A coach company in Wrexham has been fined £90,000 after it repeatedly failed to comply with legal notices to get its lifting equipment examined. Mold Magistrates’ Court heard that, between 4 April 2014 and 28 August 2015, GHA Coaches Limited failed to have its lifting equipment thoroughly examined within the required
The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is pleased to announce that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Supreme Council for Planning in the Sultanate of Oman. The RIBA will provide support to the Omani Government on a broad range of built environment issues including policy
Solar panel firm fined after worker is seriously injured in fall Published: 23 March, 2016 A solar panel firm has been fined £153,000 after a worker was seriously injured in a fall through a fragile roof light at a private home in Kent. The worker fractured his shin and a
Balfour Beatty has secured the contract to build the new £21 million Prince & Princess of Wales Hospice in Glasgow, which is being built at Bellahouston Park on land gifted by Glasgow City Council. It will be the UK’s first hospice that will follow the Scandinavian Sengetun model of care,
The British Services Research and Information Association (BSRIA) has released its first snapshot of the UK HVAC and smart energy market landscape for products after Brexit. It is estimated that the smart energy and HVAC product market is worth £4.5 billion in the UK each year. Market growth was expected
The government will take a golden share in all future nuclear new build projects to stop them from falling into undesirable foreign ownership. After a review of the Hinkley Point C deal, in which EDF sold a significant stake to China General Nuclear Corporation, the government is now planning to
Part of the Wates Group, SES Engineering Services, has picked up two major M&E packages in Central London which are worth more than £30 million between them. SES has been chosen to deliver mechanical, electrical and plumbing (MEP) services on Argent’s 12 storey S2 office building for Google, which is
McAleer & Rushe Project Manager, Paul Marlow, has been crowned the top construction manager in the UK for the delivery of a £29 million student accommodation project. Marlow won the industry ovation for the delivery of the 14 storey design and build scheme of outstanding quality with no accidents reported.
Plans have been revealed for a 37 storey apartment block in the middle of Birmingham for the private rented sector. Apache Capital Partners and Moda Living announced that they intend to develop and transform a 3,000 m2 site on Birmingham’s Broad Street into a £145 million purpose built rental development
A coach company in Wrexham has been fined £90,000 after it repeatedly failed to comply with legal notices to get its lifting equipment examined. Mold Magistrates’ Court heard that, between 4 April 2014 and 28 August 2015, GHA Coaches Limited failed to have its lifting equipment thoroughly examined within the required timescales to ensure that health and safety conditions were maintained and that any deterioration could be detected and remedied in good time. In 2015, an inspection revealed overdue Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations (LOLER) examinations on at least 14 items. An improvement notice was served, and extended twice, and still resulted in a failure to comply. An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that a previous improvement notice was served in 2011. GHA Coaches Limited, of Vauxhall Industrial Estate, Ruabon, Wrexham, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 9(3)(a)(ii) of the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 (LOLER),and failing to comply with an Improvement Notice, and was fined a total of £90,000 and ordered to pay costs of £3,068. For further information on lifting equipment visit: http://www.hse.gov.uk/pUbns/indg290.pdf Notes to Editors: The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is Britain’s national regulator for workplace health and safety. It aims to reduce work-related death, injury and ill health. It does so through research, information and advice, promoting training; new or revised regulations and codes of practice, and working with local authority partners by inspection, investigation and enforcement. www.hse.gov.uk More about the legislation referred to in this case can be found at: www.legislation.gov.uk/ HSE news releases are available at http://press.hse.gov.uk Journalists should approach HSE press office with any queries on regional press releases. Source link
The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is pleased to announce that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Supreme Council for Planning in the Sultanate of Oman. The RIBA will provide support to the Omani Government on a broad range of built environment issues including policy development, urban design, professional standards – including support for a number of Omani RIBA members – and community engagement. This is the first agreement between RIBA and a sovereign foreign government and builds upon the recent RIBA Competition to identify a masterplanner for the proposed new town of Irfan on behalf of government backed developer, Omran. The competition was won by Allies & Morrison and Arup and the project is being supported by Design Council CABE, which is providing design review services. The signing of the MoU took place in London during a visit by a delegation from the Supreme Council for Planning led by Secretary General HE Sultan Al Habsi, accompanied by the Omani Ambassador to London, HE Abdulaziz Abdullah Al Hinai and the British Consul General in Oman, Alastair Long. Speaking after the signing ceremony, British Ambassador to Oman, John Wilks CMG, said: ‘I am delighted that this MoU has been signed. Oman has seen 45 years of extraordinary development under His Majesty Sultan Qaboos’ visionary leadership. The UK has been a primary partner in the realisation of this vision in all fields. We look forward to building on this success. RIBA’s expertise and renown mean their growing partnership with Oman will form an exciting new dimension of the close and committed relationship between our two countries.’ RIBA Vice President International Peter Oborn added: ‘RIBA is pleased to be able to support the Government of Oman in its work and commends the Supreme Council for Planning for recognising the important role played by the built environment in contributing to sustainable development, economic prosperity and the preservation of national identity.’ ENDS Notes: 1. For further press information contact Gagandeep Bedi, RIBA Press Office 020 7307 3814 gagandeep.bedi@riba.org 2. The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) champions better buildings, communities and the environment through architecture and our members www.architecture.com 3. Follow us on Twitter for regular RIBA updates www.twitter.com/RIBA 4. More information on the RIBA Competition for the Al-Irfan urban development project in Oman: http://www.architecture.com/RIBA/Contactus/NewsAndPress/News/CompetitionNews/Press/Results/2015/Al-IrfanUrbanDevelopment,Muscat.aspx Posted on Wednesday 22nd April 2015 Source link
Solar panel firm fined after worker is seriously injured in fall Published: 23 March, 2016 A solar panel firm has been fined £153,000 after a worker was seriously injured in a fall through a fragile roof light at a private home in Kent. The worker fractured his shin and a vertebra in the incident in Hawkinge on 30 April 2013. The roof light the 32-year-old man crashed through was on an outbuilding housing a swimming pool. Although the water partially cushioned his fall, he made a heavy impact with the side and flooring around the pool, and was unable to return to work until January this year and only then on a part-time basis. Glasgow-based PV Solar UK was sentenced at Canterbury Crown Court today after an investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that more could and should have been done to prevent the fall. The court heard in a hearing in January 2016, when the company pleaded guilty to three health and safety offences, that the injured worker was part of a three person team working on the building to replace faulty solar panels that were initially installed by the same company in April 2011. The fragile roof also contained eight roof lights and he fell through one of these as he walked on the roof while carrying a panel. HSE established that a scaffold tower, ladder and safety harness had been provided for the panel replacement work. However, none of the installation team had received any formal training or instruction on how to use them. This effectively rendered the equipment useless. Other measures could also have been taken, such as providing full scaffolding or hard covers for the roof lights. HSE established that although the initial installation work in 2011 was completed without incident, the safety equipment provided on that occasion was also lacking, which again placed workers at risk. The court had also been told that PV Solar UK was served with a Prohibition Notice by HSE to stop unsafe work on a fragile roof in Bristol in May 2011. The company was therefore well aware of the need to ensure that adequate provisions were in place to prevent or mitigate falls during work at height. PV Solar UK was fined a total of £153,000 and ordered to pay a further £29,480 in costs after pleading guilty to three separate breaches of the Work at Height Regulations 2005. HSE inspector Melvyn Stancliffe said: “The injured worker suffered serious injury in the fall and could have been killed. He and his colleagues were effectively left to their own devices with equipment that was not wholly suited for the task at hand. In short, better equipment, training and supervision should have been provided.” Source link
Balfour Beatty has secured the contract to build the new £21 million Prince & Princess of Wales Hospice in Glasgow, which is being built at Bellahouston Park on land gifted by Glasgow City Council. It will be the UK’s first hospice that will follow the Scandinavian Sengetun model of care, which puts placemaking at the heart of its approach, and provides space for privacy, dignity and compassionate care for all ages. The hospice is set to open in 2018. Rhona Baillie, Chief Executive, commented: “I am delighted to announce that Balfour Beatty will help us realise our dream to build a 21st-century healthcare facility for the people of Glasgow. This is a major step forward as work now starts at the site.” Balfour Beatty regional managing director Hector Macaulay added: “The way the community has pulled together over the last four years has been really impressive, raising vast sums of money to bring this state-of-the-art facility to fruition. “We’re pleased to have got construction underway, and to be working closely with The Prince & Princess of Wales Hospice to deliver a facility which will provide high quality care for patients and their families.” The Glasgow office of law firm Pinsent Masons has provided pro bono work on the building project. Ryder Architecture’s Alastair Forbes will lead the team of architects and he commented: “We are delighted to see construction works commence and the realisation of this unique new hospice building. The project team have worked closely with The Prince & Princess of Wales Hospice over a long period of time to reach this moment and we look forward to working with Balfour Beatty Construction Services in this exciting next stage.” The hospice still has to raise £2.7m of the £21m needed to finish the build. To donate, visit www.ppwh.org.uk/donate or text BRICK to 70660.
The British Services Research and Information Association (BSRIA) has released its first snapshot of the UK HVAC and smart energy market landscape for products after Brexit. It is estimated that the smart energy and HVAC product market is worth £4.5 billion in the UK each year. Market growth was expected to be a healthy 3.1% for 2016 prior to the Brexit vote but Building Services Research and Information Association (BSRIA) research with suppliers post-Brexit now anticipates this will shrink to 1.1%, a reduction of £95 million compared with the pre-Brexit view. In particular for air conditioning, the forecasted growth has dropped from 12.8% down to 5.5%, while smaller splits have suffered because of a cool summer in the first half of the year, along with issues with the distribution chain, higher than expected residual stocks and a weakening in the critical retail market. VRF and central plant products are much more closely linked to bigger schemes which are close to completion: typically offices and hotels. Project delays resulting from Brexit may have a small effect in 2016 but will mainly impact the market between 2017 and 2019 according to BSRIA. However, floor space statistics suggest a big growth in completed projects in 2017 so this will likely mask any Brexit effect until 2018, according to the snapshot. Andrew Giles, director of worldwide market intelligence at BSRIA, said: “Around 80% of the £2.2 billion market is domestic boilers, water heaters and radiators. Renewable alternatives remain niche markets: heat pumps are falling with RHI having a limited impact. The main heating markets are saturated and over 90% of sales are for replacement and extensions/refurbishment.” The UK has, by some distance, the biggest boiler market in the world, with almost 1.7 million boilers sold each year and this is expected to continue for the next few years.
The government will take a golden share in all future nuclear new build projects to stop them from falling into undesirable foreign ownership. After a review of the Hinkley Point C deal, in which EDF sold a significant stake to China General Nuclear Corporation, the government is now planning to reform its approach to the ownership and control of all critical infrastructure “to ensure that the full implications of foreign ownership are scrutinised for the purposes of national security.” Included in this will be a review of the public interest regime in the Enterprise Act 2002 along with the introduction of a cross cutting national security requirement for continued government approval of the control and ownership of critical infrastructure. In terms of nuclear power stations, the Office for Nuclear Regulation will be directed to require notice from developers of operators of nuclear sites of any change of ownership or part-ownership. This will mean that the government can advise or direct the ONR to take action to protect national security as a result of any changing ownership. Business and energy secretary Greg Clark said: “Having thoroughly reviewed the proposal for Hinkley Point C, we will introduce a series of measures to enhance security and will ensure Hinkley cannot change hands without the Government’s agreement. Consequently, we have decided to proceed with the first new nuclear power station for a generation. “Britain needs to upgrade its supplies of energy, and we have always been clear that nuclear is an important part of ensuring our future low-carbon energy security.” For years, it has been doubtful when EDF would actually start building Hinkley in earnest, let alone complete it. But last Thursday, seven weeks after EDF’s planned go-ahead celebrations were kyboshed by a surprise government review, ministers finally gave it the green light.
Part of the Wates Group, SES Engineering Services, has picked up two major M&E packages in Central London which are worth more than £30 million between them. SES has been chosen to deliver mechanical, electrical and plumbing (MEP) services on Argent’s 12 storey S2 office building for Google, which is part of the King’s Cross regeneration scheme. SSE has also secured an MEP contract worth £18.6 million on Barts Square Phase One, which is a £110 million residential development by Helical next to St Bart’s Hospital in Farringdon. The main contractor for both projects will be Carillion. Offsite construction is playing a major role on both projects as logistics is a primary consideration in city centres, particularly in London. Before being acquired by Wates last year, SES was formerly Shepherd Engineering Services and Wates said that the two contract awards represented a significant milestone for SES’ operations in London and the South East. The company put the King’s Cross contract win down to its digital engineering expertise, in response to the client’s requirement for building information modelling (BIM). SES has a 38 week programme which is due to be complete by December next year and will use its off-site manufacturing facility SES Prism to deliver a CHW roof plantroom and 22 risers. Off-site manufacturing processes at SES Prism will also be used on the Barts Square scheme to design and install service cupboards for each apartment. SES regional director Tim Cunningham said: “This is a truly exciting time for our London and South East operation and the growth of our business is down to our teams’ exemplary work and innovative off-site approach. “Our SES Prism facility is at the forefront of M&E installations, meaning we can offer the most effective solutions to even the most technically complex projects, adding real value to our clients so we’re delighted to be able to demonstrate this again on both these schemes.”
McAleer & Rushe Project Manager, Paul Marlow, has been crowned the top construction manager in the UK for the delivery of a £29 million student accommodation project. Marlow won the industry ovation for the delivery of the 14 storey design and build scheme of outstanding quality with no accidents reported. The project manager from County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, saw off competition from 85 other finalists and 10 gold medallists to secure the Construction Manager of the Year 2016 award. Marlow is also the first overall winner to come from a residential category in the 38 year history of the competition. Although he faced a series of technical and logistical challenges, Marlow delivered the Angel Lane project in Stratford on time and within budget, while the client was delighted with the ‘wow factor’ of the scheme. Since then, the 759 unit accommodation block has become a standard setter for Unite’s ‘Homes for Success’ initiative, and a benchmark against which future projects will be measured. His achievement is even more impressive because of the difficult start to the scheme: the start date had to be delayed by two months to January 2014 due to late land purchase, but the completion deadline remained fixed at July 2015, in order for Unite to prepare for the first intake of students. Marlow led the Angel Lane project from pre-construction phase and radically revised the build strategy to save two months from the programme. One of the time saving strategies was switching from a post tensioned to a reinforced in situ concrete frame. Marlow also chose a new lightweight cladding system that could be installed by cradles, mast climbers and scaffold, which freed up tower cranes for other activities. Angel Lane faced major constraints: it was bound by a main road, a bridge and a neighbouring building site.
Plans have been revealed for a 37 storey apartment block in the middle of Birmingham for the private rented sector. Apache Capital Partners and Moda Living announced that they intend to develop and transform a 3,000 m2 site on Birmingham’s Broad Street into a £145 million purpose built rental development through their private rented sector (PRS). The site has been bought from Bloomcrest, in a joint venture between Cordwell Property Group and Richardson Capital LLP. Glenn Howells Architects’ initial designs show that the tower will have 450 apartments and around 3,250 m2 of additional leisure, office and retail space. The project will be delivered by developer Moda Living, an operator of private rented housing, and fully funded by Apache Capital, the London and Gulf based private real estate investment management company. Apache Capital and Moda Living intend to retain ownership of the property and operate it themselves. Through their JV partnership, Apache Capital and Moda Living have a PRS development pipeline of more than 5,000 apartments with an end gross development value of £1 billion. The JV recently secured planning permission for the £128m 466-apartment Angel Gardens development in Manchester that Apache Capital has funded. Richard Jackson, co-founder and managing director of Apache Capital Partners, said: “This prime site is perfectly placed in the heart of central Birmingham and will deliver a completely new standard of residence and lifestyle for the city centre rental market whilst also becoming part of the local community and supporting the city’s continued strong growth. “Funding support from our institutional investors remains strong for our secured premium PRS development pipeline that we will own and operate for the long term.” Meanwhile, more than 900 apartments look set to be created across three high-rise schemes in Liverpool city centre, including 304 private rented sector homes in a new landmark £80m tower on the waterfront.
