A series of top performing firms have been shortlisted as nominees for this year’s ECA Annual Awards, following a rigorous judging process conducted by an independent panel of eight experts. In total, some 34 entries have been shortlisted as nominees for the ECA Annual Awards 2016, spread across eight award
Suspended prison sentence for man who pretended to be Gas Safe Registered Published: 16 August, 2016 A self-employed worker from Edmonton has received two suspended jail terms for falsely claiming to be Gas Safe Registered. Brian Winters signed Gas Safety certificates for a number of properties in London, despite not being registered, heard the Old
There have been renewed calls for clarity on the plan for renewables subsidies, particularly over the arrangements for upcoming contracts for difference (CfD) auctions. The government has been urged to outline how much money will be available and what technologies will be eligible for the three auctions
Increasingly, with the recovery of the property market, housing prices have been on the rise. While the figures do highlight a positive outlook for the sector, with the government encouraging people to now invest into the market through getting on the property ladder themselves, there are concerns abound as to
In a recent piece of construction news, it has been announced that Carillion has been successful in reaching first place in the March 2016 Builders’ Conference BCLive league, the league table for contracts. The success comes as the second time that Carillion has been able to win the monthly title,
Environmental efficiencies and core areas of sustainability are of increasing import, both from a social and commercial perspective. Yet, within the realm of property, where considerable energy savings and efficiencies can be seen, where does the responsibility truly lie? Increasingly, new homes are indeed being developed with environmental concerns in
Most recently, Homes for Scotland’s shortlist has recently been announced for Scotland’s premier industry awards, coming at a time when the organisation is in preparation of its biggest celebratory event yet and highlighting great achievement within the sector. As a reflection of the vast range of organisation archetypes maintained within
Most recently, Sovini Property Services has successful been placed on a total of five frameworks put together by Lancashire County Council and Fusion21. To include all manner of works, these frameworks cover everything from maintenance, all the way through electrical and mechanical contracting, construction, installation and works for heating systems
This month, the Considerate Constructors Scheme will be running its 2016 National Site Awards, the very awards which reward organisations acting in a “considerate” manner; effectively being those organisations working towards improving the image of the greater construction industry through responsible conduct and a considerate approach to any and all
A series of top performing firms have been shortlisted as nominees for this year’s ECA Annual Awards, following a rigorous judging process conducted by an independent panel of eight experts. In total, some 34 entries have been shortlisted as nominees for the ECA Annual Awards 2016, spread across eight award categories, which include ‘Contractor of the Year’, ‘Best Client/Contractor Partnership’, and ‘Best Health and Safety Initiative’. Among those shortlisted include a number of firms who were strong runners at last year’s awards, including Quartzelec, Dodd Group, and Darke & Taylor. The full list of shortlisted firms can be viewed below. ECA Director of Business and the Annual Awards Head Judge, Paul Reeve commented: “Following a record number of entries this year, the independent judging panel had some tough decisions to make to identify the 34 shortlisted nominees. “There were some really good entries this year, with strong stories about company success and best practice in our industry”. A record-breaking 142 award submissions were received for this year’s ECA’s Annual Awards, which were carefully considered by industry figures including JTL’s Director of Operations Caroline Turner, CEDIA’s Executive Director Wendy Griffiths, and Electrical Industries Charity Managing Director Tessa Ogle (see below for full list of judges). The eight award winners will be announced at the ECA Annual Gala Dinner and Awards, supported by headline sponsor LEDVANCE, on Friday 8 July at Celtic Manor, South Wales. Attendees will enjoy an evening of entertainment hosted by Alan Dedicoat – the voice of The National Lottery and Strictly Come Dancing – alongside top comedian Stephen K. Amos. There are now limited spaces remaining – to book your place, please visit www.eca.co.uk. Full list of shortlisted nominees at this year’s ECA Annual Awards (in alphabetical order only): Best Client/Contractor Partnership Award (sponsored by ECIC) DES Electrical Contractors UK Ltd Elsym Installations Ltd Giffen Group Imtech UK Ltd N Smith Electrical Ltd PlanetEarthed Ltd Ron Clark Electrical & Sons Triple Star Fire Southern Ltd Best Health and Safety Initiative Award (sponsored by ABB) Darke & Taylor Ltd Imtech Engineering Services Central Ltd N Smith Electrical Taff Housing Association Excellence in Training and Development Award (sponsored by JTL) Bebbington & Wilson Ltd Elsym Installations Ltd N Smith Electrical Ltd Quartzelec Ltd Innovation in Contracting Award (sponsored by Eaton) Electrical Services & Projects Ltd Marshall Land Systems Ltd ECA Contractor of the Year Award– up to £1 million turnover (sponsored by Edmundson Electrical) JWS Maintenance Kent Ltd Panks Engineers Ltd Power Electrics (Bristol) Ltd The Best Partnership ECA Contractor of the Year Award – up to £5 million turnover (sponsored by Hager) A J Taylor Amalgamated Ltd DES Electrical Contractors UK Ltd Lantei Ltd N Smith Electrical Ltd W T Jenkins ECA Contractor of the Year Award – up to £20 million turnover (sponsored by Electrium) Braham Electrical Ceetech Ltd Haydon Mechanical & Electrical ECA Large Contractor of the Year Award (sponsored by Schneider Electric) Dodd Group Imtech Engineering Services Central W T Parker Group Services Ltd ENDS Full list of ECA Annual Awards judges 2016 1. Martyn Allen, Head of Electrotechnical, Electrical Safety First 2. Tessa Ogle, Managing Director, Electrical Industries Charity 3. Caroline Turner, Director of Operations, JTL 4. Paul Reeve, Director of Business and External Affairs, ECA 5. Daniel Kemp, Features Editor, Construction News 6. Wendy Griffiths, Executive Director, CEDIA 7. Daniel Ferguson, Marketing Manager, Certsure 8. Adjudicator: Helen Atkinson, Director of Membership, ECA Read more about the judging panel here Source link
Suspended prison sentence for man who pretended to be Gas Safe Registered Published: 16 August, 2016 A self-employed worker from Edmonton has received two suspended jail terms for falsely claiming to be Gas Safe Registered. Brian Winters signed Gas Safety certificates for a number of properties in London, despite not being registered, heard the Old Bailey on 15 August. This was only discovered after a gas leak was reported at one of the rented properties. Mr Winters, 35, of South Road, Edmonton, was found guilty of four charges of regulation 3(7) of the Gas Safe Installation and Use Regulations 1998 and was given both an 18 month suspended sentence for two years and a 12 month suspended sentence for two years. He was also given two community orders. Health & Safety Executive inspector Monica Babb said : “Gas Safe registered engineers are regulated and have to ensure they can prove they are competent. This safeguard is removed when people choose not to register, putting people at risk in their homes. “It is important that anybody who has gas work carried out checks their engineer is carrying a valid gas safe registered identification card. They should also check online or call Gas Safe Register to confirm they are competent to carry out the work ” For further information on Gas Safety visit www.gassaferegister.co.uk. Source link
There have been renewed calls for clarity on the plan for renewables subsidies, particularly over the arrangements for upcoming contracts for difference (CfD) auctions. The government has been urged to outline how much money will be available and what technologies will be eligible for the three auctions scheduled to take place within the current parliament. Pöyry principal consultant Andrew Kelly said the sector is unsure as to what is going to happen with the auctions. “There’ll be one this year but we don’t yet know when,” he said. “We don’t yet know what kind of budget’s really available. Beyond that we know even less.” Speaking at an event held by the Westminster Energy, Environment and Transport Forum Kelly asked: “What is the approach to the various different pots? …How does that play out? In particular what does this mean for the less established technologies which at the moment the CfD process appears to be completely absent for?” “This kind of forward visibility is fundamental really to ensuring that we’ve got a healthy pipeline for projects to go through,” he warned. Kelly also called for clarity beyond the next set of auctions, saying there was still “a lot to be done” to improve the CfD process. “In particular,” he said, “…it’s really about the much longer term policy environment.” Lark Energy renewable investment director Matthew Hicks added: “Even though we are probably staring down the barrel of a CfD auction this year, we don’t really know it’s coming.” In March chancellor George Osborne announced in his budget that £730 million of annual funding would be made available in the three auctions planned for the current parliament. He said £290 million of that would be up for grabs in this year’s auction for less established ‘Pot 2’ technologies such as offshore wind. Despite being asked repeatedly about the subject, head of CfD design and governance at the Department of Energy and Climate Change (Decc) Declan Burke said he couldn’t give any more details on the arrangements for the next auctions. He could only say that the Pot 2 auction would be “similar” to the one which had previously taken place. The government has not yet decided on what will happen with the Levy Control Framework (LCF) beyond 2020/21, when the current budget comes to an end. The framework sets yearly limits on the amount which can be spent on renewables subsidies, including CfDs. Asked whether Decc was considering adapting the LCF to take account of the impact of changes in wholesale prices on CfD payments, or whether it was looking at publishing further details of how the budget is calculated to give investors more foresight, Burke said there were currently “no plans” to do either. Source link
Increasingly, with the recovery of the property market, housing prices have been on the rise. While the figures do highlight a positive outlook for the sector, with the government encouraging people to now invest into the market through getting on the property ladder themselves, there are concerns abound as to how the average resident of Britain can afford to get onto the ever-steepening ladder. Of those options available, buying off-plan has proven to be a measure dubbed quite appealing to a sizeable chunk of those aiming to get onto the property ladder sooner than later. In fact, the very notion of reserving a property during the earliest stages of the construction process can, in some instances, even allow for an increment in property value before even reaching the completion of construction – an investment many are unable to ignore. Of course, this also provides the opportunity to reserve property at a more manageable price. Expectedly, buying off-plan is certainly a case of acting fast. Not solely regarding choosing the best property available, but it has also been reported that some of the best value packages are also offered at the earliest of stages; moving slow, in this instance, can make a considerable difference. Of course, this doesn’t mean individuals should rush either, and potential buyers are urged to double, triple and quadruple check property dimensions as well as progress of the project to ensure it fits the bill. Also quite beneficial in choosing to purchase a property off-plan can prove to be the option to select fittings, finishes and fixtures from some developers before ever moving in. Of course, with all this done before the contractor even finishes on the site, this allows for a far greater deal of customisation and personalisation in a much easier and oft more affordable way; effectively, building your home from ground up, and not a house to convert into a home at a later date.
In a recent piece of construction news, it has been announced that Carillion has been successful in reaching first place in the March 2016 Builders’ Conference BCLive league, the league table for contracts. The success comes as the second time that Carillion has been able to win the monthly title, and also the second month that Carillion has now been first place in the league for 2 months running. The win can be attributed to Carillion’s success in securing the Google contract for its new headquarters in London, a contract of value around £300m; in fact, the very same title which BAM originally won in 2013 before returning to tender more recently. The total amount of value in contracts achieved for March’s league sat at a figure greater than £4bn, returning from February’s dip down to £3.76bn. Of course, with the value of the Google contract sitting as a sizeable portion of the overall value, nevermind Carillion’s own total contract value, its contribution to the win will no doubt have proven quite significant. Second place for March went to another key industry player, Galliford Try, who came in with a a total combined value of £274.2m, a very respectable result, but falling short of the Google order alone in this instance, making Carillion’s win quite significant. The largest of those contracts achieved by Galliford Try came in at £73m to construct three schools for Scotland. Other notables in March’s results was Kier, coming in at fourth place with a value of £180.3m, a result of 23 contracts including a major development contract for the development of 259 residential homes. Morgan Sindall came out of the league with the largest number of contracts as a whole, winning some 25 for March, with the value of these contracts coming in at £76m.
Environmental efficiencies and core areas of sustainability are of increasing import, both from a social and commercial perspective. Yet, within the realm of property, where considerable energy savings and efficiencies can be seen, where does the responsibility truly lie? Increasingly, new homes are indeed being developed with environmental concerns in mind, which certainly does paint a good picture for the future of the housing sector, yet, notable is the lack of efficiencies that can be seen across older properties, as well as a concerning deficit in the number of homes (as a proportion) which incorporate local power generation. As has been previously highlighted, one of the core areas within which improvements can be made from an energy perspective is through renewable generation techniques, primarily solar. Yet, while Germany has shown great example within Europe for progress in the realm of renewable energy generation and similar plans, thus far, it is concerning to see that the UK simply hasn’t achieved anywhere near as much success. But why is this? Previously, even with the Green Deal in existence, numerous industry contractors had reported a concerning lack of interest in pursuing home energy improvements, and now without even that provision available, incentivisation for sustainable techniques now seemingly all boils down to the conscience of the homeowner, or renter; but should it? Especially in the case of rented properties, concerns can, and have been raised as to the viability of installing renewable energy generation mediums such as solar PV, yet it is also something increasingly seen as a step in the right direction from a social perspective. And while it has recently been announced that tenants can indeed petition their respective landlords for permission to make sure improvements to their properties, the question could be raised – is this truly the responsibility of the tenant alone, or should responsibility fall on the landlord, or both parties together?
Most recently, Homes for Scotland’s shortlist has recently been announced for Scotland’s premier industry awards, coming at a time when the organisation is in preparation of its biggest celebratory event yet and highlighting great achievement within the sector. As a reflection of the vast range of organisation archetypes maintained within the Homes for Scotland membership portfolio, this year’s awards feature a realignment of the categories so as best to highlight the core membership activity – the building of homes to tie in with a range of differing needs, aspirations and requirements. As such, the event is far more targeted and relevant to the interests and operations of the member base than ever before. Of all those entries shortlisted this year, the entirely revamped programme is to involve site-visits for all those shortlisted within the Private and Affordable Housing Development award categories. This will be done by a wholly independent judging panel. Additionally, those in the shortlist for the Private “Development of the Year” category are also to be put up for consideration for the “Home Builder of the Year” award, which will also incorporate interviews and a great deal of scrutiny to best ensure that the winner truly does represent the best in the industry. Those wishing to keep a close eye on the winners of the awards are advised that winners are to be announced on the 20th of May, at the Homes for Scotland Annual Lunch. The event will be at the EICC and will, in fact, be hosted by Hugh Dennis, renowned comedian and actor. Now enjoying a 14th year in operation, this year’s event is expected to build upon the last, with the event thus far achieving yearly growth. In fact, for this year’s event, it has already been reported that greater than 1000 guests, all key industry representatives, have confirmed attendance for the upcoming event.
Most recently, Sovini Property Services has successful been placed on a total of five frameworks put together by Lancashire County Council and Fusion21. To include all manner of works, these frameworks cover everything from maintenance, all the way through electrical and mechanical contracting, construction, installation and works for heating systems – a truly diverse range of services. As for the frameworks, the Fusion21 Installation Works Framework, is a national planned-maintenance framework estimated to sit at a total value of some £300m over the course of a four year period. The Fusion 21 Servicing, Maintenance and Installation of Heating Systems Framework, on the other hand, sets out works for an assortment of both reactive and planned works for a mixture of commercial and domestic installations; in total, this framework being worth somewhere up to a value of £200m, also over a four year period. Sovini Property Services has also seen success in landing a number of maintenance and repairs frameworks for a variety of construction and M&E works with Lancashire County Council. These then tie in very nicely with the company’s success on the Fusion21 frameworks and effectively paint a very busy future for the company in the times to come. This, also comes very quickly onwards from the company’s most recent success in landing a £1.2m framework for the adaptation of homes for tenants with disabilities, on behalf of Blackpool Borough Council. Nodding to the recent stream of success for the company, Sovini Property Services’ Managing Director, Phil Pemberton highlighted the incredible achievement of the company in landing so many key frameworks within such a small period of time – a matter of weeks, in fact. He then went on to add: “We have surpassed our financial targets this year, and the business as well as our reputation has grown exponentially as showcased by these accomplishments.”
This month, the Considerate Constructors Scheme will be running its 2016 National Site Awards, the very awards which reward organisations acting in a “considerate” manner; effectively being those organisations working towards improving the image of the greater construction industry through responsible conduct and a considerate approach to any and all works performed. Key areas highlighted as integral to success at the awards is to include the considerate approach specifically taken towards the environment, the workforce and the surrounding public – key stakeholders which, historically, have not always been as much at the fore of concern for construction contractors as they should be; this, of course being something the Considerate Constructors Scheme aims to change. For the ceremony, it is expected that there will be greater than 3,500 guests from all manner of shape, size and type of construction site over the course of the 11th to the 29th of April in Manchester, London and Edinburgh. This time will also herald the first ever time that value bands have been incorporated so that individual sites can then be considered based upon total project value. Out of those thousands of sites which have been registered, greater than 900 have reportedly been chosen to win Gold, Silver and Bronze Awards, with a sole Gold Award winner in each value band category being presented with the envious title of “Most Considerate Site 2016”; those shortlisted but not in receipt of this award will then be offered Runner-Up Awards. As explained by Mike Petter, the Considerate Constructors Scheme’s Chairman commented: “Award-winning sites have demonstrated exceptionally high levels of best practice in meeting and exceeding the Scheme’s Code of Considerate Practice.” Then highlighting 2016’s event as possible the largest ever hosted, it is clear that this year’s National Site Awards will go a long way in rewarding the excellent work done by considerate constructors operating today.
