Fire-risk boiler highlights need for gas safety Published: 19 September, 2016 In support of Gas Safety Week, which takes place from 19 to 25 September, Ravenheat is urging members of the public to become more aware of gas safety in their homes. James Winyard, a Tamworth-based installer, attended to his
Ten years on, Falcon Crane Hire Ltd has been fined £750,000 and ordered to pay costs of £100,000 for safety breaches that led to a tower crane falling over in London and killing two men. Southwark Crown Court heard that crane operator Jonathan Cloke, 37, died after falling from the
Scottish Water has installed one thousand solar panels at a major water treatment works serving Edinburgh and parts of West Lothian – continuing its move towards generating more of its energy from renewable sources. Project manager John Sammon and general manager Chris Toop for Scottish Water’s energy programme
Category: Construction Industry Today | Subscribe to Construction Industry Today Feed Published Tue, Sep 20th 2016 ROCKFON were appointed to provide acoustic ceiling solutions for a major refurbishment programme for the British Army Reserve. The British Army Reserve is the largest of the Reserve Forces in the UK with around
Thirteen civil engineering contractors have signed a £96m highway maintenance framework with the North East Procurement Organisation (NEPO). NEPO, which represents 12 local authorities in the northeast, has put together the four-year framework in partnership with the North East Highways Alliance. The collaborative agreement, which was led on behalf of
Leading UK planning consultancy, Indigo Planning, has promoted Mark Teasdale to the position of Director. Mark joined Indigo in 2016 and works in their London office, leading the firm’s socio-economic, community engagement and health impact assessment offers. He is a leading regeneration expert with a strong track record of delivering
Property part exchange is a great sales incentive for those interested in buying a new build property, but it can be both costly and inconvenient for site developers. Now, the UK’s largest and original cash home buyer, Quick Move Now, is suggesting that a ‘we buy any house’ style sale
The McAvoy Group, one of the UK’s leading offsite construction specialists, has announced its expansion into the residential sector with the launch of a new modular solution for all housing tenures – affordable homes, market sale, build-to-rent, student accommodation, and emergency housing. Following extensive product development and collaboration with Queen’s
Independent Connections Provider (ICP) Matrix Networks has been contracted by developer Roxhill via main contractor Buckingham Group, to design and install the electrical services connection to bring the new £182m Gateway South commercial park in Coventry to life. The announcement follows hot on the heels of Matrix Networks’ successful completion
On site work on the £117 million Campbell Wharf development in Milton Keynes has commenced. The residential-led mixed use scheme includes 383 new homes, a narrowboat marina, public house, nursery and a mix of retail units and is set to transform and revitalise a much-underutilised part of Central Milton Keynes.
Fire-risk boiler highlights need for gas safety Published: 19 September, 2016 In support of Gas Safety Week, which takes place from 19 to 25 September, Ravenheat is urging members of the public to become more aware of gas safety in their homes. James Winyard, a Tamworth-based installer, attended to his grandfather’s boiler earlier this year. He found the insulation panels had failed and identified the 20-year-old boiler as a fire risk in its present state. He installed a more efficient Ravenheat CS80 combi boiler in its place. Not only has the new boiler ensured the safety of the property, but it has also considerably reduced utility bills. His grandfather was previously paying as much as £70 a week into his prepaid card meter during winter – considerably higher than the seasonal yearly average of £1,137 a year. Shortly after the installation, he was paying just £19 a week. Mr Winyard, a Gas Safe-Registered heating engineer, said: “My grandad’s boiler was a potential accident waiting to happen, I can’t emphasise enough how important it is for people to have their appliances serviced annually. The CS80 is a good boiler for a very competitive price – the expense of fitting a new boiler shouldn’t deter people from making their homes safer and more energy efficient.” Source link
Ten years on, Falcon Crane Hire Ltd has been fined £750,000 and ordered to pay costs of £100,000 for safety breaches that led to a tower crane falling over in London and killing two men. Southwark Crown Court heard that crane operator Jonathan Cloke, 37, died after falling from the crane as it collapsed. It fell onto Michael Alexa, 23, a member of the public, and also killed him. The court heard how sections of the tower crane, which was on a housing development in Thessaly Road, Battersea, separated when 24 slew ring bolts failed due to metal fatigue. When the bolts failed the slew turret and jib separated from the mast and fell to the ground. The Health & Safety Executive (HSE) investigation into the incident, which happened way back in September 2006, found that Falcon Crane Hire Ltd had failed to investigate a similar incident that had happened just nine weeks before, when the bolts failed on the same crane and had to be replaced. The HSE found that Falcon had an inadequate system to manage the inspection and maintenance of their fleet of cranes. Their process to investigate the underlying cause of components’ failings was also inadequate. It told the court the particular bolts were a safety critical part of the crane. The court also heard the bolts failing previously was an exceptional and significant occurrence, which should have been recognised by Falcon Crane Hire. HSE head of operations Mike Wilcock said: “Jonathan and Michael’s deaths were tragic, needless and entirely avoidable. These two men need not have died had Falcon Crane Hire taken the right, decisive action when the bolts failed the first time. The company fell far short of its health and safety obligation.” This article was published on 16 Mar 2016 (last updated on 16 Mar 2016). Source link
Scottish Water has installed one thousand solar panels at a major water treatment works serving Edinburgh and parts of West Lothian – continuing its move towards generating more of its energy from renewable sources. Project manager John Sammon and general manager Chris Toop for Scottish Water’s energy programme A quarter of the energy required at Marchbank Water Treatment Works near Balerno, which serves 68,000 properties, is now provided by the solar panels. The solar panels are capable of generating 0.2GWh of electricity per annum. The treatment works currently produces 40 mega litres of water per day – enough to fill 16 Olympic swimming pools. This means that 17,000 properties in parts of western and Southern Edinburgh and areas of West Lothian now receive drinking water which has been treated thanks to the power of the sun. It is the latest energy project delivered by Scottish Water Horizons, a subsidiary of the public utility, which supports the development of a sustainable economy in Scotland. Chris Toop, General Manager for Scottish Water’s energy programme, said: “Every day, Scottish Water provides our customers with a massive 1.34 billion litres of drinking water and then treats over 840 million litres of waste water. This means we currently need around 440GWh of electricity annually around Scotland – more than is likely to be needed by the entire of population of West Lothian. “Electricity, as any consumer will know, can be expensive and that’s why Scottish Water has been working to reduce the amount of energy that we need to purchase. “Installing solar panels is therefore fantastic news for our customers. It’s one of the ways in which we can help to keep our customer charges lower than the UK average, while aspiring to deliver ever better service.” In the last two years, Scottish Water has doubled the amount of renewable energy which can be generated at treatment works and in water mains to over 50GWh. It has 27 hydro turbines as well as several wind and photovoltaic schemes. Energy is also extracted from sewage sludge, reducing transport of materials off-site and increasing the environmental sustainability of the company’s operations. More than 4,000 smart meters have been installed to measure consumption and target opportunities to use less energy. The utility has reduced its base electricity consumption by over 5 per cent in the last five years, while carbon emissions have fallen by 18 per cent since 2006/07. Donald MacBrayne, Commercial Manager of Scottish Water Horizons, added: “This project is all part of our wider efforts to maximise the value of Scotland’s water resources and assets. “Through use of technologies such as solar panels and hydro turbines in pipes, several of our treatment works can now generate all – and in some cases more – of the energy they need to operate. This is helping to reduce our energy costs for the benefit of customers while contributing to renewable energy targets.” This article first appeared in Utility Week’s sister title WWTonline Source link
Category: Construction Industry Today | Subscribe to Construction Industry Today Feed Published Tue, Sep 20th 2016 ROCKFON were appointed to provide acoustic ceiling solutions for a major refurbishment programme for the British Army Reserve. The British Army Reserve is the largest of the Reserve Forces in the UK with around 30,000 trained soldiers. ROCKFON outperformed its competitors on both aesthetics and acoustic performance to help revitalise army centres across the north east. Posted via Industry Today. Follow us on Twitter @IndustryToday The ROCKFON Blanka® dB42 ceiling was chosen to provide outstanding acoustic control in the drill hall. Local contractor Jason Frank from Decke (Newcastle) Ltd fitted the ceilings at Debdon Army Reserve Centre in Newcastle upon Tyne and explains what was required: “The army wanted a highly sound absorbent ceiling to curb the level of reverberation to ensure speech can be heard and understood. The drill hall does not receive any natural light, and the bright white surface of ROCKFON Blanka helps improve the lighting conditions.”The drill hall is a large area of high activity. Regular drill practice takes place here with companies of up to 200 soldiers marching in response to drill commands which are characterised by their loud volume. The hall’s original interior was fitted with highly reverberant hard surfaces, which created an uncomfortable acoustic environment for the reservists. ROCKFON Blanka dB42 ceiling tiles are 40mm thick and offer Class A sound absorption. The ceiling’s high absorption controls the ambient sound level in the hall, preventing echo and increasing speech intelligibility. ROCKFON Blanka dB42 also offers high sound insulation, preventing noise generated in the hall from spreading to adjacent areas.Light diffusion and light reflection were also necessary requirements for the ceiling in the hall. To create a uniform and regular spread of light across the room, the ceiling had to provide the right combination of high light reflection and good light diffusion. ROCKFON Blanka tiles provide 99% light diffusion and an independently tested light reflection index above 87%, thanks to its specialist super-white coating sourced from the US space industry.Because of this unique coating, ROCKFON Blanka tiles have a smooth, matt finish that allows for easy installation. The tiles have no pattern which enables them to be installed in any direction, saving money and time, and reducing waste. Surface durability tests rate ROCKFON Blanka top of its class. The anti-static properties of the coating make ROCKFON Blanka resistant to site dust. The tiles are designed to be hard-wearing and can resist up to 100% relative humidity without losing their shape. To complement the ROCKFON stone wool tiles, the ceiling at Debdon was installed on Chicago Metallic T24 Click 2890 ceiling grid from ROCKFON. Made from galvanised steel, the 24mm grid is very strong and stable. It is fast and accurate to install thanks to a helpful audible ‘click’ which sounds when the components connect into position, enabling faster installation times on site. ROCKFON Blanka delivers all the unique stone wool performance characteristics you would expect from ROCKFON including outstanding acoustic performance and fire safety properties. ROCKFON Blanka tiles are produced from up to 42% recycled materials and are fully recyclable. When installed with Chicago Metallic® grid, the ceiling system has a 30-year warranty to ensure building owners a long product lifecycle.CCF Newcastle supplied the project with ROCKFON Blanka and Chicago Metallic grid. CCF stocks a wide range of ROCKFON ceiling solutions across all its branches in the UK.ROCKFON is well-known for providing an acoustic solution for any interior. To find out how ROCKFON can help you maximise the potential of your project, visit www.rockfon.co.uk or email info@rockfon.co.uk Source link
Thirteen civil engineering contractors have signed a £96m highway maintenance framework with the North East Procurement Organisation (NEPO). NEPO, which represents 12 local authorities in the northeast, has put together the four-year framework in partnership with the North East Highways Alliance. The collaborative agreement, which was led on behalf of NEPO by Darlington Borough Council, covers 16 specialist lots ranging from standard carriageway resurfacing to road markings. A pipeline of works has been forecast from the local authorities planned maintenance programmes, worth £24m a year, with both direct awards and further competitions emerging in various package sizes. The contract will be delivered under the NEC3 Form of Contract and specific key performance indicators (KPIs) have been developed to deliver and monitor ‘social value’. The contractors are: Bardon Colas Hanson Henry Williams Jointline JPCS Kiely Bros Miles Macadam Northumbrian Roads Rainton Construction Road Techs Tarmac Textone Blast. Jeff Alexander, chair of Construction Alliance Northeast (CAN), an organisation which was recently formed to lobby for fairer procurement methods on behalf of its 500-plus SME member companies, welcomed the approach adopted by NEPO and Darlington Borough Council. He said: “It is encouraging to hear about the more collaborative approach to highways procurement which has been adopted in the case of this framework. By using local firms with local knowledge, it is possible to provide a greater range of value added benefits. This is not only good news for the client, but for the regional economy as a whole.” This article was published on 31 Mar 2016 (last updated on 31 Mar 2016). Source link
Leading UK planning consultancy, Indigo Planning, has promoted Mark Teasdale to the position of Director. Mark joined Indigo in 2016 and works in their London office, leading the firm’s socio-economic, community engagement and health impact assessment offers. He is a leading regeneration expert with a strong track record of delivering successful mixed-use schemes. Mark’s promotion comes as Indigo looks to strengthen teams throughout key offices in the UK, including London, Birmingham, Leeds and Manchester. Having worked in both the private sector and in the public sector for local councils, Mark offers a wealth of experience in socio-economic work, as well as health impact assessments and community engagement. Mark currently leads the Indigo team on a wide portfolio of projects, including Taylor Wimpey and Wandsworth Council’s regeneration of the Winstanley and York Road Estates in Clapham. Speaking on his promotion, Mark said: “I am delighted with the promotion and am keen to ensure that Indigo continues to be recognised as the market leader in delivering expert advice, research and thought leadership.” Mark graduated with a Masters in Public Affairs and Urban Planning from Princeton University and is also a trained economist. Indigo’s Executive Director, Nick Belsten, said: “Having someone of Mark’s calibre speaks volumes about the talent and experience that we have at Indigo. Promoting talent is vital as we continue to grow across all regions and establish Indigo as the UK’s leading planning consultancy.”
Property part exchange is a great sales incentive for those interested in buying a new build property, but it can be both costly and inconvenient for site developers. Now, the UK’s largest and original cash home buyer, Quick Move Now, is suggesting that a ‘we buy any house’ style sale could be the answer for both the purchaser and the developer. It is often said that moving house is one of the most stressful things a person will ever do. This stress may be compounded by a difficulty in trying to coordinate the sale of an existing property and a completion date for the new property. Danny Luke, Quick Move Now’s managing director, explains: “We have been purchasing properties directly from their owners for more than 20 years, so we have a great deal of experience working with homeowners in a wide variety of circumstances. “One of the scenarios that comes up time and time again is the purchase of a new build property. At the point of reserving a property, they will be given an estimate of when their new property will be completed and ready to move into. However, as many of our previous customers have experienced, that date is not set in stone and can often be pushed back by several months. For this reason, it can be incredibly challenging for those buying a new build property to sell their existing property on the open market, timing the sale to tie in with the completion of their new home. If they start trying to find a buyer too early, they risk losing their buyer if the completion of their new property is held up; leave it too late and they risk not being able to find a buyer in time. “A guaranteed sale to a cash home buying company like Quick Move Now can offer a real solution to this challenge. Once we have agreed to purchase their property, we can complete the sale on a date to suit them. We have previously purchased properties from owners in as little as just seven days. “Property owners can set the sale up in advance, and then simply give us their chosen date for the sale to go through once they have a confirmed date from the developer of their new home. “By pointing customers to a professional home buyer like Quick Move Now – who can offer a guaranteed sale on a date to suit the homeowner – new build developers can offer their customers all of the convenience of a property part exchange, but without any of the financial commitment of offering their own part exchange scheme. ”
The McAvoy Group, one of the UK’s leading offsite construction specialists, has announced its expansion into the residential sector with the launch of a new modular solution for all housing tenures – affordable homes, market sale, build-to-rent, student accommodation, and emergency housing. Following extensive product development and collaboration with Queen’s University Belfast, McAvoy has developed a steel-framed offsite housing solution for multi-storey apartments, detached, semi-detached and terraced family homes. An entire house can be assembled in a single day – and from foundations to occupation in just seven days. According to a report published by Shelter, we need to build 250,000 new homes a year in the UK to keep up with demand – and yet only 163,000 new homes were delivered in 2017. There is a severe shortage of affordable homes and homelessness continues to increase year on year. There is a lack of skilled labour in construction, compounded by Brexit, and the building industry has a poor delivery record. In response, the Government has set a target to build 300,000 new homes annually by the mid 2020s and has pledged its support to increase the use of offsite construction. The McAvoy approach to housing will reduce programme times by at least 50 per cent compared to site-based construction. This will allow earlier occupation for public sector housing providers and generate a faster return on investment for private developers. It will use highly efficient and proven factory processes to deliver greater certainty of completion on time, on budget and to higher quality standards. According to Eugene Lynch, Managing Director of The McAvoy Group, “We have a proven track record, strong project management expertise and highly transferrable skills in the successful delivery of offsite solutions across a range of other sectors. These factors combined with our financial stability and pioneering work in digital construction technology, mean we are well placed to become a significant player in the provision of high quality family housing manufactured offsite.” “We are an established principal contractor offering a single source procurement solution which integrates the manufacture of homes in a quality-controlled factory environment, for the delivery of new housing to shorter programmes and to higher standards.” “We have ambitious plans for growth in the residential sector and have capacity already in place to meet demand using our highly skilled labour and flexible production facilities. We are also advancing plans to further expand capacity to meet the anticipated growth in demand.” Features of the new offsite housing solution engineered by McAvoy include: An innovative floor construction created using highly sustainable recycled material – an alternative to energy-intensive concrete – and offering excellent thermal performance and acoustic properties A highly flexible building system with a wide range of façade treatments, roof options and module configurations A roof module pre-tiled in the factory, which is safer, faster and avoids work at height and in poor weather conditions Bespoke housing designs can be developed and there is a library of standardised layouts to reduce design time for planning and cost BOPAS accreditation for reduced risk, and the assurance of durability for a 60-year design life to ensure mortgageability. McAvoy will work as principal contractor on its housing projects – taking responsibility for design, manufacture, fitting out, installation and external works. This will mean easier procurement, fewer management resources, greater cost efficiency, and improved quality control for developers and housing providers. For further information, visit http://www.mcavoygroup.com/sectors/housing/, call 028 8774 0372 or email info@mcavoygroup.com.
Independent Connections Provider (ICP) Matrix Networks has been contracted by developer Roxhill via main contractor Buckingham Group, to design and install the electrical services connection to bring the new £182m Gateway South commercial park in Coventry to life. The announcement follows hot on the heels of Matrix Networks’ successful completion of the multi-utility infrastructure works for the prestigious SEGRO Logistics Park – East Midlands Gateway in Leicestershire last month, also for Roxhill. With work already starting on site, the ICP’s brief is to design and build a Primary Substation to provide electricity on the 200-acre development which surrounds Coventry Airport. Matrix will be designing and installing electrical infrastructure to bring a 33kVa electrical supply into the Park, providing a load of 20MVA to power the commercial units located across both the northern and southern sections of the development. Commenting on the new contract, Matrix Networks Managing Director, Rob Sparkes, said: “Gateway South is more than a contract win, its repeat business from a valued client, with whom we’ve developed a positive, long-term relationship. “We’re delighted to have the opportunity to demonstrate once again, how important collaborative working is for the successful delivery of utility infrastructure projects. And, over the next 12 months, our experienced team will work with Roxhill and their other development partners, to ensure we communicate, integrate and deliver ‘power on’ to bring Gateway South to life on time.” Previous contracts between Matrix Networks and Roxhill include Gateway Peterborough, a 180-acre distribution and manufacturing park at Junction 17 of the A1(M), and Kettering Gateway, a 90-acre business park with mixed use at Junction 10 of the A14. Martin Eckersall, Infrastructure Director, Roxhill added: “Cost and programme certainty are two of our most important considerations when procuring utility contracts. Matrix Networks has consistently provided this for us, over a significant period of time and I’m pleased to be working with them to deliver Gateway South.” Matrix Networks is an industrial and commercial multi-utility Independent Connections Provider (ICP), servicing UK developers, main contractors, and consultants. The Company is accredited under CHAS and Altius, as well as Lloyd’s Register WIRS, GIRS and NERS schemes. www.matrixnetworks.co.uk @matrix_networks
On site work on the £117 million Campbell Wharf development in Milton Keynes has commenced. The residential-led mixed use scheme includes 383 new homes, a narrowboat marina, public house, nursery and a mix of retail units and is set to transform and revitalise a much-underutilised part of Central Milton Keynes. Once it approaches completion, the development will deliver 332 one and two-bedroom apartments and 51 three, four and five-bedroom houses. Moreover, 30% of the properties on site have been reserved for shared ownership and affordable housing, in order to meet local housing needs in the community. “We are pleased to have cemented our agreement with the Milton Keynes Development Partnership and look forward to working together on this significant development. Once complete the scheme will provide a new gateway from the Canal to Central Milton Keynes and deliver much needed new homes to the area,” said Scott Black, Managing Director at Crest Nicholson. Located on the eastern edge of Central Milton Keynes with easy access to both Milton Keynes Central Station and the M1, the site is divided into two distinct areas by the Grand Union Canal. The 8.15 ha site will also include a new marina on the Grand Union Canal, providing 111 berths, a canal-side pub, café, restaurant and a new footbridge linking the two sides of the canal. “As our city continues to grow, MKDP is committed to playing its part in helping to create well-designed, vibrant & affordable new communities in partnership with a range of local developers. As part of the Campbell Wharf development, MKDP and the developer Crest Nicholson will be creating 115 affordable new homes, a new 111 berth marina alongside the city’s renowned Grand Union Canal, and importantly, will be contributing towards the cost of upgrading the infrastructure of our city centre,” commented Councillor Rob Middleton, Cabinet Member responsible for Resources and Innovation. The new marina is expected to open in April 2019, while the first residential dwellings on site will be occupied in October 2019. The development is expected to be fully completed by 2023.