Category: Construction Industry Today | Subscribe to Construction Industry Today Feed Published Wed, Mar 2nd 2016 ISG has achieved a 100 percent success rate by securing a place on every one of the Lots it targeted on the new £2 billion YORbuild 2 framework. The contractor has secured a
Free information for small and medium-sized firms has been released by the Electrical Contractors’ Association (ECA), to coincide with the government’s April 2016 introduction of requirement to use BIM Level 2 in significant centrally procured contracts. The ECA’s ‘BIM Basics’ checklist highlights the ‘bare essential’ requirements that
According to Savills, take-up in the Cambridge office market hit circa 200,000 sq ft (18,580 sq m) in July and August alone, reflecting a 21% increase on the H116 total of 165,000 sq ft (15,329 sq m). Despite a slow start to 2016, figures suggest it is now business as
Galliford Try has won a £62m contract to build new accommodation for students at Newcastle University. Above: Artists impression of the new Richardson Road halls The university’s existing Richardson Road flats – known as Ricky Road and built in the 1970s – will be pulled down. In their place will
Our industry faces major skills challenges to deliver the pipeline of work that includes increased housebuilding and major infrastructure projects. And it needs new skills to drive up its productivity. It must also attract more people to replace those due to retire and potentially those that have been coming in
Warning to Landlords as 34% sublet with out consent According to a new report, a third of tenants (34%) are currently subletting without the landlord’s consent and four out of ten tenants admitted that they were planning to sublet in the near future, without telling their landlord. The study, conducted
Homes that were foreclosed during the housing crisis in the United States have gained almost twice as much value as other homes, according to a new analysis. But the original owners of those homes have not benefited from that recovery as low end homes were much more likely to be
Rail for London has started shortlisting firms to bid for the £150 million project that will see the construction of a new London Overground line that will connect the centre of the capital to the planned 11,000 home development at Barking Riverside. The contract will include the construction of an
The UK’s roads watchdog has warned Highways England that it must change its planning processes if it is to be successful in delivering its £15 billion Road Investment Strategy. If the agency is to meet its delivery targets for the rest of the programme, the Office of Road and Rail
Oil and gas giant Shell is preparing for strike action across seven of its platforms in the North Sea as part of the largest UK oilfields industrial dispute for ten years. Earlier in the week, workers at Wood Group, the company which provides Shell with maintenance services, voted in favour
Category: Construction Industry Today | Subscribe to Construction Industry Today Feed Published Wed, Mar 2nd 2016 ISG has achieved a 100 percent success rate by securing a place on every one of the Lots it targeted on the new £2 billion YORbuild 2 framework. The contractor has secured a place on two of the most coveted Lots for each of the four YORbuild 2 regions. Posted via Industry Today. Follow us on Twitter @IndustryToday As the successor to the original YORbuild framework, which delivered over £700 million of projects over its five year duration, YORbuild 2 is one of the largest public sector procurement vehicles for new build, refurbishment and design & build construction projects in the Yorkshire and Humber regions. Subdivided into four regions encompassing all 22 local authorities within the Yorkshire and Humber area – the North, South, East and West – ISG has proved successful on the ‘over £4-10 million’ and ‘over £10 million’ Lots for each of the regions. The four year capital works framework has an option to be extended by two years and building on the scope of YORbuild, looks set to include BIM capability and additional forms of contract. This latest appointment adds to ISG’s growing list of high-profile public sector framework wins, including North West Construction Hub, the EFA Framework, NEPO Framework (North East Procurement Organisation), the Cleveland Fire Authority capital build framework, Ministry of Justice (MoJ) Strategic Alliance Agreement Framework for Construction, the Construction Framework South West and the Welsh schools and public sector framework SEWSCAP2. Phil Brown, ISG’s UK Construction managing director, commented: “Following significant interest and competition for places on this major regional framework, it’s a great result for the business to be successful across each of the Lots we contested. ISG is consistently viewed as a trusted and collaborative framework partner, driving efficiencies and learning into the build process, and these credentials undoubtedly proved persuasive for our YORbuild 2 bid.” Source link
Free information for small and medium-sized firms has been released by the Electrical Contractors’ Association (ECA), to coincide with the government’s April 2016 introduction of requirement to use BIM Level 2 in significant centrally procured contracts. The ECA’s ‘BIM Basics’ checklist highlights the ‘bare essential’ requirements that firms within the building services sector will need to meet to work on BIM projects. Developed with the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE), the ECA’s ‘BIM Basics’ checklist includes the basic requirements within the following key areas: – Capability and skills – Processes – Software and hardware – Digital information. According to the ECA’s Bill Wright: “Central government spends billions each year on buying goods and services, and it’s vital that building services firms of all shapes and sizes quickly get up-to-speed with BIM Level 2. “BIM won’t work properly if the specialist supply chain is fully ready, and the ECA’s easily digestible ‘BIM Basics’ Checklist will help smaller and lower tier contractors to understand what may be their most likely interactions with BIM projects.” The ECA’s free ‘BIM Basics’ checklist can be viewed by clicking here. A more extensive version, containing more ‘advanced’ BIM requirements, is available exclusively to ECA Members only. The ‘BIM Basics’ checklist is freely available until 1 July 2016. Research conducted by the ECA last year found over half of contractors (54%) with a turnover of less than £1 million are ‘not ready at all’ for BIM, while 3 in 10 firms (30%) with earnings between £1m and £20m were in the same position. The BIM checklists are part of the ECA’s response to help companies’ increase their relevant BIM understanding and capability. Source link
According to Savills, take-up in the Cambridge office market hit circa 200,000 sq ft (18,580 sq m) in July and August alone, reflecting a 21% increase on the H116 total of 165,000 sq ft (15,329 sq m). Despite a slow start to 2016, figures suggest it is now business as usual for Cambridge post-Brexit. In the last two months, there have been a number of transactions that have seen international occupiers commit to the region, rubber stamping the city’s reputation as a world class centre for R&D, innovation and technology. Examples include, Enplas Corporation, a Japanese life sciences and engineering firm, who has recently taken 1,515 sq ft (140 sq m) of space at Chesterford Research Park and SBM Life Science UK Ltd. The French company, SBM, recently acquired part of Bayer Environmental Science, and will be focusing on biologics, soils and fertilizer products from its new 4,571 sq ft (424 sq m) UK and Ireland headquarters at Technopark. Furthermore, Cambridge has also encountered a number of new entrants, mostly in the tech sector. These businesses have continued to migrate towards the city centre, adding to the growing cluster of incumbent occupiers. Bateman House, for instance, located on Hills Road, has almost reached full occupation in the past 12 months, welcoming five new tech companies to the area. These include Genestack, Intrasonics, Docker, Electric Imp and Malin Life Sciences. They have joined established businesses such as Raspberry Pi, who took more than 7,000 sq ft (650 sq m) at 30 Station Road and Astra Zeneca, who now occupy a total of circa 59,000 sq ft (5,481 sq m) at Academy House and City House, also on Hills Road, cementing the city centre’s status as a growing tech and pharmaceutical hub. As a result, Savills remain confident that businesses are taking their finger off of the pause button and are now starting to look for new space in the city. Existing occupiers, mostly start-ups, who have outgrown incubator space in the business and innovation parks, are now looking to move into bigger and more central premises. William Clarke, associate director of business space at Savills Cambridge, comments: “The amount of space currently under offer almost certainly signifies an end to the period of indecision that occurred in the first six months of the year prior to the referendum. This latest activity is a testament to the underlying strength of the Cambridge market. Whilst there is undoubtedly some uncertainty still to come, we are confident that Cambridge will continue to weather the storm well. “Overall, supply still remains low, however there is hope that this positive sentiment will encourage further development in the city, which in turn should have a good impact on the market as a whole.” Source link
Galliford Try has won a £62m contract to build new accommodation for students at Newcastle University. Above: Artists impression of the new Richardson Road halls The university’s existing Richardson Road flats – known as Ricky Road and built in the 1970s – will be pulled down. In their place will be built six new blocks ranging from four to 10 stories. The new development will provide 1,279 en suite bedrooms, a 351 increase in student bed spaces on the site. Galliford Try is expected to start work on site this summer and have the new halls open for students in September 2018. This article was published on 18 Mar 2016 (last updated on 18 Mar 2016). Source link
Our industry faces major skills challenges to deliver the pipeline of work that includes increased housebuilding and major infrastructure projects. And it needs new skills to drive up its productivity. It must also attract more people to replace those due to retire and potentially those that have been coming in from other parts of the European Union. Despite growing apprenticeship numbers and increasing volumes of training, we are struggling to meet these needs. Inevitably, this raises questions about what role the CITB should be playing. New priorities These questions will be considered by the Farmer Review and the government’s review of industry training boards announced in the Post-16 Skills Plan, and they are naturally being tackled head on by the CITB itself. I believe there are three key questions: whether a levy and grant system is still right for construction; what should the CITB’s remit be; and how it should reform to deliver it. These are not rhetorical questions; they are serious and complex. Ultimately, the first question will be answered when the CITB seeks industry consensus for a new levy order, but we must all work together to answer the others in the run-up – and urgently. Historically, much of the CITB’s focus has been to get as much money as possible back into the hands of employers in the form of grants and to directly provide high-quality training that gives learners the skills to be safe and productive on site. The CITB has achieved a lot on both fronts, but it’s obvious from construction’s persistent skills problems that it’s not enough. The levy system must do more than simply cycling funds back to employers – it must add value to them. It must invest in skills and expect strong returns. What does this mean in practice? The CITB has listened to industry and will focus on three key priorities to support the critical, collective work the industry struggles to do for itself. These are: Careers – to help industry recruit the workforce of the future and map out the opportunities to progress within it; Qualifications and standards – to support the development of high-quality, industry-led standards the workforce needs; Training and development – to improve employers’ access to affordable, quality training where and when it’s needed. We will use our funding, our evidence base and our influence to deliver for industry on these fronts. Entrepreneurial attitude This requires a much clearer understanding of what skills are most needed, now and in the future, as well as targeting investment increasingly towards skills areas with an industry-wide impact, engaging with employers, government and education and training providers to ensure the right courses are available at a cost that works for industry. Increasingly, we will do this through partnering with or commissioning the providers who can best deliver them. Recently, for example, the CITB set up a new ASET Scaffolding Academy in Scotland by commissioning a local training partner. We need more of this – an entrepreneurial attitude towards investing in skills. The forthcoming Farmer Review will remind us that the construction industry, with its traditional structures and ways of working that inhibit investment in skills long term, can’t continue operating how it is now. Nor can its training board. This article was originally published by Construction News. About the author James Wates is the Chairman of CITB and has worked in the construction industry most of his life, starting on site as a schoolboy during holidays. He joined Wates Construction as a management trainee, progressing through line management to running sites before taking on a general manager role in 1989. Since then he has progressed to Chairman of the main Group Board. He was awarded the CBE in January 2012 for Services to Construction and the Charitable sector. Source link
Warning to Landlords as 34% sublet with out consent According to a new report, a third of tenants (34%) are currently subletting without the landlord’s consent and four out of ten tenants admitted that they were planning to sublet in the near future, without telling their landlord. The study, conducted by PropertyLetByUs.com – a leading online letting agent, also shows that the majority of tenants (96%) are subletting the property for short time to help a family member/friend out and 82% claim they are subletting to help pay the rent. Over half of tenants (52%) say that they planning to sublet their property in the near future, with the landlord’s consent. A further 78% of tenants think they should be able to sublet the property without the landlord’s approval. According to Landlord Action, there is a growing number of instructions from landlords who want to start possession proceedings against tenants who have sublet, via Airbnb, without their consent. Subletting is fast becoming one of the leading grounds for a tenant eviction. Jane Morris, Managing Director of PropertyLetByUs.com comments: “It is very worrying that so many tenants are subletting without telling their landlords. It is imperative that landlords make regular checks on the property to check for additional occupants. Many tenants will try to hide the fact they are subletting, so the warning signs can be excessive rubbish and accelerated wear and tear. When there is multiple occupancy in a property, wear and tear and damage is dramatically accelerated. There can be increased mould and condensation with more occupants. Landlords can also face expensive repairs for damage and redecoration costs, to bring the property up to the standard it was at check-in. Illegal subletting falls under tenant fraud and renting a property makes landlords vulnerable to fraud. It is vital that landlords and agents carry out thorough pre-letting checks. The purpose of referencing a tenant is threefold – to check the person is who they say they are; that they can afford the rent; and that they have honoured past commitments. Last year, the government said it planned to make it easier for tenants to sublet a room by legislating against the use of clauses in private fixed-term tenancy agreements, that expressly rule out subletting, or otherwise sharing space on a short-term basis. However, it has not yet set a date for a consultation on the plans.” PropertyLetByUs.com has put together some tips on what evidence to look for if you are suspicious that a tenant is subletting: • Remember it pays to make regular checks on the property – every 3-6 months is advisable • The tenants will be hiding evidence of extra tenants, so look out for additional clothing and shoes; excessive rubbish for the number of registered tenants; additional bedding like sleeping bags and pillows; suitcases and rucksacks; and extra toothbrushes • Before taking on a new tenant, make sure you carry out a thorough reference to ensure you know who your tenant is Source link
Homes that were foreclosed during the housing crisis in the United States have gained almost twice as much value as other homes, according to a new analysis. But the original owners of those homes have not benefited from that recovery as low end homes were much more likely to be foreclosed, the report from real estate firm Zillow shows. It explains that during the run-up to the housing bubble, many low income earners bought homes, and the home ownership rate rose from about 65% in the middle of the 1990s to almost 70% in 2006. However, when home values crashed in 2007, millions of home owners had to walk away, abandoning their initial investment and missing the opportunity to gain equity as home values recovered. It also points out that the rich-poor divide is growing in the US. In 2000 high income households made an average of six times as much income as the lowest third of households. In 2015, the top third made nearly seven times as much as the lowest third. Of all foreclosed homes, some 46.7% were among the least expensive third of homes. Only 16.6% were among the most expensive third. Foreclosed homes gained value faster than other homes, and in many markets, are more valuable now than they’ve ever been. Since the lowest point in the housing bust, the average US home has risen 22% in value, while the average foreclosed home has risen 39% in value. The report suggests that in many cases, investors bought foreclosed homes and converted them into rental properties, benefiting from the recovery as home values bounced back. The percentage of single family homes being rented out has risen from 13% to 19% over the past decade. ‘Income inequality is an important topic in the US right now, because the gap between the richest and poorest Americans is growing,’ said Zillow chief economist Svenja Gudell. ‘Many lower income Americans lost their homes during the foreclosure crisis, forcing them to pay ever increasing rents and locking them out of the benefits of the housing market recovery,’ she added. Meanwhile, a separate report from the National Association of Realtors shows that at a national level, housing affordability is down from a year ago as higher prices continue to outpace household income growth. Housing affordability declined from a year ago in April pushing the NAR index from 167.5 to 162.4. The median sales price for a single family home sold in April in the US was $233,700 up 6.3% from a year ago. Regionally, all four regions saw declines in affordability from a year ago. The Midwest had the largest decline of 5.6%, the South had a decline in the affordability index of 3.4%, followed by the West with 2%. The Northeast had the smallest dip in affordability at 1%. By region, affordability is down in all regions from the previous month. The Midwest with a fall of 6.2% had the biggest decline, followed by the South and West at 4.6% and 4.3% while the Northeast had the smallest decline in affordability of 3.4%. Source link
Rail for London has started shortlisting firms to bid for the £150 million project that will see the construction of a new London Overground line that will connect the centre of the capital to the planned 11,000 home development at Barking Riverside. The contract will include the construction of an elevated extension from the existing railway line along with a new station at the Barking Riverside development and the modification of the existing Network Rail operational railway infrastructure. The development will see the existing railway lines from Barking station modified over a 3km stretch with a new 1.5km railway extension from Renwick Road over a bridge to the new terminus station. The works will also include the construction of an embankment ramp that will lead up to a new concrete viaduct which will support an extension of the two track railway of 1.5km into the middle of the new Barking Riverside residential development. The RfL will provide an approved and completed design for the works to the firms invited to tender for the development. Work is due to start on the project in February 2018, while the completion date has been set as August 2020. Meanwhile, Sadiq Khan has said that Southern Rail is an “embarrassment” to London and urged the government to remover the operator of its franchise. The Mayor accused the company of providing a “disgraceful” level of service which has let down its commuters. Khan has now called on the Department for Transport to take control of Govia Thameslink Railway operations in the short term, which inflicts “unceasing misery” on its thousands of passengers on a daily basis. This week, the operator introduced an emergency timetable with almost 350 services cancelled each day, which left commuters stranded on replacement bus services or crammed onto full trains. As a result, hundreds of fuming passengers gathered at Victoria Station to protest.
The UK’s roads watchdog has warned Highways England that it must change its planning processes if it is to be successful in delivering its £15 billion Road Investment Strategy. If the agency is to meet its delivery targets for the rest of the programme, the Office of Road and Rail said that the agency would require a more “robust internal planning process.” The comments came in the ORR’s first yearly review of the performance of Highways England which stated that the agency has made a “good start” to RIS by spending in line with the agreed funding and meeting all of its performance targets. However, there were concerns raised over the ability of Highways England to deal with “future risks” including skills shortages as workloads increased. In 2015/16, Highways England spent just more than £1.7 billion on renewals and enhancements, which will rise to £2.2 billion the following year and £3 billion in 2020. Joanna Whittington, Chief Executive of ORR, warned that most of its delivery targets had been set for the latter stages of its five year funding period and the agency required “more work to do to demonstrate how it will ensure delivery of its capital investment plan.” Whittington added: “The company needs to be clear about how it will manage some specific risks, such as those associated with the availability of skilled workforce and capacity of the supply chain to deliver.” The report also stated that the sector’s “strongest capacity constraint” was its ability to attract people with the appropriate skill set. Earlier in the week it was revealed that Highways England was to replace the current Collaborative Delivery Framework with a £7 billion framework. As part of its plans, Jim O’Sullivan, Chief Executive, outlined plans for a “route to market” initiative that would consult suppliers on how the framework should be shaped moving forward.
Oil and gas giant Shell is preparing for strike action across seven of its platforms in the North Sea as part of the largest UK oilfields industrial dispute for ten years. Earlier in the week, workers at Wood Group, the company which provides Shell with maintenance services, voted in favour of strike action in protest at the changes to working conditions and pay. The dispute is a reflection of the increasing tensions in North Sea industrial relations as businesses struggle to keep the basin competitive in the face of low oil prices, high costs and declining production. Shell says that it is not expecting disruption to hit immediately and has put contingency plans in place to make sure that essential maintenance would carry on as normal if the strike goes ahead as planned. Shell has been accused of recruiting “scab labour” by trade unions after advertisements were posted to a job agency website which offered maintenance work on week by week contracts. RMT and Unite union leaders said that their members had voted overwhelmingly in favour of strike action. Head of Shell’s upstream business in the UK and Ireland, Paul Goodfellow, said that he was disappointed with the outcome of the vote and was hopeful that the Wood Group and its employees would be able to resolves their issues without the need for a walkout. Goodfellow commented: “Our priority is to ensure that the safety of our people and assets will not be compromised during any industrial action.” Meanwhile, Head of Wood Group’s Eastern Region, Dave Stewart, said that the company was hopeful of reaching an agreement with the unions that “meets our mutual goal of safeguarding these jobs in the North Sea now and in the future.” On average, Wood Group employees are facing a basic salary reduction of 3%.