Demolition magazine - Issue 6 by Mark Anthony

ISSUE 6

DEMOLITION The industry magazine like no other

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From the Horse’s Mouth the coal face, straight from the horse’s mouth. Our independent research team spoke to demolition professionals across the country and the predictions made are not ours but theirs. Those predictions come from large multinational organisations, smaller regional companies, and even self-employed owner operators. They come from managing directors, financial directors and human resources managers. They come from companies from within and without trade associations. And their comments were made anonymously so they could speak from the heart and hopefully be as honest as possible. Whether their predictions are any more accurate than those of Messrs Gates, Fish and Brown, only time will tell. But one thing’s for sure. If anyone IS able to predict the future of the UK demolition industry, it is the people that made our unique survey possible. Mark Anthony

Predicting the future is a difficult and thankless task. Just ask Microsoft founder Bill Gates who famously stated that he could see no reason why anyone would want a computer in their home. Or weatherman Michael Fish who assured the nation there would be no hurricane less than 12 hours before swathes of the country were levelled by unprecedented winds. Or Gordon Brown, once thought to be the most astute Chancellor the UK has ever had, who confidently claimed that he had put an end to the economy’s cycle of boom and bust just months before we slid into the most protracted recession in living memory. The biggest problem with these infamous predictions, aside from their poor timing and staggering inaccuracy, is that they were all made in ivory tower isolation. Michael Fish might have been less dismissive of hurricane talk if a tree had just landed on HIS car. So when we set about our market research study into demolition market prospects for 2014, we were determined to get our data from Editorial Mark Anthony - Mark Anthony Publicity markanthony@markanthonypublicity.co.uk 07973 456 166

Management Managing Director Jim Wilkinson Director Mark Anthony Director Jamie Wilkinson

Business Development Jamie Wilkinson jamie.wilkinson@eljays44.com 01903 234 077

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Published by ©Eljays44 Ltd - Business Intelligence Eljays44 Ltd. County House, 3 Shelley Road, Worthing, West Sussex BN11 1TT 01903 234 077 Demoliton is published 6 times a year by Eljays44 Ltd. The 2013 subscription rate is £60 per year. Subscription records are maintained at Eljays44 Ltd. County House, 3 Shelley Road, Worthing, West Sussex BN11 1TT, UK.Articles and information contained in this publication are the copyright of Eljays44 Ltd and may not be reproduced in any form without the written permission of the publishers. The publishers cannot accept responsibility for loss of, or damage to, uncommissioned photographs or manuscripts.

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Nothing on TV? Then pour yourself a large drink, sit back, and let us entertain you with the very hottest video footage in the demolition firmament.

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With each passing issue of Demolition magazine, the quantity and quality of industry video footage seems to improve exponentially. And the latest line-up of films do nothing to disprove that theory: Bada Boom Boom - Twin-boom excavator becomes a mind-bending Chinese reality: http://tinyurl.com/mac8wxg CDI drops bucket wheel excavator - Dual blast takes out two quarry giants: http://tinyurl.com/mmz836l

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4 1

stuff

App Happy Storage Apps The advent of laptop computers, tablets and smart phones together with the growing adoption of cloud computing means that we all now have the ability to work anywhere…so long as we can access the files and documents we need to do so. In this edition, we take a closer look at the iPhone and iPad apps that allow you to ensure that you never again attend a meeting without the information you need.

Evernote – If you’re a serious storage anorak, this is the app for you. Evernote allows you to store everything from expense receipts and photos to business cards of contacts as well as files and documents. These can then be searched using keywords and tags. The only drawback is that it requires some dedication to get the most out of its ability to store your entire life.

Hightail – Formerly known as YouSendIt, Hightail started out as a medium through which to send large files and documents. But its online storage capabilities have since come to the fore, allowing you to store vast quantities of information “in the cloud” for ready access via your smart phone or tablet. Bitcasa – Part online backup, part storage app, Bitcasa sits on your computer gradually uploading each new document from your hard drive to the cloud. On the upside, this means that you don’t have to select which files to upload. On the downside, it means that you can quickly use up your free storage allocation and will need to pay for the Pro edition to continue uploading.

Dropbox – Despite our love of Evernote, our app of choice this time around is Dropbox. You can arrange your online storage much as you would organise storage on your desktop computer with files allocated to clients, contracts or anything else that takes your fancy. Of course, you do have to remember to upload the files you need manually. But in terms of volume of free storage available, and sheer simplicity, Dropbox is as close as you can get to taking your filing cabinet with you on your travels.

STUFF

Objects of Desire These boots are made forâ&#x20AC;Ś EVERYTHING

Contrary to popular belief, there are some items of clothing that are equally at home in the boardroom and the site office, as Mark Anthony reports.

weeks to convert a swathe of the finest cow wrapper into footwear fit for a king. The Burford boot features a Goodyear welted design that has been an intrinsic part of the Loake range for some 130 years. Perhaps surprisingly, the Goodyear Welt has nothing to do with tyres. The “welt” is a strip of leather that is sewn around the bottom edge of a shoe. This stitching (the welt seam) attaches the welt to both the insole and the upper of the shoe. The welt is folded out to form a point of attachment for the outer sole. The outer sole is sewn to the welt, with a heavy-duty lock-stitch seam. What does all this mean to the wearer? Simply, it means that the stitching runs around the outside of the sole rather than piercing the part under the foot, maximising the sole’s waterresistance and ensuring that your feet remain as dry as a camel’s humour. Someone far more intelligent than me once said that you should invest in a good bed and a good pair of shoes because if you’re not in one, you’re probably in the other. And since no bed ever looked quite so good twinned with dark jeans, chinos, a business suit or (better still) tweed, I commit to you the Burford boot. PS – To avoid the whining wrath of the style-starved and pernickety pedants of the safety police, the Burford boots from Loake DO NOT constitute PPE and ARE NOT suitable site wear.

It is the perennial problem for the demolition professional that splits his time between site and office. Do you risk getting mud on your expensive loafers; or do you wear site boots with a suit and accept the fact that you’re going to look a bit of a lemon? But there is an alternative. I am talking, of course, about the Burford boot from Kettering-based shoemaker, Loake Bros: a boot smart enough to grace any oak-panelled boardroom; a boot rugged enough to bestride any site regardless of weather and ground conditions; a boot so English it would make Sir Winston Churchill question his ancestry. How English, you say? As English as a country garden. As English as rainy summers, xenophobia and sarcasm. If this boot could speak, it would sound like Terry Thomas and its first words would be “I say.” If this boot were a meal, it would be roast beef served with lashings of English mustard. If this boot landed in a foreign country, it would promptly stick a flag in it and claim it for the Queen. And let’s be clear. This is not some namby-pamby call to “Buy British” to jump-start our beleaguered economy. This is a rallying cry to buy English because it is the sensible and proper thing to do if (a) you are a man; and (b) have feet. Why? Well, for one thing, it originates in Northamptonshire, home to just about all the best traditional shoemakers in the country. For another, these bad boys are hand-made and it takes a collection of craftsmen, artisans and elves a full eight

STUFF

Brought to Book he problem with 99 percent of demolition books is that they are (a) written by enthusiastic amateurs with a slightly worrying obsession with big diggers, (b) written by someone with an agenda other than the sharing of information, or (c) best described as teaching granny to suck eggs guides. The new book from Dr Terry Quarmby is, therefore, something of an oddity in that it is (a) professional and unbiased, (b) academic, and (c) thoroughly researched and supported. Anyone that followed Quarmby through his highly successful presidency of the Institute of Demolition Engineers will know that the subject – the correlation between the growth in sustainability and increased recycling and a rise in demolition accidents – has been a long-time passion. Indeed, readers may recall that Quarmby was the driving force behind the Design for Deconstruction article in the previous edition of this very magazine.

If you are serious about demolition and see the book’s £64 price tag as an investment rather than a cost, this book belongs on your bookshelf…but only after you have read and digested its contents.

To the best of our knowledge, this is the first truly significant demolition book of this century.

The book is available from Amazon from this URL: http://tinyurl.com/qee6baj

state of the demolition nation 9

T h e S tat e o f t h e D e m o l i t i o n N at i o n

State of the Demolition Nation The sector also lost a few companies along the way, with Armoury Demolition and Controlled Group among the more notable victims.

As the UK demolition industry finally shows signs of shaking off the recessionary shackles, Demolition magazine and Demolition-Jobs.co.uk commissioned an exclusive study to gauge prospects for the year ahead. Mark Anthony delivers the mixed messages.

But in some parts of the country, the green shoots of recovery â&#x20AC;&#x201C; long feared dead - have begun to poke their head above the ground. Workloads are on the rise in selected geographic pockets; and many companies are once again on the recruitment drive, looking to replace the employees lost when the recession first struck in readiness for a long overdue upturn. Against that background, Demolition magazine joined forces with leading industry recruitment portal Demolition-Jobs.co.uk to commission an independent market research study to gauge the industryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s confidence as it heads into 2014.

There have been times, over the past five years, when it seemed that the recession actually was an all-consuming bottomless pit of despair. Although landmark projects like the London 2012 Olympics provided some respite, the industry saw workloads plummet, margins slashed and employment levels fall.

What follows then is the details of that study. We have used the respondents own words throughout, although each respondent was assured of their anonymity.

Over a six-week period, the research team spoke to a number of demolition companies of all shapes, sizes and affiliations up and down the country, and the findings were every bit as varied as the companies themselves. The study focused upon five key questions: • Was 2013 better/worse/the same as 2012? • Are you expecting 2014 to be better/worse/the same as 2013? • What factors might boost prospects for 2014? • What is likely to be your biggest obstacle in 2014? • Will you be employing more/less/the same number of staff in 2014?

Why are C&D & different to the rest?

l Approved trainers for NDTG, IOSH, and CIEH. l Over 70 different training courses readily available, including plant assessment.

Prompted by the feedback on these questions, we then conducted a smaller and less scientific study to analyse the key costs facing demolition contractors today and how they vary across the length and breadth of the country. The findings of that study are presented separately on Page 00 under the Postcode Lottery headline.

l Courses written to suit your training needs. l We train anytime, anywhere and any number. l All trainers PTTLS certified. l Behaviour training is a speciality and we are Zero Harm approved trainers. l Industry leading Stress Management and Diversity courses. l We will manage your training records if required.

That the main study highlighted a perceived North/South divide will be a surprise to no-one.

CD &

The fact that at least one specific part of the South sees 2014 as a continuation of the downturn might surprise everyone.

C O N S U LTA N C Y TRAINING DIVISION

01902 686363 www.demolishdismantle.co.uk www.demolitiontraining.com john.woodward@demolishdismantle.co.uk jill@demolishdismantle.co.uk

LOOKING FOR WORK? 11

T h e S tat e o f t h e D e m o l i t i o n N at i o n

2012 to 2013 When the recession struck in 2008, confidence fell lemming-like off a cliff and new work opportunities nosedived. Sadly, the climb back to normality is proving to be just that; a slow and often painful ascent.

“2013 was better than 2012 but, frankly, it couldn’t have been much worse”

When the recession struck in 2008, confidence fell lemming-like off a cliff and new work opportunities nosedived. Sadly, the climb back to normality is proving to be just that; a slow and often painful ascent. However, a good number of regions – notably the Midlands, South East and Scotland – report that 2013 showed a marked improvement over 2012. But these headlines do not tell the full story. Far more telling are the comments from respondents: “The Olympics hangover lasted much longer than we anticipated. As a result, 2013 was only marginally better than 2012. But the market is still improving,” said one Londonbased respondent.

“Work has picked up since May but, prior to that, it was the worst winter we have ever had to endure,” said an East Anglian respondent.

“2013 was much better than 2012. There are bigger and more complex jobs available. We are feeling much more confident” While the feedback from the various regions varied – often wildly – there was one unifying theme that is best summed up by a Hertfordshire-based respondent. “Turnover is up, but profit it not. Margins are still extremely tight.” It is notable, also, that only two regions – Cheshire and Kent – claimed that 2013 was actually worse than 2012. What makes this feedback even more remarkable is that feedback from neighbouring territories – Manchester and Surrey respectively – reported an upturn.

2013 to 2014 By the time you read this, New Year’s Eve and the dawning of 2014 will be approximately a month away. For many of the respondents, that is expected to signal a further improvement in their prospects.

“Since the middle of the year, we have really hit the ground “Hopefully, we can maintain re is no sign that the status quo but I fear that running and theng to slow” t is goi 2014 will actually be worse” The mosttha upbeat response, however, came from a

But in several key areas – notably Kent, Yorkshire &East Anglia - such positivity remains in relatively short supply.

““We are planning for 2014 to be worse. There is more activity out there but only in terms of tenders; not in actual work,” said a Kent respondent. “There is potential for 2014 to be better than 2013. But even during the recession, our operating costs for things like fuel and insurance have continued to rise. So even if we see a sharp upturn in workloads, our profits are still likely to be down to a level we saw five years ago,” said one person in East Anglia. But it’s not all bad news; far from it in fact. “2014 is already looking promising. There’s much more activity in the marketplace and we don’t need to win all of it for 2014 to be a good year,” said one Midlands-based respondent.

London-based respondent. “2014 has the potential to be a record year for us. We are investing already to make sure we’re ready to match the demand.”

LOOK NO FURTHER WWW.DEMOLITION-JOBS.CO.UK 13

T h e S tat e o f t h e D e m o l i t i o n N at i o n

The Boosters On our first two questions, the answers were as varied and disparate as the respondents. But on the question of what is likely to boost activity in 2014, the industry came together as one with a resounding and almost unanimous answer: Housing. The shortage of affordable housing in the UK has been a challenge for about as long as anyone can recall. And for all the initiatives and schemes set in place by successive Governments, the UK’s need for around a quarter of a million new homes each year remains little more than a pipe dream. But with the threat of the next General Election now on the horizon, the current coalition Government has identified housing as a potential vote winner and has acted accordingly with a number of schemes designed to boost activity in the sector. According to the latest figures from the National House Building Council, new home registrations in the UK have risen by 25 percent for the year up to and including August. The figures show continued improvement around the country compared to the same period in 2012. In total 90,730 new homes have been registered in the first eight months of 2013, compared to 72,740 last year over this period. The increase in registrations over the course of the year compared to 2012 are said to be proof of how various Government initiatives, such as the Help to Buy scheme, have helped in the delivery of new homes across the UK.

This news will be music to the ears to the numerous respondents that highlighted housing as the key to their prosperity in 2014 and beyond:

to lp e H e th m o fr ce n e d fi n co “The the st o o b lp e h l il w ve ti ia it in Buy hole construction market as a wtion,” and that is good for demoli “There are great signs within the housing market. Some major developers are back in the market and that helps everyone,” said one London respondent.

“Providing interest rates stay the same and the Bank of England doesn't do anything crazy then things will improve.” Interestingly, a number of respondents cited an increase in Government spending as key to their own recovery. This runs counter to the wishes of Chancellor George Osborne who has long stated that he wants private finance rather than public funding to buy the UK out of recession.

But he too remains cautious. “In truth, there is evidence to suggest that we are now fast approaching what might be called a norm in demand. 2008 levels were unrealistic and unsustainable; and while I am sure there are large parts of the industry that would dearly like a bit more work and a lot more profit, my guess is that current levels of demand will become the new status quo.”

CDM-C services & the for demolition industry

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And while for some time that sounded like empty rhetoric for “the cupboard is bare”, statistics from leading market intelligence provider The Builders Conference suggest that Osborne’s prayers have been answered.

l ISO 9001, 14001 and 18001 systems written. l Site safety audits undertaken by NEBOSH certified auditors. l A One Stop Shop for assistance with demolition projects.

“The Government’s desire for the private sector to lead the industry out of recession has finally become a reality with privately-funded projects outstripping publicfunded contracts for the first time in a long while,” said The Builders Conference CEO Neil Edwards at the end of August.

01902 686363 or 07870 404906

CD &

www.demolishdismantle.co.uk john.woodward@demolishdismantle.co.uk follow us on twitter @johnwoodward

LOOKING FOR EMPLOYEES? 15

T h e S tat e o f t h e D e m o l i t i o n N at i o n

The Barriers If housing and private finance are the demolition industry’s ladders, then bureaucracy, over-regulation, suicidal bidding, cowboy contractors and a skills shortage are the snakes highlighted by the survey. “There is more and more paperwork year on year and that slows everything down and contributes to dwindling margins. There is a major problem in the industry with companies placing suicide bids. They devalue the entire market and drive prices down.

make o t e p o h r e v e “How can we y when there is proper mone ne out there always someo for nothing” willing to work “There are lots of different qualifications and there is a high cost involved with this. But there’s no extra money on jobs to subsidise the increasing costs,” said a respondent in the North West. “The training qualifications that each industry body want us to get comes at a huge cost to achieve and maintain, and the goal posts are constantly moving. Something more universal or standardised would be beneficial and would save on costs,” commented a Surrey-based respondent. While these respondents highlighted the issue of training, several cited the lack of suitable workers to even undergo the relevant upskilling.

“There are not enough skil and experienced people co led into the industry. Our workming force isn't getting any younger.” “Insurance is always an issue, and buying the right policy cover is very expensive. Employment legislation is geared towards employees and it’s very difficult to do anything about it,” said a Midlands respondent. That view was echoed by a respondent in East Anglia. “Employment law has removed our flexibility. We used to be able to expand and reduce staff levels as workloads dictated. But there has been a tightening up of work laws. You can no longer hire and fire as needed.” A number of companies cited rising fuel costs and a continued lack of bank lending as a potential stumbling block. But the overall concerns for 2014 were, perhaps, best summed up by a respondent from the North East. “It’s the same problems as usual. Higher costs for training, fuel, insurance, landfill and Federation membership. At the same time, we are competing against companies that cut corners yet continue to win work from supposedly reputable and safety conscious clients.”

Jobs for the Boys Demolition-Jobs.co.uk was created in 2008 in an effort to help newly laid-off demolition workers back into employment within the industry The website has since helped a huge number of people into new jobs in the UK and – rather more surprisingly – in New Zealand, Australia and the US. But, for all its best and altruistic efforts (unemployed workers can advertise their availability to work free of charge), it could not prevent an industry-wide brain drain that saw demolition lose experienced and trained staff in their droves. So with prospects now looking up in most parts of the UK, are we set to see an upsurge in employment levels? Well, with the notable and unlikely exception of Kent, London and the South East is set to retain its reputation as the employment hot bed well into the New Year while key geographic areas such as Scotland and the Midlands reported plans to rationalise. “We are employing a lot more staff in readiness for 2014,” said one upbeat London respondent.

That view was balanced by another respondent from the capital who said: “We grew last year from 35 to 40 staff so we will look to maintain that.”

rrent u c e h t d e in a t in a “Having m , we 9 0 0 2 e c in s f f a t s f amount o ge.” n a h c o t g in n n la p are not A note of caution was sounded by an East Anglian respondent: “It’s just too unpredictable to tell at the moment. We would like to retain our current staff levels but we just can’t be sure.”

“We’re trying to r we have but if aetain the staff then we won't b nyone leaves e in a rush to replace them.”

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T h e S tat e o f t h e D e m o l i t i o n N at i o n

Conclusions Attempting to get a consensus of opinion from 100+ respondents â&#x20AC;&#x201C; each with their own specific challenges and concerns â&#x20AC;&#x201C; was akin to herding cats. And, at the end of the day, what is true for a contractor in London might be utter nonsense to a contractor plying his trade in Newcastle. Equally, the employment challenges faced by some outlying regions will barely cause a blip in the worker magnet of London and the South East. But there are some findings that are largely representative: l 2013 was generally better than 2012 l 2014 is expected to be better than 2013 in most (but not all) areas l Fuel, insurance, employment and training costs continue to be a major cause for concern l Cowboy contractors, bid undercutting and constantly changing training and qualification standards are, perhaps, the greatest source of industry frustration l The industry is still struggling to attract skilled workers and to maintain those that it has Unfortunately, there is no quick-fix to what ails the UK demolition business. Indeed, there are some aspects of the modern demolition sector that are a doublewhammy and vicious circle all rolled into one.

Take, for example, the issues of insurance, training and cowboy contractors; three seemingly disparate elements of the business but all interlinked to ultimately make life more difficult for the reputable demolition contractor. A contractor is struggling, chooses not to train his staff and, with lower overheads, wins a contract against a reputable competitor. As a result, there is an accident or, worse, a fatality. The insurance industry responds by driving up premiums for the demolition industry. And so the reputable contractor not only lost the job, he is now being penalised financially for the inadequacies and shortcomings of the contractor that stole the contract in the first place! Until clients recognise the difference between a demolition contractor and a man with access to an excavator and a hard hat (or are forced to do so via legislation), these frustrations will fester and grow and the UK demolition industry will remain trapped in the boom/bust cycle that has typified the sector for as long as most of us can remember. Sadly, if our survey and the comments from respondents up and down the country are to be believed, the industryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s fate rests very much in the hands of just about everyone except the industry itself.

T h e S tat e o f t h e D e m o l i t i o n N at i o n

Postcode Lottery What you pay for labour, fuel and to dump waste could be markedly different depending upon your location. Mark Anthony conducts a straw poll and finds that the perceived North/South divide might be more than just a perception. One of the unforeseen bi-products of the Demolition/Demolition-Jobs market perception survey was the perceived differences between individual parts of the UK. While major landmark projects like the London 2012 Olympics unquestionably favoured London and the South East, the increasingly nomadic nature of the demolition business should have allowed contractors from further afield to benefit from this and other opportunities.

The three key costs that we focused upon were: • A qualified 360 excavator operator per day • Waste disposal per tonne • Fuel per litre

So does the North/South divide still exist? We decided to take a closer look at some of the key costs facing demolition contractors up and down the country. And the straw poll findings – although by no means scientific – certainly suggest a marked difference based upon geographic location.

Although qualifications and working hours might fluctuate from region to region and job to job, there was a significant difference on the daily cost of an excavator operator. A contractor in the North East and South West of England would reportedly expect to pay £120 per day while in the South East and East of England, the rate would be £140 per day. That is a 16 percent difference, depending purely upon location. Similarly, quoted waste disposal costs varied from £75 per tonne in the North West and £80 per tonne in the Midlands to as much as £100 per tonne in the South East.

According to our vox-pop study, contractors in the North East would expect to pay around 65p/litre compared to 67p/litre in the Midlands rising to 70p/litre in the South East and as much as 75p/litre in the East of England. That represents a 15 percent difference in the price of fuel depending if you ply your trade in Newcastle or Norwich. But that is merely the tip of an expensive iceberg. A mid-range (25 tonne) excavator running at medium revs could burn somewhere between 13 and 18 litres of fuel per hour and clock up as many as 2,000 hours per year. But perhaps the most notable difference was the range of gas oil fuel prices across the UK. Although these are subject to fluctuations seemingly based on nothing more than market sentiment, the disparity is both significant and potentially costly.

That could mean that a contractor in the East of England could be paying between ÂŁ2,600 and ÂŁ3,600 more per machine per year than an equivalent contractor in the North East.

STUFF

Survey Saysâ&#x20AC;Ś As the constantly shifting legislative goalposts governing demolition and asbestos surveys move once again, industry expert Wayne Bagnall provides a timely update on a new explanatory paper on HSG 264. The HSEâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s position3 specifies there are only two types (classes) of asbestos survey: 1 Management survey - For normal occupation purposes as part of CAR 12, Reg 4, DTM4 2 Refurbishment and demolition survey (RAD) Undertaken when carrying out any refurbishment or demolition work

The Health and Safety Executive introduced this new guidance back in January 20101 replacing MDHS 100 (three types of asbestos surveys; 1, 2 & 3) with HSG 264 (two types of asbestos surveys); Management surveys or Refurbishment and Demolition surveys (RAD).

The HSE guidance intentionally makes no distinction between refurbishment and demolition surveys as the nature, intention and methodology is essentially the same (i.e. locate all asbestos in the effected premises including within the fabric of the building). RAD surveys are by their very nature to be intrusive and may vary in scope and scale e.g. ranging from minor refurbishment covering part of one floor, to a complete demolition including substructures. The key is to ensure the scope and brief for the survey is clearly understood, communicated and recorded as part of planning the works; the survey report must record this under the executive survey i.e. the building is to be completely refurbished etc.

Unfortunately however, some organisations and individuals have taken a more precise approach separating out the refurbishment and demolition surveys effectively misinterpreting HSG 264 suggesting there are three types of asbestos surveys (management, refurbishment and demolition) causing uncertainty and problems between clients, surveyors, contractors and the accreditation body UKAS2.

HSG 264 advocates dialogue between the client and surveyors to ensure a clear scope and brief is provided; this should include defining the extent and limits of the survey to avoid any confusion. Core competence, skills, training and experience are essential elements for a successful survey. HSE provides a strong message on competency under section 2 (HSG264, para 17); viz: l HSE strongly recommends the use of accredited or certificated surveyors for asbestos surveys. l The dutyholder should not appoint or instruct an independent surveyor to carry out a survey unless the surveyor is competent.

More crucially however, the title classification of the survey is much less important than the content i.e. ensuring the correct scope of the survey is established and agreed. As previously explained there should be sufficient dialogue between the client and the surveyor to ensure that the correct scope of work is agreed i.e. intrusive in all the areas and locations where refurbishment or demolition is planned (HSG264, Para 70). The survey report should explain and detail exactly which areas have been included and excluded respectively (HSG264, Para 136). Any examination by HSE Inspectors would seek to ensure that the scope, scale and extent of the survey are adequate and that all relevant locations and areas have been included and accessed.

There are many indicators to assess competence i.e. 3rd party accreditation (UKAS ISO 17020 Inspection), individual qualifications (e.g. P402 or S301) and experience (min 6 months on the type of survey being undertaken). Ultimately you must be satisfied that their skills, training and experience are suitable for the project.

Wayne Bagnall MBE MSc CMIOSH MIDE MCMI Director

It is a clientâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s duty for all construction work on any pre 2000 buildings to provide an adequate RAD asbestos survey as part of the PCI5 under CDM. Organisations and/or individuals may decide to be more "specific" in describing the "type" of RAD survey being carried out i.e. they may refer to it as a Refurbishment survey only or a Demolition survey only. This may be helpful in explaining to clients the type of survey being conducted; however, it may lead to confusion in some quarters as the guidance does not technically differentiate between the two survey types.

Demopedia 1 2nd edition issued in 2012 incorporating changes in The Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 2 United Kingdom Accreditation Services (ISO 17020 Inspection etc) 3 HSG 264 Asbestos: The survey guide (2nd edition) - ISBN 978 0 7176 6502 0 4 Regulation 4; Duty to manage asbestos in non-domestic properties since April 2004

STUFF

Take That, Fake Hat In light of the £14,000 fine handed down to builders’ merchant giant Jewson Ltd for supplying hard hats that did not meet shock absorption test EN 397, the British Safety Industry Federation is stepping up the fight against fake PPE. Mark Anthony reports. Buying a fake watch may be illegal but it is unlikely to be life threatening. Supplying fake personal protective equipment (PPE) however could be the difference between life and death. The British Safety Industry Federation (BSIF) is calling upon the construction and demolition industries to ensure that only CE approved PPE is used to ensure the safety of users.

PPE is defined in the Regulations as “all equipment (including clothing affording protection against the weather) which is intended to be worn or held by a person at work and which protects him or her against one or more risks to his health and safety, e.g. safety helmets, gloves, eye protection, high-visibility clothing, safety footwear and safety harnesses” 2. The main requirement of the PPE at Work Regulations 1992 is that personal protective equipment is to be supplied and used at work wherever there are risks to health and safety that cannot be adequately controlled in other ways. The problem arises when organisations believe they are purchasing adequate PPE for the workforce, when in fact the products may be fake or illegal.

Sub-Standard Unfortunately fake and illegal products being manufactured and sold within the PPE industry is an increasingly common problem. Over recent years, a plethora of items have entered the market place, from gloves to high visibility vests, which have been produced using sub-standard materials. Often these products are finished such that, to the untrained eye, it is difficult, if not impossible, to identify that they are fake.

Earlier this year, for example, sub-standard safety helmets believed to be of Asian origin and marked under the brand name “Burly” and “MkII” found their way onto the international market. These helmets are copies of the well-known MkII® safety helmet, a product manufactured by the reputable JSP® in the UK and should not be confused as being one and the same. The “Burly” helmets do not meet the requirements of the British and European Standard, EN397. They are extremely dangerous; they must not be worn and should be destroyed immediately.

Combatting Counterfeits Obviously the size of this problem is something that cannot be fixed overnight. But measures have been put in place to help combat the counterfeit PPE trend. Ongoing communication between manufacturers and end-users is paramount. The BSIF introduced the Registered Safety Supplier Scheme in 2009 that allows members to identify themselves as having made a formal declaration that they are selling only products which are genuine and legal. Under the Registered Safety Supplier Scheme this independent audit is one of the key requirements to independently verify conformance; it is the BSIF’s belief that the independent audit is a key part of the robustness of the scheme. The BSIF actively promotes this scheme to its members and encourages end users to look for the shield to guarantee compliance, performance and quality.

Due to the purpose of the equipment, PPE needs to meet stringent performance standards. Quality, CE approved PPE meets and often exceeds these performance requirements and will, therefore, protect individuals from hazards faced in the workplace. The use of fake and illegal products could prove fatal. “Many of these counterfeit products arrive in containers from the Far East and can be readily purchased via online auction sites or from street markets. It is quite easy to buy containers of ‘safety’ equipment direct and of course without the correct quality control procedures in place, the buyer will not have a clue what they are purchasing, thereby endangering lives,” says BSIF chief executive officer, David Lummis. “It is not surprising that buyers of PPE are now more wary about procuring items as there is general confusion over certified products, mainly due to the counterfeit items, falsified certifications and the potentially confusing CE symbol that stands for ‘China Export’. Nevertheless, there are measures at hand to ensure employers are buying and supplying the correct equipment.”

“Certified goods will always be paramount in the health and safety world and being extra vigilant when looking after your workforce is essential when health and lives are at risk. By just being aware of the type of counterfeit items available on the marketplace and remembering that offers that seem ‘too good to be true’ usually are, is a step in the right direction,” David Lummis concludes. “Purchasing the right PPE is a big responsibility and safety equipment that doesn’t perform properly isn’t just inconvenient, it may actually cost lives.”

On SITE

Glass Ceiling

The former IBM headquarters in Lotus Park, Staines will be undergoing a careful, if rather noisy transformation during the next year. Demolition reports.

Building owners Legal and General decided that the building could be better utilised and bring in a greater income if it was partially demolished and then rebuilt.

For chosen developer Mansell Balfour Beatty, the demolition of the pitched roof, effectively the third floor, four plant room towers and external staircases before the 53 week reconstruction, meant bringing in Kent-based Lancebox for some delicate and selective deconstruction work.

Additional Challenges The existing 4,000 m2 building will be extended to 6,000 m2 by removing the pitched roof and replacing it with a new steel framed structure with curtain walling, which will then become the new third floor.

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On SITE

By building within the existing structureâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s height, the new building will utilise the existing footings and the internal roof supporting pillars, which will be cut down to single storey height and a new steel upper floor constructed. Lancebox certainly has its work cut out for it as the existing building has some interesting additional challenges to overcome. The car park, which occupies the basement, has a roof that has been coated in several inches of obsolete fire retardant material, all of which has had to be removed by hand before being replaced with modern fire protection. The basement is also home to an electrical sub station, which will eventually be moved to a new site outside the main block. This, however, has presented Lancebox with an additional problem of demolition on the floor directly above the sub station.

This floor is being reduced in thickness, but instead of being able to use large scale demolition equipment, Lancebox have been restricted to using diamond saws to cut the floor into sections. Then a Kubota KX008 mini excavator armed with a Rammer City breaker is used to remove the concrete. Lancebox is also employing hot works to cut through the rebar in the floor. The basement also contains flood doors, which will have to reinstated to protect the building as it sits on a flood plain, just yards from the Thames. Outside a pair of high reach excavators of 26 and 28 metres will be used to remove the roof and upper structure. A Volvo 360 with a Verachtert shear backed by a Cat 330B and a Komatsu EC240B (both also armed with shears) have been completing the removal of the external staircases.

Stop, Thief

Lancebox site has been targeted. Thieves managed to cut through padlocked security gates on the public footpath adjoining the site.

Before work started, the site was raided by thieves who stole around ÂŁ6,000 worth of armoured cable. This was the second time in as many months that a

They then dragged the cable several hundred yards to a waiting vehicle before loading it and driving off.

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On SITE The cable, all part of the now defunct air conditioning plant, was soon identified by police by the unique bus bars that were also stolen at the time. Site manager Danny Samworth said he didn't mind too much as they were caught that afternoon having stripped down the cable for resale. “Saved me the job,” he joked.

Part of the eight-week demolition programme is the removal of the four, 3storey plant towers, each containing the original air conditioning, lift shafts, stairs and a plethora of toilets scattered throughout the building.

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The plant will be relocated in one place on the third floor, in an area less than a quarter of the size, with all the new amenities housed in one central core around a new lift shaft. Because the demolition material cannot be stored or used on site for the future development, Lancebox has had to take it off site and store it for future recycling. The company has already removed over a hundred 50 yard bins plus a fair few 120 yard trailers. Eventually the building will be reduced to two storeys by Lancebox, which will also mean the removal of the utility rooms and the supporting beams. These will be carefully cut through by a 4 tonne excavator, and then craned out of the building.

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The building will be left as an open shell, minus its roof so that the future construction can take place.

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on site

Bath Time

Built in 1938, and paid for by the miners themselves, the baths have stood empty and unused since the pit closed almost twenty years ago. The building was at one point given Grade II listed status but after break-ins, thefts and vandalism, the site was declared unsafe and had to be fenced off.

Under the watchful gaze of a BBC TV crew, the team at Ron Hull Demolition has carried out the sympathetic demolition of the historic pithead baths at Kiveton Park Colliery. Demolition reports.

The demolition attracted national interest. A BBC television crew has filmed progress on the project for a programme that is to be broadcast later in the year.

The historic pithead baths at Kiveton Park Colliery have been levelled by a specialist team from Rotherham-based Ron Hull Demolition. After years of debate about the future of the derelict building - not to mention recent delays caused by nesting swallows - the structure was finally taken down in just a matter of days. The last part to go was the landmark water tower.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;We were originally scheduled to start work some months ago but the demolition was delayed to allow swallows nesting in the building to rear their young,â&#x20AC;? says contracts director David Wall. â&#x20AC;&#x153;As part of our preparation work on the site we saved everything of historic interest including the huge

Royal Doulton troughs that were used when the miners filled their water bottles before going underground, as well as various signs and other fixtures and fittings. They are going to several mining museums and collections. We were even able to re-unite one former Kiveton miner - 75year-old George Smith - with the door of locker 927, which he was allocated almost half a century ago when he started work at the pit. I gather George is planning to hang the memento in his shed.” David Wall reports that – delicate salvage aside the demolition itself has been very straightforward. “The buildings have all been brought down and the clear up operation is now underway. “Brickwork, concrete and rubble is being crushed on the site, a process that we are expecting to complete in another week or so,” he concludes. “Meanwhile metal, timber and other materials are being moved to the Ron Hull Group’s recycling centre in Rotherham. It is a zero-to-landfill operation, so absolutely nothing is wasted.”

ON SITE

General Demolition Displays Delicate Touch A planned change of use for a prestigious building on Londonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Victoria Embankment required General Demolition to demonstrate all its engineering know-how and diplomacy. 34

The former Associated Newspapers building at 50 Victoria Embankment represents some prime real estate. But in order to bring it up to modern standards to meet the technological and environmental needs of todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s commercial space users, UK construction giant Morgan Sindall required the building to be stripped bare before a major refit and refurbishment made the structure ready for reoccupation in Spring 2014. To tackle this complex and technically challenging task, Morgan Sindall turned to Surrey-based demolition specialist General Demolition.

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ON SITE

Soft Strip “The contract started with the soft strip of all five main floors, the lower ground floor and two basements along with the plant room on the roof,” recalls project manager James McKeown. “To ensure that we met the client’s tight project deadline, we had as many as 80 men on site at one time. With the soft strip complete, the company then set about de-cladding the building from the fifth floor down to ground level. “The ultimate plan is to reclad the building in a darker stone finish that is more in keeping with the neighbouring buildings so we had to remove all the external cladding and glazing,” McKeown continues. “We were then left, effectively, with the exposed columns and beams.” The scope of demolition works also called for the removal of a pair of glass atria, an architectural turret, six elevators and four stair cores. According to McKeown, these elements required General Demolition to employ all its structural engineering and temporary works expertise.

“The turret had to be supported and back-propped down to lower ground floor level. The removal of the stair cores also required the installation of considerable temporary works to prop the structural steel elements back to the lower ground floor. All of this was designed in-house by General Demolition and installed by our own engineering team.”

Demolition Arisings The removal of the external and internal cladding and glazing, together with the removal of around 65 percent of the roof slab required the handling and processing of hundreds of tonnes of material

“To minimise disruption during the demolition, we instigated a programme of noisy hours working, carrying out breaking only between the hours of 8 and 9 in the morning and 5 and 6 in the evening and on Saturdays when neighbouring properties were unoccupied,” he adds. “We maintained an excellent relationship with the neighbours throughout the demolition process, and with the Corp oration of London whose code of practice provided the overriding template for our works.” In keeping with General Demolition’s safe working policies, the contract at 50 Victoria Embankment was completed with zero reportable incidents.

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without disturbing neighbouring buildings or causing delays on one of London’s busiest thoroughfares. “Traffic management was a key element of this project,” McKeown asserts.

HIT THE DUST

“All arisings were skipped out of the building using a tower crane and deposited in our compound in Carmelite Street. We processed as much material on site as we could to minimise vehicle movements and disruption to local traffic.” The company was also mindful of the impact the demolition works would have on neighbouring offices.

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ON SITE

The Hunger G If ever the UK demolition industry seeks to address the impending skills shortage with a media campaign that shows what can be achieved with a mix of hard graft and steely determination, then Downwell Demolition managing director Matt Phillips could be its poster boy. Expelled from school at 15 for "disruptive behaviour", he was surely destined to be another statistic of the nation's educational shortcomings. But Phillips disruptive behaviour was probably little more than a physical manifestation of education standing in the way of ambition. At the age of 16, he was cleaning bricks on a demolition site, literally learning the trade from the ground up. By 17, he was involved in the soft strip side of the business. By 19, he had his own excavator and was sub-contracting for some of the best known names in the south of England's demolition business. "I was always hungry and ambitious. When I was cleaning bricks, I wanted to clean more and better than anyone else.

In the decade since Downwell Demolition opened its doors, the company has experienced the highs and recessionary lows. Now, with the economy on the road to recovery, managing director Matt Phillips is targeting a spot at the industryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s top table. Mark Anthony reports. 38

Game

When I was soft stripping, I wanted to be the best at that. And while working as a sub-contractor gave me a good grounding and a deeper insight into the business, I always believed I had what it takes to be a principal contractor," he recalls. The fact that he is father to six children is further evidence that he doesn't do things by halves.

"We had a lot of magnetic signs, so while our machines were on a lot of high profile contracts, no-one ever knew they were ours," he says. All that changed with the formation of Downwell Demolition in October 2003.

Growth Curve By the time he put his principal contractor plan in place at the age of 29, he had a team of men working with him and a fleet of machines that were a common sight on contracts run by considerably larger contractors.

Applying what he had learned from more experienced contractors and with the UK demolition market still on a near-vertical growth curve, Downwell Demolition hit the ground running, regularly achieving year-on-year turnover growth of 20 percent or more. Not that this growth in any way sated his appetite for success.

ON SITE

However, what Phillips and a good many of his more experienced counterparts - didn't know was that the upward curve was leading inexorably to the financial precipice of a global economic meltdown. Oddly, Phillips says that 2008 did not drop his company into a pit of economic despair. In fact, it would be another three years before the teeth of recession truly started to bite. And even then, it materialised not in mass redundancies and a reduction in equipment fleet size but in a gradual erosion of profits. "We found ourselves working more for less and we were having to compete ever more keenly on price merely to win work," Phillips asserts. "But throughout, we managed to maintain and even grow our team. We never lost anyone through redundancy and our team stuck with us even when times got tougher."

Right Hand Woman A key part of that team is Sarah Clark, the person that Phillips describes as his "right hand". Clark has been with Downwell Demolition for the past nine years. And although her business card says commercial director, Clark's role is rather more complex than that title implies. First and foremost, she is Phillips' sounding board, the person with whom he jointly makes the decisions that propel and steer the company. She is also the buffer between Phillips and the 100-odd staff that might make up the Downwell

team at any given moment. When customers call the company's Kent office, it's likely to be Clark that answers the phone; when there's an issue on site, it is communicated first to Clark who will then decide whether it's worthy of troubling Matt Phillips. But Phillips is quick to point out that his is not a meritocracy. In fact, it seems the quickest way to upset him is to describe him as "the boss". With a style of management clearly informed by his "bottom-up" progression through the demolition ranks, Phillips holds that he is just a working man like each of his labourers, each of his operators, each of his contracts managers and estimators. "The guys generally deal with Sarah first, but I run an open door policy at all times," he insists. "I know each of the guys working for me personally, and they regularly come to me with ideas, problems and issues. I wouldn't have it any other way."

When we take on an excavator operator, I hope that he might eventually be a contracts manager. If they are willing to work hard, there is no reason why every member of our team can't progress through the company. That said, I have yet to find anyone as driven and willing to graft as I am." Despite these Jamie Oliver-esque concerns about the work ethic of Britain's youth, progression is very much the watchword at Downwell. The company invests heavily in training to improve the opportunities it provides to its staff and to enhance the service it offers to its clients. And, even though he presides over a sizeable and increasingly respected company with 10 yearsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; experience under its belt, Phillips himself remains driven: driven not by cash or the trappings of wealth; but driven by his constant strive to be ever better.

Constantly Driven When I ask him where he'd like Downwell Demolition to be 10 years hence, he says he has no end goal in mind. His large family is already comfortable, expensive cars apparently are not a spur, and he is notoriously bad at holidays, constantly calling the office to make sure everything is in order.

In truth, it is Phillips' man management skills that set him aside from many of his competitors. And once again, this is almost certainly a hangover from his "coming up the hard way" route through the business. "I am a very good judge of character and very good at spotting potential in people," he says. "When I employ a labourer, I do so in the hope that he might become a mattockman or top man.

But, if he does have an ambition, it is to measure up against what he considers to be the industry elite.

on site

"I still consider it an honour to find myself on the same tender list as the likes of Squibb Group and Erith Group because I know they are very good, well-run companies," he insists. "Of course, I don't like losing work to them. But if our prices come out the same as a company of that calibre and the client chooses them over us, I can at least understand it."

We leave his office together; one of the side effects of Phillips' insatiable hunger for success is that there's always another meeting to attend, another site to visit. Having heard the story of his company's first decade in business, I suggest that he should be proud of his achievements. He looks askance; not through false modesty or strategic humility. As far as Matt Phillips is concerned, he has nothing to be proud of because his work - making Downwell Demolition the company he believes it can be - is not yet finished. When you're as driven as Matt Phillips, it probably never will be.

on site

Levelling the F

Apex Demolition might be a relative newcomer on the demolition frontlin already making waves in its native East Anglia and beyond, as Mark Antho

per week on the Olympics site,” Nicholls recalls. “While the likes of Erith Group took care of the demolition works, it was our excavators, dumptrucks and dozers that cleaned up afterwards.”

Long before Super Saturday and the incredible feats of and Greg Rutherford, Jessica Ennis and Mo Farah, the 2012 Olympic Games had attracted considerable domestic criticism that they were too “Londoncentric” and suggestions that any subsequent legacy benefits would be enjoyed most within the nation’s capital.

Buoyed by this experience and significant injection of cash, Apex has targeted the demolition business in its own right with the formation of Apex Demolition in January 2012 and the appointment of experienced demolition man (and Nicholls’ brother in law) Phil Hayden to drive the new company forward.

Try telling that to Mark Nicholls of Apex Demolition. Despite being based in Peterborough – which is quite a long way outside the M25 – Apex Plant Hire was selected as one of the Games’ preferred suppliers of plant and equipment. “At the height of our activities, we were turning over a quarter of a million pounds

Skills Shortage With the Olympics now a bright but distant memory, part of Apex Plant Hire’s equipment fleet was sold, the proceeds being reinvested in the demolition start-up.

Flatlands

ne, but it is ony reports.

“We were determined from the outset that our demolition equipment should be state-ofthe-art,” explains operations director Phil Hayden. “We have invested in full demolition specification excavators from Doosan and Komatsu and matched them with the very latest attachments including a shear from Northerntrack and a new Atlas Copco hammer.” This “best-possible” philosophy is extended to the company’s focus on training. Nicholls is already a member of the Institute of Demolition Engineers with Hayden set to follow in 2014. The company is a fully paid-up member of the National Demolition Training Group; one of the team – Leon Baxter – has successfully completed his Demolition Supervisor course; and three more Apex operators have been through their CCDO course permitting them to operate high reach machines up to 15 metres.

But Nicholls insists that finding suitable staff is one of many challenges facing Apex Demolition as it scales the industry ladder. Despite being in a part of the country often overlooked by larger national demolition firms, Nicholls reports that operators in particular are hard to come by. “Demolition is growing more technical, regulated and bureaucratic by the day. And the skilled staff needed to work in that environment just aren’t there. I can’t remember the last time I met a decent excavator operator under the age of 30,” he insists. “Demolition is just not attracting the young talent it will need in the future. We have assembled a team of trained and experienced operators. They are great for now, but I do have concerns about where the next generation of demolition professionals will come from.”

ON SITE Risk Averse Despite the constant challenge of finding suitable staff to match its ambitions, Apex Demolition has maintained an impressive upward growth curve since it became a stand-alone entity in January 2012. In its first full year of operation, the company turned over around ÂŁ100,000. In 2013, that is likely to top half a million pounds. Still relatively cash rich from the post-contract sale of its Olympics hire fleet, the company has continued to invest, spending upwards of ÂŁ2 million on tippers, a new Volvo tractor unit and a new low loader to serve the companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s growing demolition activities and those of its Fengate Waste transfer station.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;We are pretty risk averse as a company but we also recognise that we have to speculate to accumulate,â&#x20AC;? Phil Hayden says. â&#x20AC;&#x153;In under two years, we have evolved from a start-up company working as a subcontractor to being recognised as a principal contractor in our own right. You have to invest in equipment and personnel to make that leap.â&#x20AC;?

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As the company prepares for its third full year as a demolition contractor, Hayden and Nicholls are under no illusions about their next big step. Indeed, one of the primary reasons for running Apex Demolition as a separate company was to satisfy the NFDC’s specious annual turnover rules. “Our ambition for 2014 is quite simple,” Mark Nicholls

concludes. We want Phil to qualify as an IDE member, and we want the company to qualify as an NFDC member.” Given the company’s impressive growth to date, those ambitions look well within Apex Demolition’s reach.

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on site

Double Destruction This in turn created a commercial saving for the client by minimising evacuation costs, with the added benefit of reducing the environmental impact and disturbance to the residents.

Robinson & Birdsell Ltd has demonstrated its explosive demolition expertise with a controlled double blast that has altered the Hull skyscape.

An extensive soft strip was completed in accordance with the programme to allow the preweakening process to be undertaken to the five identified blast floors on both structures. On each of the five blast floors a total of 26 pre-weakening breakouts were undertaken. This element of the works was designed by Robinson & Birdsellâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s inhouse explosives engineer in conjunction with an independent structural engineer.

Robinson & Birdsell Ltd recently carried out the controlled explosive demolition of a pair of tower blocks on behalf of client Hull City Council. The tower blocks - Milldane and Ashthorpe - were situated on Hullâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Orchard Park Estate and were 22 and 20 storeys respectively. The demolition was carried out with minimal impact to the local residents and environment.

Exclusion Zones Two safety exclusion zones were developed in preparation for the blowdown day. From the outset, a resident liaison officer was appointed to act as a direct link between all 304 residential properties within the identified exclusion zones, stakeholders and other third parties. Regular resident drop-in meetings were held to answer any questions and queries. A bespoke website was also put in place to share the works information with residents in order to maintain regular communication to reassure and comfort residents.

The blocks sat 700 metres apart, were constructed of in-situ re-inforced concrete for the first 12 floors and changed to in-situ concrete and no fines construction for the remainder. Built in the 1960â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s they housed between 114 and 120 families. A decision was taken during the design phase by Robinson & Birdsell to carry out the explosive demolition of both tower blocks simultaneously.

On the day of the blowdown, the evacuation of the safety exclusion zones was manned by a total of 46 SIS trained security guards, with an additional 26 traffic and beat officers provided by the police. The exclusion zones required the evacuation of over 800 people by Robinson & Birdsellâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s liaison team along with additional staff provided by the local housing authority to a nearby evacuation Food, entertainment and refreshments were provided to those who utilised the evacuation centre. The evacuation commenced at 8.00 am, with both zones taking approximately three hours to clear, providing a completely unoccupied zone prior to blowdown.

The event took place at 12 noon with the clean-up commencing at 12:10 pm which utilised several road sweepers along with a number of mobile jet washing units. The area was sufficiently clean and both debris piles were declared safe by 1.15 pm enabling residents back into their properties with minimal inconvenience. Meanwhile teams started to recover all the barriers associated with the exclusion zone which was completed by 4.00pm. The project was completed without any environmental or safety incidents and to the total satisfaction of the client, local community and immediate businesses essential to WRAP and demolition protocol. Robinson & Birdsell recycled 97 percent of the entire buildings and their contents, in line with our recycling targets.

Ten minutes before blowdown, a number of main roads were temporarily closed by the police to enforce the exclusion zones and minimise any risk and inconvenience to traffic.

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Quintuplet of Doosans Gebr端der Kirchner GmbH of Elxleben in Germany has used a number of new Doosan machines for the demolition of a cultural and recreational centre on the Moskauer Platz in Erfurt in Germany. Three crawler excavators, a wheeled excavator and a wheel loader from Doosan were used on the job. The cultural and recreational centre was opened on Erfurt's Moskauer Platz in 1984. The three-storey concrete building with its restaurant, two halls, a library, a bowling alley and other rooms offered 7000 residents on the Moskauer Platz and many other people from Erfurt an extensive variety of activities. The centre was closed in 1997 and, after many years of vacancy, has now been torn down. A modern community shopping centre is to be built on the site for completion by Easter 2014.

A period of eight weeks was planned for the demolition. Within this time period, Gebr端der Kirchner GmbH ripped down the concrete building, recycled the demolition debris and subsequently compressed it for reuse in the new building. To do this job, Gebr端der Kirchner GmbH chose two Doosan DX300LC excavators, one of which is a new Stage IIIB compliant DX300LC-3 model, a DX255LC-3 crawler excavator, a DX190W wheeled excavator and a DL420-3 wheel loader. The machines were mainly used for demolition and loading work and for feeding the mobile demolition system. They were in action for eight to twelve hours each day and proved to be very efficient during this time.

Andr辿 Kirchner, the company's Managing Director, had the following to say: "We purchased all the machines over the past two years. After our extremely positive experiences with the first Doosan machines with regard to performance, reliability and the comparatively low diesel consumption rate, and also our great satisfaction with the service provided by BVG Dachwig, we decided again on Doosan for our new purchases."

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Pimp My Ride AR Demolition has tricked out its latest Volvo excavator with more bells and whistles than the average bell and whistle emporium. Mark Anthony popped along to check out Foxy’s new ride. Anyone that has ever spied an AR Demolition excavator in the wild will know that the company is not above a little customisation. All the cabs are emblazoned with the pink ribbon Breast Cancer Awareness logo, for example, and most carry the nickname of the operator within: Simmo, Mr Tickle and Foxy among them. But the latest machine to bear Foxy’s stamp (real name Jonathon Wyeth) has taken customisation to a whole new level. The reduced tailswing Volvo ECR235DL was supplied in full demolition specification regalia.

And yet the AR Demolition engineering crew has broken out a large and impressive box of tricks to turn a seriously good demolition excavator into a great one. The first thing you notice is the blue and white chevron rear end with the AR Demolition name resplendent in silver. Above that sits an in-house designed and installed “boxing ring” guard rail that ensures that Foxy doesn’t take a tumble when refuelling or carrying out his daily maintenance checks. Equally visible is the AR Demolition-liveried extending ram guard that runs a good way up the machine’s boom and protects the hydraulic rams from impact and stray reinforcing bar. Just below the ram guard is the now-familiar OilQuick coupler that is a fixture of almost all the excavators in the company’s growing fleet. Foxy sits behind a new in-house designed cab guard that borrows heavily from the traditional Volvo design.

“Now, when a piece of rebar and concrete becomes entangle in the undercarriage, these guards effectively strip the concrete off and leave the rebar to fall harmlessly to the ground.” Although the machine has not yet been across a weighbridge, Foxy believes that the extensive customisation has probably added more than a tonne to the Volvo ECR235DL’s standard 25 tonne operating weight. But he’s not complaining. “I spend more time in the cab of this machine than I spend at home so it’s important that the machine is kitted out correctly for the job,” he concludes.

“The problem with a lot of cab guards is that they are either so close to the cab that it’s impossible to clean the windows, or so far away that the operator is effectively looking through a tunnel,” says AR Demolition’s Richard Dolman. “We built ours in house for optimum visibility, but it can swing open to allow Foxy to keep his window clean.” Less obvious “pimping” sits just below the cab. The toolbox has been extended and enclosed while the machine’s belly plates have received additional reinforcement and protection. Even the machine’s undercarriage has not escaped the attention of the engineering team. “We have designed and installed welded and bolted rebar traps that sit just above the undercarriage,” Dolman explains.

The Key Changes 1 Anti-fall “boxing ring” rails 2 Extending ram guard 3 Rebar traps 4 Swing-open reinforced cab guard 5 Extended and enclosed toolbox and reinforced belly guards 6 OilQuick coupler To see this unique machine in action, please visit: http://tinyurl.com/nspdv48

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BPH Attachments Adds Prolec

The product line affords plant machinery such as hydraulic excavators, loading shovels, material handlers, telescopic handlers and road rail excavators monitoring and protection either within the manufacturers’ limits or more restrictive ones required for specific tasks. For demolition operations a dedicated Rangemaster system is available for high reach demolition rigs. The Rangemaster monitors the machine’s envelope and provides an audible warning to the operator if this envelope is at risk of being exceeded. Prolec’s ProGrade machine guidance systems are designed to enhance the performance of construction plant deployed in applications such as mass excavation, grading, dredging, piling, trenching, ditching, and waterway construction. The company’s ProLoad range of on-board weighing products improve the productivity, safety and compliance of material handling operations in a wide range of applications. “By offering new and existing customers a product which can improve safety and machine productivity we are confident the ProLec range of equipment will prove popular,” says BPH sales director Matthew Bastable.

Hot on the heels of signing up as a distributor of Genesis attachments, BPH Attachments has announced a new distribution agreement with Prolec. Under the terms of the agreement, BPH Attachments will offer the complete range of Prolec equipment which is divided into three LOLERcompliant product groups: ProSafe; ProLoad; and ProGrade. The ProSafe range of safety systems is designed to ensure equipment on which it is installed is able to operate within safe operating parameters during lifting and slewing operations.

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Many Happy Return Lines The hydraulic breaker, that mainstay of the demolition arsenal, turns 50 this year. And Atlas Copco is in celebratory mode. Demolition reports.

It is now 50 years since Krupp Berco Bautechnik acquired by Atlas Copco in 2002 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; revolutionised the demolition business by developing the rigmounted hydraulic breaker, taking out a patent in 1963. The first machine, the HM 400, attracted huge interest at the Hannover fair in 1967 and more than 2,000 units were subsequently sold. The aim was to save time and labour in demolition and mining operations where, at that time, pneumatic tools were widely used. The new concept, which allowed one person operating a rig-mounted hydraulic breaker to do the same amount of work as several operators with pneumatic tools, was highly successful. Indeed, it marked the start of a major transformation in the construction and mining industries.

Today, hydraulic breakers are in general use and dozens of manufacturers around the globe produce machines of this type under a large number of different brands. Tens of thousands of machines are sold around the world each year. “It is our belief that there is always a better way of doing things. That innovative spirit is a vital part of Atlas Copco's identity, a vital part of our way of conducting business,” says Gordon Hambach, Product Line Manager for Power Demolition Tools, Atlas Copco Construction Tools. “It is also the driving force, which has made us a leader in our industry. Innovation is the ultimate driver for long-term profitability and growth.”

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Cats have jaws to spare Caterpillar Work Tools has introduced the MP300 Series, a new generation of Multi-Processors. â&#x20AC;&#x153;This new generation of Multi-Processors uses patent pending booster and speed valve technology and a patent pending jaw locking system, which translates to lower costs for customers and lower emissions for the environment" says Richard J. Hermann, Commercial Manager, Caterpillar Work Tools. The new MP300 Series builds on the success of its predecessor and is compact and light in construction, yet incredibly strong in cutting and crushing capability. The housing's strong rotator provides a continuous 360 degree rotation that allows it to carry out demolition tasks quickly and precisely from any angle. Each Multi-Processor can be equipped with a wide selection of interchangeable jaws: Concrete Cutter

(CC); Demolition (D); Pulveriser (P); Shear (S); Universal (U); and Tank Shear (TS). With one common housing and a properly selected sets of jaws, a contractor can achieve exceptional flexibility with minimum investment, and accomplish most tasks encountered on a demolition job. The various jaws can be quickly installed or changed, thanks to a new patent pending jaw locking system. Instead of taking about 25 minutes to change the jaws with the previous Series, it now takes 10 minutes with only basic tools needed.