills Academy, this project will enable us to take on ten new apprentices from the local area.”

Phil Butters, Director of Estates and Development at Keele University, added: “Our accommodation enhancement and expansion project is not just about providing what our students need now, but to help us cater for students’ needs over the coming years, which requires us to provide the facilities and services expected of a leading international campus-based university.”

The regeneration programme is the latest in a series of projects Seddon has worked on with Keele University. The Firm is due to complete IC5, a £5.3M industrial and office building, later this year as part of the University’s Science and Innovation Park improvements.

Seddon has built the shell and core of the IC5 building, along with three separate wings and associated external hard and soft landscaping.

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Case for a 3D digital model builds as half of Londoners worry about impact of tall buildings AS the UK braces itself for the fallout from Brexit, London’s housing crisis remains as real as ever, although it seems for the moment at least, to have been eclipsed by the results of the EU referendum. The new Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has already pledged to develop public sector land across London to build the genuinely affordable housing that London needs. He also wants to work with Government ministers to ensure a far more active role for City Hall in identifying surplus public land that can be used for housing.

It is clear that London faces many complex challenges, including a rising

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population, eye wateringly expensive housing costs, a limited supply of land and now a period of uncertainty caused by Brexit. It is clear the city would benefit from a 3D digital model of London to assist with planning its future and combating these challenges.

Indeed, calls for an accessible 3D digital model of London have been mounting up, as Lloyd Grossman, Chairman of the Heritage Alliance, Sir Laurie Magnus, Chairman of Historic England and architect Sir Terry Farrell all wrote an open letter calling for a clearer strategy on tall buildings for London.In their letter they welcomed a recent call from the London Assembly for a fully developed publicly accessible

3D model of London’s future skyline.

They joined New London Architecture, which also recently called on the Mayor of London to commission a 3D digital model of the capital in a bid to plan for the city’s future.

The open letter pointed to the fact that proposed developments lacked proper analysis of any impact on existing views or settings for miles around. And they added there was no strategic, pan-city plan for the location or design of tall buildings.

The debate around tall buildings has been rumbling away for some time now, with news that 430 buildings of

more than 20-storeys are currently in the pipeline for London. In fact a poll carried out by YouGov revealed 48% of Londoners thought the 430 proposed towers would have a negative impact on the city’s skyline, while 34% thought they would have a positive impact.

The YouGov poll revealed 60% of residents would like a say about tall buildings if they were proposed in historically important areas of London.

And Historic England said this showed Londoners wanted to be more involved in decisions and better informed about the changes proposed for London. The current planning process consults with residents who live nearby, but makes no provision for consulting across the city.

As the housing crisis deepens, it is clear we will need to build upwards.

We cannot build outwards as we are restricted by the green belt. This means the city will see an increasing number of planning applications for tall buildings and it is likely the London skyline will undergo a significant transformation over the coming decades. Without more homes to

meet demand and more offices to provide jobs, London will cease to be sustainable and people will be drawn to other cities in the UK for a more affordable standard of living. It is vital for the survival of our capital city that the housing crisis is tackled. But the questions remain: where do we build more homes, what are the right places for tall buildings and what should they look like? How will they affect our skyline? Will London look more like New York or Dubai in the years to come? And how can we ensure we strike a balance between protecting historic views of the capital city and creating much needed homes to ensure the capital’s ongoing vitality?

The issues are complex and controversial at times. A 3D digital model which is accessible to all, including residents, planners, developers and councillors, will help them to make better, more informed decisions about London’s future. We recognised the need to digitally model central London and create a world class city map. We created VUCITY, the first ever fully interactive 3D digital

model of London, covering more than 200 square kilometres of Central London, including the boroughs of Hammersmith and Fulham, Kensington and Chelsea, Westminster, City of London and Tower Hamlets.

Digital models enable planners to overlay data interactively. They can toggle between existing and consented developments, offering a macro and detailed understanding of planned development in London, which would help us to understand the cumulative impact of tall buildings in context. They can overlay sightlines, the London View Management Framework, transport links and sunlight paths to gain a clearer understanding of the proposals.

They could even embed live data feeds such as traffic cameras.

Visualising the available data will allow us to make better informed decisions.

And a 3D digital model will provide solutions to problems and help us to future proof our iconic city to a level never seen before.

By Jason Hawthorne, MD, Wagstaffs

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SETTLEMENT AGREEMENTS AND ADJUDICATION Disputes are a fact of everyday life in the construction industry. Parties can manage to fall out over anything from the value of a particular variation to the quality of completed work or the value of an interim valuation, and so the list goes on and on. More often than not, these disputes are agreed as the work proceeds and these agreements may be recorded by a handshake, an exchange of emails or letters or even by the drawing up of a formal settlement agreement. All this is well

and good until one party decides that it no longer wishes to be bound by the settlement agreement reached. So where does this leave you and, more importantly, can you rely on your statutory right to have the ensuing dispute decided by an adjudicator if the gloves have to come off?

The answer to this question is 'probably', but, as with all things in life, the answer is a little complicated and will depend on a number of factors. These factors

include the circumstances under which the agreement is reached, the terms of the agreement itself and the express terms of the adjudication provision in the underlying contract.

Looking at these factors in more detail, ask yourself if the settlement agreement is intended to vary any of the terms of the underlying construction contract, is it intended to replace the underlying contract or is it simply a statement of what is actually provided by the

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terms of the underlying contract? For example, the parties may agree that the value of a particular variation is £100 and this could be simply a recognition of an entitlement that exists by virtue of express terms set down in the underlying contract, permitting the instruction of a variation, and other terms defining how the variation is to be valued.

Clearly, the settlement agreement in this example does not set out to replace the underlying contract, it simply reflects an existing entitlement. If the agreement breaks down, then an adjudication can follow under the underlying construction contract.

But what if the agreement is a far more complex settlement agreement, covers a wide range of issues and clearly states that it is intended to cancel and replace the underlying construction contract? Such a settlement agreement may not be classed as a construction contract in its own right and thus no statutory right to adjudication then exists. The adjudication provisions set down in the original construction contract might come to your rescue, but then again it all depends on what the provisions actually say.

A contractual adjudication

provision may restrict you to only adjudicating “disputes arising under the contract” or it may say “disputes arising under and in connection with the contract” or it may even say “disputes arising under, out of or in connection with the contract”. A dispute that arises from a replacement contract, even if it is not classed as a construction contract, would still be caught by the second and third examples but arguably not the first.

To complicate things further, what if an allegation of misrepresentation is made in connection with the replacement contract which it alleges goes to the root of the agreement, could this be adjudicated? The answer would, in the first example, appear to be 'no', in the second 'possibly' and in the third example 'more than likely'.

Clearly, any doubt regarding the right to adjudicate under a settlement agreement can quickly be removed by including an express provision specifically catering for the adjudication of disputes but it is amazing how these things can get missed in the rush to document an agreement.

Shepherd Construction Ltd v Mecright Ltd [2000], Quarmby Construction Co Ltd v Larraby Land Ltd [2003], L Brown & Sons Ltd v Crosby Homes (North West) Ltd [2005] and J Murphy & Sons Ltd v W Maher and Sons Ltd [2016].

In doing so I have come to the conclusion that it is a difficult area of construction law which continues to develop.

Whilst it does appear that the Courts are increasingly leaning towards allowing adjudication in settlement agreements and more cases are sure to follow, there can be no substitute for drafting carefully worded settlement agreements that clearly spell out that a right to adjudicate exists if that is what you intend.

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.

In preparing this article I have reviewed a number of judgements which include

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Collateral Warranty and Adjudication THE purpose of collateral warranties in construction projects is to provide a contractual link between parties who would not otherwise have a contract between them. For example, Parkwood Leisure Ltd v Laing O’Rourke Wales and West Ltd (2013) concerned a swimming pool and “leisure facility”, owned by Cardiff City Council and leased to Orion. Orion engaged Laing O’Rourke Wales and West (LORWW) to design and build the facility. Orion sub-let to Parkwood, a facilities management provider who operated the facility.

LORWW provided a collateral warranty by deed to Parkwood, thus conferring rights on a party with an interest in the project (Parkwood), who would not otherwise have been in contract with the contractor, LORWW.

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operations. The primary finding is that the warranty contained LORWW’s express undertaking to Parkwood to carry out construction work; therefore it would seem that s.104(1)(a) of the HGCR Act was engaged.

Of central importance to that finding is the futurity of the performance obligations of the collateral warranty.

LORWW was undertaking to Parkwood that it would in the future carry out and complete the works, or such of them not already carried out. The position would have been different if LORWW were merely warranting work already undertaken (as with a car warranty); the warranty would not then have been a construction contract.

The question arose whether Parkwood could adjudicate against LORWW in respect of various complaints it had, although the collateral warranty had no express provision for adjudication, which in turn raised the question whether the collateral warranty was a construction contract for the carrying out of construction operations under s.104 of the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996 (the HGCR Act).

Therefore, not all collateral warranties given in connection with all construction developments will be construction contracts under the Act. The judge indicated that a strong pointer will be whether or not the relevant contractor is undertaking to the beneficiary of the warranty to carry out construction operations. A pointer against a construction contract may be that all the works are completed and that the contractor is simply warranting a past state of affairs as reaching a certain level, quality or standard.

Akenhead J found that this collateral warranty was a construction contract for the carrying out of construction

The decision does indicate, though, that the provisions of forms of guarantee, such as parent company

guarantees, will need to be carefully considered to see if s.104(1)(b) is engaged. Provision should be considered, where it is, to try to ensure consistency of adjudicators’ decisions, e.g. where there is or may be an adjudication between employer and contractor and again between employer and contractor’s parent company. The beneficiary of the relevant obligations is normally in a position to organise this; a simple solution is the right to have the same adjudicator appointed. Further adjudication provisions may also be included, otherwise the statutory scheme will apply.

Concern has been expressed that contractors may face adjudications under warranties that had previously not been expected. However, it has always been the position that it is necessary to consider the specific terms of any contract to ascertain whether it is or is not a construction contract. The title given to the instrument is irrelevant. A guarantee is not generally a construction contract within s.104(1)(a), but a parent company guarantee may be if the parent has the right or obligation, under the guarantee, to step in where the subsidiary is not performing, for example.

By Peter Sheridan, Partner, Sheridan Gold LLP

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Bouygues (UK) Ltd v Febrey Structures Ltd WHEN the new payment notice and pay less notice regime was introduced into the Construction Act, the drafting was somewhat convoluted and seemed likely to confuse. So it has turned out.

Recent cases have demonstrated the difficulties that can arise when parties get it wrong. In the most recent, Bouygues (UK) Ltd v Febrey Structures Ltd decided in June, confusion arose as to when the various notices had to be served because of errors in a schedule of dates contained in the subcontract.

The court deployed the modern rules on contractual interpretation to remove what it considered to be mistakes in the document. This article considers when the court might adopt that approach and the key points from the Act which parties need to have in mind when setting out the rules in their contract regarding the time for giving payment notices and pay less notices.

Bouygues employed Febrey to construct an in situ concrete frame and structural topping for a new building at the University of Bath. The contract between the parties incorporated GC/ Works Sub-Contract. The payment terms were completely replaced with bespoke terms.

Clause 21 and Appendix 10 (which was in error referred to in clause 21 as Appendix 8) set out these new payment terms. They were somewhat complex in that there were split; 60% of the sum due was to be paid within 21 days with the remaining 40% within 35 days.

All seemed to be fine until Febrey's October 2015 application for payment which differed from the pattern

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adopted for previous applications. In line with Appendix 10: • The due date for payment was 16.11.15.

• The final date for payment of 60% was 23.11.15.

• The date for Bouygues to serve its payment notice for the whole application was 23.11.15.

• The date for Bouygues to serve its pay less notice for the initial 60% of the application was 20.11.15.

These particular dates did not comply with the Act because: • The payment notice date was more than five days after the due date (section 110A(1)(a)).

• The pay less notice date was before the payment notice date (section 111(5)(b)).

Bouygues nevertheless served its payment notice on 23.11.15 with a balance of -£2,041. Febrey argued that this was served late and should have been served by 20.11.15. Adjudication followed and then enforcement proceedings by Febrey.

Bouygues argued that Clause 21 should be preferred as it was compliant with the Act. Alternatively, if Appendix 10 applied, it must be adjusted to render it compliant the Act. Febrey argued that the date for the payment notice was an obvious error and it should have been 20.11.15.

The conventional way of dealing with the problem by importing provisions from the Scheme for Construction Contracts simply created different problems. Using an implied term to solve the problem was not possible.

Mr Jonathan Action Davies QC instead took a pragmatic approach to interpreting Appendix 10. He highlighted that, by reference to the dates for the March applications onwards, the parties had clearly agreed a pattern for the monthly payment regime and the same pattern was adopted for every month except October. He could see no good reason why the parties would have intended to vary the pattern for October and concluded that there was an obvious error in Appendix 10 in that the payment notice date should have been 20 November and not 23 November.

This meant that Bouygues should have served a payment notice by 20.11.15 for it to be effective.

On that basis Mr Jonathan Action Davies QC, refused to grant the declaratory relief sought by Bouygues and instead concluded that Bouygues had failed to serve a payment or pay less notice in time. Febrey was entitled to the sums it had applied for.

The judgment demonstrates that the court will take a pragmatic approach when interpreting payment schedules.

But be aware, any mistakes can be costly. Avoiding complex payment terms is perhaps one way of limiting scope for any errors.

Given this decision, it is clear that when payment schedules are used parties don’t just need to check that they comply with the specified dates for each payment. They must also satisfy themselves that the scheduled dates were calculated correctly in the first place.

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R&D tax relief in the construction industry While many people in the construction industry will have heard of R&D tax relief, they’ll often think it’s not applicable to them and instead is more relevant to IT and pharmaceutical companies doing things that ‘everyday businesses’ don’t do.

This isn’t true. The reality is R&D activity extends far beyond those in lab coats; in fact, it’s available to companies in every industry, including construction. The only thing that matters is whether the company in question is developing new products, services or systems – or materially improving existing ones. If it is, then R&D tax credits are available.

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Less than 1% of UK companies eligible for R&D tax credits ever make a claim because of their complexity and the misunderstanding

figures provided by HMRC, the construction industry only accounted for 2% of them – only 380 claims out of a grand total of 18,965.

reduce their corporation tax bill or they can claim it in the form of a cash lump sum as a reimbursement from HMRC due to an overpayment of tax.

TAX WINDFALL IN LONDON

It’s worth pointing out that most R&D tax specialists operate on a ‘results-based’ basis, and only charge a fee once the tax benefit has been identified. This means that there is no risk and no up-front cost for a construction company that uses them.

Fortunately, not all companies in the construction industry are missing out – some are more clued up than others. For example, a construction company based in Vauxhall, London, recently received a staggering £171,000 in R&D tax relief (which accounts for approximately 20% of the initial investment undertaken by the business in research and development).

Unfortunately, as reported by HMRC, less than 1% of UK companies eligible for R&D tax credits ever make a claim because of their complexity and the misunderstanding as to what constitutes qualifying activity.

Costs included the design of bespoke fixings to accommodate the extreme weight of stonework features, developing bespoke lifting machinery and designing ways of accommodating unique architectural design requirements.

Of those companies that did make a claim, according to the most recent

As with all R&D tax claims, the Company can use this to help to

Oh, and it’s vital that any construction company that thinks it might be eligible of claiming R&D tax relief acts quickly.

The reason for this is that R&D tax claims can only go back two tax years, meaning they must be made within two years of the expenditure being incurred. It’s important to remember though, that as long as R&D activity is being undertaken they will be eligible to claim each year.

By Mark Tighe, Managing Director of R&D Tax Solutions

Building up your Business People don’t realise just how hard it is to start a construction company. It can be a nightmare and trying to win more business and grow things can end up as the last thought on your mind.

There are lots of small construction companies that aren’t especially ambitious. It’s very possible to make a decent wage without the bother of employees, PAYE, pensions and all the other possible trouble. However, being a reader of this article makes it more likely that you hope for better things, so let’s look at what might help.

smart but will also have learnt fast.

easiest ways to win more business.

Unfortunately, people with a lot of experience that keep jumping job probably aren’t very good. You may be much better off with people with less experience but high potential.

GROWING THE TEAM

Sometimes you can employ people that used to run their own business, but found it hard, yet are great at the actual work. Maybe their businesses failed because they were terrible at estimating or poor at winning work.

The thing to watch for, of course, is if they were terrible at the job.

GETTING IT RIGHT Your business can never get to the next level without one key prerequisite.

That is the quality of work that your company performs. If your work is no good, it’s almost impossible to grow, and that particularly applies to construction, where among smaller companies, word of mouth plays such an important part.

The type of people to employ Somebody once said that if you recruit someone lacking intelligence who has a lot of experience, then one year later you still have someone lacking intelligence who has a lot of experience. However, if you recruit someone very smart but with limited experience, one year later they are still

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You will not be able to grow your business without competent people that you can trust. It’s obvious, but it can be so tempting to short cut on quality when the pressure is on. But it’s never worth it.

WINNING NEW WORK Every business will get a flow of new opportunities. If you want to grow, it’s critical to handle each of these carefully. If someone recommends you and you don’t follow up the enquiry, then they may never recommend you again. Powered Now interviewed over 1,000 homeowners and their number one gripe was that people didn’t get quotes to them quickly enough.

Responding fast to quotes is one of the

As sales grow, you need to be able to deliver, and that means more people.

Jumping from sole trader to a two man company is a big step. There’s lots more paperwork and the volume (or size) of jobs needs to double.

That’s why using subbies for a while may make sense. That way you can grow and cope with more work before risking a permanent hire.

Unfortunately, having employees means that you need to understand PAYE and using subcontractors requires knowledge of the Construction Industry Scheme (CIS). Hopefully your accountant can help.

FINAL THOUGHTS I know that talking is much easier than doing. However, few people will grow their business successfully without thinking carefully before each move. I hope that something here will help you in that process.

By Benjamin Dyer, CEO and cofounder of Powered Now

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Five reasons why UK construction needs more women IS your company one of the 82% of construction businesses that told Randstad they “struggle to find skilled workers”? Do you agree with the 72% of construction companies that said “there is a mismatch between capacity and availability for work”? If so, here are five reasons you need to increase the diversity of your workforce – and some suggestions on how to do it.

1 DIVERSITY INCREASES PRODUCTIVITY Employing more women in construction is not simply a matter of equality or social necessity. Diversity also makes good business sense, as Dawn Bonfield, CEO of the Women’s Engineering Society, made clear in her “Disruptive Diversity” report for the Institution of Civil Engineers: “Lack of diversity costs the industry money in terms of lack of skills, productivity, staff safety and morale, innovation, profit and creativity.”

2 DIVERSITY IMPROVES HEALTH & SAFETY Failure to employ a more diverse workforce is bad for health and safety, argues Louise Ward, Policy and Standards Director at the British Safety Council, a nationally respected provider of health and safety training and qualifications: “The construction industry’s male dominated environment has tended to breed a macho culture that encourages people to take risks. It has also contributed to promoting a negative perception of health and safety that was often identified with excessive regulation and barriers to progress and creative thinking. Welcoming more women into the construction industry will bring fresh perspectives and a healthier balance to prevailing attitudes that will benefit everyone employed in the sector.”

3 DIVERSITY MAKES RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION EASIER Women make up half the UK

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population but only 11.7% of the construction workforce - and less than 2% of people working in skilled manual trades. Worse still, Office of National Statistics data shows that the number of women in construction fell 16% over ten years, from 315,000 in 2006 to 265,000 in the first quarter of 2016 (the number of men fell just 4.2%). That’s an incredible waste of talent in an industry that according to the CITB struggles to find people with key personal skills, such as the right attitude, motivation and common sense.

According to Owen Goodhead, MD of Randstad’s Construction, Property and Engineering division, employing more women can “strengthen your brand” by improving your reputation for equality.

That in-turn can make hiring and retaining talent easier. Something that will become increasingly important as the construction sector is set to create “a million new jobs by 2020.”

4 DIVERSITY STRENGTHENS TEAMS Despite many improvements over the years, a survey by the Union of Construction, Allied Trades and Technicians still found sexist harassment and bullying in the construction industry. Of the women interviewed, 51% said they were treated worse at work simply because of their gender. While 40% of respondents said bullying and harassment by managers was a problem.

Overall, the survey identified three main problems for women: poor promotion prospects, lower pay than male colleagues, and feelings of isolation. Yet Amaia Harries, an engineer at the construction consultancy BRE, is one of many who argue that employing more women can improve the working environment.

“Women bring a different approach to many issues,” she says. “A balance of genders and cultures provides more dynamic and well-rounded teams.”

5 DIVERSITY INCREASES CREATIVITY As well as improving employee behaviour, women bring skills, talents and experiences to businesses that can make teams more collaborative and creative. Teams that can draw on different perspectives generate not just more but better ideas. This improves the ability of businesses to respond to the challenges of a rapidly changing world and marketplace.

The built environment needs to reflect the diversity of its users. For instance, having technicians, civil engineers, planners, designers and architects who understand the different needs of different people could lead to better design and build. As architect and founder of the Equilibrium Network, Caroline Cole, says, diversity is “not just about helping women but helping business to do better.” Not least because studies from other sectors show that diversity “has a positive effect on the bottom-line.”

HOW CAN YOU GIVE YOUR DAUGHTER A BRIGHTER FUTURE IN CONSTRUCTION? According to Women in Science and Engineering, women completed just 2% (130) of the Construction, Planning & the Built Environment apprenticeships available in 2013/14.

Men also dominated the Architecture, Building & Planning degrees in 2014, achieving 70% of them. While the universities admission service UCAS said there were just 785 women on civil engineering degree courses in 2014, compared to 3,385 men.

It’s no wonder that the engineering and construction sectors still struggle to get the proportion of women engineers above one in ten. Construction companies committed to supporting diversity need to encourage more young women to study these important

subjects. One way they can help is by championing schemes that try to change perceptions about the industry.

For instance, Building Girls Up aims to encourage more young women to consider a career in construction by coordinating workshops for 140,000 of them aged 16-18. Participants will meet industry role models and potential employers, as well as finding out about support schemes such as the Prince’s Trust. Above all, the scheme aims to tackle the idea – ingrained so early in girl’s lives – that women aren't physically strong enough or good enough to work in construction. It’s simply not true.

Construction companies also need to do more to champion role models, such as architect Holly Porter. She set up Chicks With Bricks, a networking group for female construction workers, to do just that. More young women – and construction managers – need to hear her message: “You don’t have to act like a man to succeed in construction.”

According to the National Association of Women in Construction, “careers with a strong sense of purpose tend to attract a larger representation of young female workers.” Construction companies that want to attract a new generation of talented employees need to sell the idea of purpose to recruits, showing them where a career in construction can lead and how rewarding it can be in ways other than just financial. If they’re serious about attracting female talent, it’s essential to demonstrate their commitment to equality and diversity, which they can do by providing greater access to training, education and employment opportunities.

By Wendy Sayer

33

Hiding in Plain Sight:

Some 12 billion business miles are driven each year by employeeowned cars.

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BVRLA urge Government to get behind ‘grey fleet’ reduction

THE full extent of Great Britain’s ‘grey fleet’ has been revealed as part of a comprehensive investigation into private vehicle use during business journeys.

The nation’s grey fleet amounts to 14 million automobiles - 40% of all vehicles on the road - and costs employers more than £5.5Bn per year in mileage claims and car allowances.

According to ‘Getting to Grips with Grey Fleet’ - a new report produced by the Energy Saving Trust (EST) on behalf of the British Vehicle Leasing and Rental Association (BVRLA) - some 12 billion business miles are driven each year by employee-owned cars. The term ‘grey fleet’ refers to the use of an employee’s own vehicle for business purposes. In return, those employees are reimbursed on a pence per mile basis.

Using government figures and raw data from real life fleet, EST researchers were able to produce an in-depth profile of an average grey fleet vehicle and compare it to existing alternatives, such as rental cars, car club vehicles and company carriers. They found that the traditional grey fleet vehicle was ‘exhausted’ - being much older, more polluting, and potentially more dangerous than its counterparts.

According to the report, the Great British grey fleet is responsible for: • Some of the oldest cars on UK roads, with an average age of 8.2 years.

• 3.6 million tonnes of CO2 per year - equivalent to the average annual emissions of 1.5 million cars.

• 8,156 tonnes of NOx - equivalent to twice the emissions from Transport for London buses.

• A significant portion of the £2.7Bn costs associated with work-related road accidents.

• £5.5Bn plus worth of potentially unmanaged costs from mileage claims and car allowances.

The BVRLA - a trade body for the rental and leasing of cars and commercial vehicles - says this “invisible” fleet is often overlooked by British businesses.

BVRLA Chief Executive Gerry Keaney said: “The invisible grey fleet is hiding in plain sight of Britain’s bosses and is a blind spot in the Government’s transport strategy.

“The Approved Mileage Allowance Payments (AMAP) system used for reimbursing grey fleet drivers is the only part of the motoring tax regime that provides no incentive to drive fewer business miles or use cleaner vehicles.

“This blind spot is wasting taxpayer money, costing businesses millions of pounds, damaging our environment and making our roads more dangerous.”

policymakers to tackle these issues. The Association is targeting a 50% reduction in grey fleet mileage and costs by 2020, and is urging government ministers to help by highlighting alternatives to grey fleet use and offering best practice guidance, particularly for public sector organisations.

Mr Keaney added: “Cutting grey fleet mileage by just 15% would be the equivalent of taking 225,000 cars off the road in emissions terms.”

Andrew Benfield, EST’s Group Director of Transport, said: “Switching to more modern vehicles for work purposes can lead to significant cost savings, cut vehicle emissions and improve employee safety. Bosses should introduce rigorous electronic mileage management systems to reduce ‘mileage inflation’ by employees claiming a mileage allowance, and remove the incentive to drive unnecessary business miles.

“Car rental should be adopted for any work-related vehicle journey over 55 miles, and a vehicle should be leased for employees driving at least 10,000 business miles per year.

“Employers should also incentivise alternatives to driving, such as public transport, cycling and walking.”

‘Getting to Grips with Grey Fleet’ can be read on the BVRLA website.

The BVRLA is calling for a concerted effort from company bosses and

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The telematics route to streamlining operations TECHNOLOGICAL advancements are opening up new opportunities for construction companies to streamline operations with smarter, connected, workflow solutions.

In the wake of news that the UK construction sector has fallen into recession for the first time in four years, such advancements can help deliver cost-saving initiatives to protect the business bottom line.

Furthermore, they can play a role in helping establish wider best practice standards for operational safety and efficiency – key achievements for those seeking FORS (Fleet Operator Recognition Scheme) accreditation.

In the field of mobile workforce management, developments in telematics technology are leading to automated, machine-to-machine (M2M), applications which can help catapult process efficiency to a whole new level.

New paperless process opportunities have emerged as a consequence of integrations between telematics and office software suites, such as routing and scheduling optimisation, enterprise resource planning (ERP), supply chain planning and asset management.

Using wireless technology, telematics integrations have also emerged with mobile hardware, such as lone worker alert devices, vehicle sensors or printers. Tablet-style devices hosting mobile business apps can also be integrated.

Moreover, with software developers

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able to easily access the telematics platform via application programming interfaces (APIs), many of these integrated applications are now available to construction companies ‘out of the box’. In the past, such integrations usually required costly IT consultancy and lengthy development projects.

RAISING THE BAR IN WORKFLOW MANAGEMENT Bringing business intelligence and management data from different sources together on a single platform can mean more streamlined processes, greater levels of automation, reduced administration and less reliance on paper trials.

Real-time vehicle weight information for example, along with vehicle location and journey data, can be sent to back office software through integrated telematics and on-board weighing systems. In addition to helping with legal compliance processes, this can allow customer invoices to be raised based on load weight as soon as materials have been collected, without the need for vehicles to attend weighing bridges.

Daily workflow can be automatically loaded onto driver terminals, with workers automatically routed directly to their site destinations. At the same time, automatic alerts advising customers of their arrival times can be sent via text or email. Proof of delivery of equipment or materials can be submitted via signature capture

functionality on the device, an in-built camera or near field communication (NFC) chip.

The impact of such streamlined processes can be considerable. For aggregate and ready-mixed concrete supplier and FORS member The Dudman Group, for example, the digitising of paper-based admin, including the creation of quality-certified (QSRMC) delivery tickets, has helped cut costs by more than £44,000 a year.

Accurate ETA information, based on traffic and historic journey time data, can also be integrated with industry planning software – a significant benefit for the time-sensitive transportation of materials such as concrete. The advent of integrated mixer drum sensors means managers can be informed when ready-mix concrete is in transit and when it is being offloaded.

In addition, maintenance schedules can be kept up-to-date by using driver terminals to conduct vehicle checks at the start of each day or week – the results being automatically updated in the back office.

Such tech advancements and the ongoing creation of innovative new apps are set to continue boosting workflow management, helping to transform the future of construction industry operations.

By Jeremy Gould, VP Sales Europe, TomTom Telematics

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

IMPROVE SAFETY AND STAY COMPLIANT. Vehicle tracking • Fleet optimisation • Workforce management • Green and safe • Business integration

WEBFLEET HELPS YOUR DRIVERS TO DRIVE MORE SAFELY AND STAY COMPLIANT With WEBFLEET ®, your reports are just a click away. Driving hours, working hours, tachograph data, mileage, driver behaviour: it’s all there to manage your fleet more efficiently.

Take things to the next level with real time driver feedback on harsh braking, speeding, cornering and idling.

Staying compliant (while saving fuel) has never been easier.

Call 0208 822 3605 or E-mail business.uk@tomtom.com to arrange a free demonstration of WEBFLEET ®.

www.tomtom.com/telematics

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DriveVansA2Z: Britain’s only dedicated live van show WHEN considering buying replacement light commercial vehicles there are basically three alternatives.

Stick to what you know, spend days arranging test drives and then more days visiting the individual dealerships, or there is a third, time-efficient easier option; visit DriveVansA2Z 2016.

DriveVansA2Z provides LCV manufacturers with a base of operation for two days (20 & 21 September) at Silverstone, the home of British motor sport. Visitors can test, back-to-back, many of the latest vans, 4x4 pickups and light trucks on the market. It’s the only interactive, hands-on LCV show in the UK and is a day well spent.

Entry costs £25, but for readers of UK Construction Excellence - Fleet it’s free courtesy of a special code UKCDVAZ; go to www.drivevansa2z.com/ ukcdvaz/ to book a place. Tickets - one per visitor - are valid for entry on either or both days of the event.

The format of the show couldn’t be simpler or more productive. When visitors arrive and have had some refreshment, they will be shown a short driver briefing video and the available

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facilities will be explained. Once in the show ground area, they simply visit the stand of the vehicle manufacturer whose products interest them, book a test drive and take the vehicle for a spin; then repeat. At the end of the day, hopefully they can make an informed decision on which van, 4x4 van, 4x4 pick-up or light truck is best suited to their business requirements.

You are under no obligation to make a purchase, this is a motor show - but you can try everything out.

Visitors can test drive anything that is on display, experiencing realistic road conditions on a route around Silverstone’s perimeter road, and if that’s not enough they can round it all off with a lap of the famous Silverstone Stowe Circuit. Want to see how the vehicle performs in, for example, the early days of a building site or across a field trying to reach a railway embankment or electricity installation?

There is a rough terrain centre which will give a really good idea of a vehicle’s capabilities. For testing the serious 4x4 pickups and 4x4 vans, there is also a very challenging off-road 4x4 course with instructors to provide

guidance. It is an amazing experience taking a vehicle through one of the toughest 4x4 courses in the UK and to witness, first hand, how these vehicles cope in such extreme circumstances is a real thrill.

In between putting vehicles through their paces on the various test drive options, visitors can check out the static exhibitors and discover more about what products are available in the accessories and services sector; what can be added to vehicles to optimise their performance on the job.

Not only will DriveVansA2z be an entertaining, time-efficient day out.

Visitors will meet other van operators, industry suppliers and have the chance to talk to the vehicle manufacturers at length and go home fully aware of what options are open to them when considering their next purchase, be it one or 100.

For further information about the event, to find out which manufacturers and ancillary services are attending and what visitors need to bring with them to register for a driving permit, go to www.drivevansa2z.com

Use this upcode for direct link for FREE tickets

CASE and Hodge Plant: A Successful Partnership CASE dealer Hodge Plant Sales Ltd is one of Scotland’s leading sales and equipment rental companies. Based in Blantyre and family-owned, the Business was founded by Alistair Hodge 30 years ago with just one machine. Today, the business has a substantial fleet of premium equipment for sale and rent and also operates Duneaton Quarry in Abington.

After three decades of consistent growth, and as part of their ongoing expansion plans, the Company wanted to increase its plant sales by becoming a dealer for a premier manufacturer. In 2013 they were appointed as the CASE dealer for Scotland, a partnership which has proved to be highly successful for both parties. As part of this new business enterprise they moved into larger premises, enabling them to increase the size of their service workshops and further develop the parts facility. To provide additional support to the new venture they also appointed dedicated sales people to develop the CASE business across Scotland.

The Company offers a full range of CASE heavy and compact line equipment, including the latest industry

leading D Series crawler excavators, renowned F Series wheel loaders, plus mini excavators and skid steer loaders.

Alistair Hodge explains why he wanted to work with the CASE brand: “Over the last 10 - 15 years the plant sector has become extremely competitive.

With more companies now chasing the same thing, you need to be able to

offer customers a great package. We had been looking for about two years for a premium brand of construction equipment. We felt the CASE full product line was a perfect fit for our future plans for machinery sales, plus the brand has a very loyal following in Scotland. With a competitive range of machines for all types of applications,

built to be reliable, fuel efficient and offer great performance, together with excellent backup, we were confident it was the right choice. The increase we have achieved in market share over the past three years has proven it to be a good decision.

“We have also attracted a lot of a big customers to the CASE brand, including Gordon Bow, Elliot Henderson and Duncan Plant. Being able to provide excellent customer service and backup is a crucial element of our business.

We have five full-time fitters based at our Hamilton depot preparing new machines to go out as well as doing the day-to-day servicing work.”

Moving forward, the Company has significant plans for expanding all sectors of the business. To further increase the CASE business they have recently opened a new depot in Nain, in the Scottish highlands, to support its growing customer base in this region.

The new site will provide a full range of services including sales, service and maintenance. They have also recently purchased a two-acre site adjacent to their Hamilton HQ, to accommodate a new workshop, spray painting and refurbishment divisions.

0% FINANCE

MINI EXCAVATORS, SKID STEER LOADERS 0+36 months

0%

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Contact us today for a quotation * United Kingdom business users only. Rates quoted are flat rate per annum. Documentation Fee and VAT payable upon signing. This is not a contractual offer and is subject to change in prices, supply terms, law or interest rates and may be withdrawn at any time. Finance is subject to status (credit approval). New machines only. Minimum deposit of 10%. Applicable for finance proposals credit approved from 01.07.16 to 30.09.16. Terms and conditions apply.

HODGE PLANT LTD Tel. 01698 829159 Email: sales@hodgeplant.com www.hodgeplantsales.com www.casece.com

EXPERTS FOR THE REAL WORLD SINCE 1842

Transport Minister announces £30M for cleaner, greener bus fleet PASSENGERS nationwide are set to benefit from cleaner, greener bus journeys thanks in part to £30M of government funding, Transport Minister Andrew Jones has announced.

Operators and local authorities from across the country have been awarded a share of the funding to buy low emission buses, and install chargepoints and other associated infrastructure. In total, 13 successful bidders will be able to add 326 buses - including electric, hybrid, hydrogen and biomethane vehicles - to their fleets, and invest in over £7M worth of infrastructure.

Among the winners is the Sheffield City region, which has been awarded £1.3M to provide 44 buses fitted with hybrid technology.

During his visit to the city, Transport Minister Andrew Jones said: “My message is clear - greener buses are good for passengers and good for British business.

“Low emission buses have already

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proved to be a real success across the country. They are cost efficient, good for the environment, and there are wider benefits. We have provided more than £2Bn of funding to greener transport schemes since 2011, and by supporting this technology the Government is ensuring the UK is driving innovation and investment up and down the country.”

Low emission buses produce at least 15% fewer greenhouse gas emissions than the average modern diesel equivalent, though they typically cost significantly more. The newlyannounced funding will cover up to 90% of the difference in cost between a new bus and its diesel counterpart, as well as up to 75% of the cost of infrastructure.

Other successful bidders include:

Previously, the Government’s £89M Green Bus Fund put more than 1,200 low emission buses on England’s roads - representing 4% of all buses in service.

Since 2013, the Government has also invested upwards of £26M to retrofit more than 2,000 buses in pollution hotspots with green technology.

• West Midlands Travel, which has received more than £3M to fund ten hybrid and 19 fully electric buses, and install charging facilities.

• Birmingham City Council and Transport for London, which has jointly received £2.8M to fund 42 state-of-the-art hydrogen fuel cell buses.

• Merseytravel, which has received £4.9M to fund 72 biomethane, hybrid or electric buses and associated infrastructure.

• Nottingham City Transport which has received £4.4M to fund 53 biomethane buses and associated infrastructure.

The initiatives form an integral part of a comprehensive £600M package, courtesy of the Office for Low Emission Vehicles, which also includes £400M of guaranteed funding for individual plug-in car grants, investment in ultralow emission taxis, and research and development in innovative automobile technology such as lighter vehicles and better car batteries.

Manage the peaks and troughs of your construction company with commercial vehicle rental ANYONE close to the industry will know construction is highly sensitive to seasonal and economic changes, causing natural peaks and troughs.

Many construction companies schedule big projects for the summer maximising daylight working hours and minimizing the impact of poor weather.

Additionally during periods of economic uncertainty construction is often the first industry affected. Following Brexit, construction has declined within the UK, with a recent fall of 0.7%. Samuel Tombs, Chief UK Economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, predicts further decline whilst Brexit negotiations occur and businesses “hold off committing to major capital expenditure”. Protecting your business from the troughs is essential if you’re to take advantage of the peaks and fleet is a good place to start.

By analysing utilisation, companies can segment their fleets into three component parts: primary, secondary and tertiary. After identifying which elements of your fleet fall into each category, you can assess the best acquisition methods to mitigate seasonal and economic fluctuations.

purchasing problematic; enter contract hire. Monthly payments in advance leaves your business capital intact, breaks up costs, and offers a competitive rate as rental providers benefit from economies of scale. Contract hired vehicles aren’t accounted for as business assets either, so can be off-set against corporation tax.

Secondary fleet includes vehicles needed for projects or the medium to long-term but not permanent or guaranteed, making it difficult to assess utilisation. In this instance look for long-term flexible rental or “mini-lease” options – preferably without penalties for early termination and the ability to upscale or downsize fleet according to demand. Ideally look for providers that offer vehicles at a (reduced) fixed rate based on estimated requirement but without penalties associated with contract or lease hire.

Lastly the tertiary fleet includes

vehicles needed for short-term cover or specialist applications, such as welfare units, tipper grabs or cranes. For some construction companies purchasing these vehicles simply isn’t feasible.

Identify a supplier who will customise vehicles to specification requirements or can offer the right vehicles, i.e. those equipped for specialist construction applications, on a short-term or daily rental agreement with no minimum rental period for a more economic and hassle-free solution.

Vehicle rental providers, like Enterprise, can supply vehicles on a variety of terms. Sourcing your whole fleet from one company will greatly simplify the process and enable you to take advantage of even greater economies of scale.

For further information about the difference we can make to your business visit flexerent.co.uk or call us on 0800 328 9001.

Primary fleet contains vehicles which are core to operations with guaranteed utilisation, enabling the business to enter into a long-term or fixed-term agreement. Outright purchase (assuming capital is available) or a contract hire/hire purchase agreement represents best value for money. Owning the fleet gives you greater control over vehicles and you won’t be penalised for damage, but maintenance of an owned fleet comes with challenges. Most SMEs cannot guarantee a stable income, making

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Need to know more about AdBlue?

With Air1 you get more than just AdBlue ®

Call: 01472 803725

®

Email: air1uk@yara.com

Web: www.air1.info

AdBlue® FAQ’s What is AdBlue and SCR? AdBlue is a high purity, synthetically manufactured urea solution used with diesel engines which have selective catalyst reduction (SCR) technology. SCR uses after treatment to reduce the harmful nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions from exhaust gasses. If you have an SCR machine that requires AdBlue you will need to dispense AdBlue into an existing separate tank already fitted into your vehicle.

AdBlue is not a fuel nor is it mixed with fuel.

Why do I need AdBlue?

Since 1996 exhaust emission limits have been lowered to help reduce the amount of harmful toxic gas, including nitrogen oxide (NOx) that is released into the air. A new technology called SCR (Selective Catalytic Reduction) is a proven system at reducing NOx emissions from exhaust gasses to harmless steam and nitrogen. AdBlue is safe to handle and use; it is not explosive, flammable, toxic, or subject to any hazardous product regulations.

What is Air1®?

Air1 is AdBlue commercialised by Yara, the world’s largest prime producer. It’s also the world’s leading brand of AdBlue, used since 2006 by millions of heavy duty vehicles around the world. You may recognise the Yara name from the quality fertilizer it sells to the Agricultural Market. Air1 is the quality product which has been selected by OEMs to help guarantee engine performance as well as low emission level. By selecting Air1 wherever you are located in Europe, your dealer will be able to provide you with a reliable source of quality AdBlue.

How much AdBlue does a vehicle need?

Drivers will not need to replenish AdBlue every time they refill with diesel. The AdBlue consumption will be about 4%, by volume, of diesel consumption for Euro IV vehicles, and about 6% for Euro V vehicles.

Is AdBlue harmful or flammable?

No, AdBlue is not flammable or harmful for humans. AdBlue does not burn and will not aid combustion. AdBlue is not explosive. See the safety data sheet available at www.yara. co.uk/safety-data-sheets/ What is the shelf life of AdBlue?

Minimum is 12 months under normal conditions. After this period product will need to be tested to confirm quality.

Will AdBlue freeze?

Yes, freezing point is between -11 and -15 degrees centigrade.

If this happens AdBlue expands like ice, however there is more than enough space reserved in the vehicles tank and pipes to accommodate this. When the vehicle starts it heats up and melts the product. Once thawed AdBlue will retain its ISO22241 standard. In the unlikely event that AdBlue freezes let it thaw naturally, the product will remain unchanged.

Will using AdBlue reduce vehicle running costs?

Implementing SCR technology with AdBlue from Air1 is certain to yield a significant cost cutting effect in terms of fuel consumption. Diesel consumption can be cut down by up to 6 %. In addition, in some countries there are lower toll charges for vehicles equipped with SCR technology. AdBlue should never be dispensed using non-approved equipment.

What makes Air1’s AdBlue so special?

Heavy-duty vehicle manufacturers demand a level of purity to honour the warranty they give on their vehicles. Yara is a primary source AdBlue supplier, this guarantees that Air1 will be protected from impurities and thus will not harm your vehicle’s catalyst. Other less pure AdBlue or nonlicensed urea solutions can potentially damage SCR catalysts irreversibly, forcing owners to replace catalyst at considerable cost if this happens. Choosing Air1 brings you reliability and reassurance!

What effect will spilling AdBlue on vehicle paintwork have?

If washed immediately with lots of water, none. If left to crystallise then surface corrosion may occur. AdBlue is corrosive after long term contact with metal. This is why all Air1 equipment uses materials that are specifically designed for use with AdBlue.

What is Crystallisation and what does it do?

This can happen when AdBlue is exposed to the air, for more than 30 minutes; solid white crystals appear because the water evaporates from the AdBlue solution. Crystals dissolve when cleaned with water.

What happens if you drive a Euro IV, V or VI vehicle without AdBlue?

The vehicle will continue to operate until the catalyst breaks down because of the lack of AdBlue. Some engine control units will restrict the vehicle to limp home mode.

How do I store AdBlue?

You’ll be able to store AdBlue using the standard delivery packaging. It includes different sized containers from 10 litre cans, 210 litre drums, up to 1000 litre containers on a pallet.

Or if you are equipped with a large AdBlue storage tank, bulk delivery is available. Packaged AdBlue should ideally be stored indoors, between 0-30 degrees, out of direct sunlight and properly sealed when not in use. The storage are must be clean from dust or any other product to keep AdBlue away from any contamination especially during operations such as machine refill which should be direct from storage to vehicle using AdBlue dedicated pumps.

For further information please contact our customer service team, 01472 803725, air1uk@yara.com

Air1® is a registered trademark of Yara International ASA. AdBlue® is a registered trademark of the Verband der Automobilindustrie e.V (VDA)

Another Fine Mess: ACFO calls for action over parking penalties on private land ACFO is calling on the Government to take action and encourage a radical overhaul of the inefficient and cumbersome process for administering parking fines on private land.

During an ACFO debate entitled ‘Another Fine Mess?’, fleet operators and vehicle rental and leasing representatives called on parking enforcement organisations to digitalise the entire parking fines process, thus putting an end to the current outdated paper-based system.

The debate focused on the unregulated parking of vehicles on private land, and representatives from the British Parking Association (BPA), the International Parking Community (IPC) (formally the Independent Parking Committee), and Parking Eye agreed that a more efficient and effective regime was necessary.

Meanwhile, John Davies - Director of the IPC - said it was incumbent on fleet operators to compel their drivers to comply with parking notices on private land to avoid the risk of receiving a Parking Charge Notice and a potential £100 fine.

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He told operators: “The best thing you can do is to encourage your drivers to familiarise themselves with the parking signs on private land. Parking charges are here to stay so we have to deal with them the best we can and remove confusion and anxiety.”

The administration of fines associated with parking breaches and motoring offences continues to be a legal, financial and HR nightmare for fleet decision-makers. Concluding the debate, ACFO Chairman John Pryor said: “The whole system must be digitalised. We don’t want fine notification and bits of paper being sent through the post.”

Highlighting that digitalisation would speed up both the processing and payment of fines, Mr Pryor said: “The entire parking fines process is stuck in the dark ages. We will take the issue to Government and look to them to put pressure on the enforcement organisations to modernise.”

The debate also heard how rental and leasing companies were employing teams to oversee the fines process, as penalties continue to be issued on an “industrial scale”.

Max Turner, Relationship Director at vehicle leasing and fleet management provider Zenith, said: “We are trying to manage fines as efficiently and effectively as possible, but we need a digital interface because the current process is a resource drain for everyone.”

Highlighting customer demand for “smart solutions”, Mr Turner told parking enforcers: “It is not just about income generation; it is about digital investment.”

In the last two years Zenith has handled more than 41,000 fines, of which 15,000 were parking-related.

In the first five months of 2016 the provider has seen an 8% rise, with Mr Turner explaining that the volume has increased from 1,400 a month in 2014 to 2,000 a month in 2015. This number continues to accelerate.

In dealing with fines, Zenith has faced a number of issues that parking enforcement organisations must resolve: poor systems, delays in the processing of Notices of Intended Prosecution, and reminders being issued before a fine notice had been received.

Imran Ahmad, Head of Citations for UK and Ireland at Enterprise Holdings - which includes vehicle rental brands Alamo, Enterprise and National - said the Company had seen a 70% rise in the volume of fines handled last year.

Mr Ahmad said: “Moving to an electronic process would be a win-win for all. We can make changes, but it is only by working collaboratively that we can bring about positive change.”

It’s a sentiment shared by many ACFO members. According to Glenn Ewen - Fleet Manager for Clear Channel UK - countless parking fines have been incurred while employees change advertisements in 45,000 bus shelters and across 4,000 billboards nationally.

Receiving up to 12 fine notices per day, Mr Ewen said: “Handling fines relating to parking on private land is the most stressful; signage in car parks is often inadequate; the appeal process is a farce and often drivers give up and just pay the fine. The whole situation needs to be readdressed and the process digitalised.”

Parking Eye receives more than one billion number plate ‘recognitions’

annually, as vehicles enter and exit the car parks it manages. This year the Company estimates that 1.2 million fines will be issued. Joel Little, Enforcement Officer - Team Leader at Parking Eye, said: “Our aim is to become more efficient by working with fleet operators and vehicle hire and leasing operators to reduce administration.”

Joanna Audley-Charles, Public Affairs and Media Officer for the BPA, said the Organisation was calling for better regulation, including both a single appeals service and Code of Practice.

Debate Chairman Caroline Sheppard, Chief Adjudicator of the Traffic Penalty Tribunal - which considers appeals against penalties issued by councils for parking, bus lane and moving traffic contraventions in England (outside London) and Wales suggested that the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency include a secondary address on a vehicle’s record so that correspondence can be sent direct to the driver when a fine is incurred.

reduce the maelstrom of bureaucracy and enable enforcement agencies to send fines direct to the alleged perpetrator.”

Since 2013, the BPA has had a Memorandum of Understanding with the British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association (BVRLA) relating to the transfer of fine liability, which is currently being reviewed.

Separately, the IPC is also talking to the Organisation about its own Memorandum of Understanding.

At the end of the debate, John Davies said: “We are trying to reduce the paper trail and we will look to introduce automation.”

Caroline Sheppard added: “We all share a lot of the same concerns. We all need to get round the table and work as one.”

That, she suggested, could include the Government. Discussion might potentially take place with the Department for Transport, along with MPs sitting on the House of Commons’ Transport Select Committee.

The suggestion was immediately welcomed by Mr Pryor, who said: “It is an idea worth investigating. It would

47

The Importance of Apprenticeships: An Exclusive Interview with Graham Nicholson, Chair of TAC UK Construction Excellence speak exclusively with Graham Nicholson on the importance of apprenticeships in the construction industry.

Graham Nicholson is a Chartered Structural and Civil Engineer. He is the Executive Managing Director of Tony Gee and Partners and has over 30 years’ experience of working for the specialist consultancy practice.

Graham chairs the Firm’s Executive Board and is responsible for leading the strategic direction of the business.

He became a Partner in 1992 and in 2003 took the lead role in the practice. Since then the Company has grown from 100 to 400 staff. He has a passion for bridge engineering and has been responsible for the design of some extremely interesting and innovative structures, in particular the Dornoch Firth Bridge and Ceiriog Viaduct, which were the longest incrementally launched bridges in the UK at the time. He was Chairman of

48

the Association for Consultancy and Engineering in 2011 and remains on the ACE board responsible for chairing another great passion - the Technician Apprenticeship Consortium (TAC).

HOW IMPORTANT DO YOU FEEL APPRENTICESHIPS ARE TO THE UK CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY AT THE MOMENT? They are very important. We have a skills shortage and there’s a need to bring in new blood into the industry, and a very good way of doing that is with apprenticeships. As we know, infrastructure plays a vital role in the industry and we need to bring as many people in as possible.

WHAT ARE THE MAIN BENEFITS FOR AN INDIVIDUAL WHO MAKES THE DECISION TO BEGIN AN APPRENTICESHIP? It’s a work based route into engineering and it’s limitless. By taking on

an apprenticeship, with suitable capabilities, you can gain those qualifications and effectively reach the very top of the industry. An apprentice can, with suitable qualifications and training, become a chartered engineer.

The main benefit is that, during their training, they are earning money and gaining very valuable on-the-job training.

TO WHAT EXTENT DO YOU THINK APPRENTICESHIPS ARE SUCCESSFUL IN TEACHING THE CORRECT SKILLS, AND ARE THEREFORE HAVING A POSITIVE EXPERIENCE IN ENTERING THE WORKPLACE ONCE THE APPRENTICESHIP IN OVER? I think that it’s for the industry to teach apprentices what they want them to do. It can be very tailored. Our particular business has a very specific set of needs and skills, and we are able to teach our apprentices the skills that match our requirements, thus leading to a successful career.

Companies give them time to go and study, support them financially and help with their training.

WHAT IMPACT HAVE APPRENTICESHIPS HAD ON THE SKILLS SHORTAGE THAT THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY IS CURRENTLY FACING? When I think of TAC, we’ve taken on over 1,000 young people and put them through an apprenticeship now. That is 1,000 people that perhaps wouldn’t have come into the industry that we’ve managed to encourage in through this route, so TAC has had an impact.

We still need to bring more and more apprentices in, so we are hoping the TAC programme and the Government will meet the targets, which currently far exceeds what we have at the moment, but it is a work in progress. There is still a huge challenge in trying to attract people into the industry. This is still something we have to work hard at.

WHAT REASONS ARE THERE FOR WHY SOMETIMES APPRENTICES DON’T COMPLETE THEIR APPRENTICESHIP? You have to bear in mind that some of these apprentices come in at the age of 16 and have no experience of the workplace or work in engineering.

For some people, they might find that the industry doesn’t suit what they want. This is usually down to the individual apprentices. We’ve had two out of 20 drop out and that’s primarily because they’ve come in and said it isn’t what they thought it was. I think that’s inevitable if you’re going to bring people in that are 16/17 years old who have very little exposure to it. You aren’t going to win them all. But the rest of them think it’s a fantastic career, get really stuck in and have done very well.

Companies give them time to go and study, support them financially and help with their training. Inevitably, I think the fact that you’re taking people in at such a young age means you can’t expect to get 100% record of retaining everyone.

They start with an idea of what they think an engineering apprenticeship is,

but once they discover that it’s not quite what they thought, they may decide to go and do something different. I think that’s understandable and provided it is only a small level of loss, then it’s something that our industry should be able to accept.

WHAT MEASURES CAN BE TAKEN TO ALLOW THE SUCCESSFUL COMPLETION OF AN APPRENTICESHIP? It’s about mentoring and taking care of the apprentices. If you spend time with them and support them, then they should feel like a very vital part of the workforce. There’s a very specific training programme set out now in the apprenticeship route. There are specific requirements for gaining experiences in different parts of the business. It’s a matter of being able to expose them to this and make sure they can reach all of the objectives that they need to be able to get their qualification. It’s important that the companies take the training of their apprentices very seriously and not think that it’s just down to the apprentice to do the work.

To become an engineering technician through the ICE route there are some very clear objectives and attributes that the apprentices have to achieve.

The college will teach them some basic principles but they won’t get experience of managing projects or being able to demonstrate creative thought or being able to work off their own initiative. All of this is something that, when placed in a working environment, the apprentice can then demonstrate that they have the ability to work on their own, and to work in teams and make a real impact. By having a mentor, someone can sit down with the apprentice and talk about what they have achieved, and what they hope to achieve - planning out where they are going to do their experience and ensuring they are moved around and get a variety of experience.

DO YOU THINK THAT LEAVING THE EU WILL HAVE ANY IMPACT ON APPRENTICESHIPS? I don’t think we will change what we are doing with apprenticeships because we are leaving the EU. The fundamental thing for the industry at the moment is to ensure our investment in infrastructure is protected. We need to keep our industry busy by building vital infrastructure, which is needed now more than ever as we need to create better connectivity with everyone.

However, this will still leave us with the issue of the skills shortage.

Apprenticeships will be a very important way of dealing with that. Not just in short term. Apprenticeships are really building skills for the future. You can take in another 5,000 apprentices now and they will become very valuable people in the next four or five years’ time. It won’t directly affect anything in the next one or two years.

I’m optimistic that something positive will come out of this, even if it wasn’t what we initially wanted. It is what is it is, and we will have to work hard to make it work.

There’s a lot of disruption that’s going to come but we just need to be clever and innovative and find ways to deal with it. I think we’re a very resourceful industry and country and we will find a way through this. Who knows, maybe in five years’ time we will look back and think that it wasn’t such a bad thing after all?

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How BIM is helping build a new car park in Warrington Bridge Street MSCP in Warrington Warrington based I & H Brown have been part of the £107m Time Square awarded the NCSP MultiStorey Car Park Redevelopment Scheme in Warrington Town Centre as part of the Time Square redevelopment scheme. The project features a steel framed car park over 8 floors with enough spaces for 1150 cars. The project is worth approximately £18m and is expected to be completed by October 2017. The project is one of the first that Warrington Borough Council has awarded with the new BIM requirement that is being pushed by the government.

The BIM requirement essentially means that contractors should all be operating from a single source of information, synchronised drawings, photo logs and on-line RFI’s with real time tracking. This is the first project that I & H Brown have carried out under the BIM directive and they were I & H Brown looking for a reliable solution that is user Engineering Manager friendly and not overly expensive. After Steven Braithwaite some trials and a presentation they chose says; Brighton based BuilderStorm to provide the software and support they needed to satisfy the BIM requirement. BuilderStorm “The Warrington MSCP is our first project under the BIM directive, offer a cloud based solution with over 30 so we needed a solution that is easy to use but still covers all the different features that are designed specifically requirements. We looked at other products but BuilderStorm stood out by far. The team at BuilderStorm have gone to great lengths to for the construction industry. I & H Brown make sure we are getting the most out of the software, to the point have taken advantage of the online drawing that they have added specific features for us. The platform was hosting, photo gallery and RFI system for approved by the client and the benefits are already being realised. the Warrington project but will be using I would recommend BuilderStorm to any company looking to other BuilderStorm features in the day to day achieve BIM compliance” management of their company nationwide.

BuilderStorm is a UK based software company specialising in the construction industry.

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To start your 30-day free trial, contact BuilderStorm today. www.builderstorm.com 01273 358 766

Apprenticeship levy a good idea? Proposals unveiled THE Department for Education has released details of the proposed apprenticeship levy, but could it cause further skills shortage?

Following the Governments new proposals for the apprenticeship levy, contractors have warned that it could lead to firms paying thousands of pounds extra to train apprentices in the construction industry.

The Civil Engineering Contractors Association said it now had “very strong concerns” about the affordability of the new training levy, expressing worries that the changes could “jeopardise the industry’s ability to deliver new skills in the future”.

The new proposals will see a levy charged to employers with a pay bill of over £3M a year, at a rate of 0.5%, in addition to the CITB training levy.

Those in this criteria that want to spend more on training than is in their “digital account” will receive 90% of their additional apprenticeship training costs.

Smaller businesses that are below the threshold will have 90% of the costs of training paid by the Government.

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In total, there will be 15 bands that make up the apprenticeship funding system, each with an upper limit ranging from £1,500 to £27,000. The upper limit of each funding band will cap the maximum amount of funding that a levy-paying employer can use towards and individual apprenticeship, or that a non-levy paying employer will be able to access from the Government.

According to the latest consultation, additional support of £2,000 per trainee, will be available for businesses taking on apprentices between the age of 16-18 and young care leavers.

Any businesses with less than 50 employees will receive full funding for the training of apprentices.

Director of Policy at CITB, Steve Radley, said: “This announcement brings mixed news for construction, but it’s good that Government has responded to what we said on the challenges faced by smaller firms.

“There is still work to do to make sure ensure funding bands reflect the actual costs of training, so that apprenticeships are affordable for companies of all sizes. We will seek

further clarification from Government on how the bands have been set, and together with industry, set out the likely impact on construction firms and their ability to take on apprentices.”

CBI Director-General Carolyn Fairbairn said: “The Government’s announcement provides business with much needed information which shows some progress, including support for smaller firms, but fundamental problems remain.

The Levy is too narrowly defined. It covers only one type of training and employers can only reclaim off-thejob costs. As a result, valuable forms of training risk being cut back, with quantity put ahead of quality.”

The consultation closes on 5 September, and the Government intends to confirm the final funding proposals in October.

The start date of the new regime is April 2017, however many have urged the Government to delay the implementation to give them more time to prepare.

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BIM Update

with Jose Oliveira, UK BIM Director at WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff 54 

“Are you doing BIM? Yes, I am using Revit…”

UK Construction Excellence speaks exclusively with Jose A. Oliveira, UK BIM Director at WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff, about BIM Level 2; the journey to Level 3, and the role Building Information Modelling is playing in big infrastructure projects.

WITH THE BIM LEVEL 2 MANDATE PASSING IN APRIL, WHAT’S YOUR VIEW ON HOW THE INDUSTRY IS FARING WITH ITS IMPLEMENTATION? Based on a few comments that I have heard in the past months, it is clear that most UK companies (if not all) within our industry do not achieve the true meaning of ‘Level 2 BIM’.

I also believe that there are some gaps that were not addressed yet and need a solution. For example, the COBie UK 2012 template is still using Uniclass 1.4, when this has been replaced by Uniclass 2015. The NBS BIM Toolkit is also not a completed task and much needs to be re-defined properly, i.e. the graphical representation of the LOD 3 and LOD 4 for the MEP equipment and device is bad and may lead to confusion.

I also noticed that there is a lack of understanding of what BIM is and many still associate BIM to purely technologies: “Are you doing BIM? Yes, I am using Revit…”

BIM is a process or concept (and is definitely not like CAD); the focus is to improve the communication and collaboration. However, I think we should add coordination, to enable an effective and harmonious relationship between these key elements. I call the 3 C’s of BIM – Communication, Collaboration and Coordination.

WHAT’S YOUR TAKE ON THE CURRENT STATE OF THE JOURNEY TO LEVEL 3?

First of all, I would say that we need to close the ‘existing gaps’ of Level 2 BIM and only after should we switch our attention to Level 3 BIM, which is targeted for 2025.

The true aims for ‘Level 3 BIM’ remain slightly ambiguous and open to discussion. However, I noticed that some experts and influent individuals in our industry are starting to understand that the major change will happen on the contractual/ procurement side. BIM is a process and the current procurement routes are not very ‘user-friendly’ for a BIM project environment.

I would suggest that if there a great potential to see the real BIM efficiencies in large infrastructure projects. It is well known that the biggest cost in the lifecycle of a built asset is not during the design and construction, but at operations and maintenance stage.

Generally, the design and construction is around 20% of the total cost, and the operations and main maintenance is the remaining 80%.

Currently in the UK, we are already testing a new type of procurement (IPI – Integrated Project Insurance) that took some of the principles of other project delivery systems and is becoming popular in the United States (IPD – Integrated Project Delivery).

However, I am not sure how well it will fit the UK industry. In an IPD project, there is no blame culture and risk-reward is shared between all project participants. Undoubtedly, this will imply a major cultural and management change in the industry.

In my opinion, this is the reason why the UK Government chose to mandate the BIM processes for government construction projects, as they are clearly interested in reducing the costs of their assets.

Some experts also associate the Level 3 BIM to a live ‘single model’ where everyone actively works together. I personally think this is not impossible, but I must admit that there is a lot of work that must be done to achieve this.

PRESUMABLY, THE STRENGTHS OF BIM – EFFICIENCY, INNOVATION, COLLABORATION, WILL BE EVEN MORE KEY TO THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY IN THESE UNCERTAIN ECONOMIC TIMES?

DOES THE GOVERNMENT NEED TO FIRM UP ITS INTENTIONS WITH REGARDS TO LEVEL 3 IMPLEMENTATION?

Obviously, if we look back a few years ago, we can see that BIM industry was born (and grew quickly) slightly after the famous ‘credit crunch’ financial crisis - the UK Government made an enormous contribution and boost when they decided to set the targets for ‘Level 2 BIM’. BIM will definitely have potential to make a strong contribute in these uncertain times.

I don’t think so – the intentions are clear, but maybe we need to understand how the Government is looking at the industry.

ARE THERE ANY POSITIVES THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY CAN TAKE FROM BREXIT? At this stage, I cannot see any direct positive outcome from the referendum result.

We know what the UK Government is looking to achieve in the 2025 targets (Level 3 BIM): cost reduction by 33% (construction and whole life cost), faster project delivery by 50%, reduction by 50% of greenhouse gas emissions, and finally to improve our exports in this sector by 50%.

A LOT OF IMPORTANCE HAS BEEN PLACED ON THE ROLE OF LARGE INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS. WHAT ROLE IS BIM PLAYING IN THESE?

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Digital setting out: A workable solution for the UK? Sam Evans is a former employee of SysQue. He joined in [2008] and for 7 years he accumulated significant experience and specialized in Autodesk Fabrication, Trimble Job Site Solutions and SysQue products.

During that time he also developed close working relationships with customers and developed a broad experience and knowledge of the SysQue brand. He subsequently transferred to Trimble UK supporting the introduction of Trimble Hardware in Europe and the Middle East.

Trimble UK are the exclusive re-sellers of SysQue within Europe and the Middle East and as a result of Sam’s complete understanding and expertise of the products, he has been assigned as the sole Account Manager within these regions. Here he asks why MEP engineers and contractors are slower to embrace digital setting out than in the USA? What is Digital Setting out?

Digital setting out technology is transferring BIM models (AutoCAD & Revit) electronically to the Job Site by using a Robotic Total Station and Tablet set up. This device is then used to locate your drawings specific location

points such as hanger points, building works holes, equipment locations, lighting fixtures and pretty much anything that you can identify in the model.

This method of setting out has been widely adopted in the North American and Australian markets with hundreds of building sites taking full advantage of these labour saving tools.

Why aren’t the UK using this same technology? Aren’t we supposed to be the originators of BIM tools?

The current method which exists in the UK is printing BIM models to a large A3 sheet of paper with hundreds of dimension lines on it to allow installers to then measure manually using tape measures and string line. Is this BIM? - How have I transferred my information (I in BIM) to site accurately?

- How do I know if I have placed my services in the correct position?

- How do I know if this wall Im measuring off has been placed in the right position?

- Haven’t I just created a map for my installers to go a find these locations?

- Would it make sense for a machine to show me where these services are located within a 2mm tolerance?

- Haven’t we all fallen to the latest technology when it comes to mobile phones, laptops, tv screens gaming computers? So why not adapt this technology?

‘We don’t draw support hangers’ My entrance into the world of sales for the MEP market began in the Western Region of the United States back in 2008. My company at the time TSI were the sole providers of MAP’s CADDuct drawing platform (still one of the most commonly used programs in the industry worldwide). Within months of my arrival TSI had partnered up with Trimble to provide the MEP industry with its first edition of the Trimble MEP Robotic Total Station. The idea behind this was to create integration between 3D models and the job site.

Having sold CAD-Duct in this area I could instantly see the connection of taking all of my hanger point locations and placing them electronically into this system. Contractors were seeing labour (or labor) savings within days of using the robot. A typical return

on investment for this would be 2 installers manually setting out using tape measure = 75-100 points. 1 installer using the Trimble robot = minimum 500 points in a day. These sort of numbers can have your robot paid for within a month of setting out.

The industry had never seen this type of return on investment for a BIM tool.

Fast forward to today and I can see that thousands of Robotic total stations are being used for all types of setting out in the construction industry, but not the UK! My departure from TSI in 2015 led me to Trimble MEP UK as they had recently purchased Amtech with the hopes of bringing this technology across the pond.

The first objection I was receiving here the UK is ‘’we don’t draw support hangers’’.

How can this be? I thought everyone was modeling hangers?

How can you provide a fully 3D coordinated model without including the most important part of the process?

Hanging it from the deck!!

These questions were running through my head constantly during the first 6 months of my time at Trimble UK. Does this mean we need to pack up shop and move back the US? NO! Although I would like the UK to catch up with this process and fully meet the upcoming BIM expectations, Trimble have been fully aware of contractors who don’t add hangers as part of their design deliverable. This is why they have created Trimble Field Points. A very easy solution to add point data in replacement to modelling real hangers.

‘My guy’s onsite won’t be able to use that’ After selling and training on this solution for over 5 years there hasn’t been any instance where we haven’t got the end user fully trained on the unit no matter the age or experience with computer technology. The unit has been made very easy to use using the Trimble Field Link software.

‘I can’t shine my laser on this project as there are existing Beams and services in the way so Trimble won’t work for me’

With a small majority of companies that have been exposed to this technology in the UK their only understanding is that the Laser shoots directly onto the deck to my fixing position. Where this is true, Trimble have created different methods for you to set out your systems using the prism and pole procedure.

Most of my experiences onsite viewing the current installation method in the UK has been marking out on the deck above either on step ladders or a scissor lift?

So just because the installation process is different between the US and UK does that mean the Trimble Robot won’t work onsite?

The enhancement of the Direct Reflex laser technology has been added and refined over the last few years. For the first few years of selling this device the laser was never even mentioned? As it did not suit the US workflow they have become accustom to using the Prism and pole only.

In fact my view is that the Trimble device is more suited to the UK market.

As the direct reflex laser now has the ability to take site measurements into consideration, it can now move the point depending on the variance of the building and place the point on the exact location.

What is the difference between American Installation and UK Installation?

But if for some reason the laser is working on a deck or floor that carries reflectivity the prism is designed to give you that alternate method of setting out. Again this method is preferred on the US. Don’t forget this is a process change of how you install onsite. These decisions on how to set out should be made weeks in advance.

In my opinion the US have taken full advantage of the software products available to them and made sure there is true interoperability between them and their partners’ onsite.

Coordination meetings take place months in advance to make sure all services can be installed correctly.

During my time there, the majority of the job sites used the ribbed decking and concrete pour format so the setting out of their services actually takes place on the floor above before the concrete is poured.

Trimble technology takes that into account and gives the installers the exact x and y coordinates of their hanger locations for the floor below.

Once found they will use a concrete insert named a ‘Bagit’ and places an insert straight through the deck. Then simply the Hanger rod is screwed in from the floor below. Yes this means no drilling! No setting out on a scissor lift! Haven’t even used the laser!

Using this procedure saves week’s onsite installation time and can guarantee their services are set out within a certain set tolerance.

In the UK M+E contractors get onsite a lot later. This may be due to the model not been signed off, the fabrication of their systems is not quite on schedule, they prefer to wait for all walls to be in as it’s easier to manually measure.

These are just some of the reasons I have heard in the market.

One of my favourite quotes from my old customer was ‘’my tape measure won’t tell me if Im in the right spot, the total station will’’. You cannot argue with this comment.

‘I have installed services on site for 30 years. Don’t tell me my services are not accurate’ I believe the biggest reason this technology has not grasped the UK market is due to personnel not being able to adapt to this type of a workflow.

With the hesitance of a project manager and installers comes a lot more doubt within decision makers on whether this piece of equipment is right for them.

With BIM standards becoming more regulated it is vital for building services companies adapt to the specifications of setting out within a certain tolerance of the MODEL! I believe my various points mentioned above is enough to start a very productive conversation on this.

Having the power of LinkedIn and being connected with so many of you round the world it would be great to get your views on setting out technology in general.

Digital Construction NOW in its second year, Digital Construction Week will be held 26 - 27 October in London and will be looking to build on the success of last year’s inaugural event. Once again, the impact of technology and innovation in the built environment will be examined with thousands of the most influential thought leaders and decision makers in attendance.

FOLLOWING THE SUCCESS OF LAST YEAR’S EVENT, WHAT WAS THE RESPONSE FROM THOSE WHO ATTENDED? We have had a really fantastic response to the content we put on and the show’s agenda. The most positive reaction was linked to moving the conversation on to the broader idea of technology and innovation in the built environment. Working through and exploring the opportunities associated

with digitisation and its power to help transform the industry. But also, in helping make sense of and highlighting some of the trends we’re seeing come in to the industry.

The feedback has been that it was really refreshing to see something quite different that’s aimed at helping move the industry forward. We have had a lot of great supporters and certainly the event wouldn’t have been possible without them.

Overall, it’s all been really positive, which is great for a first year event.

Our aim now is to increase our reach and encourage as many people as possible to come and join us. We want the event to be accessible for all, not just the early adopters or the technical experts – although they’re obviously our core audience.

HOW HAVE YOU BEEN SPENDING YOUR TIME SINCE LAST OCTOBER? Recovering! Of course, we have been getting everything in place. Last year was the show’s first year, so we encountered the inevitable teething problems. There’s still a little bit of finding our way as far as our identity as a show goes and how we can best help drive the agenda forward, as that’s what we’re really passionate about trying to do.

In particular, we’ve set about streamlining some of our content and making clearer the different elements of our content programme. We have got our main stage conference again which will feature a new line up of high-level speakers, including Paul

Week 2016 Preview Morrell, Anne Kemp (Atkins), Sadie Morgan (dRMM), John Pelton (Crossrail), David Hancock (Cabinet Office) and many more.

We’ve also introduced four new seminar stages: The Innovation Theatre, which is unashamedly focused on all the future technologies and processes. Additive manufacturing, UAVs, robotics, VR, modern methods of construction and everything else along those lines. All the things that are really exciting and stand to make a real impact on the industry but perhaps aren’t quite there yet or aren’t common place at least.

There’s our Digital in Action Theatre, which is very much about practical case studies. If you’re a project manager, an architect or an SME for example, what are the practical steps you can take now to improve the way you deliver projects or work as a business? So that’s case studies and real learning there for the right now.

The BIM Village is back and we’re working closely with the newly formed UK BIM Alliance on the content for this stage. The BIM Village will provide much more practical advice and guidance for BIM. The Level 2 deadline has been and gone but there’s still a lot of questions and the BIM Village will be geared up to help answer them. We won’t get overly technical – it’s more about understanding the process and

the questions you should be asking.

We are also introducing our Tech Stage as well, which will showcase technical expertise and be more product focused and ‘out of the box’. You’ve got your head round the fact that you need to adopt these digital processes but what do they look like when you’re sat at your desk or out on the work site?

Amongst the myriad of other things, we have been setting up some key industry partnerships. We are working very closely with HS2, who are going to take a big pavilion at the exhibition, to look at the next 30 years of procurement and how innovation will play a role. We’re also working with Innovate UK and KTN on our Innovation / Start Up Village. Crossrail, The BIM Task Group, and Cabinet Office teams amongst others have all been really supportive.

The main focus of all of this really is to increase our reach across the industry.

WHAT ARE YOU HOPING TO ACHIEVE FROM THIS YEAR’S EVENT? Our main goal as a show over the

next two to three years is to really get out across to the entire industry. The digital agenda is one that impacts us all and we want to offer a platform that’s accessible to all. It’s about creating an understanding and awareness, and that’s what I suppose the show is trying to drive.

Some of the trends and themes we’re seeing such as; BIM, IoT, Smart Buildings, Big Data, and their potential impact on things like sustainability, skills, training etc. are incredibly exciting. But they’re big topics that require real expertise and understanding to make them viable.

We’d like to help people learn about and explore these ideas and make them a reality.

All of our conference and seminar sessions are aimed at helping people develop their own strategies, understanding the questions they should be asking themselves, and what outcomes they want to achieve.

Technology is kind of the easy bit really. We want to help people figure out how it applies to their business, their projects and the processes they should be exploring.

LAST YEAR’S EVENT OBVIOUSLY TOOK PLACE BEFORE THE BIM LEVEL 2 MANDATE. WILL THE FOCUS OF THIS YEAR’S EVENT WILL BE DIFFERENT? In truth, I don’t think we’ll be a million miles away. We always want to strike a balance between being an exciting event looking towards the future of the industry and an event that helps people solve real-time problems and current challenges.

Hopefully, our seminar streams help demonstrate this. The Innovation Theatre is a real future looking piece, whilst the BIM Village and Digital in Action theatre are all about how processes such as BIM can help people right now.

You can see in the creation of the UK BIM Alliance that there’s a need still to help get people up to speed and carry on their journey. We’ll be looking to help do the same.

WHO WILL BE SPEAKING AT THIS YEAR’S EVENT? I’m delighted to say our opening keynote will be from Paul Morrell, the former Chief Government Construction Advisor. Paul will be taking a look at the direction the mandate has gone in a presentation titled ‘Are we nearly there yet?’ He will look at the aims that were set out when the mandate was first put into place and offer his perspective of where it’s going; what the missed markers are; where the successes have been and what could come next.

We’ve got a great panel looking at strategies for innovation, which include John Pelton, who is the Strategic Projects Director at Crossrail, Iain Roche, who is Head of Innovation at HS2, and a host of other speakers.

People talk about innovation a lot. The idea of this session is to help people understand what it really means and how you do it. That will be really interesting presentation. Crossrail in particular have a really interesting story around embracing innovation and technology.

We will also have David Hancock (Cabinet Office) giving an update on the government construction strategy.

Anne Kemp (Atkins) will be introducing the UK BIM Alliance, following its official launch at our Westminster Reception. Sadie Morgan (dRMM) will

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be offering a keynote on the future of architecture and design on major projects. And James Pellatt (Great Portland Estates) will be presenting his views of BIM and Digital Construction from a client’s perspective, which should be really interesting.

There will be the usual mix of TED style presentations as well as panels, so we are really excited.

WHAT CAN VISITORS EXPECT FROM THE EXHIBITION? More of the same hopefully. As was the goal last year, we really want to move away from just pop-up stands and literature and create a much more experiential exhibition.

It’s about having something a bit different to come, see and touch and get involved with rather what you can just find online. Something you might not find anywhere else. We want an exhibition that really offers visitors an experience.

As previously mentioned, we’ve also got a whole host of free seminar content. That will be the real difference between this year and last year. There’s four stages with over 48 hours of free content to come and see.

HOW DO YOU DECIDE WHO WILL EXHIBIT AT THE EVENT? We are always interested in new and innovative ideas and when you scratch the surface we’ve not been short of them. What we really want is people that can tailor their message and make it appropriate and accessible to all.

Really, I think it is just about showcasing everything that is out there – everything that people can start to use and get their heads round. Like I say, 3D printing, robotics, virtual reality like the new Oculus, and Soluis’ new HTC Vive headsets. Last year, we had Leica’s scanning backpack and Faro’s handheld scanner.

Similarly, at the heart of the exhibition are exhibitors that can help visitors right now. Help them become more productive, efficient, and ultimately more profitable. Practical tools that you could apply right now. We want visitors to get excited about the future but primarily we want to help them with practical advice and guidance right now.

IS THAT SOMETHING YOU WOULD GO OUT AND RESEARCH TO TRY AND FIND THE PRODUCTS OR DO PEOPLE COME TO YOU WITH THEM? A bit of both. This year certainly we have had a greater awareness so a number of people have approached us. We’ve been fortunate in that we are only the show that is doing what we are doing with this broader agenda of digital tech and innovation.

This year has been fantastic. A lot of people are coming to us saying they have got a new bit of kit and they would like to show what it can do. Equally, in putting together the conference and seminar program, you unearth a number of new ideas and concepts.

WHEN UK CONSTRUCTION EXCELLENCE ATTENDED LAST YEAR’S EVENT SOME OF THE PRODUCTS ON SHOW WERE BREATHTAKING. DO YOU STILL GET THAT FEELING WHEN YOU COME ACROSS INVENTIONS AND TECHNOLOGY? Yes, I’m quite unashamedly a bit of a geek! I have to remember to rein myself in because it is easy to get very excited. There is a company in Japan for instance that is manufacturing exoskeletons, which I believe Bouygues are trying out. Similarly, things like the Daqri Smart Helmet look to have incredible potential.

That is the bit that I love, which is partly what made we want to do the show in the first place. You do have to sit back and think “OK, brilliant. But what are the steps to making that happen?” That’s what we really want to show because it will be a long time before your house builder turns up to build an extension and emerges out the back of his van with an exoskeleton suit and robot helper. What they might have though is a project management tool that may help give you both better sight of the project delivery and costs. Those things are just as exciting in terms of industry change.

What we want to explore is what the business case for these new technologies and ideas is. Because without that, its technology looking for a problem to solve when really it should be the other way round.

WHAT WAS NOTICEABLE ABOUT LAST YEAR WAS THE NUMBER OF SMES EXHIBITING; WILL THIS STILL BE THE CASE THIS YEAR? Switches, and to be honest it wasn’t deliberate. You quite often find though that SME’s are some of the most innovative companies out there. SMEs have the benefit of being able to be very agile, nimble and able to move with the times. We do see quite a lot of small companies with new ideas and new bits of kit that they want to show.

Yes, I think we will see more of that without a doubt.

Equally we’re keen to engage with SME’s as an audience too. We are an SME ourselves, so I feel the pain of having to pay £400 for a conference pass, trains and the time out of the office. We wanted to make the show accessible to as many people as possible which is why there’s so much free content. The conference itself is also just £200 for a two-day ticket, which hopefully is pretty good value!

We have introduced an Innovation Village this year, which is very much a kind of start-up opportunity to anyone with a new product such as an app, software or even hardware that isn’t quite there yet or is from another industry. We are offering a nice easy way for them to access their audience and showcase what they have got. We want to see new ideas and something different.

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You need KPIs to up your DIFOT rate If cost and schedule over-runs are derailing your construction projects, then a combination of sophisticated reporting tools and well-considered Key Performance Indicators will improve Delivery in Full, on Time (DIFOT).

“Construction can be a thin or no margin business if costs are not constantly monitored and controlled.

Take the most recent example of the cost overruns of the VA hospital project in Aurora, Colorado. The original projected final cost of $604,000,000, has ballooned over $1.73Bn.” Denver Post 2015 article The frightening thing about the VA Hospital project overrun was that no one knew for certain how it got so out of control. Poorly trained managers with poor project management had a lot to do with it, but there was also a shortage of clear data about who was responsible and what could have been done to keep the project on course.

The construction industry has a reputation for being a conservative business where “doing things the way they have always been done” takes precedence over creative innovation.

This is understandable. Large construction projects are often subject to public scrutiny – any project failure will often be lambasted by the media.

But all the same, there is a big gulf between being conservative and being blind to reality.

Even on small projects, labour and material costs must be carefully monitored and controlled, and a series of minor cost overruns have put many small businesses on the road to financial ruin. Reports on results achieved during the last period are necessary for compliance and planning, but proactive responsiveness is only possible when you have realtime alerts and warnings about what is happening right now.

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There are new reporting solutions designed to accept input from many sources and to provide real-time visibility into operations via easily customized dashboards. These have been successfully deployed to improve performance in a range of industry sectors, including finance, real estate, manufacturing, entertainment and facility management. The same approach works wonders in the construction industry - as long as one has clearly identified the key performance indicators (KPIs) that management requires to keep track on progress in terms of cost and time.

problems or late delivery of materials.

• Also Capacity Utilisation Rate (CUR) - a measure of how well your resources are being used rather than standing idle

KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS

Increasingly there will be requirements for environmental and social sustainability, including such measures as:

A really experienced project manager has learned to judge instinctively spend a little time on a construction project and you get a nose for likely trouble spots and can take appropriate action. But if the problem is a shortage of “qualified and experienced people in charge”, then you need KPIs. Many construction managers still don’t measure KPIs, or are not sure whether they are looking at the right KPIs. So what should you look for? Firstly, you need an indicator that is relevant to your business strategy. Next, this indicator must be something that can be measured. Thirdly, it must be something that is actionable and has a clear threshold or target so anyone can immediately judge whether the project is below, on target, or above the goal. If the performance indicator is truly key, a poor result will trigger remedial action.

The most obvious KPIs for completing a construction job on time and budget could include: • Project Schedule Variance (PSV), whether ahead or behind schedule.

• Project Cost Variance (PCV), whether or not exceeding budget.

• Process Downtime - including hours lost due to bad weather, worker sickness, equipment

Then there are the less obvious measures of how dedicated the workforce is to completing the project, such as:

• Worker satisfaction.

• Worker engagement level.

• Worker churn rate.

• Training return on investment.

• Carbon and water footprint.

• Energy consumption.

• Waste reduction and recycling rates and so on.

However, the KPI set should embrace measures from every part of the operation. This includes not only integrating data from ERP and CRM systems, but also getting data from the coalface. The most advanced reporting solutions make it easy for anyone, not just trained managers, to input data via simple customised windows.

When this is possible, the system can integrate truly up-to-date feedback from people on the construction site, as well as data from suppliers of materials and other factors, such as weather predictions that could impact progress.

The important thing, however, is not to try to include every possible measure, but rather to agree on less than a dozen relevant, reliable and focused KPIs that give a true understanding of how the project is going. And don’t leave it at that: keep comparing your KPIs with actual results, and keep questioning whether they are still the best ones or whether they need refining or discarding.

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CURRENT APPLICATION PROCESSES ARE A KEY CONTRIBUTOR TO PAYMENT ISSUES IN THE UK CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY – HOW TO SOLVE THE ISSUE.

THE PROBLEM In the UK construction industry, payment administration is the number one issue that leads to formal disputes.

Late payment and payment disputes have always been a common and somewhat accepted part of our industry, when a construction project goes into dispute resolving and defending the issues can be extremely costly and far reaching for all concerned. Having mismatched applications, poor supporting information and oversight into project status often drives disputes and mistrust, in some instances this can affect the overall quality and scope of the project itself. Clearly the risks involved in poor practices are significant, and are increased in an industry where legislation surrounding payment practices is becoming increasingly onerous for all involved.

Poor processes, islands of information, disparate systems and processes have all contributed to the huge cost of processing, increased disputes and mistrust in the industry. When trying to achieve improvements to the subcontractor payment process, it is all too common for contractors to face inward at their own internal processes. The contractors that make the biggest improvements, achieve significant cost savings and the highest

level of payment legislation compliance are those that dress the process between themselves and their subcontractors.

Evidence from contractors show that there is little or no consistency of monthly applications being submitted across its subcontractor community. Hundreds of applications across many projects ranging from verbal requests to complex spreadsheets are received, re-keyed into back office systems, processes/managed, and approved on a monthly basis. It is estimated that to process a single straight forward application can cost a minimum of £600 per application.

THE SOLUTION INTRODUCING PROGRESSCLAIM.COM Progressclaim.com has been designed to revolutionise the payment process by allowing you to process applications for payment easily and efficiently. After huge success in Australia and Asia, created for the global construction industry Propgressclaim.com has now entered the UK and European markets. With offices strategically placed in London and Newcastleupon-Tyne, we deliver an online solution that has already started to revolutionise the UK construction industry’s application, certification and notification process.

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The simple cloud based software works on any computer, tablet or mobile device. Applications for payment can be lodged, managed, notifications raised, approved and certified from anywhere at any time in a shared collaborative environment.

paperwork by automating processes. From complex reconciliations to reminders on when to prepare and apply applications for payment and when to assess and certify.

• Simple and easy to use – no software to download that can be accesses anywhere on any device.

• Reduce risk and exposure – Construction ACT compliant, reduces disputes and adjudication.

• Automatic email reminders – You’ll never have to ‘remember’ to raise an application for payment again.

• Easy variations – Add and manage variations with ease and get the answers on variations before your next application for payment. No more doubts.

DRIVE EFFICIENCY, IMPROVE RETURNS AND REDUCE RISK! HOW PROGRESSCLAIM.COM CAN BENEFIT YOUR BUSINESS • Save time and improve efficiency – Remove the hassle of disparate spreadsheets and

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WHY KPIS OFFER MORE THAN REPORTS Reports play an important role. You need them to ensure compliance and close the books accurately. Reports help run a business correctly, while KPIs enable the transition from running smoothly, to running quickly and intelligently. Reports look backwards to understand what happened yesterday, or last month, but they don’t show your goals, or how you are currently performing. They don’t provide insights or foresights to help a business decision or deliver pertinent, actionable information to other departments.

When it comes to measuring performance against budgets and schedules, you need to move beyond reporting and adopt a KPI strategy in order to understand what’s going on, faster, and with greater clarity - to make better business decisions.

THE NEED FOR AN INTEGRATED, COLLABORATIVE APPROACH The question is: will a busy project manager, already under pressure to catch up on budget and schedule overruns, make time to keep track of these KPIs, however carefully researched and refined?

The answer lies in the use of sophisticated reporting solutions rather than a pile of manually generated and circulated data spreadsheets. Today’s

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top reporting and analysis software offers a whole suite of benefits.

Firstly, they can integrate data from any number of sources - from ERP, and CRM but also from across the whole organisation, as well as from suppliers, business partners, and external information sources such as weather reports and market data.

Secondly, they improve collaboration.

Old hierarchical structures are giving way to more collaborative ways where, instead of passing requests and instructions up and down a long chain of command, more workers are encouraged to share responsibility.

This makes it easier to get reliable, real-time information from the furthest reaches. This means more people are aware of the KPIs, and the system’s modelling becomes increasingly realistic. Key decision makers will have more accurate, relevant and up-to-date information to keep jobs on schedule.

Thirdly, these systems automate previously manual processes. While agile business planning relies on up-todate information from as many sources as possible, and collaboration means more people inputting data, the latest tools will automate these processes and be able to input consistent realtime data into your own designed spreadsheets. This means any decision maker in the organisation, any business partner, or even your customer, can be allowed visibility into the work in progress, if required and if permitted.

There can be no argument or dissent, because everyone is getting the same data in a consistent, agreed format.

UPPING THE DELIVERY IN FULL, ON TIME (DIFOT) RATE Could the VA Hospital project have gone so far off the rails if everyone on the project had full, real-time visibility into its progress against time and budget? And if the data they were given had been collected from right across the project - so anyone on-site was able to sound a warning or input data on shortfalls or variance from schedule?

You could say that this is nothing new. This is simply the way that any construction job should operate with a highly motivated team of workers under experienced and knowledgeable management. But it is one thing achieving that level of efficiency in a small family business, and quite another to achieve it on the scale of a massive construction project with a churning workforce of hundreds and a shortage of experienced managers.

It takes the very best integrated reporting solutions to rebuild that team sense - of collaboration, commitment and real-time responsiveness - across such a major project.

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A sign of things to come?

Thames Water establish Technology and Transformation Alliance IN April of this year, Thames Water made waves with the commencement of a brand new initiative - the Technology and Transformation Alliance.

World-leaders and newly-announced alliance members Accenture, Bilfinger, Deloitte and IBM have each been appointed to jointly oversee Thames Water’s technology services for the remainder of the sixth AMP (Asset Management Plan) cycle.

It is hoped that the Technology and Transformation Alliance, which now sits alongside Thames Water’s existing eight2O and infrastructure initiatives, will bolster water and wastewater provision for some 15 million consumers across London and the wider Thames Valley region.

Given the sector’s renewed interest in technology and innovation, the move is perhaps unsurprising. Digitisation

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is currently redefining industry best practice, and water suppliers are increasingly sensing the potential for significant growth in business performance and efficiency.

Thames Water’s Chief Information Officer, Neil Clark, commented: “Creating this new approach to delivering our technology services and projects will help us meet challenging business objectives, achieve our wider transformation programmes, and, importantly, improve the service we offer our customers.

“This formidable Alliance will allow us to drive forward innovation in how we use technology at Thames Water, taking advantage of the latest tools and thinking from our world-class team.”

Each alliance member has been hand-picked - the result of a rigorous procurement process. Collectively, their

skills and expertise will be brought to bear to create an entirely new way of working and deliver on Thames Water’s aspirations for the future.

In addition to overseeing IT services for the entire organisation, the Alliance will investigate opportunities for exciting new technology. Customers will be given a greater choice of digital channels to connect with, while innovative new technologies will be made available to operational teams out in the field.

Ian Notley - Managing Director of Accenture’s UK and Ireland Resources Group, and Technology and Transformation Alliance board member - said: “Through the Alliance’s combined expertise, Thames Water will be able to drive value from technology in new ways, enabling digital interactions with a new generation of connected customers and equipping employees

in the field with the technologies they need to do their jobs more efficiently.”

Dave Pickles - Managing Director of Bilfinger Industrial Automation Services, and fellow Alliance board member, added: “We see the Alliance as an opportunity to establish a gamechanging approach by bringing IT and OT (operational technology) together, and through working closely with the established eight2O and infrastructure alliances. In operational technology, the Alliance will drive business value through a long-term strategy, leveraging connected assets in the water and waste water processes.

“We will bring best practice from other industries to manage and make the most out of the overwhelming levels of data, whilst looking to take advantage of technological advancement in areas such as the Internet of Things and concepts around Industry 4.0. This will

enable us to provide platforms and innovation that provides operational clarity to the business, and supports the transformation to deliver quality services and high customer satisfaction through to Thames Water’s customers.

We are delighted to be involved and very motivated to make this a huge success.”

Jon Bentley - Executive Partner of IBM Global Business Services UK and Ireland, and fellow Technology and Transformation Alliance board member - concluded: “The new Alliance presents a unique opportunity to drive the digital transformation of Thames Water’s assets and operations.

To create a truly smart water network the Alliance will leverage data to continue developing Thames Water's infrastructure, while delivering an outstanding service to the millions of customers who depend on water and waste water services every day.

“We couldn't be more excited by the journey we are embarking on - the chance to work with the two existing alliances and alongside the other firms, all of whom are leaders in their field.”

The Technology and Transformation Alliance will officially come into operation this October, following a period of transition.

In recent months, digitisation has taken pride of place for many in industry.

Innovative new ways of working, such as Building Information Modeling (BIM), are enabling water suppliers to share data and work collaboratively with the supply chain to better manage their aging infrastructure during the AMP cycle.

With technology playing an evergreater role, the industry should expect many more likeminded partnerships in the months and years to come.

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Welsh Water invest in North Wales infrastructure IN June, Welsh Water embarked upon a £6M programme of works to enhance water provision throughout North Wales, and guarantee customer satisfaction and first-class drinking water for decades to come. The funding forms part of a £30M per year nationwide investment in water infrastructure, courtesy of the not-forprofit utility company.

As regions of the North Wales network near the end of their operational lifespan, the £6M programme will ensure that 50 kilometres of water main are cleaned, re-lined or replaced entirely over the next four years.

An industrial estate in Mold was among the first areas to receive funding (£330,000), while £520,000 has been set aside to improve Sandycroft’s beleaguered water network. Elsewhere, £1.8M will be spent in the Englefield Avenue area of Connah’s Quay to replace more than 4km of aged pipework.

David Taylor, Head of Water Assets for Welsh Water, said: “Between 2015 and 2020 Welsh Water will be investing £1.7Bn on our water and wastewater network to make sure we deliver the

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best service possible for our customers.

As part of this investment, £30M will be spent on the drinking water network as we continue to work to improve the supply and quality of our drinking water for customers across Wales and parts of Hereford, ensuring they continue to receive clean and fresh water.

“With some parts of the water network laid over a century ago, the time has come for us to refresh some areas of the network by cleaning the pipes or, where needed, replacing whole sections of the network. We understand that a large refurbishment programme like this can cause disruption in the short-term, but the long-term benefits include reduced leaks, interruptions to supply, and highquality drinking water for the whole community.”

Councillor David Wisinger - a representative of the Queensferry, Pentre and Sandycroft region, where work is scheduled to take place - said: “It’s great to see that Welsh Water are investing over half a million pounds in the water network in Sandycroft. This work will ensure that the community

receives high-quality drinking water for decades to come.”

Smart asset management, so critical to Welsh Water’s ongoing success, is clearly appreciated. According to the Consumer Council for Water, the supplier remains an industry leader - both in England and Wales - on a number of key considerations.

Unique in the utility sector, the nonshareholder business scored a record 99% customer satisfaction rate for its water services and 96% for its sewerage services - notably higher than the industry average of 93% and 91% respectively.

Chris Jones, Chief Executive at Welsh Water, said: “With no shareholders, Welsh Water is a unique way to run a public utility, where all gains go to the customer through lower bills or increased investment. Our sole focus is to do the right thing for customers day in, day out and we will use the findings of this report to build on our success and inform our work as we continue to ensure that we provide the best possible service at the most affordable price.”

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Government funding announced for renewable energy sector RESEARCH and training initiatives that will help Scotland continue to explore the vast potential of the renewable energy sector are set to benefit from £300,000 worth of government funding.

In total, £215,000 has been awarded to the Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult - a leading offshore renewable research centre. This amount will go towards developing a digital clone of their demonstration offshore wind turbine, opening up more industrial and academic research opportunities.

The remaining £85,000 has been earmarked for the Energy Skills Partnership, to support their virtual reality and work training programmes, which ensure that workers have the skills required by the energy sector in the future.

Dr Stephen Wyatt, Strategy & Commercialisation Director for ORE Catapult, said: “The creation of a virtual turbine, or ‘digital clone’, through sensors on the blades, tower and foundation, will enable us to develop a unique understanding of the performance, forces and strains on a nextgeneration offshore wind turbine.

“Not only will the project enable extensive future research and new opportunities for Scottish engineering and technology companies, but the resulting data will enable us to enhance future turbine design and potentially drive significant cost reduction.”

Jim Brown, Director of the Energy Skills Partnership (ESP) added: “Our development of a highly realistic immersive Hybrid Reality (iHR) version of the Levenmouth Turbine is a tremendous opportunity to develop the skills and jobs required by the growing offshore renewables industry in Scotland.”

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Queen Street tunnel works complete early TRANSPORT Minister Humza Yousaf joined engineers to witness the early completion of a £60M refurbishment and upgrade to the kilometre long Glasgow Queen Street tunnel.

Over the past 20 weeks, engineers have been working around the clock to renew 1,800m of concrete slab track and install more than 4,000m of new rail.

Platforms and track layouts within Queen Street have also been extended and altered to prepare both the tunnel and station for the electrification of the main Edinburgh to Glasgow line next year.

Since the high level station closed in March, nearly 3,000 engineers have worked over half a million hours to complete the project nearly three days ahead of schedule.

The Transport Minister helped tighten the final bolts on the new slab track and met with customer service staff who have kept commuters moving during the five months of work.

Mr Yousaf said: “I am pleased to see the work on the Queen Street tunnel completed ahead of schedule and onbudget. This has been an unprecedented project, both in engineering terms and

in the scale of the operation required to keep people moving and services diverted via the underground platforms during the works.

“This is a key milestone in our programme of investment for Scotland’s railways and literally paves the way for the introduction of a new generation of electric trains.

“I would like to congratulate the ScotRail-Network Rail Alliance on a successful job, and the hundreds of men and women who have worked day and night to deliver the hugely ambitious project. I would also like to thank the passengers who have had to alter their plans for the duration of these works for their patience.”

The tunnel renewal has been delivered by engineers working on the Edinburgh Glasgow Improvement Programme (EGIP) to electrify the main Edinburgh to Glasgow, via Falkirk High, line.

Scottish Government investment in Glasgow Queen Street will see the station transformed into a modern facility with increased concourse space, improved accessibility and remodelled passenger facilities.

Dumfries Learning Town a step closer HUB South West, Dumfries and Galloway Council, and Scottish Futures Trust have appointed Graham Construction as principal contractor, to deliver three Phase I projects in the Dumfries Learning Town (DLT) programme.

These are St Joseph’s College, North West Campus, and The Bridge - an innovative centre of excellence available to each of the new schools.

Graham Construction has already completed enabling works on the £23M redevelopment of St Joseph’s College - the first project in the £60M DLT programme.

Once complete, St Joseph’s will have the facilities to accommodate 644

secondary school students and 72 staff - providing world-class teaching facilities to the community of Dumfries in South West Scotland.

DLT is procured within the £500M Hub South West Scotland framework and funded by the Scottish Government’s ‘Schools for the Future’ programme.

It’s a revolutionary approach to the provision of educational facilities - combining nursery, primary and secondary schools on a ‘whole town’ basis.

Councillor Jeff Leaver, Chairman of Dumfries and Galloway Council’s Children, Young People and Lifelong Learning Committee, said: “Providing the best start in life for all our children

and being inclusive are priorities for our children. Dumfries Learning Town will enable us to deliver on our priorities.

It will offer the very best educational opportunities for our young people.

The Council’s collaborative, inclusive approach shows our commitment to delivering buildings that are stateof-the-art and fit for the purpose of learning in the 21st century.”

Michael McBrearty, Chief Executive of development partner Hub South West Scotland added: “The Dumfries Learning Town Project will generate substantial employment, growth and investment at a local level, whilst creating the infrastructure to support the ongoing education of the young people of Dumfries and Galloway.”

End of Right to Buy in Scotland welcomed by housing bodies RIGHT to Buy in Scotland has officially ended after 30 years - a decision welcomed by housing bodies.

Right to Buy, which allowed tenants in social housing to purchase their homes at discounted rates, was first introduced by Margaret Thatcher in 1980. But, in 2014, MSPs voted to end the measure over concerns that the scheme had contributed to an acute shortage of social housing.

In total, 494,580 council and housing association homes were sold under the legislation.

The Scottish Federation of Housing Associations (SFHA) and the Association of Local Authority Chief Housing Officers (ALACHO) had campaigned for the policy to be

curbed or scrapped, with Shelter Scotland saying that for every three homes sold under the scheme, only one was built as a replacement.

SFHA Chief Executive Mary Taylor added: “Right to Buy has had its day and has no place in modern Scotland.

“SFHA and its members long campaigned for an end to RTB, and warmly welcomes the end of a policy which has led to a considerable reduction in the availability of truly affordable social rented homes and contributed to the growing intergenerational inequality in terms of access to affordable quality housing.

“Going forward, we have a chance in Scotland to adopt a housing policy that is focused on the supply of welldesigned, energy efficient social rented

homes that are truly affordable to people on low incomes.”

Policy Manager of ALACHO, Tony Cain, said: “Ending the right to buy will allow social landlords to plan longer term, manage assets and income more effectively and most importantly to invest to increase the number of social rented homes for the first time since 1981.

“That means more long term jobs and apprenticeships to maintain our homes and more households taken out of housing need and living in warm, dry and genuinely affordable housing”.

Shelter Scotland has said that at least 12,000 new affordable homes need to be built a year to meaningfully tackle Scotland’s housing crisis.

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Engineers prepare for electrification of the Severn Tunnel Network Rail engineers are busy preparing for the electrification of the Severn Tunnel at a state-of-the-art training facility in Wales.

The 130 year old passage will close for six weeks from Monday 12 September to prepare for electrification - a critical milestone in the project to deliver electric trains for passengers in South Wales, and part of Network Rail’s Railway Upgrade Plan.

The training facility at Coleg Y Cymoedd in Nantgarw - jointly funded by the College and Welsh Government - comprises of a life size mock-up of the overhead line equipment that will be used to power the new fleet of electric trains through the tunnel.

It is the only facility in the UK to offer

training on a specially designed piece of equipment - the Rigid Overhead Conductor Rail.

Minister for Skills and Science, Julie James said: “Coleg y Cymoedd delivers first class training in a first class facility, ensuring there is a skilled workforce to deliver the major improvements Wales’ rail infrastructure will see over the next five years. When the facility in Nantgarw opened in September last year, we knew our £1.54M investment would be put to the best possible use.

Network Rail, with support from the Welsh Government, will spend more than £1Bn modernising the rail system in Wales. The fact we can support Network Rail in this way as it moves into its new era is something of which we can be rightly proud.”

Judith Evans, Principal of Coleg y Cymoedd, said: “The College could expand off the back of the electrification programme. We've got four campuses across Rhondda Cynon Taf and Caerphilly and the Rail Centre at our Nantgarw campus is easily accessible from the M4. I've already started discussions within the College as to whether or not in the next year or two we might even consider expanding. If the growth continues at the speed it is, I can see us having to put on an extension in the future.”

During the six week closure, 200 members of Network Rail’s orange army will be working day and night to install over eight miles of conductor rail.

Second phase of Colwyn Bay promenade enhancement scheme begins THE second phase of the Colwyn Bay promenade enhancement scheme is now underway. As part of the project, the town’s seafront will be redeveloped and safeguarded from the threat of flooding.

Phase II involves the transformation of one kilometre of promenade – a continuation of the recently completed Phase I works – with contractor VolkerStevin at the helm. Enhancements include a traversing wall, better beach access and a new seating area.

Colwyn Bay hopes to encourage a heathier community by creating direct

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fitness activities such as running and cycling routes along the waterfront.

Rob Coupe, Managing Director of VolkerStevin, said: “It is always a joy to work on projects that help improve local attractions such as Colwyn Bay and we are thrilled to be awarded this contract. We have a lot of experience working on flood and coastal defence projects which help optimise our ideas to provide the best service to the client and public.”

Further developments include improved parking provision, attractive landscaping and upgraded finishes and

facilities. The VolkerStevin project team will remain in close contact with the local community for the duration of the project and provide local workforce initiatives.

A spokesperson for Conwy County Borough Council commented: “The Council acknowledge that the works are commencing at a very busy time of year for the area. It is however important that the works get underway without delay to ensure that the project complies with the funding time constraints, and to alleviate the impact of the finishing works on the summer 2017 season.”

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Welsh construction sector growth slows GROWTH in the Welsh construction sector slowed in the second quarter of this year, according to the latest Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) Construction Market Survey.

shortages remain a problem. Quantity surveyors are in particularly short supply, with 51% of respondents citing difficulties in this area.

A net balance of 12% of respondents in the region reported workloads rising in the quarter, compared to 32% the previous quarter. This flatter picture is visible across all sectors, with the most pronounced slowdowns being seen in the private commercial and private housing sectors.

Neil Brierley - RICS Construction Spokesman for Wales, and Head of Operations at Faithful+Gould - said: “The latest results from the RICS Construction Market Survey suggest that the second quarter of the year saw a moderation in the growth trend which is not altogether surprising given the build-up to the EU referendum.

That said, 12% more contributors still reported a rise in private commercial activity, down from 43% in Q1. And 24% more respondents saw their workloads in the private housing sector rise rather than fall in Q2, compared 48% in Q1.

Despite the slowdown in activity, skills

“However, the underlying need for increased housing supply and the delivery of improved infrastructure will remain into the future. Government in Wales must maintain its focus on these key sectors, as well as working to attract inward investment.

“Delivering major infrastructure schemes - such as the Swansea Tidal Lagoon, M4 Relief Road, and South Wales Metro - is of the utmost economic importance to Wales, and we welcome the Government’s recent commitment to give clear signals to the market on the pipeline of infrastructure projects. Clarity and certainty will be central to boosting business and economic confidence.

“The planning reforms that came into effect earlier in the year in relation to Developments of National Significance will hopefully also be a major assistance to important larger infrastructure schemes in particular, putting priority on key schemes and speeding up planning decisions in relation to them.”

Greenlight for North Wales Wind Farms Connection THE Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has given development consent to the North Wales Wind Farms Connection.

The application was made to the Planning Inspectorate for review in March last year and accepted for examination the following month.

After a six month examination period - in which the public, statutory consultees, and interested parties were provided the chance to give evidence to the Examining Authority a recommendation was made to the former Secretary of State for Energy, Amber Rudd, on 28 April 2016.

The project will see the construction,

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installation, operation and maintenance of a 17.4km 132kv electric line between RWE’s Clocaenog Forest, a point south of the unnamed Groesffordd Marli to Glascoed Road, and the B5381 (Glascoed Road) near St Asaph, Denbighshire.

RWE’s Clocaenog Forest Project Manager Martin Cole said: “Clocaenog Forest will make an important impact on helping to tackle climate change.

“The project could also support an injection of up to £40M into Wales’ supply chain during the construction alone and could bring up to £19M in community investment funds over the lifetime of the project.”

The Planning Inspectorate’s Chief

Executive, Sarah Richards added: “The decision announced today supports the recommendation made by the Planning Inspectorate. It is the 56th application for a nationally significant infrastructure project and the 35th energy project to be examined and decided.

“The Planning Inspectorate has the responsibility to examine Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIPs) within timescales laid down in the Planning Act 2008. This provides developers and investors with the confidence to build and improve the infrastructure this country needs to secure future economic growth.”

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Town and Village Renewal Scheme launched THE Minister for Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, Heather Humphreys TD, has announced that €10M will be made available to local authorities to support the regeneration of rural towns and villages across Ireland.

Speaking at the launch of the Rural Town and Village Renewal Scheme for 2016 in Clones, County Monaghan, Minister Humphreys said: “Rural development is a key priority in the Programme for a Partnership Government. Ireland’s towns and villages are the heart of our rural communities, but the economic downturn had a significant impact on many of these towns and villages. It is incumbent on us to help them achieve a recovery. I am launching the Town and Village Renewal Scheme today to begin breathing life back into our rural towns and villages. It is critical that towns and villages become areas where economic activity can flourish, where people can live and work, and where people can meet at a social level.

“Consultation and collaboration will be key elements of the scheme.

It will be administered through the local authorities, who will be required to partner with local businesses and local communities to develop and implement ideas that can make a real and lasting impact in revitalising rural towns and villages.”

Particular focus will be placed on supporting smaller towns, with populations of less than 5,000. A smaller number of projects can be supported in each county for towns with a population of up to 10,000.

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Economy Minister celebrates supply chain excellence in the aerospace sector ECONOMY Minister Simon Hamilton has congratulated local companies achieving supply chain excellence in the aerospace sector at the Farnborough Airshow.

Bradfor Ltd in Rostrevor, IPC Mouldings in Carrickfergus and RTA Ireland in Kilkeel have all received Silver Awards recognising their involvement in the SC21 Supply Chain excellence programme.

Congratulating the companies Simon Hamilton said: “SC21 is a UK business excellence programme for aerospace and defence companies run by ADS - the trade organisation for companies operating in the aerospace, defence, security and space sectors.

It encourages best practice and increased competitiveness among aerospace and defence companies operating in the supply chain. Bradfor Ltd, IPC Mouldings and RTA Ireland are the latest local businesses setting the benchmark in business excellence in our aerospace sector. Receiving their Silver Awards is a well-deserved achievement which will help to give them the opportunity to demonstrate

their capabilities on a national scale.”

Bradfor Ltd and IPC Mouldings both achieved their awards through B/E Aerospace’s Supply Chain Programme.

The Minister added: “Invest Northern Ireland, B/E Aerospace and Bombardier Belfast all play a key role in supporting local companies participating in this programme and Northern Ireland’s Partnering for Growth Strategy continues to be the focus of those working in the industry. Invest Northern Ireland remains committed to ensuring that the local aerospace sector has a supply chain that can grow its capabilities in the hightechnology, high-value areas where our industry needs to compete.”

Dr Leslie Orr, Manager of ADS NI, concluded: “Northern Ireland has a very strong aerospace supply base.

This is indeed great news for Bradfor, IPC Mouldings and RTA Ireland and the other award recipients. SC21 recognition is a valuable accolade that will only strengthen the relationships these businesses have with their customers but adding to the strength of the aerospace sector in the region.”

Northern Irish business encouraged to explore Chinese trade opportunities NORTHERN Ireland businesses should explore the possibilities of the so-called ‘golden age’ in UKChinese trade, a leading expert on government and enterprise has said.

Mark Pinner - China Director at global public affairs firm Interel was addressing an event on doing business in China at Belfast City Hall. The event was organised by leading Northern Ireland communications agency Chambré Public Affairs, in association with Belfast City Council.

Mr. Pinner said: “The common perception of China as a monolithic and closed place is wide of the mark. The country is on its way towards becoming a higher-end market economy. It is building a modern regulatory system, has an increased role for consumer spending and needs better business services.

“UK relations with China have also come on a lot recently, and the new economic priorities of the Chinese government makes the UK something of a natural partner. In Northern Ireland we can already see the benefits, with local companies like Dale Farm making great inroads.

“All in all, with the Brexit vote creating an uncertain European environment for local companies,

Northern Ireland businesses should explore the possibilities of the socalled ‘golden age’ in UK-Chinese trade.”

The event, which was attended by businesspeople from across Northern Ireland, also heard from the Lord Mayor of Belfast Brian Kingston. He said: “It is important that, as civic leaders, we continue to strengthen our international profile and develop concrete collaborative projects, particularly in areas where we can offer world-class excellence and partnership, such as cyber security, urban development, active ageing, smart city working, the fintech and advanced manufacturing industries, the creative industries and of course, tourism and education.”

Providing broader context was Peter Curran, Head of Trade, Asia Pacific at Invest NI. He said: “NI manufacturing exports are currently worth £89.4M, with machinery and transport equipment accounting for about a third of this. Latterly we have seen opportunities opening up in healthcare, aerospace, food and drink and this is where we see potential for real growth.”

Enterprise Ireland to support Irish exporters with additional trade missions ENTERPRISE Ireland - the Government agency responsible for helping companies to scale and export internationally - has unveiled its intensified programme of ministerial-led trade missions and events to support Irish exporters in the wake of the UK referendum.

In conjunction with the Departments of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation and Foreign Affairs and Trade, Enterprise Ireland has planned 68 events between July and December 2016.

In total, there will be 36 ministerial-led trade missions and events in 2016 - almost double the number in 2015.

Some of the key sectors and markets targeted include: • Lifesciences Trade Mission to the USA. • Financial Services Trade Mission to China.

• Subcontractor Automotive Expo in Sweden.

• ICT Water and Wastewater Trade Mission to the Gulf.

• Software and Education Trade Mission to India.

• Food Manufacturing in UAE and Iran.

Julie Sinnamon, CEO of Enterprise Ireland, said: “A key element of Enterprise Ireland’s plan to support Irish exporters is around market expansion and diversification. We recently announced record export results of €20.6Bn which demonstrates that our strategy of helping clients expand into new markets in recent years is working.

“We will now intensify that approach in order to increase the opportunities for Irish exporters to scale their businesses into other global markets continuing to reduce our overall dependence on the UK market.

“Our strategy is to continue to increase the number of globally diversified Irish companies and we will now firmly focus on opportunities in Northern Europe, the USA, Canada and other high-growth markets including the Middle East and Asia Pacific.”

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Gateway to Europe: An Interview with Shane Nolan, IDA Ireland INCREASINGLY, Ireland has emerged as a key entry point for multinational organisations eager to engage with the European market. Here, agencies such as IDA Ireland are proving instrumental in attracting the very best in international business - be it Airbnb, Shire plc, or Google.

Shane Nolan - the man responsible for Technology, Consumer and Business Services at IDA Ireland speaks exclusively to UK Construction Excellence about the Irish opportunity, the country’s economic competitiveness, and the benefits of foreign direct investment.

WHY DO YOU THINK IRELAND HAS PROVEN SUCH AN ATTRACTIVE PROPOSITION FOR INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS? WHAT ARE THE CONTRIBUTING FACTORS? From a policy perspective, and this is hugely relevant right now given what’s happening in the UK, we’ve

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been pretty consistent over the past 50 years. All economic policy has been pro-business, and we have maintained certain elements of our attractiveness and kept them consistent – a 12.5% tax rate, for instance.

markets in Asia Pacific.

We’ve had a low corporate tax strategy since the 1950s and it’s now very much part of our national identity. Even during the economic downturn we took the philosophical decision to raise personal income tax and not corporate tax, as we felt it was best for us to trade our way out of the issue we found ourselves in.

HOW DOES IDA IRELAND CONTINUE TO ATTRACT HIGH PERFORMANCE INDUSTRIES, PARTICULARLY IN THE AFTERMATH OF THE ECONOMIC DOWNTURN?

We’re also the only English speaking region of the EU zone, and our geographical location makes us a de facto site for a lot of US business coming into Europe. We represent an English speaking interface into Northern European and US markets for a lot of European companies as well, and over the past seven years we’ve been upping our activities in emerging

These are all characteristics which are at the forefront of everybody’s minds in Westminster, in terms of attractiveness to business.

There’s a strata of typical investors that we chase - certainly anything that’s digital or internet based, but also sectors like life sciences, financial services, engineering and the broader tech sector. We like to engage early - after a second or third round of financing - with CFOs and CEOs to let them know the companies we’ve worked with, the advice we’ve given, and how other businesses have started their own internationalisation process, so that they understand where Ireland can fit it.

Obviously, we’re selling a good product. From a regulatory perspective, Ireland is very pro-business and, from a cultural perspective, work ethic in Ireland is quite high. Legislation is common law so it’s very accessible and straightforward for US and UK business, and we’re very active in trying to balance investment right across the country so that no one area ‘overheats’.

We’ve been there in the past – Dublin was potentially overheating in 2006 but we’ve learned from our mistakes.

Today, we try to create clusters alternatives outside of Dublin and Cork - and that’s happening in places like Limerick, Galway and Waterford.

We’re very conscious of the need to not let any one location overheat and we always make sure that we can demonstrate capacity for companies to scale. We’re all the time watching economic indicators to make sure that our competitiveness doesn’t go in the wrong direction.

They say ‘never waste a downturn’ and, over the past five years, those conditions have created a normalisation of expectations around salaries. Looking at some of the Pan EU statistics coming from Brussels, Ireland has faced a net wage rate reduction since 2008, while the European average has increased.

Some sectors have held their own but even within the IT industry, where expectations would be slightly higher in terms of wage increases, the outlook is more realistic. That gives us a more compelling and stable proposition to sell around the world.

A CRITICISM OFTEN LEVELLED AT LONDON IS THAT THERE IS TOO MUCH FOCUS THERE IN TERMS OF INVESTMENT AND NOT ENOUGH ELSEWHERE. HOW HAS IRELAND AVOIDED THIS? UKTI (UK Trade & Investment) do a really good job at this as well, I think their Tech City initiative, for instance

- but in the UK there is an undeniable gravitational pull towards London, which makes things very difficult.

Agencies like ourselves have to hold our nerve but we also need to avoid putting things in locations that don’t fit.

It’s a balancing act at all times.

SPEAKING GENERALLY, WHAT KIND OF COMPANIES INVEST IN IRELAND? ARE ANY INDUSTRIES MORE PREVALENT THAN OTHERS – TECHNOLOGY OR PHARMACEUTICALS, FOR INSTANCE? We’ve seen close to €9Bn in capex from the biotech industry over the past eight or nine years. I can’t think of any other location globally that’s seen that amount of infrastructure development.

The only other sector that has matched that level of capex is internet or data centre investment from the likes of Apple, Amazon, Facebook or Google. From a data centre footprint

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perspective, we are the fastest growing location in Europe, with footprint growth per year around 18%. I don’t think any other geographic data centre hub is growing that quickly and it’s due to a mixture of environment policy and actual atmospheric conditions. Who’d have thought there would be a silver lining to our bad weather!

HOW MUCH DOES FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT BENEFIT THE IRISH ECONOMY? It’s huge, and it goes as far back as 67 years ago when we were still an agrarian, closed economy. Our senior politicians came to the realisation that the only natural resource we have is smart people. Against that backdrop, how do you find your place in the world?

Foreign direct investment was seen as the most realistic course of action helping multinationals to get a foothold into what is now a single market and offering a familiar and single interface for those organisations. It might seem like a single market but it really is 28 different flavours. If you can demystify that then you can perform a very strategic function.

By extension, as the UK goes through capacity constraints during times of high economic growth, we can provide a viable option for UK companies to further scale or manage a European business without exposing themselves to more complex European labour legislation.

To put this into raw numbers, there are about 187,000 people employed by multinationals in Ireland. Those multinationals aren’t here to serve the Irish market; they’re using Ireland as a hub for the entire region.

In terms of indirect employment; for every one job created by a multinational, 0.7 are created in sub-supply - that’s what the most conservative economists would say.

All of this translates to about 318,000 jobs, meaning that 20% of all private sector jobs in Ireland derive their raison d'etre from the multinational scene.

Multinationals export around €129Bn from the country, they pay €9Bn in payroll, and account for around 65% of all corporate tax in Ireland. They’re a huge component of the Irish economy.

The Government is focused on making the decisions that will keep Ireland competitive, as multinationals have very few exit barriers and if the business case no longer stacks up, they’ll leave. This keeps the political system honest in terms of tough economic decisions.

WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU HAVE FOR THOSE BUSINESSES LOOKING TO ESTABLISH AN IRISH PRESENCE? I’d say, reach out to IDA in the first instance. We’ve been doing this 67 years, we’re a government entity, and we don’t charge. Our KPIs are around sustainable long-term investment so we’re happy to explore the business case, and if the business case doesn’t stack up we all walk away knowing

that we at least explored the possibility.

If it does stack up, we can provide a huge amount of practical support and, occasionally, financial support.

We’ve 1,300 clients and we work with around 100 new entrants into Ireland each year. We’ve seen every permutation of business that you can imagine, including the ones that don’t work, so I think we’re in quite a unique position to offer honest advice.

SHOULD THE GREAT BRITAIN LEAVE THE EU AS THE REFERENDUM SUGGESTS, DO YOU FEEL THERE WILL BE A KNOCK ON EFFECT FOR THE IRISH ECONOMY? The UK is our largest trading partner and our trading relationship goes back well before the founding of the EU, so it’s going to be a huge issue for us from a trading perspective. We’re going to see some fragmentation of foreign direct investment, I would think. Any entities within the UK that are serving the European market may feel that they need to segment their operations, but I think I speak for the whole political system when saying we hope that this doesn’t happen.

I don’t think any of us here believed that Britain would leave the EU. We all woke up on the morning of June 24th bewildered for a number of reasons, not least the current global political situation. We need a stronger Europe and the perspective that the UK brings to bear on EU policy. We would want the UK to stay in the EU.

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