A Gas Safe registered engineer from Middlesex has been fined for safety failings after he carried out an unsafe installation. In a one day trial at Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court it was heard how Michael Efthymiou, a self- employed gas engineer, carried out an unsafe installation of a gas combination boiler and flue
Political indecision over infrastructure projects is costing the UK economy £70m a day, according to a study by Arcadis. Construction consultant Arcadis, together with the Centre for Economics & Business Research (CEBR), has explored the impact of continuing delays and cancellations on the UK’s infrastructure spending. The report compares the
On behalf of Paragon Property Developments, Savills has been instructed to market new build retail units at the Bearscroft development in Godmanchester, Huntingdon. The scheme will comprise a terrace of five units and will be anchored by a new Co-operative food store. Due for completion in Spring 2017, four units
Ten homes in Nottingham have been selected as part of a UK pilot to radically improve older houses using measures to save and generate energy. Proposed improvements will make the residents of these homes ultra-low energy consumers, dramatically reducing household energy bills and making homes warmer. Nottingham City Homes (NCH),
Peace Recruitment Group, experts in the built environment, has revealed that its Trades and Labour Department has doubled in size over the last six months after much demand. Tamara Jaberu, a director at Peace who founded the Trades and Labour Department in January 2012, believes the good news coming out of
Edinburgh Airport’s Terminal Expansion Project has taken another step forward, with the lead contractor for the construction work being appointed. BAM Construction has been announced as the lead contractor for the development project that will see an improvement and expansion to the facilities on offer. The construction work planned will
Cheshire West and Cheshire Council are looking for a construction partner in order to carry out planned work as part of the £300 million Chester Northgate scheme. The council has paced an advertisement into the Official Journal of the European Union which looks for a contractor to work alongside the
The Considerate Constructors Scheme, otherwise known as CCS, has awarded the construction and engineering group Kier with their first Utra site award. This accolade has been given to the construction group for their project in Wales. The Kier Sports Park 2 development is located on Treforest Industrial Estate and has
Redwing Roofing is delighted to announce it has been awarded the contract to undertake the roof tiling works at Redrow Homes new development at Penlands Farm, Haywards Heath. The first phase of the development consists of 118 new build dwellings. Redwing Roofing is owned and run by Jason McCarthy and
AVDanzer has expanded its Manchester site at Windmill Lane, Denton to accommodate its rapidly growing site accommodation fleet and servicing facilities. Celebrating 30 years trading this year AVDanzer has leased a further 7,500 sq ft of land to provide extra storage, preparation and maintenance areas for its anti-vandal units. The
A Gas Safe registered engineer from Middlesex has been fined for safety failings after he carried out an unsafe installation. In a one day trial at Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court it was heard how Michael Efthymiou, a self- employed gas engineer, carried out an unsafe installation of a gas combination boiler and flue at a domestic property in Crossfield Road, Clacton-on-Sea. An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) into the incident found that on 7 February 2015 Michael Efthymiou left the boiler in place with significant failings that left the tenants at risk of exposure to dangerous products of combustion. Michael Efthymiou, of Nursery Gardens, Enfield, Middlesex was found guilty of breaching Section 3(2) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, and Regulation 27(1) of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 and was fined £2,460.00 and ordered to pay £6722.37 costs. For further information on Gas Safety visit: http://www.hse.gov.uk/gas/domestic/ 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
Political indecision over infrastructure projects is costing the UK economy £70m a day, according to a study by Arcadis. Construction consultant Arcadis, together with the Centre for Economics & Business Research (CEBR), has explored the impact of continuing delays and cancellations on the UK’s infrastructure spending. The report compares the Infrastructure & Projects Authority’s 2015 and 2016 national infrastructure pipelines, worth a total of £293bn across all sectors for the six years 2015/16 to 20/21. Over the next five years the cumulative impact of stalling on projects identified in the pipelines could see the UK economy miss out on as much as £35bn of investment-related GDP, says the report, The Spiralling Cost of Indecision. A one-month average delay in the transport infrastructure pipeline sees the UK economy miss out on around £2bn of investment-related GDP over five years, equivalent to £48,425 per minute of delay, or nearly £70m a day. In 2015/16 infrastructure spending delays and cancellations amounted to £4.6bn. Had the proposed spending taken place in 2015/16 UK GDP would have been £6bn higher. These infrastructure delays and cancellations will amount to a cumulative £35bn of either deferred or missed GDP by 2020. A one-month average delay in scheduled transport projects would lead to over £2bn in lost GDP over the coming five years, equivalent to £48,425 for every minute of delay. In addition, delay costs for transport projects worth £96 billion would rise by £241m over a period of five years. Chris Pike, Arcadis infrastructure client development director, writes in the report: “Since the referendum, government has been slow to recognise the importance of committing to infrastructure and when it comes to finally pressing the button and getting major schemes moving, the conviction appears to be lacking. One might argue that it is only fair to allow the new government time. However, with nervous financial markets and industry already suffering as a result of construction activity being at a seven year low, delaying existing projects or failing to commit to new ones is damaging.” Further Images This article was published on 13 Oct 2016 (last updated on 13 Oct 2016). Source link
On behalf of Paragon Property Developments, Savills has been instructed to market new build retail units at the Bearscroft development in Godmanchester, Huntingdon. The scheme will comprise a terrace of five units and will be anchored by a new Co-operative food store. Due for completion in Spring 2017, four units of 900 sq ft (83 sq m) remain available to pre-let at a starting quoting rent of £20,000 per annum. Permitted uses include A1, A2, A3 and A5 offering a wide range of potential options. Edward Gee, associate in the Business Space team at Savills Peterborough, comments: ”Located in a prominent position fronting the A1198, and close the A14 junction, the new Bearscroft Local Centre makes up part of a wider residential development, which will provide significant footfall to the parade. Due to the schemes strong credentials we expect to receive significant interest from potential occupiers.” Source link
Ten homes in Nottingham have been selected as part of a UK pilot to radically improve older houses using measures to save and generate energy. Proposed improvements will make the residents of these homes ultra-low energy consumers, dramatically reducing household energy bills and making homes warmer. Nottingham City Homes (NCH), the Arm’s Length Management Organisation (ALMO) managing and maintaining Nottingham City Council’s (NCC) council housing stock, has become the first in the UK to adopt a ground-breaking approach to retrofitting housing solutions, known as “Energiesprong”. The programme of work is part of the next phase in the city’s Greener HousiNG programme. The Energiesprong approach involves wrapping an existing property with pre-fabricated wall and roof panels. The process, which can be completed in a matter of days, includes the installation of a thermally insulated roof cassette with solar PV built into it; a thermally-efficient wall envelope insulation panel system; low-maintenance glass panelled wall kitchen and bathroom; air or ground source heat pump and heating system; removal of gas to create an electricity only property; and low energy cooker and shower. The comprehensive retrofit delivers a super insulated, low maintenance and affordable near net zero-energy home with a 30-year construction and assured energy performance warranty. An Energiesprong home generates as much energy as is needed for the house and household appliances. Part of the innovation is how the works are funded. The household pays an ‘Energy plan’, and the landlord (NCH) receives an on-going income to fund similar works to more homes. The resident has a much more comfortable home, and a flat rate cost for energy, which will not rise significantly when energy bills rise. Originating in the Netherlands, Energiesprong is regarded as a revolutionary model; it brings today’s houses up to 2050 standards of energy efficiency and the new funding approach, ensures the works are affordable. Following Energiesprong’s outstanding success in the Netherlands, where a thousand homes a year are now receiving this high-tech makeover, the concept has been exported to France, Germany, Luxembourg, the USA and now the UK. Nottingham City Homes has signed the first UK contract, ahead of other pioneering landlords in London, Essex and Devon, placing an order with Melius Homes for ten retrofits as a pilot, with an option for up to a further 400. The deal follows extensive tenant consultation and a comprehensive competitive tender process to find the right solution provider. This pilot is part of a cluster of smart city solutions being delivered in Nottingham over a three-year period under the European-funded REMOURBAN project. This project seeks to show how sustainability can be integrated into the regeneration of our towns and cities. Nottingham City Homes’ Chief Executive, Nick Murphy, said: “While we’re delighted to be part of a UK-first pilot programme, it’s more important to us that we’re creating warmer, more energy efficient homes, which are cheaper to run for residents. “The Greener HousiNG programme is dedicated to finding the most efficient and reliable solutions, to help us future proof our housing stock and tackle issues such as fuel poverty. As an added bonus, the improvements will greatly improve the look and feel of the area.” David Adams, Technical Director of Melius Homes, the successful bidder said: “We are delighted to have been chosen to work with Nottingham City Homes to deliver this ground-breaking contract. They have shown great foresight in adopting such a radical new approach and we look forward to helping to make a real difference for the local community.” Councillor Jane Urquhart, the City Council’s Portfolio Holder for Planning, Housing & Heritage, said: “We’re very excited that Nottingham is at the forefront of this revolutionary approach, which can help tackle both fuel poverty and climate change. Many of our residents live in fuel poverty so creating more energy efficient homes to reduce people’s energy bills is a high priority for us. Our Greener HousiNG programme has seen over 6,000 hard-to-treat homes in both social and private sectors receive energy efficiency measures and this pilot will inform the next steps for our programme to tackle hard-to-treat housing. “As well as a significant cost to the household, losing excessive heat due to drafty homes has an environmental impact too. The REMOURBAN project is trialing interventions in the housing and transport sectors to accelerate Nottingham’s low carbon future and the Energiesprong model is a really exciting development for this project and for Nottingham.” The works will be carried out during 2017 with the roll out programme scheduled to commence early 2018.
Peace Recruitment Group, experts in the built environment, has revealed that its Trades and Labour Department has doubled in size over the last six months after much demand. Tamara Jaberu, a director at Peace who founded the Trades and Labour Department in January 2012, believes the good news coming out of Peace is further evidence that the UK construction sector is flourishing despite all the recent negative headlines. Tamara explains: “The construction sector in the UK is definitely in a good place right now, more work is coming into the market and employers are looking to hire. Our trades and labour department exceeded all expectations last year, and as a result we have hired three new recruits since April, meaning we now have a team of six. This enables us to provide a much fuller service to Edinburgh and the Lothians, the Glasgow area and Aberdeen and Dundee. I’m delighted to say we are on course to have a record year again. “There are various reasons for our success, with repeat business being one of the key components. We class ourselves as a transparent recruitment business, meaning clients get exactly what they pay for. We don’t make promises we can’t fulfil, we build up trust by being honest with clients even if sometimes it means telling them something they don’t want to hear. This is the ethos of the whole business.” Tamara adds: “The major challenge we are facing in Trades and Labour just now is a shortage of candidates. When I started the department back in 2012, clients had their pick of good quality candidates. However, now this has almost spun on its head and its the skilled candidates who now hold most of the power. Firms can still find the right people but competition is fierce. Employers need to be aware that it may take more time to find the right candidate, they need to be flexible in what they are looking for, and they need to put together as attractive a package as possible.” The success of the trades and labour department, alongside the huge increase in turnover, as well as the launch of Peace’s new bespoke website, its re-branding and the launch of its new temp division, are all seen as key developments in the recruiters quest to become the recruitment company of choice for the built environment by 2020. Peace For more information please visit www.peacerecruitment.co.uk.
Edinburgh Airport’s Terminal Expansion Project has taken another step forward, with the lead contractor for the construction work being appointed. BAM Construction has been announced as the lead contractor for the development project that will see an improvement and expansion to the facilities on offer. The construction work planned will add more domestic and international arrival facilities to Edinburgh Airport. The new facilities will include a new larger baggage reclaim and a range of new border control facilities. Also to be added to the airport are more shops and cafes as well as a new lounge space and office accommodation. These new facilities will have new link bridges and stairs to connect them to the rest of the airport and out to the aircraft. The construction work will also add another south east pier and allow for larger aircraft stands. Work is already underway at the site in order to deliver this new three storey terminal expansion. The total development has been valued at around £80 million and represents a significant investment into preparing the airport for the future. Edinburgh Airport is the fastest growing airport in the UK and the busiest airport in Scotland. The expansion work is required in order to manage the demand and increase of passengers using the airport going forward. The new extension will be built on a formerly disused service yard, which is situated between the existing airport and Gogar Burn. It is thought that this construction work is a part of the capital programme that is due to take place over the course of the next five years. This capital programme is meant to see around £220 million invested into the city. BAM Construction has been appointed as the lead contractor for the Terminal Expansion Project which will see an extra 14,350 sq. m. of accommodation at the airport. The work is expected to be completed by Autumn 2018.
Cheshire West and Cheshire Council are looking for a construction partner in order to carry out planned work as part of the £300 million Chester Northgate scheme. The council has paced an advertisement into the Official Journal of the European Union which looks for a contractor to work alongside the council in order to develop a design, test the buildability of the design and manage out any risk associated with the construction project. In preparation for the scheme, Cheshire West and Chester Council have made a number of compulsory purchase orders on a selection of properties in order to secure the land for the development. The historic city will be carrying out one of the largest city centre development schemes in the country. The advertisement has been placed for the contractor, who will be required to demonstrate their experience and ability of working on large city centre developments. It is important, with the strong heritage seen throughout Chester City centre that the contractor chosen for the work is experienced in dealing with a historical environment and archeology. Contractors will have until the end of September to apply for the work, with construction planned by the end of 2018. It is thought that the advertisement that has been placed by the local council will generate a lot of interest due to the size and unique nature of the development. The work will see the library in the city centre turned into the entrance of the new retail complex and a restaurant hub, with the nearby Forum shopping centre also being demolished and used as part of the new construction work. The contractor for the work is expected to be announced at the start of next year and, when completed, the retail development will offer a new selection of retail and hospitality choices for locals and visitors to the vibrant and historical city.
The Considerate Constructors Scheme, otherwise known as CCS, has awarded the construction and engineering group Kier with their first Utra site award. This accolade has been given to the construction group for their project in Wales. The Kier Sports Park 2 development is located on Treforest Industrial Estate and has managed to become the only site in the whole of Wales to be given the title. For a site to be considered to the Ultra award, the main contractor must get all of the subcontractors, designers and suppliers for the construction work to sign up to the scheme. This means that everyone working on a project are then able to all work together in order to make sure that they achieve the highest score possible. Kier managed this by putting a number of measures in place and also worked in collaboration with the supply chain for the Sports Park 2 in order to ensure everyone is working together to achieve the best score they can. As part of the work towards the Ultra award, Kier installed on the site an interactive hoarding to be used by the public. This feature allowed people near to the site to be able to see what the scheme will look like when construction work is completed. On the hoarding there was a painted silhouette of a sea telescope that acted as a viewing hole, encouraging people to look into the box weatherproof box that contained a digital picture frame loaded with computer generated images of the finished site. Since the scheme began Kier have been focused on looking at a number of different ways in which the sirte operations can be improved as well as improving public engagement. Being able to achieve the CCS Ultra scheme is great news for the company and the site as it reflects the hard work put in by subcontractors and workers on the site as well as the opportunity to meet their own business targets.
Redwing Roofing is delighted to announce it has been awarded the contract to undertake the roof tiling works at Redrow Homes new development at Penlands Farm, Haywards Heath. The first phase of the development consists of 118 new build dwellings. Redwing Roofing is owned and run by Jason McCarthy and Daniel Burgan. With over 30 years experience combined, Redwing Roofing provides both private customers and building contractors with an exemplary roofing service. Following selection as a finalist in the UK Roofing Awards this year, a new website was developed in conjunction with web developers Super Digital. The aim was to better highlight the wealth of services on offer and showcase high profile case studies such as the forthcoming Redrow Homes project and previous projects with developers such as Taylor Wimpey and Riverdale Developments. The new, fully responsive website has been designed to provide the ultimate user-friendly experience, whether viewed on a mobile device or desktop computer. With improved navigation and functionality throughout, the site allows visitors to access detailed information on all of Redwing’s services. From large commercial projects to individual domestic repairs, the site now provides case studies of previous work to demonstrate Redwing’s capabilities across a wide range of projects. For more information on Redwing Roofing visit www.redwingroofing.co.uk
AVDanzer has expanded its Manchester site at Windmill Lane, Denton to accommodate its rapidly growing site accommodation fleet and servicing facilities. Celebrating 30 years trading this year AVDanzer has leased a further 7,500 sq ft of land to provide extra storage, preparation and maintenance areas for its anti-vandal units. The units are hired and sold to some of the UK’s leading construction firms and provide state of the art welfare facilities, storage and office space. At its production facility at Langley Mill, Nottingham the company has also invested £200,000 in new office facilities to support the growth of the modular side of the business. AVDanzer’s units can been seen at many of Manchester’s leading developments including Allied London’s No1 Spinningfields, Circle Square and at Ancoats with Graham Construction and Eric Wright Construction on the transformation of the historic Murray Mills. Across the UK AVDanzer is also supporting some of the country’s leading capital investment projects including the £100m National Grid Humber Tunnel gas pipeline project. Commenting on the expansion, Director Helen Scott said: “The cabin rental side of the business has boomed as UK construction projects continue to grow and the extra space was needed to prepare and refurbish the thousands of units we have in the fleet. We now have over 4000 units and we invest over £1.5m each year in expanding, maintaining and refurbishing them to the highest standard so we needed more space to accommodate those that are being worked on before they go back out on hire.” The company started out in 1987 with a small office and shared yard and moved to the Denton site in 1991. It has continued to evolve over the last 30 years and in 2016 it rebranded as AVDanzer to incorporate its manufacturing business which is based in Nottingham. Today AVDanzer employs a total of 100 people across its sites in Denton, Nottingham and London and has a turnover in excess of £14m. The company has also this month manufactured and installed its own new modular offices for the Langley Mill site in a further investment worth £200,000. For more information visit www.avdanzer.co.uk
